Workingman's Institute and Memorial Hall
Encyclopedia
Workingman's Institute and Memorial Hall (The Institute and Memo) is the multipurpose centre in Newbridge in South Wales
which includes a memorial to those from the town who died in the two World Wars. It is also houses a library
, reading rooms, an art deco cinema
, a dance floor and a theatre. The Hall was built in 1908, and in 1924 the Memorial Hall was added. The whole project was paid for form small contributions from the local miners.
A Workmen's institute was necessary to create greater social meeting and other activities and the committee secured the freehold site for £300. Community members W.N.Jones, V.Phillips, H.Badge, and H.J.Thomas were of crucial importance in this process, they also raised the money to erect the building. The Newbridge Workingman's Institute building was constructed by a commissioned architect R. L. Roberts. It was officially opened in 1908 by Mr. John Beynon
the owner of the Celynen Colliery.
In this building were: an extensive library
, billiards room (four tables), committee room, and a reading room.
In October 1914 the British Army
entered the First World War, and Newbridge delivered on front line coal and soldiers. Demobilisation was passed in November 1920, but not all the town's young men returned home. Newbridge decided to construct a memorial to those who had died in the war. The memorial's contractor
was Ewart Evans and it cost about £10,000. The building was erected under the oversight of by E. D. T. Jenkins architect and opened in 1924; local residents named it the 'Memo'. In this building were: a picture house and stage
on the upper floor, with a dancehall
, along with dressing room facilities, on the lower floor. After the Second World War the 'Memo' also became a monument to victims of that war too.
Mining eventually ceased in the mid-1980s, after persevering on through the 1926 United Kingdom general strike
, the 1930s Depression
and post-war nationalisation, but became unsustainable following the UK miners' strike (1984-1985), with the Institute becoming a drinking club.
In 2004, when the local council was considering purchasing the land for a car park, a public meeting called by local MP Don Touhig
, led to the formation of The Friends of Newbridge Memo, who managed to have the building selected as one of the potential projects on the BBC2 programme Restoration
.
BBC has shown this series about July 19, 2004. They narrowly missed winning the final but received assistance from the Heritage Lottery Fund
to begin the long process of raising money to restore both buildings.
After a development grant was awarded by the Heritage Lottery Fund in the summer of 2009, Cadw
and Caerphilly County Borough Council
are actively supporting the scheme and the Big Lottery awarded £500,000 in December 2009.
in Wales between the wars. Productions included Henrik Ibsen
's "Ghosts" produced by E. Eynon Evans
and starring Donald Houston
. In the 1930s-1950s The Memo was also a popular music hall. Artistes included Mrs. Clara Novello Davies
, Webster Booth
, Anne Ziegler
, Owen Brannigan
, John Hargraves and accompanist Gerald Moore
, Joe Loss
.
From the mid 1970s through the 1980s, the Memo became a concert venue for rock bands. Bands included Iron Maiden
, Dave Edmunds
, Dire Straits
(June 25, 1978; Dire Straits tour
), The Stranglers
, The Cars
, Motörhead, Whitesnake
, Vinegar Joe
, Red Hot Pokers, Paul Young
, Mickey Gee
, Paul King
, The Groundhogs
, Shakin Stevens, Dr. Feelgood
, Tom Robinson Band
, Marillion
.
This building has also been used in filming scenes for television and radio, which have included Restoration
for the BBC (2004), Ghost Stories for ITV Wales, and the movies Very Annie Mary
(2001) and Flick
(2008).
South Wales
South Wales is an area of Wales bordered by England and the Bristol Channel to the east and south, and Mid Wales and West Wales to the north and west. The most densely populated region in the south-west of the United Kingdom, it is home to around 2.1 million people and includes the capital city of...
which includes a memorial to those from the town who died in the two World Wars. It is also houses a library
Library
In a traditional sense, a library is a large collection of books, and can refer to the place in which the collection is housed. Today, the term can refer to any collection, including digital sources, resources, and services...
, reading rooms, an art deco cinema
Movie theater
A movie theater, cinema, movie house, picture theater, film theater is a venue, usually a building, for viewing motion pictures ....
, a dance floor and a theatre. The Hall was built in 1908, and in 1924 the Memorial Hall was added. The whole project was paid for form small contributions from the local miners.
History
The history of this centre begun when a group of local miners created a committee for the improvement of social conditions of miners in Newbridge in 1898. This committee occupied a room in the Beaufort Arms hotel in Bridge Street, later two rooms in coffee tavern in the village. Coal was vital to the economy and industry of Great Britain and the Newbridge miners wanted to improve themselves in a world where the labour force was becoming more and more important. The miners committee moved to more spacious premises when the proprietor of a coffee shop in the village has allocated with it two rooms in the institution.A Workmen's institute was necessary to create greater social meeting and other activities and the committee secured the freehold site for £300. Community members W.N.Jones, V.Phillips, H.Badge, and H.J.Thomas were of crucial importance in this process, they also raised the money to erect the building. The Newbridge Workingman's Institute building was constructed by a commissioned architect R. L. Roberts. It was officially opened in 1908 by Mr. John Beynon
Sir John Beynon, 1st Baronet
Sir John Wyndham Beynon, 1st Baronet CBE was a Welsh iron and steel manufacturer and coal owner.Beynon was born in Castleton, Monmouthshire...
the owner of the Celynen Colliery.
In this building were: an extensive library
Library
In a traditional sense, a library is a large collection of books, and can refer to the place in which the collection is housed. Today, the term can refer to any collection, including digital sources, resources, and services...
, billiards room (four tables), committee room, and a reading room.
In October 1914 the British Army
British Army
The British Army is the land warfare branch of Her Majesty's Armed Forces in the United Kingdom. It came into being with the unification of the Kingdom of England and Scotland into the Kingdom of Great Britain in 1707. The new British Army incorporated Regiments that had already existed in England...
entered the First World War, and Newbridge delivered on front line coal and soldiers. Demobilisation was passed in November 1920, but not all the town's young men returned home. Newbridge decided to construct a memorial to those who had died in the war. The memorial's contractor
General contractor
A general contractor is responsible for the day-to-day oversight of a construction site, management of vendors and trades, and communication of information to involved parties throughout the course of a building project.-Description:...
was Ewart Evans and it cost about £10,000. The building was erected under the oversight of by E. D. T. Jenkins architect and opened in 1924; local residents named it the 'Memo'. In this building were: a picture house and stage
Stage (theatre)
In theatre or performance arts, the stage is a designated space for the performance productions. The stage serves as a space for actors or performers and a focal point for the members of the audience...
on the upper floor, with a dancehall
Dance hall
Dance hall in its general meaning is a hall for dancing. From the earliest years of the twentieth century until the early 1960s, the dance hall was the popular forerunner of the discothèque or nightclub...
, along with dressing room facilities, on the lower floor. After the Second World War the 'Memo' also became a monument to victims of that war too.
Mining eventually ceased in the mid-1980s, after persevering on through the 1926 United Kingdom general strike
1926 United Kingdom general strike
The 1926 general strike in the United Kingdom was a general strike that lasted nine days, from 4 May 1926 to 13 May 1926. It was called by the general council of the Trades Union Congress in an unsuccessful attempt to force the British government to act to prevent wage reduction and worsening...
, the 1930s Depression
Great Depression
The Great Depression was a severe worldwide economic depression in the decade preceding World War II. The timing of the Great Depression varied across nations, but in most countries it started in about 1929 and lasted until the late 1930s or early 1940s...
and post-war nationalisation, but became unsustainable following the UK miners' strike (1984-1985), with the Institute becoming a drinking club.
In 2004, when the local council was considering purchasing the land for a car park, a public meeting called by local MP Don Touhig
Don Touhig
James Donnelly Touhig, Baron Touhig, PC, KSS is a British Labour Co-operative politician from Wales. He was the Member of Parliament for Islwyn from 1995 until his retirement in 2010.-Early life:...
, led to the formation of The Friends of Newbridge Memo, who managed to have the building selected as one of the potential projects on the BBC2 programme Restoration
Restoration (TV series)
Restoration, Restoration, Restoration is a set of BBC television series where viewers decided on which listed building that was in immediate need of remedial works was to win a grant from Heritage Lottery Fund...
.
BBC has shown this series about July 19, 2004. They narrowly missed winning the final but received assistance from the Heritage Lottery Fund
Heritage Lottery Fund
The Heritage Lottery Fund is a fund established in the United Kingdom under the National Lottery etc. Act 1993. The Fund opened for applications in 1994. It uses money raised through the National Lottery to transform and sustain the UK’s heritage...
to begin the long process of raising money to restore both buildings.
After a development grant was awarded by the Heritage Lottery Fund in the summer of 2009, Cadw
Cadw
-Conservation and Protection:Many of Wales's great castles and other monuments, such as bishop's palaces, historic houses, and ruined abbeys, are now in Cadw's care. Cadw does not own them but is responsible for their upkeep and for making them accessible to the public...
and Caerphilly County Borough Council
Caerphilly County Borough Council
Caerphilly County Borough Council is the governing body for Caerphilly , one of the Principal Areas of Wales.- Current composition :- Historic results :-Electoral divisions:...
are actively supporting the scheme and the Big Lottery awarded £500,000 in December 2009.
Entertainment
The centre was popular as an amateur theatreAmateur theatre
Amateur theatre is theatre performed by amateur actors. These actors are not typically members of Actors' Equity groups or Actors' Unions as these organizations exist to protect the professional industry and therefore discourage their members from appearing with companies which are not a signatory...
in Wales between the wars. Productions included Henrik Ibsen
Henrik Ibsen
Henrik Ibsen was a major 19th-century Norwegian playwright, theatre director, and poet. He is often referred to as "the father of prose drama" and is one of the founders of Modernism in the theatre...
's "Ghosts" produced by E. Eynon Evans
Eynon Evans
Eynon Evans also known as E. Eynon Rees was a Welsh writer and film actor of the 1950s, mainly known for his radio and television work. During the 1940s he appeared on the BBC radio variety show Welsh Rarebit as the comedic character Tommy Troubles, reaching an audience of 12 million.-Career...
and starring Donald Houston
Donald Houston
Donald Daniel Houston was a Welsh actor whose first two films – The Blue Lagoon with Jean Simmons, and A Run for Your Money with Sir Alec Guinness – were highly successful...
. In the 1930s-1950s The Memo was also a popular music hall. Artistes included Mrs. Clara Novello Davies
Clara Novello Davies
Clara Novello Davies was a well-known Welsh singer, teacher and conductor.Clara Novello Davies was born in Cardiff to Jacob, a miner, and Margaret Davies and named after Clara Novello, a famous soprano . Her father, leader of the church choir, taught her to play the harmonium...
, Webster Booth
Webster Booth
Leslie Webster Booth , better known by his stage name, Webster Booth, was a British tenor. He is largely remembered today as the duettist partner of Anne Ziegler, but he was also one of the finest British tenors of his generation and was a distinguished oratorio soloist.He was a chorister at...
, Anne Ziegler
Anne Ziegler
Anne Ziegler was an English singer, known for her light operatic duets with her husband Webster Booth. The pair were known as the "Sweethearts in Song" and were among the most famous and popular British musical acts of the 1940s.-Life and career:She was born Irené Frances Eastwood in the Sefton...
, Owen Brannigan
Owen Brannigan
Owen Brannigan OBE was an English bass, known in opera for buffo roles and in concert for a wide range of solo parts in music ranging from Henry Purcell to Michael Tippett...
, John Hargraves and accompanist Gerald Moore
Gerald Moore
Gerald Moore CBE was an English pianist best known for his career as one of the most in-demand accompanists of his day, accompanying many of the world's most famous musicians...
, Joe Loss
Joe Loss
Joshua Alexander "Joe" Loss LVO OBE was a British musician and founder of the Joe Loss Orchestra.-Life:Loss was born in Spitalfields, London, the youngest of four children. His parents, Israel and Ada Loss, were Russian Jews and first cousins. His father was a cabinet-maker who had an office...
.
From the mid 1970s through the 1980s, the Memo became a concert venue for rock bands. Bands included Iron Maiden
Iron Maiden
Iron Maiden are an English heavy metal band from Leyton in east London, formed in 1975 by bassist and primary songwriter Steve Harris. Since their inception, the band's discography has grown to include a total of thirty-six albums: fifteen studio albums; eleven live albums; four EPs; and six...
, Dave Edmunds
Dave Edmunds
David 'Dave' Edmunds is a Welsh singer, guitarist and record producer. Although he is primarily associated with Pub rock and New Wave, and had numerous hits in the 1970s and early 1980s, his natural leaning has always been towards 1950s style rock and roll.-Early bands:As a teenager Edmunds first...
, Dire Straits
Dire Straits
Dire Straits were a British rock band active from 1977 to 1995, composed of Mark Knopfler , his younger brother David Knopfler , John Illsley , and Pick Withers .Dire Straits' sound drew from a variety of musical influences, including jazz, folk, blues, and came closest...
(June 25, 1978; Dire Straits tour
Dire Straits tour
Dire Straits tour was the first concert tour of Dire Straits held in 1978.On it, songs from the debut album of the group Dire Straits were played.- Overview :...
), The Stranglers
The Stranglers
The Stranglers are an English punk/rock music group.Scoring some 23 UK top 40 singles and 17 UK top 40 albums to date in a career spanning five decades, the Stranglers are the longest-surviving and most "continuously successful" band to have originated in the UK punk scene of the mid to late 1970s...
, The Cars
The Cars
The Cars are an American rock band that emerged from the early New Wave music scene in the late 1970s. The band consisted of lead singer and rhythm guitarist Ric Ocasek, lead singer and bassist Benjamin Orr, guitarist Elliot Easton, keyboardist Greg Hawkes and drummer David Robinson...
, Motörhead, Whitesnake
Whitesnake
Whitesnake are an English rock band, founded in 1978 by David Coverdale after his departure from his previous band, Deep Purple. The band's early material has been compared by critics to Deep Purple, but by the mid 1980s they had moved to a more commercial hard rock style...
, Vinegar Joe
Vinegar Joe (band)
Vinegar Joe were a British R&B band. They issued three albums on Island Records, but were best known for their live shows and launching the solo careers of Elkie Brooks and Robert Palmer.-History:...
, Red Hot Pokers, Paul Young
Paul Young (singer and guitarist)
Paul Antony Young is an English pop musician. Formerly the frontman of the short-lived bands Kat Kool & The Kool Cats, Streetband and Q-Tips, his following solo success as a solo recording artist turned him into a 1980s teenage pop idol...
, Mickey Gee
Mickey Gee
Michael Richard 'Mickey' Gee was a rock and roll guitarist who played alongside some of the most prominent Welsh musicians of the last forty years.He died on 21 January 2009 in Cardiff from emphysema.-Career:...
, Paul King
Paul King (musician)
Paul Malcolm King , was a member of Mungo Jerry between 1970 and 1972. He contributed occasional lead vocals, and played acoustic guitar , banjo, harmonica, kazoo and jug...
, The Groundhogs
The Groundhogs
Groundhogs are a British rock band founded in late 1963, that toured extensively in the 1960s, achieved prominence in the early 1970s and continued sporadically into the 21st century.-Career:...
, Shakin Stevens, Dr. Feelgood
Dr. Feelgood
Dr. Feelgood may refer to:In music:*Dr. Feelgood , an album by American band Mötley Crüe**"Dr. Feelgood" , a single and the title track from that album*"Dr. Feel Good", a song by Travie McCoy on the album Lazarus...
, Tom Robinson Band
Tom Robinson Band
Tom Robinson Band were a British rock band, established in 1976 by singer, songwriter and bassist Tom Robinson...
, Marillion
Marillion
Marillion are a British rock band, formed in Aylesbury, England in 1979. Their recorded studio output comprises sixteen albums generally regarded in two distinct eras, delineated by the departure of original vocalist & frontman Fish in late 1988, and the subsequent arrival of replacement Steve...
.
This building has also been used in filming scenes for television and radio, which have included Restoration
Restoration (TV series)
Restoration, Restoration, Restoration is a set of BBC television series where viewers decided on which listed building that was in immediate need of remedial works was to win a grant from Heritage Lottery Fund...
for the BBC (2004), Ghost Stories for ITV Wales, and the movies Very Annie Mary
Very Annie Mary
Very Annie Mary is a 2001 comedy film and musical from the United Kingdom, written and directed by Sara Sugarman and starring Rachel Griffiths and Jonathan Pryce. It is a coming-of-age tale, set in south Wales, about a woman in her 30s who lives with her verbally abusive father...
(2001) and Flick
Flick (film)
Flick is a campy British horror film written and directed by David Howard, and starring Hugh O'Conor and Faye Dunaway. It had its theatrical release in 2008, and the DVD of the film was released in the United Kingdom on 19 October 2009...
(2008).