Sir Noel Mobbs - creator of the Slough Trading Estate - the first trading estate in the world

How it all began

In 2027 we will celebrate the centenary of TEGS, making it one of the most enduring golfing societies in England. 

Passage of the Slough Trading Company Act in 1925 allowed the establishment of an industrial estate which was named Slough Estates Limited in 1926. Among the early businesses on the estate were Gillette, Johnson & Johnson, High Duty Alloys and Aspro.

Where there are businesses there are golfers, and in 1927 Trading Estate Golfing Society was born!

When Forrest Mars started his confectionery business in 1932, his legal counsel was Leslie Halliwell, a scratch golfer and Lancashire County player. He was an early member of TEGS and his name appears on many of the magnificent silver trophies which are played for to this day. Among these are the ‘Peerless Cup’, the Mentholatum Cup’, the ‘Johnson & Johnson Bowl’ and the ‘Capseals Cup’.

The consumption of countless Mars Bars, liberal applications of Deep Heat and a few doses of Aspro have doubtlessly played their part in sustaining the efforts of our members on and off the golf course!

A significant part of the TEGS heritage is the great courses that we play each year. Being local to Slough, Burnham Beeches GC has been the ‘spiritual home’ of TEGS from the outset. Indeed, many of our members have also been members of BBGC and the same is true today. Others play their golf at Beaconsfield GC and back in the day, there was also a close relationship with Stoke Poges.

Burnham Beeches and Beaconsfield continue to host our March and April meetings each year. These are followed by Ashridge, The Oxfordshire, New Zealand, Hankley Common, Swinley Forest and Huntercombe. Our Captain’s Day at Swinley, in September, goes back many decades. Superb lunches in prestigious clubhouse settings are part of every meeting.

Being a TEGS member, however, is much more than playing and competing on wonderful golf courses and savouring good food. During our long history, enjoying the company of like-minded people, with varied professional experiences, has always been an integral part of our makeup. This is best illustrated by the many lifelong friendships forged along the way.

TEGS Members 25 years ago

Reminiscences of TEGS

I feel as though I have grown up with TEGS. My first pet rabbit, a beautiful Flemish white giant was given to me by Vic Ray, winner of The Capseals Cup in 1952, and I often was given a lift to my primary school by our next-door neighbour in his new Jaguar. He was Phil Clephan, Captain of TEGS in 1955 and I can still smell that rich leather of the interior of that car.

My first TEGS meeting was at the invitation of my Father in 1966 when I was 15 and we played Stoke Poges. It was decided, by the inner workings of TEGS, that I should be invited to become a member in 1981, followed by more invitations to become Captain in 1989 and then secretary in 2016.

The preparation of this handbook has been pure pleasure, an excursion into an enjoyable past. Typing the names of members that I knew well and particularly when trying to record the details of the TEGS tours over the last 16 years.

That certainly stirred enjoyable memories for many.

Some of the winning names and indeed some of the original cups are lost forever, however, it is interesting to see that during the second World War, when many golf clubs just have gaps on their Captains and trophy boards, we have no breaks whatsoever. All cups and trophies were played for and we had a different Captain each year. How about that for TEGS stiff upper lip?

Keith Waite  (Hon Sec)  March 2017

1977 TEGS JUBILEE YEAR

FLOREAT TEGS (below) was written by a long-standing member of  TEGS, Mr. Carl Chronander, who won The Slough Estates Cup in 1936, became Captain of TEGS in 1939 and then went on to become President of the society. He was still winning 43 years later as in 1979, we have his name recorded on the Mentholatum Cup.
With grateful thanks to my Father (George) for looking after this over the years, perhaps he knew something!     This is exactly as it was written, punctuation and all!

FLOREAT TEGS 1977

Harold Brooks has asked me to write a Foreword to the Members’ Hand Book for 1977 – our Jubilee Year – and I am very pleased to comply with his request.

To begin with I know you will all wish to join me in congratulating the Trading Estate Golfing Society (more familiarly known as TEGS) on achieving its Golden Jubilee and I have no doubt that as long as golf is played it will continue to flourish. Indeed, it is more than likely that some of our younger members will be celebrating its Centenary in the year 2027.My own ambition is to join in the Diamond Jubilee celebrations in ten years’ time (as well as achieving my own fifty years as a member)!

Looking back over the last forty years, I do not think that TEGS has changed very much in character. It has always been a good Society, and it is an even better one today. However, it may be of interest to recall some of the personalities who were members when I first joined and whom some of you will still remember with affection.

There was T. W. D. (Bill) Turner, the first recorded Captain of the Society. An unforgettable character, he was Chairman of Mentholatum and spent much of his time commuting back and forth across the Atlantic (in one of the ‘Queens’). Many will remember his resounding phrase - “Ting-a-Ling” – when ordering a drink at the bar.

A.J. (‘Tim’) Wilson was Secretary of the Society for many years and was a bit of a dictator in his way. Then there was the benign figure of Sir Noel Mobbs (who, of course, started the Trading Estate, in 1920, and so was responsible for our coming into being). He did not play golf himself, as far as I can remember, but took a keen interest in the game and in the TEGS. Being unable to walk far, I think due to arthritis, he drove himself about his own Stoke Poges golf course in what have must been one of the first ‘buggy’ cars to be seen in this country; the bridges over the streams and ditches on the course had to be widened to accommodate it. His two sons, Eric and Dick, were members of the Society, Dick being Captain in 1938 and winners of several trophies.

Among other notable past Captains were Col. Franklin, his son Jack Franklin and Ronnie Francis, whose salver is now played for on captains Day.

The majority of our meetings were played at Stoke Poges and Burnham Beeches, with occasional ones at Maidenhead and other clubs.  The Captains prize used to be a knock-out competition played at Burnham Beeches over a period of several months. This latter course has always been the ‘home’ of the TEGS and we have always been, and still are, grateful to the club for their hospitality. The important changes to the course have been made only comparatively recently as most members will recall. Stoke Poges, however, has changed even more radically; before the war there were two courses, the ‘old’ and the ‘new’, and the present course is a combination of the two (though rather more from the ‘old’ than the ‘new’).

So much for the past. Let us now look forward to our Jubilee Year and make it the most successful one year.

C.R. Chronander  1977