That was back in 1965, but Whalley's Mark Schofield, a coach at the Ribble Valley Tennis Centre on Edisford Road, Clitheroe, has helped rediscover the glory days.

Schofield, one of the few Performance Coaches in the country, captained the Red Rose side to victory in Eastbourne.

That success came at the end of a week of fierce competition, where Schofield used his wealth of playing experience, which has seen him win Nationals as a junior, represent Great Britain on three continents and play the likes of Bjorn Borg, Stefan Edberg, and, famously, Tim Henman, who he enjoyed victory against.

Having won the Lancashire men's singles and doubles titles eight times each, he guided the county through a 7-2 win over defending champions Kent, before a 6-3 win over North Scotland, and a tighter 5-4 victory over Hertfordshire.

Cheshire were beaten 6-3, before a straight forward 5-1 victory over Yorkshire.

The squad, which also included Schofield's doubles partner Ken Skupski, who played doubles at Wimbledon this year, Skupski's younger brother Neal and Dan Smethurst, who played at junior Wimbledon, Andrew Davies and Simon Roberts, and Chris Nott and Chris Llewellyn, all have to be born in the county, or resided there for three years to qualify.

And Schofield hailed the squad's efforts: "We had a really good team spirit. There was a change of the guard, in that we had three young lads coming in, Chris Nott, Dean and Neal, for the first time, and they all performed superbly well.

"It was a great week for us. I can't fault the boys for their enthusiasm.

"The courts were in fantastic shape and we're already looking forward to going back to defend our title."