Skelmanthorpe Liberal Club

The formal opening of the new premises for the Skelmanthorpe Liberal club in November 1909 caused

“an unusual amount of activity in the ordinarily quiet village of Skelmanthorpe.” 

The Barnsley Chronicle praised the enterprise of such a move by the Liberals of Skelmanthorpe. Prior to this the club had been housed in a building adjoining the Co Operative Stores in Commercial Road. For around eleven years before that they had met wherever they could. The Co Operative Wholesale Society had built a new shop in 1896 and leased their old building to the Liberal Club for £7 per year.

From the Kirklees Image Archive (K002452).

However rapidly increasing membership had caused the need for better, larger accommodation. Added to this was the fact that the Co Op wanted to expand their own premises which they did when the Liberal Club moved out converting the building into a butchers shop with hardware and crockery upstairs.

The foundation stones for the new Liberal Club had been laid in January with an

"excellent attendance " 

to witness eleven stones being laid.

The building had cost £1027 8s including the land and in addition to this Charles Edwin Field, a staunch Liberal supporter, gave the club a piece of land measuring around 1600 square yards and worth about £300, which the club intended to use as a bowling green in the summer. Joseph Berry of Huddersfield was the architect and he had supervised all the building works. Interestingly one of his earliest commissions had been to design and plan the Lockwood and Salford Conservative Club. 

The new premises had a frontage, 48 feet wide, on Commercial Road and was situated in the centre of the village. It was a substantial building but the architecture was described as “utility” rather than “beauty.” The front elevation had a

“pleasing appearance” 

of Brighouse wall stone and Huddersfield dressed stone and the west end of the building had been finished in a similar fashion. There was an entrance hall on the ground floor leading to a games rooms and a smoke room both of which were 14 feet square. The billiards room was 33 feet by 27 feet, well-lit and “convenient” for members use. It contained two billiard tables one was new and the other had come from the previous premises. Around the billiard room was raised pitch pine seating to enable spectators to watch matches in comfort.

The first floor contained a reading room and a conversation room the same size as the two rooms on the ground floor. There was a large “assembly hall” for meetings and social events which was capable of holding over 200 people. The new premises also had the advantage of a hot water, low pressure heating system throughout. Contractors for the new premises were –

Masons – Messrs. George Hinchliff and Sons of Skelmanthorpe & Clayton West, Quarry owners

Plasterer – W. S. Needham of Clayton West

Painter – E. Jagger of Skelmanthorpe

Slaters – Messrs. Pickles Bros of Huddersfield

Concreter – John Cooke

Heating Engineers – Messrs. Brook. Hardcastle & Watson.

By the time of the formal opening only a portion of the money had been raised through a variety of events and fundraisers. A bazaar had been held which had raised £91 and the stone laying ceremony had added £44 14s 6d to the fund. Members subscriptions came to £35 6s 6d together with subscriptions from private members which had totalled £345. As with many other clubs in the area at the time it was intended to run the club on “temperance” lines with no alcohol being consumed or sold on the premises.

The President of the Club Joseph Norman Berry, known as Norman, was also the son of the architect.

A little boy T. Eric Field, son of Mr & Mrs Charles Edwin Field (the same person who had given the land for the bowling green), aged just 4 and half was presented with an inscribed, silver gilt key with which he opened the building. Joseph Norman Berry considered that it was fitting that the key should be presented to a member of the future generation. The boy was a member of a local family who were well known in the area for their

“whole hearted interest in and generosity towards the people around them.”   

Berry went on to say that he thought the new building and ground behind it would be a substantial asset to the village. When Master Field opened the building with the silver key despite his tender years he announced in a clear voice

“I have very great pleasure in declaring this club open!” 

To which he got rapturous applause from the audience. The crowds then “trooped” inside the building to inspect its features.

The opening was followed by a crowded meeting in the new assembly room where Henry Joseph Wilson spoke to the crowd stating that he hoped that the building would be

“useful to the Liberal Party and a pleasant meeting place for members”, 

providing opportunities for political education as well as recreation. He went on to say that he had seen a programme of events at one Liberal Club that had only included 18 items that referred to politics and he sincerely hoped that the Skelmanthorpe Club would do better than that! He then moved on to speaking about the forthcoming election.

Tea was provided after the formal opening by the Skelmanthorpe Women’s Liberal Association and this was followed by a public meeting in the Primitive Methodist Schoolroom. The Skelmanthorpe Orchestral Band played items to relieve the monotony of waiting between events. Leeds Mercury 11 January 1909; Sheffield Daily telegraph 29 November 1909; Leeds Mercury 29 November 1909; Barnsley Chronicle 4 December 1909

The proposed bowling green plus a bowling clubhouse was created by money left over from the development of the club and was situated at the rear of the club building. Charles Edwin Field and his brother Thomas had donated £500 and £300 respectively to buy the land and construction on it began in 1910. Francis Child, business partner of Charles Edwin Field, donated shrubs and trees for the site and it was officially opened on 1st July 1911 by the wife of Charles Edwin Field. Their eldest son, Gordon Field played the first jack on the green and Charles Edwin was the first president of the Bowling Club until the mid-1930s when his son succeeded him. The club marked its centenary in 2011 with a weekend of celebrations and is still going strong today. Examiner Live July 2013.

It is unknown exactly when the Skelmanthorpe Club closed. There is an entry in the Kelly’s Directory in 1936 but the Liberal club building today is now an Indian Restaurant.