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1885 – 1985
The History of Cowling Village Hall for the
Centenary
Written in October 1985 by
Ernest Greenwood Smith (1916 -2006)
1885 was the year when land was purchased in order to build
the Cowling
Liberal Club and Institute, and eighteen
Trustees
were appointed to carry on the work of the Club.
The objects of the Club were to afford its members all the
usual
privileges,
advantages, conveniences and accommodation
of
a
club; to promote the cause of Liberalism, to consider
and discuss
all questions affecting the interests of the
community and
maintain a library of political, historical
and other
literature. One rule that no intoxicating
liquor
should
be supplied, or consumed on the
premises
on any
pretext
whatsoever. These various plans were carried out
efficiently
for many years, and the Club really was a centre
of social
life. Many lectures both educational and
political
were held, whilst this excellent Library and
Reading Room (now the Meeting Room) were extensively used.
Quite apart from it's political value, the Liberal Club
played a
prominent part in the social life of the village.
The Assembly
Hall, one of the largest halls in the village,
and central
in position, was widely used for dances, concerts and other public
gatherings. The smaller rooms on
the ground
floor provided a meeting place for such
organisations
as the Cowling Nursing Association, First Aid
Classes and
a reception centre for evacuees during the war, and an Air Raid Precaution
Post was established in the
cellar. The
Assembly Hall has been the scenes of numerous
dramatic
productions, being crowded to capacity when dialect plays of the late Alfred
Teal, based on local events were
presented
during the 1920's to 1930's. This room was used
by every political party for their meetings at election time.
A shop (now the kitchen) was supervised by a part-time
caretaker
where sweets, tobacco and soft drinks etc, could
be purchased.
A full sized billiard table catered for the
billiard and
snooker players in what is now the Social
Room.
Non-players could observe the play from raised
seating
around the walls. The Billiard Handicaps, Domino
and Whist Drives at Christmas time created considerable
interest.
The Smoke Room (now the Pool Room) was used for dominoes and
card games, or a quiet smoke and chat, the venue of the more
elderly Members.
The Cowling Womens' Liberal Association played an active part
in the social life of the club, no doubt on the
catering side and in fact did maintain a large cupboard full
of china crockery with 'C.W.L.A.' the initials of their
organisation.
The kitchen in the early days was located in the, cellar
where very primitive facilities were available. A large
open range fireplace with side boilers no doubt provided
the hot water, and an old type shallow sandstone, sink was
available for washing-up requirements. A quick way of
transferring refreshments to the Assembly Hall was by way of
a manually operated small lift. This equipment went out of
use a long time ago, and the shaft was sealed up.
By 1939 times were changing and a steady decreasing
Membership was giving rise to concern as to the future of the
Liberal Club and Institute, A meeting of Members was
held to consider the position, and possibility that the Club
might have to close was not excluded.
One suggestion that there should be a drive for new members
another that the Club should be closed for a period with
a view to emphasizing what an asset it was to the community,
a third suggestion being that the building be offered to
the local authority as a gift. Ultimately, the
premises
wore offered as a free gift to the Cowling Parish Council.
A public meeting of ratepayers was called by the Parish
Council in order to consider this offer, the Chairman
pointing out that the Parish Council would be in order in opening a place of
this nature under the Local Government Act of 1933, if the offer was
accepted. The building was
in good order with a debt of £25 on the premises. The
average income and expenditure in the preceding five years
being £176 and £162 respectively.
Ben Snowden Bequest Concert pensioners over 70
yrs.
This meeting approved the following resolution: 'That this
public
meeting of ratepayers of Cowling, empowers the Parish
Council to accept the generous gift from the Liberal Club and
Institute, as a gift, and that if there is any expenditure in excess of
income which cannot be raised by
voluntary effort, they be authorised if necessary to meet
same out of the rates.'
Consequently arrangements for the legal
transfer.
of the
building ware put in hand and the drawing up of a conveyance
appointing a Management Committee comprising the members of
the Parish Council and nine members of the Cowling Village
Institute, as the building was now named.
The first meeting of the new Management Committee was held
on April 3rd 1940, and officials elected. One of the
first matters discussed was the possible formation of a
ladies section and the provision of a ladies meeting room,
with all the usual facilities. Although this matter was
discussed at subsequent meetings the initial idea did not
take hold, but, the final outcome of all these discussions was
the formation of the Cowling Womens' Institute who
still meet monthly in a hired room.
In 1940 of course the country was at war and the building was
used considerably more frequently due to the establishment
of several bodies associated with the War Effort, some
of which have already been mentioned. For a period the
premises were used for the billeting of an army unit which
caused unusual administrative problems for the management.
The Royal Observer Corps used a room and jam making sessions
were
held by ladies of the Womens' Institute, who were
allocated sugar for this purpose by the Ministry of Food,
the sugar ration to the average family was microscopic and
certainly not sufficient to preserve jam. The premises
had now become of great value to the community during
the anxious and difficult years of the war.
In 1940 the provision of a more practical kitchen was
considered and it was decided to partition part of the
the shop, but even so the resultant room was very small
containing only a sink, gas oven and small cupboard for the
storage of crockery.
With three persons working in it, one
would say it was overcrowded.
It was decided to enrol Junior Members aged between 12 and
14 year's, for a trial period until the end of 1940, They
would be required to leave the building by 8.30pm, and could
use the Billiard Table only when it was not being
used by Senior Members.
About this date the Ladies Toilet was built next to the
Library, the idea being that it was the most suitable position for it when
the Library was used for a Ladies
cloakroom when dances
were being held, the total cost was
£111.
Following the end of the war in 1945 many of the lads were
returning from the Forces, and became members of the newly
formed Social Committee. This Committee was a great asset
to the Management Committee because they did evening duty
in the shop (there was no caretaker after 1948) and
supervised and took payment for the billiard games etc. In addition social
events were organised and the proceeds handed over to the Management
Committee towards the upkeep
of the building. This
Committee
also carried out the work
of re-decorating all the rooms on the ground floor and the
entrance hall. During the period between the caretaker
finishing and the appointment of a cleaner, much of the
cleaning was carried out by these Members, as was the duty
of securing the
premises at night, each member did a weeks
evening duty in turn.
Application for a licence to perform stage plays was made
and considered by the Justices sitting at Skipton Court in
the early 1950's when new regulations became law. The
licence was
not granted because the two exits from the
Assembly Hall converged into one
staircase, and the Fire Authorities insisted that there be two exits
independent of each other. It was
therefore decided to ask the Parish
Council to include this matter on the
agenda for the Annual Parish
Meeting to be held in
about two months time. This
meeting approved the
opening of a special fund involving house to
house collection, in order to
finance
the building of an outside fire escape.
This money raised by the
community of Cowling enabled the Management Committee to order the provision
of a Fire Escape which was erected by May 1957. It is recorded that
£100 was donated by the local
firm of John Binns & Son which was a very
generous
gift.
This same firm had been very generous since 1946, and had
donated
£250 over the years. The Directors of another local
textile
firm,
John Hartley (Cowling) Ltd, paid for the
decoration of the kitchen and the shop.
In 1952 any person of pensionable age was granted free
Membership, but most of the older loyal members still
continued to pay their fee as a token of their continued
support for the Institute.
The Management now considered that they had sufficient money
in hand to carry out a long overdue face lift to the
Assembly Hall.
Re-decoration
was carried out, pelmets and
curtains were hung on all the windows for the first time,
and improvements made to the stage frontage. To celebrate
the opening of the room after the completion of these
improvements, a Grand Military Whist Drive was held in the room on Friday of
one weekend, when Bumper Prizes were
offered. On Saturday
the Del Rio
Accordion
Band played for dancing, where
refreshments were provided. Special thanks
were due to the wives of the Members of
the Social and Management
Committee who were responsible for making up the
curtains.
Learie Constantine guest judge at Cricket
Club Carnival Night,
Village Hall Cowling - Date: 1930s
In 1959 a Youth Club was formed in the village to be run by
volunteers, and an application was made to the Management
Committee for permission to hire the Assembly Hall for
their meeting on one evening a week. The application was
approved subject to certain conditions which the Youth Club
Committee agreed to accept. When they got established they
asked for an extra evening for the training of a Table
Tennis Team and other activities. With the Assembly Hall
being situated on the first floor it was not ideal for some
of the activities which took place as the people attending
meetings on the ground floor suffered from the noise.
There was a period when trouble was being experienced from
the Junior Members of the Institute who very often had the
building to themselves. They ware fooling about, and causing
damage particularly in the Billiard Room. It was therefore
passed that the Junior Membership be discontinued, and the
minimum age for full Membership be 15 years but youths under 21 were
required to make application for Membership to the Social Committee. However
it was
reported
at their
next
meeting that no applications had been received from anyone
under 21, but that the Billiard Room was
in constant use, mostly by last years Junior Members. It was agreed
that the Billiard Room be locked up as
from that night, and any
applications submitted in the future to be considered only
at the convenience of the Committee.
In 1961 another crisis was appearing in the life, of the
building. The older Members were becoming less in numbers
and those remaining were not using the Institute as
regularly. In
addition the Members of the Social
Committee
were also dwindling in numbers. This Committee had done
stirling
work for 15 years practically unchanged in personnel, helping with the daily
running of the premises, being responsible for locking up at night and
generally
supervising activities. Two facts probably contributed to
this situation, which certainly changed the lifestyle of a
lot of
people. One being the introduction of shift working
and the other the increased popularity of
television in the home. Most of
the personnel of the Social Committee also
served on the Management Committee and
at a Management Committee meeting in January the Social Committee Secretary
reported the
complete breakdown of the duty rota, and his members wished to resign from
both Committees.
A public meeting was called in February 1961, and the
position explained to 50 residents who were present. Unless
a complete Management Committee could be formed, some of the
rooms in the Institute would have to be closed. Only one
person amongst these present was prepared to stand on the
Committee, It was then suggested that another public
meeting be called also inviting all organisations who use the
Institute to nominate two of their Members to attend,
the object again to try and form a Management
Committee.
This meeting was duly
held and about half of the organisations
invited were represented, but again no headway was made in achieving a
satisfactory solution to the problem. It was passed that the meeting
be closed and the matter left
with the Parish Council to deal with as they thought best.
An Extraordinary Meeting of the Village Institute Management
Committee, which now comprised members of the Parish Council
only, was held in March 1961, the first item to be dealt
with
was the consideration of the security of the building
if it was to be used in a more limited
way. This was solved by arranging for the members of the Parish Council
themselves, the Clerk and two or
three volunteers from, the membership
operating on a rota system to lock the
building at night. The part-time cleaner being responsible for
opening up in the mornings. It was agreed
that the Billiard Room remain
closed until September 30th, and that the Assembly Hall be
closed until the same date.
With regard to the ground floor rooms it was decided to try
to keep them open for meetings etc, and for the next ten
years the Parish Council went it alone as it were, in
providing limited facilities, but generally kept the place
open, fortunately, the Parish Council during this time were
a most amicable and dedicated body of people, who
worked together and really got results.
The building being the property on trust to the Parish
Council, they were required by law to submit the separate
accounts of the Village Hall Management Committee for audit
by the District Auditor, because of their complexity they
gave both the District Auditor and the Institute Treasurer,
quite a difficult time. It was thought that the Auditor would
be only too pleased not to be involved with the
Institute accounts, and he suggested that it would be quite
in order for the Parish Council to let the premises to the
Village Institutional Management Committee for a nominal
rent of £5 per annum. Such an arrangement would obviate
the necessity of involving the District Auditor, and the
audit could be carried out by some other suitable person
agreed to by the Management Committee. The Auditor also
pointed out that the Parish Council would be in order in
paying specific accounts such as gas, electricity, rates
or fuel.
These suggestions of
the District Auditor were implemented
which meant that the Finances were considerably improved. The
restriction limiting the spending by the Parish Council
to the maximum 4d. rate, without
Ministerial approval, was also lifted about this period which further
improved the availability of financial
help from the Parish Council. Two legacies, one from the late Tom Snowden, a local poultry
farmer and former member of the Institute and another from the late Norman
E. Snowden, a former Director of John Binns
& Son, were gratefully
accepted.
During these ten years when the Parish Council were acting
alone as the Management Committee, a
policy of carrying out necessary maintenance and improvements when possible
was implemented. The rooms were
being used more than at first had been thought possible, including the Assembly Hall, with
the co-operation of organisations
wishing to use the
facilities.
Some of the major projects carried out included the
following:-
the shop was now empty of stock and unused so including the
small kitchen it was made into one room and fitted out for use
as a kitchen in it's present form. The
misuse of the Billiard Table and
lack of interest in the game resulted in the table being sold and raised
seating surrounding the room taken out, thus making a useful room to
accommodate a larger gathering of
people at meetings. When further
educational classes were
held at the Institute, the room was used three times a week for dressmaking
and soft furnishing classes, which brought in welcome income.
Dealing with the heating system which has always been one of
the most expensive items to consider, the boiler was first
converted from coke to oil burning. This virtually removed
the need for a boiler fire, as all that was now required to
work the system was to set a time clock and operate the steam
valves
to heat the various rooms required. A few years
later a new boiler
was installed and when fuel rocketed in
price, the conversion to gas firing of the boiler was
carried
out,
the Assembly Hall floor was becoming dangerous through splinters breaking
away, and as the boards had become so thin through repeated sanding downs
over the years, it was impossible to patch
up in the worst places. Large sections
of chip board were then laid down, as
anything heavier would have put
too much strain, on the ceilings of the ground floor
rooms. Also in the Assembly Hall a false
ceiling was hung
which gave the room a more modern
appearance
and at the time
considerably
reduced the space to heat.
The North gable-end
was cement rendered as it had not been built with dressed stone and this
caused a problem with damp on the wall at
the rear of the stage. The gable had most likely been left in a rough
state because it was probably
anticipated that a further building would be joined
to the Institute.
A start was also made on
renewing
the electric wiring of
the building.
The most frequent users of the Institute during the 1960's
were: 'The County Council for the Library, three Building Societies, Further
Education Authority for Classes (4 per week), the Youth Club, Male Voice
Choir, Cowling Pensioners,
the Womens' Institute
and regular Whist Drives. The District
Council used a room once a quarter for the collection of rates, as did the
gas and electricity boards for the payment
of accounts. Doctors have also rented
rooms for the
convenience of their patients living in Cowling.
By 1971 some additional support was now coming from members
of the public, including several ladies who offered to serve
on the Committee. More enthusiasm was now apparent, and it
was decided to
redecorate
the entrance hall with the help
of volunteers from the Committee, to their credit the new
lady Members helped with the painting alongside the men.
It was decided to re-name the building, "Cowling Village
Hall" as
most village community centres were referred to as
village halls.
During the last ten years a Pool Table was installed on a
rental basis
for the benefit of the younger members, but the
hire firm
took it back after a few months use because they were
not receiving sufficient profits
from
it's use. The
Committee
than decided to purchase a second hand table which
has since been replaced by another of better quality.
The rewiring of the building has been
completed
and the
mens' toilet modernised.
The day to day running of the village hall is now carried
out by a
representative body of residents who
appreciate
the value of
a building of this
nature,
to the village,
and
are prepared to celebrate
the centenary in
style.
This
present Management Committee deserves our good wishes and
support for the future as they carry on this good work.
Ernest G. Smith
PRESENT
VILLAGE HALL USERS ARE:
British Legion
Conservative Association
Cowling's Old Peoples' Welfare Association
Cowling Parish Church Sunday School
Dancing, Keep-Fit and Patchwork Classes
Plums and Toddlers
The County Council for the Library
The Gala Committee
The Parish Council
Whist Drives
Womens' Institute
The Reading Room Clubs Newspapers, dominoes
etc.
Youth Club
Also the Village Hall is available for hire
for private uses
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