Named as The Gymkhana Club, a Planter’s Club was started in the year 1905, with a loan of Rs.2500/- from the erstwhile Kanan Devan Hills Produce Co. Ltd., for the gentlemen planters of the High Range in Kerala. It was located on the present Golf Course with a small pavilion built on the grounds. It was here the first coolie gymkhana for the workers of the Company was held. In the year 1909, the High Range Club was formally set up with furniture and fixtures, and was completed in 1910.
It was one of the first planter’s clubs to be electrified and one of the few clubs to be built as a residential club. Telephones were installed at the Club in 1916. The Library was constructed near the present Nursery in 1916 but was demolished in 1925 after the floods that created havoc and changed the face of the hills and dales in the High Range. The present nursery and Ladies Room were made at the same site.
The first club to be affiliated to the High Range Club was the Trivandrum Club in 1915. In 1916, the first meet the Madhurai Meet was held. Lord Pentland, Governor of Madras visited the Club in 1916. Golf Course, grounds and Tennis Court were extensively damaged in the 1924 floods. But subsequently, they were all redone, Amateur Concert and Dramatic Society was formed in the year 1925, however it was closed in 1930!
During the Indian Freedom Movement, an armory was built near the Club. However, no occasion to use the Armory arose in the High Range. The Lascar’s quarters are in use today as Club Staff Quarters. The Armory was also used as a cellar during the post World War II, when imported liquor was in short supply! The High Range School of Madupatty rented the Armory building from the club until 1987, when it moved to the present exotic location. The armory was converted to accommodation for visitors in 1987.
The First Class Compartment of the Kundaly Valley Light Railway, which was considered too heavy for the use for which it was built, was used as a Bar on the Gymkhana ground after the Railway became defunct in 1932. The last coolie gymkhana was held in 1940 and was attended by the Maharaja of Travancore. Club Grounds were threatened by the construction of a Decantation Chamber and head works of the Pullivasal Hydro Electric Scheme. Fortunately, the grounds were saved from total annihilation.
Cottages were constructed in 1935 for the use of Moylam & Co. which constructed the Pullivasal Hydro-Electric Works. They were first used for visitors in 1941 and rented out at Rs.75/- per room per month. The Cottages were converted to self contained rooms, with enclosed verandahs, mosaic tiling, glazed windows etc. in 1979.
The Skittle Alley was designed and constructed in 1939-39. The Alley, rarely used for bowling, was used for lectures (1940), as a Games Room and Recreation Centre (1940-44). It was finally closed for bowling and opened for squash in 1958. Rugby was played at the Club grounds between 1925-1972. Billiards was thrown open to ladies for the first time in 1941.
The first “away” meet was held in 1910 at Peermade. The first Indian to be made a member of the Club was the Dewan of Travancore in 1934. The first Indian to be elected on the Club Committee was in 1958. Diwali and Independence Day were celebrated at the club for the first time in 1972. W. O. Milne was the first planter to hang his hat (at the end of thirty years of continuous resident membership of the Club) in the Men’s Lounge, a tradition followed to this day.
Within an area of 6 acres and a river forming its natural boundary, the old world charm of the high range club continues…
source: http://www.highrangeclubmunnar.com/Smart.html