The Village Hall (Charles Hill Community Hall) & Snooker Club
Former Y.M.C.A. Hall
The subject of the Village Hall & Snooker Club is complex and we still have so much more to find out and add.
Please read what we have so far and help us to add to it over time.
This account has been compiled from various written records (former hall committee members and WI members) and the memories of villagers.
The original village hall was a WW1 army hut which was transported in 1919 from Mablethorpe by steam wagon driven by a Mr Clifton.
The land on which it is sited was purchased by Miss Boyes who lived at ‘Byways’ and who gifted it to the Young Mens Christian Association (YMCA).
In the immediate post war period much good work was done around the country by philanthropic individuals who were concerned to “do something” for the men returning from war and it’s possible this project had that goal in mind.
The hut was of wooden shiplap construction with a felt roof. A committee was formed in the village and events organised under the auspices of the YMCA.
During WW2 many functions were held to entertain servicemen based at the nearby Bardney Aerodrome. Whist drives, dances, beetle drives and many other functions were held with funds going mainly to the Red Cross. The Baronet pub was next door and therefore an added attraction for people attending events.
There became two buildings making up the site, the main wooden hut 18’ x 40’, which had been in the village since 1919 and the (snooker) hall originally built by club members in 1962 out of prefabricated sections and measuring 24’ x 30’.
It isn’t clear when the first snooker table was introduced but in 1959 an independent Snooker Club was created. The following year the club became affiliated to the YMCA and went on to form the Horsington Snooker League for clubs in the area. Within five years the league became one of the largest rural leagues in the county. The funds from the snooker club kept the hall in being and was the main stay of the hall until 1977. There were two full sized snooker tables and during the winter months matches were played, on average once a week in the Horsington Snooker League.
The wooden hall was used by the YMCA club for a social evening once a fortnight. It was also hired by villagers for parties, wedding receptions etc. The hall was also being used by groups such as the Tuesday Club and the Women’s Institute. Indeed, the latter paid for the refurbishment of the kitchen.
In 1965 the main male activity in Horsington revolved around the YMCA club and had around 17 members, the majority of whom lived in the village (this paragraph is a WI account and is very charitable as it does not recognise that there were two pubs in the village).
For younger members of the community, up to about 15 years of age, a youth club, organised by the school master and his wife, was held each Friday evening. There were about 21 members who played table tennis, chess. Additionally there was drawing, dancing and listening to records.
It was around the start of the 1960’s that the wooden hall was found to need extensive repairs which the YMCA said it could not finance.
The 1977 Queen’s Silver Jubilee celebrations refocused villagers interest in the hall. Mr Walt Burton, his wife Brenda and Mr Roland “Titch” Hill led the village in an attempt to improve the Hall. The YMCA once again stated they had no funds for improving the hall but would be prepared to sell it if sufficient monies could be raised.
Enough funds were raised by the village and they purchased it. From now on it was a Village Hall, not a YMCA Hut.
A committee was formed and a Constitution draw-up. The first priority was to raise funds to put in toilet facilities and fix the leaking roof. In 1980 a new floor and wall cladding made a dramatic improvement, together with a complete electrical re-wiring, all done with voluntary labour.
The Snooker Club was separated off in the adjacent prefabricated hut with its own committee and fund raising (eventually the prefabricated hut would be replaced with the current modern Lottery funded building). It no longer contributed to the village hall other than paying its annual ground rent.
Many groups and clubs have frequented the village hall over the years, including the WI, the Parish Council and the former Parish Parochial Council. It is the place we go to vote in elections and to discuss matters at the Annual Village Meeting. Currently there are Bingo Nights, Quiz nights, Games Nights, Coffee Mornings, a Summer Fete, the Xmas over 60’s Dinner, Harvest Festival Dinner to name a few.
On 30th October 2023 signs were erected inside and outside the hall to signify that the hall was to be known as ‘The Charles Hill Community Hall’ in memory of Mr. Hill who had been a main stay of the village for many years. He was a past Chairman of the Parish Council and a renowned local employer.
The challenge for the current Village Hall Committee is to keep this 100+ years old wooden hut (which was probably designed to have a short life span) up-to-date amid ever stringent legislation.