The Table Tennis in Edinburgh research project by Dr Charlie Ellis is examining, recording and analysing the early decades of competitive table tennis in Edinburgh. It builds on previous research related to the 100th anniversary of Murrayfield Table Tennis Club. This addresses an overlooked chapter in the history of the city with relevance well beyond sport.

Charting the early years of competitive table tennis in Edinburgh and the development of the local league, this involves organising and synthesising the documentation and other material (photographs, interview transcripts) already collated, and adding to this. There has been no previous attempt to do so. There is a significant gap in Edinburgh’s history as many thousands have played the sport in dozens of clubs across the city. Furthermore, the city produced a world champion in the sport – Helen (Hamilton) Elliot of the Gambit Club. Gambit began as an offshoot of Stockbridge Chess Club formed in 1938. From these modest beginnings it went on to provide all five of Scotland’s team for the 1955 World Championships in Stockholm.

Despite this, table tennis has left virtually no imprint on the recorded history of the city. It also forms a significant gap in Scottish sporting history, as it was a sport with large participation in the middle of the 20th century. It is generally absent from works on Scottish sport (eg, Jarvie & Burnett, Sport, Scotland and the Scots, Tuckwell Press Ltd, 2000). It is to be expected that the sport  lacks the rich literature devoted to football, rugby, golf and cricket but it suffers even in comparison to other ‘minor’ sports such as badminton, hockey and curling. This project attempts to redress this.

The story of table tennis in Edinburgh also shines some light on some interesting aspects of Edinburgh’s social history, including political controversy (one club being populated by members of the Young Communist League) and the leading role played by Polish soldiers stationed in Edinburgh in the post-war table tennis boom. It also includes some interesting details regarding the buildings in which table tennis tournaments and exhibition matches were played. Places such as Epworth Hall (Nicolson Square) and Oddfellows’ Hall (Forrest Road).

Fortunately, a rich set of documentation and photographs does exist. This project will involve organising the large amount of material collated over the decades by, in particular, Michael MacLaren, Lindsay Muir and Bert Kerr. This rich archive of documents, photographs and manuscripts, needs to be properly organised catalogued, with the most important parts of it digitised. Having the archive in a more coherent shape will assist with creating a more coherent picture of the development of chronology of the sport, as well as providing the basis for publications.