History

The War Memorial Hall was built in 1923 to commemorate the ‘village lads’ who lost their lives in the first world war.  The Hall was built using money raised by public subscription to provide a facility for the use of local residents.  In the early years the main activities were dances, whist-drives and a film show twice a week.  In 1935 a refreshment room was added and in the 1980s this was demolished to make way for a new two storey extension.




Over the years, as tastes and habits have changed, the Hall has been used by many organisations for coffee mornings, jumble sales, badminton and keep fit classes.  The Centenary Players, who are a village amateur dramatics group, put on an annual pantomime and Bradwell Junior School use the main hall for P.E. lessons.  For the last few years the Junior School has also been using the gallery room as a temporary classroom. 




One of the longest running users of the Hall is the Pre-school Group and the doctors from Hope and Tideswell use the Hall as a local surgery.  It is impossible to record all the different types of events that the Hall has been used for, but it certainly has been, and continues to be, a great asset to the village. 


In the early 1980s more money was raised to build an extension, consisting of a new kitchen, toilets, meeting rooms and a rear entrance.  In 2002, to comply with current legislation, a special toilet for the disabled and a loop sound system to assist those with hearing difficulties were installed.

More recent projects have been the complete replacement of the central heating system in 2009 funded by grants from:- 

• The Foundation for Sport & the Arts;
• Derbyshire Dales District Council.

Donations in cash or equipment were received from:-

• Simpson Refractories;
• Alpha Gas;
• Carbolite;
• Alphaweld;
• Buxo-Plas;
• William Eyre & Sons;
• Walker Minerals;
• Bluestar Environmental Services;
• Furness Brothers;
• Mr Carpet;
• Bradwell Parish Council;
• Stokes Tiles;
• Ideal Boilers. 

In 2010 the old kitchen was replaced to provide state-of-the-art catering facilities.  This was only possible by the hard work of the committee of the Pre-School Group who secured a grant from Derbyshire County Council to cover the cost of the kitchen.