Having had three babies in fourteen months Mary was looking for some way to get back to work and look after her children at the same time. This was 1979 and there were no private nurseries.

Rod was playing for Lichfield Rugby Club at the time and whilst watching Rod play one Saturday, Mary was chatting to another player’s wife who mentioned that a friend of hers had started running an exercise class in a village hall. The germ of an idea was planted.

A business plan was put together and presented to the Bank. A one thousand pound business loan was secured which paid for a range of exercise equipment and an estate car to transport it all from one venue to another.

The “Mary Morris Keep Fit Club” was born.

Classes were run at various church and school halls in the area attended by hundreds of local ladies. This at a time when no one had heard of “aerobics”

Rod at this time was working as a Director of Pickfords (the transport people) but could see the opportunity to take redundancy following an impending rationalisation of the company.

Mary’s classes were doing well so it was decided to look for a permanent home for them. After spending eighteen months looking at everything from an industrial unit on Boley Park, just being built at the time, to the Methodist Church on Wade Street, which was up for sale at the time, eventually it was heard through a friend that a large almost derelict house on Rotten Row had come on the market called Lorne House.

Mr William Smith had bought Lorne House in 1905, and it was the demise of his daughter that brought the house onto the market.
The Smiths’ family business at the time was Lichfield Brewery, which was situated at Wiltel Works on St John’s Street. If you look at the front of Wiltel Works just past the St John’s Street railway bridge you can still see “Lichfield Brewery” set in the brickwork.

Lorne House was purchased in February 1982 and building work started the following month. Eleven hectic weeks later the Mayor of Lichfield cut the ribbon to open Lichfield Health & Fitness Club whilst the decorators were going out of the back door!

Many of the members who joined in those first weeks are still members now!

In August 1983 an extension was built onto the front of the building to double the size, and over the next few years building works to the back of the building eventually increased the size to 7,500 square feet.
The original building was bought for just £22,000, but over £1 million has been spent on it since!