By Margaret Armstrong, Tannymorel hall committee president
At the turn of the 20 century things really started happening in this part of the world.
The Tannymorel District is surrounded by rich farmland.
As this was still in the days before we had tractors and big machinery and the farm work was done with big draft horses, steam engines and hard labour and the people got around in their horses and buggies.
Their big trips away were on the train.
The Warwick/Killarney Railway line had been established in the 1880’s and the Tannymorel Station was the hub of the district – mainly carting thousands of bags of produce, timber, and coal from the nearby mine at Mt Colliery to their destinations.
The new School had just been built and the Tannymorel Progress Association thought it was time to get a Hotel in the town.
In 1907 Alexander Eastwell built the Railway Hotel on a corner directly opposite the Railway Station – in 1908 he sold it to Edward Albert Armstrong.
In 1909 this building was destroyed by fire and so Edward Albert immediately rebuilt it and in 1910, he called for tenders to construct a hall beside it.
After it was built it became known as the Albert Hall. Many Country Hotels had Halls built beside them for the use of the Community and no doubt to attract business for themselves.
He sold the Hotel and Hall to a James Rafter and moved on. The Hall was well used for all the functions of the day, such as Dances, Concerts, Church Fetes Dinners, Card Nights and Meetings.
After the Rafters, there were quite a few more publicans in the Hotel, which at some stage became the property of Perkins and Co Ltd who went into Voluntary Liquidation and then in turn the Deed of Mortgage was transferred to Castlemaine Perkins Ltd.
On 28 July 1949, a Certificate of Title was issued to William Charles McDonald, Leslie Charles Mogridge and Eric Charles Bradford who became Trustees of the Hall.
As this wasn’t long after WW11 and as these men were returned soldiers, I feel that this is when it became a Memorial Hall. It would also be around the time the beautiful big Plain Trees that still line the main street were planted as an “Avenue of Honour”for those who served or gave their lives.
When they were planted there were bronze Plaques with their names attached or beside the trees, but unfortunately they are no longer there and all the records have been lost, however, some of our members are currently trying to find out more about this.
In 1950, the town had probably reached its peak when some enterprising citizens called a public meeting to see whether they should build a Bowling Club and Green – this was rather an ambitious project for a small town but in 1952 it became a reality with nearly everyone in the district joining.
In 1953, the Railway Hotel closed and the Licensee James Rooney sold out and moved on. The Hotel never opened again, but was sold and dismantled for its timber. The other Hotel, the Royal, burnt down in early 1960 and wasn’t replaced. No longer being able to compete with the now thriving trucking industry, the Railway had outlived its usefulness and it closed in 1964. This put an end to the Coal Mining in Mt Colliery with many of the remaining miners and their families having to relocate. The National Bank, the Police Station, the Catholic Church and Presbytery and some of the shops also closed. This only left the School, the Post Office, one grocery store and the bakery and made the Bowling Club the new social centre of the town.
In 1977, the School celebrated its 75th Anniversary and the P&C, we were the younger generation to the Bowling Club people, became very keen and enthusiastic raising money for this event. During this time we used the Hall quite a lot for fundraising and realized that it was in a very sad state.
Apart from a storage cupboard in one of the back dressing rooms to the stage, some special lighting and stage curtains that were put there by the Killarney Players (A small theatrical group) who had been using the Hall at the time, nothing had been done to the Hall since it was built. Actually, by today’s standards it would probably have been condemned.
The outside single walls and windows were badly affected with dry rot. The inside was unpainted and very dark inside with poor lighting and old long wooden stools along the wall for seating. The supper room which was a long skillian attached to the side of the Hall only had trestles and old wooden stools for seating and the kitchen only had a large old wooden cupboard which housed the cups, plates and teapots.
There was a large wooden table to work from and an old electric boiler. There wasn’t a sink as the washing up was done in an old tin washing tub. The conveniences – a Ladies and a Gents (old thunder boxes in little wooden outhouses – as there wasn’t a septic system)) were located on either side of a fairly large block with was poorly lit by one light attached high on the wall at the back of the Hall.
After the Schools Anniversary, the members of the P&C decided to join the Hall Committee and try to rectify the building.
The first thing to do was to raise money – no grants in those days. Luckily, some of the men had carpentry experience and they decided to clad the whole building as it would have been very expensive and too hard to sauce the right timber to mend the building– and the cladding wouldn’t need painting. While they were at it, they also decided to put another skillian across the front to act as a closed in entrance, an inside porch and a bar area on the supper room side. There had only been a little porch entry at the front door previously. There was great support from the men and they all volunteered their time for the working bees to do the cladding. We then raised enough money to engage a bricklayer and a plumber to build a toilet block with a septic system off the supper room. We were very heartened with our efforts and felt we had one of the best Halls in the district but we still had a lot of work to do to the interior.
We gradually got the walls lined and replaced the trestles with table tops on stands made from pipe and old plough shires which the men made with their welders. Dinner Dances were the most popular thing of the day and we had to borrow BBQ’s to do the cooking and chairs from other Organisations for the seating. The Ladies all did the cooking and we managed very well and made good money. We also manned the canteen every year for the Warwick Polo Cross.
In 1983, the committee decided to do away with the Trustees and become Incorporated. The application was under the name of “The Tannymorel Hall Committee Inc” and the objects of the Association are (a) The maintenance and administration of the Tannymorel Hall and (b) The provision of a public Hall for the use of the general public and in particular, persons resident in Tannymorel and District. Although there hadn’t been any RSL activity in the Hall for years, we have still referred to it as a Memorial Hall.
During the 90’s grants came into being and we had the hall painted inside and out. In about 2001 we had a big storage Cupboard built in the Kitchen and had the existing cupboard tops covered with stainless steel – we also had a stainless steel bench with a sink built in and another bench made for the urns. The big cupboard and the bar was done as well and the floor coverings were laid in the entrance, the kitchen and the bar. We added a Cold Room and bought new padded vinyl chairs. The members were using their own mowers to mow the grass, so we eventually got a mower and a shed as well. We have bought things along the way, such as fridges, urns, china etc but the big projects have been achieved through grants and we are very grateful for the support these organisations give to people like us.
When COVID hit in 2020 and as our social activities were put on hold we decided it would be a good opportunity to do some general maintenance and paint the interior of the Hall. We again applied for grants and got the job done.
As COVID was still around, we decided to try and get the exterior and the roof done as well. This was completed last November and we now feel very happy with the results.
The hardest thing for Country Halls like us is paying for the Insurance. We have to have Hall Insurance, Public Liability Insurance and Volunteers Insurance and every year the costs are getting higher. Another big expense is power – it is getting dearer all the time as well. We have been very lucky to make enough to pay for these essentials and we have only survived because we have had a good committee of dedicated and committed long serving members. Sadly, until recently, our numbers had diminished so we have had a Membership Drive and now have a lot of new members (a younger group) who I hope will continue our good work for the benefit of the whole community.
