Community News - The History of Whitmore Village Hall
Our Villagers decided to have a Village hall in Whitmore around the time of the Coronation in 1953. With this in view, various fund raising events including an annual garden party on the site, coffee mornings, whist drives and jumble sales took place.
In 1957, an RAF mess hut/assembly hall/cinema was located at an airfield in the Needwood forest close to Burton-on-Trent and was bought. It was transported in sections by lorry to Whitmore; all the sections were numbered to ease re-assembly, and these numbers can still be seen today in various places. The Hall was erected on the present site and officially opened on 13th June 1959 by Mr Eric Bennett.
The people of Whitmore and surrounding areas raised half the money for the hall. The remaining funds were provided in the form of grants from Staffordshire County Council. Mrs Jessie Evans was very helpful in obtaining these grants.
The original Committee consisted of Mr George Morris (Chairman), Mr Bill Simpson (Vice Chairman), Mrs Winspeare (Secretary) and Mr Charles Matthews (Treasurer). Additional Committee members were Reverend Eric Stopford, Mr Eric Bennett and Mr Nigel Maddock. Mr Walter Smith joined later and Mr Harry Rhodes soon became Secretary following Mrs Winspeare's retirement. The architect was Mr John Doran.
The building was extended and added to over the next few years. Mr Bennett opened the final extension at the time of the Queen's Silver Jubilee on 5th June 1977. The Hall has come to be a useful meeting place for the whole of our community for more than forty years and, in many ways, is a very valuable asset.
Information kindly provided by Nigel Maddock (2006)
Below are some extracts from what is believed to be the first Annual Report
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Presented By Mr Rhodes, the Secretary dated 16th November 1959. The President was Mr Maddock and the Treasurer was Mr Matthews. This report contained financial details for 18 months up to 31st July 1959.
The cost of the hall to that date was £5478 with fittings costing £341.
The electricity bill for the 18 months was £5.80pence, water £1.25pence and insurance £3.55pence.
Income included "Sale of turf" £25.85pence, coffee morning at the Sheet Anchor £38, proceeds from Mr Watkin's illustrated talk £9.30pence and proceeds from the opening day garden party of £389.45pence. |
Mr Rhodes reported;
"With regard to the future, it will be apparent that many more determined efforts will be needed to raise money to pay off the outstanding debts of £2,100 and to cover the ordinary running expenses of the hall. Members of the community who may be interested in organising any functions to raise money on this behalf should communicate with the Secretary and will receive every encouragement, and it should also be noted that the Hall is available for private hire for parties, dances etc".
Find Out What's On at the Whitmore & District Village Hall.
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