St Breward Village Hall Snooker Club
A History
Edited from Minutes and Notes provided by member Martin Yeo
The Club was formed when Terence Ellery attended a Parish Council meeting to see if a Snooker Club could meet in the Red Cross Centre.
The Chair of the Council, Mrs Dorothy Hannaford, along with the majority of the Council members, did not seem keen on the idea, but Councillor Mervyn Marshall, who was Chair of the Village Hall committee, thought it was a good idea to do so at the Village Hall.
Accordingly, an extraordinary meeting was held at the Village Hall. Only four people turned up for that meeting – Mervyn Marshall, Terence Ellery, John Bate (a local businessman) and Mike Sutton. A committee was formed with these four people.
Mr Marshall said that the Village Hall was in a dilapidated condition; it was suffering badly from damp and needed a complete new roof. A lot of fund-raising was necessary, he said, and would be headed by the Village Hall committee, joined by the newly-formed Snooker Club.
Accordingly the Snooker Club tendered for the work to cut the footpaths in the Village and social events were arranged by the Village Hall committee to earn money for the roof first, as this was vital work needed before a snooker table could be installed. Grants were applied for by the Village Hall committee and the Snooker Club applied for a grant from the North Cornwall Sports Council.
A £5,000 grant was finally agreed following the Snooker Club's representations at the R.D.C. centre at Camelford. This grant was to be paid back after five years, interest free.
Sufficient money was finally raised by the Village Hall committee, with the help of grants, and a new roof was put on by local builder, Mr David McCleod - who eventually became a member of the newly-formed Village Hall Snooker Club.
Canvassing was done by the Snooker committee to find as many new members as possible. The cost of joining was £12. These fees would help towards the cost of sectioning off and appropriate renovations needed to form the Snooker Club within the Village Hall. Mr John Bate played a big part in organising workmen to complete the partitioning of the room. He also carried out a great deal of the work himself.
The total number of snooker members was about 80. Mr Dennis Champion, who played a major part in obtaining the Sports Council grant for the Club, was made the President of the Snooker Club. He himself was a member of the Sports Council.
The first Open Meeting of the Snooker Club was held on Wednesday 14 August 1986 in the Village Hall. The meeting was poorly attended and apologies were given for the football team members who were unable to be there due to a local football match.
The object of the meeting was to form a Snooker Sub-committee. The officers elected were Mr Mervyn Marshall (Chairman), Mr Terence Ellery (Secretary), Mr John Bate (Vice Chairman) and Mr Mike Sutton (Treasurer).
Other matters discussed at this Open Meeting were the application to register the Snooker Club with the North Cornwall Sports Council, the acquisition of quotes for the cost of a snooker table and accessories and an electricity meter in the snooker room.
We have the Minutes of the first Annual General Meeting of the Village Hall Snooker Club which was held on Monday 15 June 1987 in the Village Hall, at which all the existing Sub-committee members were nominated again and agreed to stand again for the next twelve months.
Mr John Bate suggested that new members should pay a fee of £20 in advance. This would qualify each member for two years' membership. This suggestion was carried.
Mr Mervyn Marshall, Chairman, said he had received a letter from North Cornwall Sports Council, granting the Snooker Club the sum of £1,500 towards the cost of a new table and accessories, and two room heaters. Mr John Bate said he would contact L J Brice and Son with regard to purchasing a snooker table and asking for a delivery time.
Mr Mervyn Marshall said he has also written to another Sports Council asking for an additional grant but they had asked for a further request once the Village Hall roof had been replaced.
Mr John Bate suggested that local companies might be approached with regard to becoming associate members. This was considered a good idea but put over to another meeting.
Mr Terence Ellery brought up the question of age limits for members. The committee agreed that 14 years of age was acceptable, providing the member was accompanied by a parent. The committee agreed that 18 years of age was suitable for a member to hold a door key.
All committee members agreed to seek at least 50 new members in the shortest possible time.
The Village Hall Snooker Club was eventually opened on 11 September 1987.
Mr Dennis Champion and Mr Brian Mitchell were the first two players to play on the new table.
