Victory Hall History
THE EARLY YEARS
Mobberley Parish Council came into existence in 1896 as a result of the Local Government Act of 1894. The new body will have had to learn how to operate under the umbrella of Bucklow Rural District Council which continued to be responsible for roads and housing matters.
Towards the end of the First World War thoughts turned to remembrance of those who had died and also to those who had served returning to the village. A committee was formed: “The Mobberley War Memorial and Victory Hall Fund”. Mr Robert Noton Barclay was its Chairman, John Pearson Pattinson of Newton Hall, Treasurer and William Jackson its Secretary.
Sir Kenneth Crossley of the Old Hall first mooted the idea of a Hall. Rafe Oswald Leycester of Toft Hall, a significant land owner in Mobberley, donated a field opposite Tipping Brow. A conveyance dated 11th May 1920 assigned it to Robert Noton Barclay, John Pearson Pattinson and Richard Garside as trustees.
Robert Noton Barclay’s report of 31st July 1920 describes the site as being large enough not only for the Hall but also for two Lawn Tennis Courts and a Bowling Green. His committee had decided against putting up a temporary construction with the money already raised and instead to postpone, hoping for a fall in “exorbitant” costs so that a building of a more permanent character could be erected. Funds had been raised through collection right across the village by nominated individuals totalling £170 but the major finance came from Robert Barclay himself (£750), Rajar Ltd (£500), sir Kenneth Crossley (£200) and others in a position to pay what were significant amounts one hundred years ago.
Building work cannot have been delayed significantly as on Thursday 29th December 1921 the new building was opened by Mr J L Paton, High Master of Manchester Grammar School.
The report dated May 6th 1922 while reporting on the building, regretted that lack of funds had prevented the provision of Billiard and Reading Rooms. Without this it would be “impossible to form a Village Club “. They believed wings could be built for between £250 and £350 each. Voluntary labour was laying out a Bowling Green.
The Men’s Club must have been constructed soon after, apparently with surplus funds once all debts had been settled for the Hall itself. Sir Robert Noton Barclay is said to have become its first President, a position he held until 1939 when the Second World War intervened. But on the Victory Hall Committee’s paperwork the header has Barclay as its President. Was he president of both or were they seen as the same organisation?
On 20th July 1922, these three trustees conveyed the land to the Parish Council of Mobberley. The Parish Council Minutes refer to their solicitor’s opinion that the Parish Council was the appropriate body to act as trustee. The Trust Deed was dated the following day. It listed the village organisations who would be represented and stated that the Management Committee was expected to provide the funds for maintenance and repair. Chairman, Treasurer and Secretary would be ex-officio but subject to annual re-election. The other committee members were to be elected by their contributing clubs, organisations and societies.
The insurance policy for 1923 with updates to 1941 exists
Not much is known of events for the next years although it is of interest that when Miss Bishop of the Old Hall donated the field at Hall Bank to be used for the recreation of children, it was conveyed to the Victory Hall Committee, not the Parish Council. This reinforces the point that has been a source of contention since, in relation to the Victory Hall itself, implying that the Parish Council did not believe that it was or perhaps was not seen as an appropriate body to manage property. It wasn’t until 1948 that the Victory Hall Committee proposed transferring the ownership to Mobberley Parish Council.
A couple of handwritten notes on the back of the 1949 draft tenancy agreement indicate that in 1931 rent paid by the Club to the Victory Hall committee was reduced from £15 to £10 due to straightened circumstances and later, in 1935 it was reduced either to or by £2 10/- for one year (illegible in part).
In 1937 Mobberley Parish Council paid £90 to the executors of Rafe Oswald Leycester accepting the conveyance of an adjoining piece of land to be used as an “open space or pleasure ground”. The National Council of Social Services wrote in 1938 with their view that the Conveyance did not allow for the land’s use as a car park. Within two years the country was at war and in 1940 the Hall and the adjoining Club were requisitioned for military use and became a NAAFI.
THE POST WAR YEARS
Some of the records of Hugh Mais of Hobcroft House, Chairman of the Victory Hall Committee in the post war years have survived, picking up events immediately after the war when the Hall and Club were returned to the village. They consist largely of the correspondence between Chairman, and Club Secretary (William Ellis of Levi Brown’s – a builder’s yard by the Bird in Hand). Immediately after the war it seems that the new President, Colonel Riddick of Hanson House, and Allan Bradley of the Men’s Club were the prime movers. In April 1946 Bradley wrote to Colonel Riddick with a copy of the accounts for a club in Knutsford as part of a discussion about the provision of bar facilities. Riddick checked with Sedgley Caldecutt, the solicitors, who replied that there was nothing in the Trust Deed to prevent this in Mobberley.
On 16th November 1948 a draft from Hugh Mais shows that the he believed that it “was now time for the relationship with the Men’s Club to be put on a permanent basis” and a draft letter is produced with suggested terms. On 16th June 1949, an agreement was signed by Hugh Mais and Fred Warburton (Chairman and Secretary of the Victory Hall Committee) “hereinafter called the Landlords”, and Francis Allan Bradley and Harold Pike (Chairman and Secretary of the Victory Hall Men’s Club) “the tenants”. It documents that the Club has been occupying certain rooms in the Victory Hall but that there had been no agreement in writing. The Club would now pay £60 per year and adhere to a range of conditions including responsibility for managing the heating system in the Hall and looking after the billiard tables.
The composition of the Committee in 1946, formed in line with the Trust Deed, was as follows:
Parish Council Mrs Barr, Messrs P Gaddum and J Wright
Church Council Messrs C E Moreton, R J Mowle and Rev H S Randle
Wesleyan Chapel Messrs T Dodd and H V Goostrey
Knolls Green Chapel Mr W Thomas
Pepper St Chapel Mr A Hulme
Rajar Works Messrs T Mitchell and J Waldron
May Day Committee Mr S Clough
Men’s Club Messrs F A Bradley and C Worsley
Foresters Mr P Pennington
Mothers Union Mrs Longridge
Women’s Institute Mrs Sayer
Child Welfare Mrs Horton
Cricket Club Mr Clifford Bradley
Co-opted members Miss Bishop, Miss Murray, Messrs N M Agnew, T Horton, G B Hulme, E C C Hunter, W Jackson
Representatives to the Men’s Club Committee: Messrs S Clough, W Ellis, E C C Hunter and S Barr
Sub Committee Chairman, Treasurer Secretary, Messrs S Clough, V Eden and W Jackson
THE EARLY YEARS
Mobberley Parish Council came into existence in 1896 as a result of the Local Government Act of 1894. The new body will have had to learn how to operate under the umbrella of Bucklow Rural District Council which continued to be responsible for roads and housing matters.
Towards the end of the First World War thoughts turned to remembrance of those who had died and also to those who had served returning to the village. A committee was formed: “The Mobberley War Memorial and Victory Hall Fund”. Mr Robert Noton Barclay was its Chairman, John Pearson Pattinson of Newton Hall, Treasurer and William Jackson its Secretary.
Sir Kenneth Crossley of the Old Hall first mooted the idea of a Hall. Rafe Oswald Leycester of Toft Hall, a significant land owner in Mobberley, donated a field opposite Tipping Brow. A conveyance dated 11th May 1920 assigned it to Robert Noton Barclay, John Pearson Pattinson and Richard Garside as trustees.
Robert Noton Barclay’s report of 31st July 1920 describes the site as being large enough not only for the Hall but also for two Lawn Tennis Courts and a Bowling Green. His committee had decided against putting up a temporary construction with the money already raised and instead to postpone, hoping for a fall in “exorbitant” costs so that a building of a more permanent character could be erected. Funds had been raised through collection right across the village by nominated individuals totalling £170 but the major finance came from Robert Barclay himself (£750), Rajar Ltd (£500), sir Kenneth Crossley (£200) and others in a position to pay what were significant amounts one hundred years ago.
Building work cannot have been delayed significantly as on Thursday 29th December 1921 the new building was opened by Mr J L Paton, High Master of Manchester Grammar School.
The report dated May 6th 1922 while reporting on the building, regretted that lack of funds had prevented the provision of Billiard and Reading Rooms. Without this it would be “impossible to form a Village Club “. They believed wings could be built for between £250 and £350 each. Voluntary labour was laying out a Bowling Green.
The Men’s Club must have been constructed soon after, apparently with surplus funds once all debts had been settled for the Hall itself. Sir Robert Noton Barclay is said to have become its first President, a position he held until 1939 when the Second World War intervened. But on the Victory Hall Committee’s paperwork the header has Barclay as its President. Was he president of both or were they seen as the same organisation?
On 20th July 1922, these three trustees conveyed the land to the Parish Council of Mobberley. The Parish Council Minutes refer to their solicitor’s opinion that the Parish Council was the appropriate body to act as trustee. The Trust Deed was dated the following day. It listed the village organisations who would be represented and stated that the Management Committee was expected to provide the funds for maintenance and repair. Chairman, Treasurer and Secretary would be ex-officio but subject to annual re-election. The other committee members were to be elected by their contributing clubs, organisations and societies.
The insurance policy for 1923 with updates to 1941 exists
Not much is known of events for the next years although it is of interest that when Miss Bishop of the Old Hall donated the field at Hall Bank to be used for the recreation of children, it was conveyed to the Victory Hall Committee, not the Parish Council. This reinforces the point that has been a source of contention since, in relation to the Victory Hall itself, implying that the Parish Council did not believe that it was or perhaps was not seen as an appropriate body to manage property. It wasn’t until 1948 that the Victory Hall Committee proposed transferring the ownership to Mobberley Parish Council.
A couple of handwritten notes on the back of the 1949 draft tenancy agreement indicate that in 1931 rent paid by the Club to the Victory Hall committee was reduced from £15 to £10 due to straightened circumstances and later, in 1935 it was reduced either to or by £2 10/- for one year (illegible in part).
In 1937 Mobberley Parish Council paid £90 to the executors of Rafe Oswald Leycester accepting the conveyance of an adjoining piece of land to be used as an “open space or pleasure ground”. The National Council of Social Services wrote in 1938 with their view that the Conveyance did not allow for the land’s use as a car park. Within two years the country was at war and in 1940 the Hall and the adjoining Club were requisitioned for military use and became a NAAFI.
THE POST WAR YEARS
Some of the records of Hugh Mais of Hobcroft House, Chairman of the Victory Hall Committee in the post war years have survived, picking up events immediately after the war when the Hall and Club were returned to the village. They consist largely of the correspondence between Chairman, and Club Secretary (William Ellis of Levi Brown’s – a builder’s yard by the Bird in Hand). Immediately after the war it seems that the new President, Colonel Riddick of Hanson House, and Allan Bradley of the Men’s Club were the prime movers. In April 1946 Bradley wrote to Colonel Riddick with a copy of the accounts for a club in Knutsford as part of a discussion about the provision of bar facilities. Riddick checked with Sedgley Caldecutt, the solicitors, who replied that there was nothing in the Trust Deed to prevent this in Mobberley.
On 16th November 1948 a draft from Hugh Mais shows that the he believed that it “was now time for the relationship with the Men’s Club to be put on a permanent basis” and a draft letter is produced with suggested terms. On 16th June 1949, an agreement was signed by Hugh Mais and Fred Warburton (Chairman and Secretary of the Victory Hall Committee) “hereinafter called the Landlords”, and Francis Allan Bradley and Harold Pike (Chairman and Secretary of the Victory Hall Men’s Club) “the tenants”. It documents that the Club has been occupying certain rooms in the Victory Hall but that there had been no agreement in writing. The Club would now pay £60 per year and adhere to a range of conditions including responsibility for managing the heating system in the Hall and looking after the billiard tables.
The composition of the Committee in 1946, formed in line with the Trust Deed, was as follows:
Parish Council Mrs Barr, Messrs P Gaddum and J Wright
Church Council Messrs C E Moreton, R J Mowle and Rev H S Randle
Wesleyan Chapel Messrs T Dodd and H V Goostrey
Knolls Green Chapel Mr W Thomas
Pepper St Chapel Mr A Hulme
Rajar Works Messrs T Mitchell and J Waldron
May Day Committee Mr S Clough
Men’s Club Messrs F A Bradley and C Worsley
Foresters Mr P Pennington
Mothers Union Mrs Longridge
Women’s Institute Mrs Sayer
Child Welfare Mrs Horton
Cricket Club Mr Clifford Bradley
Co-opted members Miss Bishop, Miss Murray, Messrs N M Agnew, T Horton, G B Hulme, E C C Hunter, W Jackson
Representatives to the Men’s Club Committee: Messrs S Clough, W Ellis, E C C Hunter and S Barr
Sub Committee Chairman, Treasurer Secretary, Messrs S Clough, V Eden and W Jackson