Winchelsea New Hall has its 100th birthday and is celebrating with a Grand Centenary Ball!
To celebrate our much-loved community hall’s 100th anniversary, we are putting on a grand Centenary Ball on Saturday 27th June. Everyone from the local area is warmly welcome. The hall will be decorated in a black, white and silver art deco theme, there will be a cocktail bar as well as a regular wine and beer bar and the students from Hastings College will be serving us with a lovely range of savoury and sweet canapes. Welcome drinks on arrival are being sponsored by Charles Palmer Vineyard.
However, perhaps the most exciting element of the evening will be the music; we will have live 1920s/jazz music from The Joe Thompson Trio with Sally Creedon. Jo Thompson has served up his unique version of party jazz for many royal audiences, including the late Queen’s 90th and King Charles’ 70th birthday. Joe was once described by Diana Krall as “her favourite piano player in life.”
Sally Creedon is a versatile jazz vocalist and tours the UK with her Carpenters Show. With the brilliant Sophie Alloway on drums and Rob Rickenburg on bass, you are guaranteed an evening of great music!
Tickets are £35, including a welcome drink and canapes. Go to winchelsea.com/new-hall/new-hall-centenary or email newhall@winchelsea.com or call Rosemarie Roberts 07941 458628.
The New Hall was built in 1926, a hundred years ago this year, following a generous donation of land and money from residents in the town. It fell on hard times in the 1960’s and almost closed due to lack of money due to “the popularity of television and the road which is no longer a country lane.”
The hall was found to be structurally unsound in the 1940s as in previous years the wall ties supporting the roof had been removed to accommodate the badminton club! Remedial work was undertaken to support the roof but by the 1990’s it was deemed unsafe again and was closed for seven years before being rescued by a dedicated group of local people.
Since it was built, the hall has been used for a wide variety of activities; it was the lunchtime canteen for children from the junior school (before the current school opened in 1966), it has seen many royal coronation and jubilee celebrations, Christmas parties, dances, pantomimes, plays and music concerts, and regular Women’s Institute events. Whist Drives and groups playing canasta kept the hall busy week to week.
Today the New Hall is probably in a stronger position than it ever has been. It is financially sound, it has a new kitchen, new toilets, new chairs and new windows.
Bookings in the hall today are a million miles away from the preferred card games of the past. Pilates, Zumba, Keep Fit, Singing, Scottish dancing, Art Classes and local clubs and societies keep the hall booked almost every day of the week. Over the year, typically three or four wedding receptions are held and it provides lunches and teas for the summer fete, hosts the Christmas fair and teas for the open gardens to mention but a few.
Whether you are a regular user of the hall or just like the sound of a great community night to remember we hope you can attend. And for those who love to dance (it’s definitely not compulsory!) we will be holding free charleston lessons in the hall for those ticket holders who are interested in early June.
Image Credits: Alison Casey .