Memories
Opening of Welfare Hall, Thurcroft
About 200 persons assembled at the Thurcroft Welfare Hall one Saturday afternoon for the opening of the new parts that were added to the building.
The opening ceremony was performed by Captain C. F. Ward Jones, General Manager of the Rother Vale Colliery's branch of the United Steel Companies Ltd.
Prior to the building of the Welfare Hall, Thurcroft had no suitable building in which to hold social functions. The building of the hall was made possible by the first allocation of the Welfare Fund to Thurcroft. The hall cost upwards of £6,000 and it was opened in August, 1925. The hall consisted originally of a main hall, stage, small side rooms for games and meetings, a reading room, library, kitchen, lavatories cloakrooms etc.
The building of the additions was the result of a second allocation from the Welfare Fund. The cost the additions was £2,162. The new parts comprised of a bathroom with shower and bath, a billiard room with two tables, a dressing room a new kitchen and a corridor. The stage of the original hall had been set back and enlarged, thus giving more floor space to the hall. Two dressing rooms one at each side of the stage were also built and the old kitchen made into a ladies cloakroom.
A Bowling Green was laid at the back of the hall.
Mr. H. R. Atkinson of Thurcroft was the architect for the additions. The general contracting was done by James Cooper & Sons of Conisbrough and the electric lighting installation by Deans Electrical Engineering of Rotherham. The Billiard Room was fitted out by Messrs. Burrows and Watt. The Bowling Green laid out by Messrs. Lin-Tout-Cas, used Cumberland Turf. The green was enclosed by an oak fence.
Told by Vera Brockbank