Stowupland's Village Hall, a history
Our village hall was built in the 1950s being officially opened in 1956, click links below to see brief pictorial records from SLHG archives about:
In order to be eligible for a grant towards the construction costs the hall had to be built by volunteers. (This photo is from the 1954 report of the Suffolk Rural Coommunity Council
When the hall was built it stood within a muddy field. A SLHG member remembers seeing a Suffolk Punch grazing with its foal on the field where the hall was to be built. Read Neil Langridge’s article on Building the Village Hall_ Stowupland Leads the Way, and The Story continues by Sandra Walker.
Stowupland’s ability to build their own village hall using only voluntary labour of local people was seen to be quite an acheivement. This report appeared on the pages of the 1954 Suffolk Rural Community Council, it was just one amongst other parishes notes on their own progress towards erecting their own halls.
In 1957 Jack Carter was interviewed in Stowupland by Paul Humphreys about the village project to built the village hall using voluntary labour. Also present for the interview was Nurse Minns. The interview was broadcast on the Midland Region programme ‘In The Country.’
This old photo of Lenny Wade was published in 2012 in Telstar. The village hall can be seen in the background. More photos of Lenny Wade in action can be seen in farming practices.
Over the years it has become the centre for many village activities. The indoor space been used for events and by groups requiring protection from the elements whilst the surrounding open space is used by various sports groups.
The tarmac-ed car park that surrounds most of the hall has been extended over the years as more and more people drive into the village to use the facilities along the A1120.
In 1990 to the rear of the hall, the Stowupland Sports and Social Club was built to cater for the increasing numbers of local people playing for Stowupland cricket and football teams and to provide a social space to entertain visiting teams..
In 1993 new gas central heating was installed in the hall, according to a Telstar article ‘it really does feel much warmer as you enter the hall’.
In 1997 a ‘suspended ceiling’ was installed.
