A lot of boys and girls spend many happy nights in the Club doing all manner of activities
The Boys and Girls Club was in the Taylor family’s house by the side of the Percy Arms. I don’t know how it came about or as to why they left, and it was turned into the Club.
Previous to getting our own building, the YMCA put an activity on in the Council School, I think twice a week. I loved the vaulting horse and table tennis. There was boxing and other less strenuous games, but it was only usually a stop gap solution to our own Boys and Girls Club.
To get the Taylor’s big house ready for use, a lot of work had to be done. Mr Rhymer Hall and Mr Blakey were the men who oversaw the work and did a lot of the work. We scraped walls, carried materials and took out rubbish. Mr Hall and Mr Blakey did joinery jobs and changed doors, then it was distempered and painted. Finally, a large sign was put up with the name on it.
A lot of boys and girls spent many happy nights in the Club doing all manner of activities, there was no room for a vaulting horse, so I concentrated on table tennis and became quite good at it.
I cannot remember when or why it closed but, in my memory, it was only open for a few years.