THE VILLAGE HALL

St. Tudy had its first village hall it 1919, and was the first village in the neighbourhood to have a hall of any kind. This was a war time Nissen Hut, erected in what is now the front garden of 'Long Barn', at the top of Tremeer Lane. It was used for village functions for many years, but was of course only a temporary structure, and by the 'Thirties' was nearing the end of its useful life. Plans were made to provide a permanent Hall.

A public meeting was called and some money was collected. Indeed, Mr. To Button of Town Faun set the ball rolling with an offer to give ten pounds for every ninety pounds raised, and the Rector the Rev. Schuster, promptly gave the first ninety pounds. This was indeed a good beginning and there Bras great enthusiasm for the project, with much discussion at the meeting and among the villagers afterwards.

The outbreak of the War two years later of course put an end to all the plans for the duration, and tire Hut came into even fuller use when evacuee children arrived and had their daily lessons there. By day it was their school, by night and at weekends it still served as the place for village social events, of which there were many. Plays, socials and whist drives helped to enliven the first years of the War, when St. Tudy found itself largely cut off from the outside world.

But then disaster struck. The Western Morning News of 16th April 1942, reported: -

“A fire occurred about 4.30 in the afternoon, when the Recreation Hut was burnt to the ground. Although the Bodmin fire Service were soon on the scene and did their best, in less than an hour the Hut, with all its furnishings, was a mass of tangled galvanize, a sorry sight for the villagers whom it had served so well for a number of years.”

"Fortunately the firemen were able to prevent the fire spreading to nearby farm buildings. All the books etc. used in the schooling of the evacuee children were completely destroyed."

It all happened very quickly, and nobody ever discovered exactly what caused it. As well as the school equipment, waste paper for the salvage collection was stored there, and it seems most likely that a spark from the stoves, which was old and temperamental, must have kindled this.

Clouds of smoke billowed upwards. Mr. Dray, bicycling home from Wadebridge Market, saw it from afar and pedalled frantically to help the many people who were trying to rescue some of the equipment and leading away the frightened horses stabled in the long barn behind.

Everyone of course came running to watch and do what they could. A play was due to be performed there the very next night' and they did manage to rescue the stage boards and some of the props and stow them hastily in the Clink and in a nearby shed.

In the best theatrical tradition that “The Show must go on” arrangements were quickly made and permission sought and granted to use the School, and the play duly performed to a full house.

The population of the village was very much the same then as now, which seems strange when one considers all the new houses and bungalows, which have sprung up since the War. But at that time families were larger and houses, which now hold only two or three, were racked to capacity, often with three generations of a family. Some of the men folk were of course away in the Services, but many remained to do the essential work of the farms and quarries. Evenings were long and dark, with only wireless programmes to enliven them. Entertainment of some kind was urgently needed, so in May of 1944 a Public Meeting was called to discuss what could be done.

The Rector proposed that a Village Entertainments Committee be formed. This was seconded by Mr. Edward Kempthorne and carried unanimously. The Chairman was to be Mr. Kempthorne, the Rector would be Treasurer, and the schoolmaster, Mr. Willcocks, was elected Secretary, with Mr. D Wilton as his assistant. The rest of those present formed themselves into a General Committee.

How to begin? Many suggestions were put forward as the meeting grew more and more enthusiastic. They would begin with an American Entertainment, follow that with a Dance and later a Whist Drive, then a Variety Concert and another Social and Dance, all to be held in the School. They quickly went on to elect a number of ladies to be responsible for refreshments, and arrange for Mr. Dray to draw the posters and Mr. Lewarne to provide the tickets. Prizes were promised for both ladies and gentlemen at the whist drive. For the Dance, it was hoped to provide a band from the R.A.F. station at Davidstow, and Mr. Lewarne, who was stationed there himself, would see that transport was provided for them.

And so, with everything arranged and all contingencies covered, the meeting broke up with everyone feeling that an excellent evening's work had been done.

Mrs. May, Mrs. Bevan, Mr. D. Dray, Mrs. Kerslake, Mrs. Coombe, Mr. Heller, Mrs. J. Hooper, Mrs. Worth,

Mr. V. Williams, Mrs. Mutton, Mrs. Collins, Mrs. Shaw, Mrs. Rawlings, Miss Alford, Mrs. Pascoe, Mrs. Jasper,

Mesdames P. Couch, Magor, H. Burden, Willcocks, Wilton, Dennerley, Jasper, Nicholls.

Only two weeks later it seemed that a snag had arisen. The School Managers decided that only four dances a year could be held, owing to licensing regulations. This would indeed put a brake on their plans, so the Rector was asked to arrange a meeting between the Managers and the Entertainments Committee to discuss the problem.

“I would repeat what I said on Tuesday, that the School Managers have no wish to be obstructionists to your Committee. But they are a statutory body, and whether or not the School is the only available building for Entertainments, they cannot completely ignore the law.

Personally, I am extremely glad that the younger generation are willing to shoulder the burden of raising funds for public and charitable purposes: and I hope they will continue the arrangement of their programme of Concerts, whist drives and Socials.

As the desire has been expressed for more frequent Dances, I am getting advice from the Police as to whether under the circumstances these would be winked at. When I hear I will write again. I hope the matter will settle itself, and that it may not be necessary for me to advise you to send a deputation to the Managers.”

And indeed the matter did settee itself. No License was found to be necessary, provided everything should close by 11p.m., unless special permission had been obtained. It was agreed to carry on arranging weekly events, and to open an account with Barclay's Bank, with the profit of £17, 16s, 6d already achieved.

Now the Entertainments Committee was well into its stride. Over the next few years there were no less than sixty‑five Dances, forty‑four Whist Drives, another forty Socials and over a score of Concerts, not to mention Fetes, Garden and Baby Shows, Sports and Tournaments.

The concerts are well remembered in St. Tudy even now. They included songs, dances, recitations and short one-act plays, of which many were written by the performers themselves. Costumes were ‘rustled up’ by the ladies with great ingenuity. Some of the most successful sketches were invented by the cast as they went along. Many a mishap was turned to advantage, such as the occasion when the 'star' of one play was stung or the eye by a bee just before the performance; the resulting black patch, hastily made by his wife at the last moment, made him look so villainous that he brought the house down.

The Dances were very popular with the servicemen at R.A.F. Davidstow, the Americans billeted at Hengar, and indeed with any people from the surrounding countryside who could find transport to bring them to St. Tudy. The R.A.F. provided the band, for most of the dances, which usually consisted of piano, drums and accordion. And the ladies responsible for the refreshments seem to have performed a weekly miracle.

The school had no sink, no piped water and no stove. Water had to be fetched from the village pump and heated on Primus stoves. Washing‑up was done in a bowl set on a table. After the Dances everything had to be cleared away and the School set to rights ready for the morning before the helpers could go home.

Nor were these the only difficulties. This was in the days of food rationing, and yet every week sandwiches etc. were provided for the dancers and the whist players. How was it done? No one seems to remember exactly. People brought what they could spare. In those days many kept a few fowls, some families a pig, and of course in the summer their gardens were full of salads. No doubt the Americans from Hengar occasionally came up with a tin of this or that 'off the ration'. Milk would have presented no problem, and perhaps now and then a home‑made cheese would appear.

The profits from each event were either banked towards the New Hall Fund or given to some worthy cause of the time. These included the Royal Cornwall Infirmary, Pilot and Air Crews Fund, P.0.W. Fund, the Red Cross, the Y.M.C.A., Truro Hospital. Contributions were also made towards improving and equipping the Playing Fields here in St. Tudy. In October 1944 "a sufficient amount was allotted to provide all those villagers in the Forces with fifteen shillings for Christmas".

Enough money was also raised to buy a piano, which cost £80, and a special cover for it was made by Mrs. May. Footlights and fittings and material for new stage curtains (at £3, 11s, 10d) were also provided.

On V.E. Jay there was a Grand Dance with more than a hundred people packed into the Schoolrooms. Expenses were: Band £1, Rooms 5/‑, Prizes £1, 19s and Caretaker 5/‑, showing a profit over all of £7, 6s.

All through 1946 the busy programme continued, with this time the inclusion of a Baby Show, the first Garden Produce Show, and a Mystery Evening (which remains a mystery!).

The main event of 1946 was undoubtedly the Carnival, the first since the outbreak of the War. Miss Mary Winn was crowned Queen, and there was a long procession of floats and people in fancy dress, while visitors came from the surrounding towns and villages to watch and to attend the Dance that followed So successful was it that it was decided to arrange another Carnival for the following year.

Not surprisingly, the people who had arranged all these entertainments over so long a period were beginning to tire, and few new helpers were forthcoming. By the time of the Annual Meeting in 1947 the chairman was appealing for more members.

The Treasurer reported a balance of £336 19s. 7d, of which £200 was to be transferred to the New Hall account. The officers and committee were all re-elected, and it was decided that the profits from the coming events would be allotted two‑thirds to the Playing Field Fund and one‑third to the School repair fund.

Under "Any other business" Mr. D. Wilton proposed, and Mr H. Button seconded a motion that "A notice should be put up in the School requesting gentlemen not to dance together". One wonders what had been going on?

For yet another year the Entertainments Committee put on a full programme, and another £200 was transferred to the New Hall Fund. By now other village organisations were also using the School, and the committee had to make a charge for the use of their equipment: for the piano, 2s. 6d., one fire, 1s., two fires, 2s.

In spite of a slightly smaller programme, enough money was raised to contribute again to the School Repair Fund, to pay for repairs to the Flaying Field see‑saw, swings and fences, and to install staggered bars at the entrance, as well as to make another donation to the New Hall Fund.

Now at last the prospect of a new hall came into view. In December 1948 a Deed of Gift was drawn up in which Mr. Frederick Philp of Tregooden gave a piece of land on which to build it. The first Trustees were Mr. Norman Mutton of Gwavas and Mr. 'Walter Willcocks of Myrtle Cottage. Mr. Philp, as a condition of the Trust, directed that it should be registered with the Charity Commissioners. This was a wise move on his part, ensuring as it did the New Hall's status as a charity, thereby exempting it from income tax and ensuring its ownership in perpetuity. It stipulated that the Hall is to be used "for the purposes of physical and mental training and recreation and social, moral and intellectual development through the medium of reading and recreation rooms, library, lectures, classes, recreations and entertainments".

The general management and control was vested in the Village a ‑fall Management Committee, the first General Meeting to be called in May 1949, and a general meeting every April thereafter. The Deed also specified that the committee should consist of nine elected members and a representative from each village club or organization, plus if necessary tyro co‑opted members.

It was and is very important that the requirements of the Trust Deed are observed, not only because Mr. Philp wanted things to run properly, but also because grants can be re‑fused and tax can be levied if the Charity strays from its constitution.

In 1949 there is a note of the first Annual General Meeting of the Village Hall Committee in the Entertainments Committee minutes. Mr. Edward Kempthorne and Mrs. May were elected to represent them on it. But the minutes of that meeting are nowhere to be found. Nor indeed are the minutes of the Village Hall committee from this beginning right up until October 1962, so their activities can only be guessed at. It is certain, however, that from the moment the site for the hall was given a number of people must have been busily involved with the drawing up of plans and estimates.

Meanwhile, our Entertainments Committee were keeping up their good, work, though to a lesser extent. Their main concern was with the Carnival, which took a great deal of planning. They bought new cloaks for the Queen and her attendants, and a special moth‑proof bag to keep them in, at a cost of £24. These were given into the charge of Mrs. G. Burden of Town Farm.

In 1950 Mr. Edward Kempthorne, who had been in the Chair for six years, moved away from the village and so resigned from the post. Everyone regretted this very much, and expressed great appreciation of all he had done for the village during that time.

Mr. Willcocks, the popular village schoolmaster, was elected Chairman in his stead, and Mr. Wilton was replaced as Secretary by Mr. Dray, while Mr. Worth undertook to be Assistant Treasurer.

Two Dances were planned! to be held in aid of the School Repair Fund and the Children's Outing fund, and of course there was to be another Carnival, to be held this time in Oak Park Field. The procession would not in future go down Chapel Lanes as the business of turning everything around there had proved too difficult.

By this time the actual building of the New Hall was well under way and everyone was looking forward eagerly to the time when it would be officially opened. There would be a full week of festivities to mark the great occasion.

On Monday July 23 1952 the day had arrived. A large crowd gathered outside the Hall for the ceremony. Here we have an eyewitness account from the local paper, filling three columns.

"Presiding at the opening of St. Tudy's new Village Hall, Mr. N. Mutton, Chairman of the Hall Committee, said: "This is a day we have been looking forward to for fifteen years".

St. Tudy is one of five fortunate villages in Cornwall to be provided with a hall by the Council of Social Service. It is a temporary building, designed to serve until conditions permit the erection of a permanent hall, but it will certainly do duty for a considerable time and has adequate accommodation. The premises comprise a main room with a stage, two anterooms, and two cloakrooms. There is seating capacity for 170 people. Mains electricity supplies heating and lighting and works a pump, which brings water from a well. The Hall is rented to St. Tudy at a nominal rental of £13 a year.

Mr. Mutton recalled that St. Tudy had started raising money towards a new hall in 1937, but "After the war we found we could not proceed along the lines we had intended. But then our energetic Secretary, Mr. W. C. Willcocks, found we could get a Hall without paying for it. This suited us very well, and so we went ahead". (Laughter.)

Before formally opening the Hall, Mrs. C. Williams (Chairman of the Cornwall Council for Social Service) congratulated the people of St. Tudy on their determination to have a village hall. St. Tudy was one of only five fortunate places towards which the Council had been able to direct the stream to get a village hall built. The others were Fraddon Lane, Calstock and St. Martins‑by-Looe. "The scheme is now closed for getting halls for nothing, but you got in on the right step'" said Mrs. Williams, She was sure tremendous interest was going to be shown, and it would prove a boon to the cultural and social life of the village.

Thanking Mrs. Williams, Mr. Willcocks thought all would agree that the Hall was an excellent building. "It is well over £2,000's worth and it has cost us nothing," he said, expressing appreciation of the interest shown by the local committee.

Thanking the Architect, Mr. Vivyan Salisbury of Wadebridge, and the contractors, Messrs T. E. Davey and Son, the Rector, the Reverend C. P. Lawson, thought the people of St. Tudy ought to congratulate themselves on having such a building given to them. He was sure they would use it to the fullest extent and would always be proud of it.

Mr. Salisbury, replying, said the Hall had been built in complete harmony between the secretary, himself and the contractors, and he hoped that a spirit of harmony would continue there.

Asking Mr. L. J. Garland, President of Carnival week, to hand a travelling clock to Mr. Willcocks as a token of appreciation from the Hall Committee of all he had done for the village, Mr. Mutton said the harmonious way in which the Committee had worked and the securing of the Hall itself was largely due to him.

Expressing thanks, Pair. Willcocks said he had done what he could to help the village.

After Mrs. Williams had unlocked the door, the building was blessed by the Rector.

The Opening was followed by the crowning of the Carnival Queen, Miss Jennifer Burden. The Queen was accompanied by her maids of honour, the Misses Ruth Harper and Margaret Drays and her little attendants were Pauline Neal and Patricia Bant. The retiring Queen, Miss Pat Neal, handed presents from ‑the Committee to the Queen and her Maids‑of‑Honour.

The Queen, in a well‑delivered speech, expressed the hope that good support would be forthcoming for the events of Carnival Week. The money would be for the Hall Fund, and she hoped everyone would give generously.

The first event to be held in that Hall was the subsequent Dance. The St. Lawrence's Dance Band played and Mr. G. Burden was, M. C.

The Hall was decorated by members of the St. Tudy Garden Association. The full week of festivities ended with the Carnival on Saturday.

At this point it seemed that the main purpose of the Entertainments Committee had been completed. But they carried on, arranging the next summer's Carnival, till their last meeting on Monday June 11th 19$4.

It was thought by all those present that the Committee had served a very useful purpose, but now it was time to hand over responsibility to the New Hall Committee, on which many of their members would continue to serve. Final arrangements included the handing over of the care of the Carnival cloaks to Mrs. G. Burden for safe keeping, the staging to be given to the Hall if needed, but until then it would remain in the charge of Mr. Dray, for the use of any organization that wanted it.

From the last entry in the Entertainments Committee minute book until the first one in the Hall book for October 1962, there are no written records. Somewhere a book has been mislaid, and so for these eight years one can only rely on hearsay.

It would seem that the Hall was quite well used, with the W. I. and the Garden Association holding their regular meetings there and successful dances on most Saturdays. Cricket Club Dances are particularly remembered, and not only in the village. People came to them from St. Kew and St. Braward and even farther a-field.

Though there were problems with damp rising and the roof leaking almost from the beginning these were quickly dealt with and the income from lettings would have been adequate to cover them. So perhaps the Hall committee didn't have all that much to do?

Village Hall Committee 1962

The October meeting of 1962 seems to have been a momentous one, for it was then that the prospect of actually owning the Hall Came up. The representative of the Council of Social Services, Mr. Ridley, was to come from Truro to discuss this, taking into account when setting a price all the repairs and improvements that had already been done.

There was a long discussion about the use of electricity, which was proving very expensive. Should the hire charges include it, or should it be separately metered for each event? What would be the cost of meters? They were unable to agree on the relative merits of the various alternatives, so the question was shelved for the time being.

A new entertainments sub‑committee was formed, in the hope that it would arrange some events for the Ball funds. It consisted of Mr G. Burden, Mrs. D. Dray, and Messrs. R. Armstrong, C. Wright, C. Nicholls and H. Button.

An Emergency meeting soon after decided to have the Hall connected to the mains water supply, since the very severe winter had damaged the electric motor. It was just as well this was done, for the next winter was even worse, with many events having to be cancelled because of severe frost and deep snow.

On July 9th 1963 the Treasurer was able to announce that the Hall now truly belonged to the village. It had been bought for £400, which was only 40% of what the District Valuer had said it was worth. The general opinion eras that the village had a bargain indeed, and enthusiastic plans were made to give the exterior two coats of paint before the Winter set in again. Messrs. Hooper Bros. undertook to do this.

Ever since the Hall was built the charges for hire had remained the same, but now costs had risen so much that they had perforce to be raised. Eventually everyone agreed they should be as follows:

Single Hiring’s for Profit	£2	£2.00
Dances and Whist Drives	£1. 10s	£1.05
Single Hiring’s NOT for profit	£1. 10s	£1.05
Regular Meetings	10s.	£0.50
Small classes, Rehearsals	10s	£0.50
Small Room only	5s.	£0.25
Private Hiring’s:
St. Tudy residents .	£1.10s	£1.05
Outsiders	£2	£2.00

By the end of the following year the Hall had been newly painted outside, and the redecoration of the inside was to be done in the next spring. Mr. Stone had cut the grass throughout the season, and was asked to keep up the good work.

Thus the balance sheet at the end of 1964 showed a loss of £74 5s. 1d., and this proved to be the beginning of a long straggle to keep the building properly maintained.

Everyone was saddened by the deaths of Mr. Garland and Mr. Tom Mutton, and the meeting observed a minute's silence in their memory. Mr. Wright was leaving the village, so Mr. Dray was elected Treasurer in his place. Mr. Willcocks and Mr. W. H. Burden had also left the Committee, but in gratitude were unanimously elected as honorary consultant members. (Mr. Willcocks died during the following year, and again everyone stood in silence as a token of respect.)

The Hall was going through a very lean time. There was a net loss over another year, partly due to the cost of redecorating. Heating bills had gone up yet again, and a further charge of 10s had to be made for electricity. In this rather depressing situation Major Loam was elected Treasurer, a post that he held for the following year.

Money troubles notwithstanding, chairs had to be re‑seated and a new door made on the south side of, the building, so some Bingo sessions were planned, and Mrs. Murphy and Mrs. Jenny asked to arrange a Coffee Evening.

The Annual General Meeting of 1963 saw the resignation of Mr. Norman Mutton, owing to failing health. Mr. button had been Chairman for a great marry years, and had never failed to put in much time and hard work for the village as a whole and the Hall in particular. Mention was also made of Mrs. Denny, who, though not a committee members, "is a great worker for the village", letter was to be sent to her, wishing her a speedy recovery from her operation.

At last, in 1968 the accounts showed a profit of £37. Much encouraged by this, the committee decided to hold an exhibition of "The Treasures of St. Tudy". This proved an enormous success, but took a great deal of organizing. Lists were .made of all those who might possibly have items that would be of interest, they all had to be visited and persuaded to part temporarily with the precious heirlooms and momentous. Then benches and staging had to be put up, the correct space to be calculated and marked oat for each item. Much fetching and carrying and sorting gent on before the final display was ready.

The Exhibition had been well advertised, and people came to see it from far and near. All day the Hall was packed and the visitors declared themselves quite fascinated by the variety and scope of the display. There were beautiful pieces of china and glass, interesting objects from Africa and India, old medical instruments from Dr. Baileys collection, a set of the tiny Maundy Money of the 1870’s, old photographs, deeds, diaries and documents a very remarkable collection for such a small village.

Mrs. Burnet and Mrs. Loam had done beautiful flower arrangements for the Hall, and refreshments were provided by the busy ladies in the kitchen. Some of the exhibits were so obviously valuable that a lockable cabinet had to be hastily found in which to store them overnight. There was of course a raffle, and a Bring‑and‑Buy stall run by Mrs. C. Nicholls and Miss Mary Winn, and Mrs. Denny had baked a splendid cake for a competition to "Guess the weight".

The reward for all this endeavour, apart from the leisure it had given everyone, was a sum, which put the Hall accounts in good credit once more. More heaters were provided and the W. I. ladies made up curtains to divide the Hall for smaller functions, so conserving the expensive warmth.

Fired by their success, the committee went on to organ, Grand harvest Supper, With entertainment afterwards to be provided by Mrs. T. Oddy of St. Kew and Mesdames Parkyn and Camps from Wadebridge. One hundred dinner tickets were sold beforehand.

At, the A.G.M. In September 1969 Mr. Dray was formally elected Chairman and Mr. Gordon Burden Treasurer. Mr. C. Nicholls asked to be relieved of the Secretary ship and so Mr. J. Sleeman and Mr. Milton were elected jointly in his place, for the time being.

This proved to be the busiest decade of all for the Hall, with the whole building redecorated inside and out, all the wiring replaced, the tables recovered (by the generosity of Major Magor) the Clock repaired, a quantity of new chairs and crockery bought. Mr. Crisp presented the Hall with an electric cooker and boiler. Another handsome gift was the legacy of £54.44 from the estate of Mr, Jim Mitchell of Homeleigh.

It became necessary to provide the Hall with fire extinguishers and emergency lighting, to comply wit safety regulations. This was going to be very expensive and the committee thought some of the specifications quite unnecessary. Nevertheless an appeal was sent to all the organizations using the Hall, and they responded magnificently with the sum of £232.75.

The curtains were all taken down, cleaned and repaired, by the W. I., who also planted trees in the Hall grounds. Alterations were made to provide a larger kitchen, and by the end of the decade everything was felt to be well 'up together'.

Of course all this cost a great deal of money, so the Committee was kept busy organizing events to meet the bills. Every summer for five years they held Saturday Markets under the chestnut tree in the middle of the village, from June to September, selling cakes, flowers, vegetables, indeed anything and everything that could be collected. The markets were very popular with everyone, providing quite a social gathering on Saturday mornings, and they did help, the Hall finances considerably.

There was a Sponsored Walk in 1971 along the disused railway line from Dunnere to Wenford and back to St. Tudy by road. There were check‑points at intervals along the route and people to hold up the traffic at man road crossings. This was a distance of about ten miles and everyone completed the walk, even little Julie Lobb who was only four years old, and who firmly refused all offers of a piggy‑back with great determination.

The tradition of the Carnival was revived in 1974 for the first time in twenty years, and has continued ever since. In this decade too there was another Sponsored Walk, up to the Moor this time, and very exhausting did the walkers find the long hill up to St. Breward. A Comic Football Match drew a large crowd, as did a Summer Dance in a marquee on the Rectory lawn. There were many Whist Drives, always popular in the village, and no wonder, for the list of prizes for just one of them was indeed impressive: a turkey, two chickens, two large joints of meat, two bottles of wine, two fruit cakes and two fruit puddings!

In 1979, while the School was being overhauled and decorated, the children and their teachers used the hall for nine weeks. Of course this made extra work for the Caretaker, which she willingly undertook.

For thirty years the Committee had been working to keep the building in repair, but by 1981 they were forced to concede that constantly patching up and repairing it piecemeal was throwing good money after bad. The need is for virtual rebuilding; a new roof, outer cladding of brick to the walls, improved cloakrooms and an extension for storage space and another committee room. So it was decided to “… set up a Fabric Fund, undertake more research into rebuilding a new Hall, and to try to encourage public interest and support” And that is what is now being done. Various grants have already been made, from the Parish Council, the North Cornwall District Council and the Duchy of Cornwall. Other grants may indeed become available, but the Committee has to try and raise something in the region of twenty thousand pounds.

They deserve all the help we can give them, for a hall where all secular public events can take place makes a village into a true community, rather than just a cluster of dwellings. Most of us use the Hall one way or another, either to put on functions for our own favourite cause, or just as guests of the various organizations. So we all owe a debt of gratitude to those many people who have worked so hard to provide us with this invaluable amenity over so many years.

Mrs. D. Armstrong, Mrs. I. Bastard, Miss M. Halls Mrs. P. Hodge, Mrs. G. J. Hodge, Mrs. J. Jasper

Miss M. Winn, Mr. T. Burden, Mrs. C. Lyle, Mr. D. Andrew Mrs. L. Lamerton Mrs. J. Harris,

Miss E. Blake Mrs. U. Grose, Mr. J. Sleeman Mr. C. Bartlett Mr. A. Vanderplank, Mr. B. Steadman, Mr. R. Armstrong Mr. W. Masters, Mrs. K. Hillson