The First of Two Articles about Sawley Memorial Hall
In October 1944 Clem Gregory from Old Sawley and Harry Kingscott from New Sawley were talking about Sawley having no war memorial, and came up with an idea of something practical to commemorate the Sawley men who had died in both world wars. A meeting was called in the TOC-H room and Tony Marmont (who ran Carters) was elected as president of the provisional committee, with Cecil Kingscott as secretary. It was decided to build a memorial hall, as the village did not have an all-purpose community building.
A public meeting was held in the National School in January in 1945 and the committee of the Sawley Memorial Hall Committee was formally appointed. The original members were: Tony Marmont, Arthur Stapleton, Cecil Kingscott, Clem and Doris Gregory, Harry and Annie Kingscott, Mr B Smith, George Smith, Mr F Reid, Mr F Gallager, Mr L Hogg, Mr W Linley, Mr J Pearson, Mr A Freeman, Rev R Gerald Harcombe, Mrs Simpson, Mrs Bosworth, Mrs Annie Merry, Mrs Lily Flint, Mrs Smedley, Mrs White and ‘Madam Rose Bates’. They paid 10/ (shillings) each to start the fundraising, then 3d (threepence) each per meeting, to cover the cost of the meeting room.
Mrs Leslie Hogg and Wesley Meads were co-opted to the committee at the next meeting. Clem Gregory became the President; he was succeeded in the 1950s by his son in law, (George) Ronald Craggs and then by Cyril Reedman. Harry Kingscott was treasurer until his death in 1956.
At first, money was raised with dances, raffles and whist drives. Then they had the idea of reinstating the Sawley Carnivals, which had been held before the war. It was held in a field at Clem’s Ladylea Farm, off Wilne Road. Cecil Kingscott had been at school with Mary Clegg, who became Mrs Attenborough, and he used his friendship to persuade her film star son, Richard Attenborough, to open the first Carnival in 1949.
When Richard returned in 1950 with his equally famous wife Sheila Sim, an estimated 10,000 people attended the opening.
The Carnival raised over £300 in good years. There was also a procession, along Tamworth Road, into Shaftesbury Avenue, Grosvenor Avenue, Firs Street, Arnold Avenue, Plant Lane and Draycott Road.
The Carnival had to compete with other events run, for example, by the Baptist Church, the WI and the Sawley Conservatives. Also, the annual Church Fete, which in 1953 was opened by Norman Painting, an actor from the BBC radio show ‘The Archers’. By 1955, after a couple of years of bad weather, the Carnival was running at a loss.
The 1955 Carnival was opened by a Mrs Newton, originally from Draycott, who lived in New York and was on holiday in England. In 1956 the Carnival was replaced by a garden party at Bothe Hall.
Next month: Acquiring more funding for the Memorial Hall, aquiring the site, design and the opening.
