Hayes Labour Hall 1930 - Pump Lane

The Hayes Labour Hall 1930

During the early days of the party meetings and socials were held at Clayton Road School or Hayes Restaurant in Clayton Road, The Harmboro recreation Restaurant and Botwell House.

In April 1915 the same month Councillor Gunton stated “Hayes Labour Association has already initiated a scheme to build a Trades union hall to seat 500 people and that club premises with every convenience for members will be built above”

“Labour/Trade union hall would provide silent evidence of the strength of the Labour movement in Hayes.”

Already several sites are under consideration and it is hoped that next year (1916) would see if not completion, the start of the erection of a building””

The President of Hayes Labour Association, Mr H. Booth stated “The social side is an important one because social gatherings helped them to know one another and created a good fellowship”.

Little more is heard of the Labour hall until the local Gazette reports in May 1923 that the Labour hall Committee had meet and had decided to call a special conference at which representatives of Trades Unions etc will be present to discuss possible methods of raising £250 required for the hall and stating that various sites were under consideration.

At the next meeting of the Committee in late may 1923 held at the Hayes restaurant the secretary and president of Southall Labour hall were present, their secretary Mr Hamblin gave an outline of the ways and means adopted in Southall in obtaining their hall thus the provincial committee which had recently been formed was dissolved and a regular committee set up to bring about definitive proposals before the Trades Council & Labour Party..

The Uxbridge divisional Labour party (which included Hayes) mad a gift of £3 towards the monies required for the erection of a Labour hall

Later Mr A. E. Knight was appointed Secretary and Mr Glenister Chairman and a committee of 21 was agreed

An appeal for £1 loans for the Hall raised just £15.

The Committee later exchanged a parcel of land in pump Lane for a larger area of land in the same road, but still the committee did not have enough money for the hall.

Eventually a “corrugated” hall formerly owned by the Hayes Wesleyan Church was purchased, This establishment and the extra land cost the Labour party £164.00 secured through a mortgage on top of which was a piano purchased at the cost of £3.

Their only liabilities were to shareholders to the extent of £70,10s (later revised to £75) which was repaid at one tenth each year or 1s 10d each year.

The Hayes Labour hall was finally opened by Dr Marion Phillips MP for Sunderland on 28^th June 1930. When she was presented with a sheaf of roses by master Philip Hurn.

Soon after its opening, substantial alterations were made to the hall costing £200. these included painting the exterior, the two cloakrooms were built, a kitchen was built, a stage erected, and a partition built in order that two meetings could be held on the same evening.

Mr P Brown who presided over the official opening after the refurbishment in October 1930 He

 “welcomed them to the supporters of the hall to their new home which was the result of continuous efforts on the part of some of their fellow members of the various organizations in the district, some of these workers were not now associated with the task but the efforts had to be borne in mind at such a time as this”.

He went on “the opening of the hall filled a real need in the district and he felt that the various organizations would not be sorry to have a meeting place in which there was a security of tenure without appealing to the generosity of anybody”.

They had not the perfect place perhaps but with time and suggestions from the people using the accommodation he thought they would be able to make themselves comfortable”.

Many socials were held in aid of the “building fund” and due to the efforts Tuffer Bowman and John salt in selling door to door London Labour Party bingo cards in the mid 1980’s money was raised for the improvement of the hall.

Note

Charles Henry Glenister, Railway Supervisor of 7 Halsway,Hayes, Middlesex, later Hayes & harlington Urban District Council, Labour Councillor

Glenister Flats, Avondale Drive