Pembridge Parish Hall
Pembridge Parish Hall will be 31 years old in October. It replaced an older village hall which was on land adjacent to the school but had fallen into disrepair. It was clear by the late 1980s that the facility couldn’t continue to function without some serious money being spent on it.
Referendum
The Village Hall management committee, led by Mr Jeff Price, of Bargates, East Street, came up with four options which were put to community charge payers in the parish in a referendum. These were:-
Build a new hall on a new site at a cost of £130,000,
Build a new hall on the existing site at a cost of £125,000,
Keep the existing hall and refurbish it,
Cease to have a village hall.
The advantage of option 1 was the ability to add both car parking and outdoor sports facilities, which weren’t possible at the existing site.
The result of the Referendum was to back option 1, with 67% of those voting supporting this, on a 72% turnout of all 757 community charge payers. Only 1% were prepared to have no village hall, with 10% favouring option 2, and 18% option 3.
Social Hub
The Village Hall was clearly important to residents, for many it was a key part of their social life. The referendum literature listed a host of regular activities which took place there and included:-
Women’s Institute
Films
Dog Training
Jumble Sales
Whist Drives
Arts & Crafts
Lectures
Table Tennis
Parish Council
Men’s Club
Royal British Legion
Horticulture Club
Drama Group
Bingo
Youth Club
Dances
Fund Raising
Birthday Parties
Wedding Receptions
Funding
The project was funded through a combination of fund raising, grants, and loans, with the Parish Council acting as guarantor, a role it still fulfils today. The sale of the site of the old premises raised £35,000, fund raising £10,000,Hereford and Worcester County Council and the Rural Development Council grants of £45,000, a combination of grants and loans from the Parish Council of £35,000 and loans totalling £7,000 from Leominster District Council and the West Midlands Sports Council.
It was estimated that the support from the Parish Council would cost each community charge payer £8.35 per year for 10 years. Today the hall is funded through hiring fees.
With funding in place, the site was purchased by the Parish Council from Mr & Mrs Jenkins of Court House Farm, and Hereford architects, Hook Mason were appointed. After 3 years of planning and building,
It was opened on 31st October 1992, on her 83rd birthday by Mrs Marjorie Lilwall. She was given the honour because she was the oldest resident to have lived in the village all her life. The photograph shows the opening ceremony with Mrs Lilwall accompanied by Chairman Mr Jeff Price.
Volunteers
As now, the Parish Hall was run by volunteers, the committee which managed the transition from the old to the new premises was made up of:-
Chairman; Mr Jeff Price,
Secretary ; Mr John Charles,
Treasurer; Mrs J I Price,
Committee; Mr T Hewitt and Mr I Clements.
All of us who have used the Parish Hall owe a debt of gratitude to these individuals who gave freely of their time and attention to make this facility available and to the trustees who have continued to manage the premises since.
Kay Ingram
June 2023
Sources: Herefordshire County Archives, Correspondence between the village hall committee and Parish Council, Referendum literature and reports in the Hereford Times.
