Ted Blake

Who was Ted Blake?

Ted Blake was an early British trampoline pioneer.

Following the development of modern trampolines in the USA by George Nissen, Ted Blake was a major contributor to their nascence in the United Kingdom and in developing International Competition for trampolining.

In his early years Ted went to the Latymer School in London and on leaving there held a variety of jobs before joining the army in 1939. During war years he trained as a Physical Training Instructor, transferring from the Essex Regiment to the Army Physical Training Corps in 1941 and rose to the rank of Company Sergeant Major Instructor by the time of his discharge in 1946. For most of his army life Ted was based at the Essex Regiment's depot at Brentwood.

Having left the army, Ted spent the next 3 years attending courses to become a teacher. Starting out at the Loxford School in Ilford, Essex in 1949 he soon introduced a single second-hand Nissen trampoline. Whilst at the Loxford School, Ted developed a trampoline squad of sufficient skill that they were invited to do a demonstration at the Festival of Britain in 1951. Ted remained at Loxford School until 1956 when he left to establish the UK operation of Nissen.