1920-1921, from a Curling pond into Tennis courts

On the 4th June 1920 the club was conceived, when a small committee was set up to examine the possibility of converting a curling pond on Lady Road, Liberton, Edinburgh into tennis courts.  Their report determined that it would be possible to prepare 3 blaes courts with all fences for the sum of £220 (excluding any alterations to the pavilion of the time.  As a result the club opened for business in 1921.

1970's Blaes courts 

Members of the club recall the courts as they were in the 1970s, still at the original site on Lady road, and said to be the best in Edinburgh when the weather was fine. However, they were easily and quickly made unplayable by rain, and were not used at all in the winter months.

In the late 1970s the Club had an opportunity of buying the grounds it occupied. The cost was £1500, and the purchase proved to be a bargain. For it was not long afterwards that plans to build a shopping centre round our premises were made known. We would have to be relocated and given new courts, and as owners of our grounds we were in a good position for negotiating with the developers.

1980's Moving home and moving up

The outcome of the negotiations with the developers of Cameron Toll shopping centre was a site with four all-weather courts to replace the three excellent but often weather-plagued blaes courts, and a new clubhouse.  And so, in 1981, we moved from what is now the site of the Cameron Toll petrol station to our present location at the back of the shopping centre car park.

The new courts with their rubbery surface gave a slow, consistent bounce suitable for players of all standards, and could be used throughout the year. Perhaps they also did something to bring the best out in our players; for it was while these courts were down that the Craigmillar Park men won promotion to Division 1 of the East of Scotland League. This was the first ascent to the League's elite in the history of the Club, which by then was well into its seventh decade. For the next thirteen years we would have a team in Division 1 or 2.

1990's moving to Artificial grass

Good as the courts were they had a limited life, and when in 1992 they came to be replaced it was by artificial grass. Such surfaces typically last for 5 to 10 years, but ours served us for almost 15.

2000's New Artificial grass courts

In recent years the Club has continued to make its presence felt in Edinburgh and beyond. In 2006 our women’s team won the East Scotland Division 2 Interclub Singles Title. In 2007 we took the Division 2 Men’s Inter-club Singles title. Also in that year the Club jointly hosted the Waverley Junior Tournament, which was later adjudged by the Tennis Scotland to be their Tournament of the Year. The club has co-hosted this tournament since then. New artficial grass courts were laid in March 2006.

2010's New Heights!

Craigmillar Park Tennis Club made its presence felt across many different competitions from the start of this decade. Winning the the ESLTA Mixed Doubles Summer Social league 6 times out of 7 years since its inception in 2010. Winning the ESLTA Winter Mixed Doubles league in 2011 & 2015 (finalists 3 other times also). The newly formed 3rd team has established itself high in the Dunlop leagues (Div 5) and a 4th team was also created for the first time in decades. The 2nd team flits between divisions 3 & 4 and the first time achieved promotion to Division 1 in for the first time in over 20 years (they now flit between Divisions 2 & 3) The Pringle Cup was won in 2011 for the first time in 25 years! Entry was gained to the Robin Welsh Cup in 2012 and a respectable 3rd place finish was the final placing. The highlight of 2012 was the Men's Vets team - who managed to win Division 1 at their first attempt to take the title from St Serfs who had won the league for the previous 4 years in a row.

2010 in November we had a court rejuvenation to extend the life of the courts.

2015 in April our courts were relaid again with brand new Tiger Turf which plays superbly.

2017 Floodlighting extended to all 4 courts as well as new floodlights on existing fittings - they really are state of the art! 

2020's Expansion!

2020 the pandemic hit which accelerated our plans to move to an online booking system and also saw the club reach record levels of membership numbers!

2022 we secured the funding to build a single covered padel court, the foundations were laid in November and the court was opened in April 2023. We also upgraded our tennis floodlights to state of the art LED in 2023.