Widmer End Residents' Association

The History of our village hall, recreation ground and tennis courts

Just after the Second World War the residents of Widmer End decided that the tin hut on North Road was too small for recreational activities.  Cricket and football were played on a field which adjoined North Road, but that was part of Widmer end Farm and it was acknowledged that the farmer could decide to plough it up at any time.  Two groups were formed and were independently arranging collections for a recreation ground and a village hall respectively. The two groups pooled resources and the Village Hall and Playing Fields fund was formed on 11^th June 1948.

The first working group met on 4^th July 1948.  They decided to approach the farmer of Grange Farm with a view to acquiring a suitable plot of land. Mr Wheeler offered a 3.5 acre field and the Village Hall & Playing Fields committee agreed a price of £315 to purchase the plot.

A village junior cricket club started using the land straight way, having raised funds for equipment through various book & toy sales as well as a door to door collection. The intention was that football would be played on the same field, but there were on going issues with the fact that football would destroy the cricket square and there were many discussions to try and work out a way to accommodate both.

When the land was acquired the area was fenced off to prevent any farm animals straying on to the land but an extra area of land was inadvertently enclosed. Mr Wheeler, the farmer, agreed to rent that area at a peppercorn rent and some swings and a sand pit were installed in October 1949. This additional area is where the tennis club now stands.

In 1951 a letter was written to the town planning officer requesting approval for “particulars of preparation needed at the moment for the erection of a Village Hall at some date in the future”. In the same year the committee was asked if tennis courts could be provided at the Rec. The chairman said that suitable land could be allocated for tennis, but the tennis club would have to fund the set-up of the courts. No-one was prepared to do that at that time and so the idea was put on hold.

 The Village Hall in 1962

It wasn’t until 1960 that the village hall project finally started and, some twenty years after the fund was started, the building was completed and officially opened in April 1962 having taken four months to build. 

At that time the playground was moved to it’s current location and two grass tennis courts were installed at the current site of the tennis club. Further information about their development is in the tennis club’s article in this issue of the newsletter.

These details are extracted from ‘Widmer End a Village Story’ written by Trevor W R Dean.

The latest addition on the recreation ground is this tree donated by The Women’s Institute and planted by volunteers from The Grange Area Trust.

Village Hall in 2018 after two extensions.