Lutterworth Golf Club’s historic clubhouse has been raised to the ground by a fire that ripped through the building on May 1.
Over 40 firefighters were called out to tackle the blaze that ripped through the 117-year-old Leicestershire club’s clubhouse over the bank holiday weekend.
According to local reports, the single storey building was already well alight by the time the first fire crews arrived on the scene and there was little that could be done to save the building and its contents, which included many irreplaceable historic artefacts.
The cause of the blaze is now under investigation by Leicestershire Police and the Leicestershire Fire Service, with footage from recovered CCTV cameras expected to shed more light on how the fire started.
The course is currently closed until further notice, while the fire investigation take place.
Speaking about the tragic incident, in which thankfully nobody was hurt, Toby Deas, Lutterworth’s club captain said: “We are completely devastated. We have lost so much history, so much memorabilia, so many treasured photographs in this fire. Buildings can be replaced – but our history and heritage is totally irreplaceable – it’s priceless. I don’t know where you’d start trying to put a financial value on what has been lost.”
He added: “We will rebuild and we will bounce back. We have had so much support already from our members, other local golf clubs, and the general public. We have been overwhelmed by the numbers of calls, texts and messages we’ve had from people. I also want to say a massive thank you to the fire service and the police.
“The club’s directors and officials have already to put the recovery plans in place to ensure that our loyal members can continue to enjoy playing the course while we work with our insurers on providing temporary facilities as soon as possible and a permanent replacement in the longer term. The directors and club officials are all fully committed to the mammoth task ahead to replace our clubhouse and facilities.”
The club, which dates back to 1904, currently has 700 members.