Grimwade Memorial Hall
The Memorial Hall was built and opened in 1906, in memory of Minnie Eileen Grimwade. Much mystery surrounds this great hall especially the reason why such a grand building as it was, should of ever been demolished, but all will be explained later.
Its position of where it once proudly stood can still be evident
today in the village square. It was built for the New Connexion Methodists
from land acquired by Sidney R. Grimwade, a pottery manufacturer
The family of Grimwade, Potters, saddened by the loss of their young daughter
- Minnie Ellen Grimwade, wished for the two-storey hall to be built for the
benefit of the local residents and to their daughter's memory. The hall was
used for a variety of social purposes in which the Villagers enjoyed.
Inside the hall were different areas for people to use including a cafe, snooker
area. On the upper floor was the area in which people of the village would
pray and this room also included a stage but sadly this great hall was demolished
in 1927. The hall sadly only stood proadly in the Village for a mere 21 years.
The reason for its fate was a couple of things mainly, one being that there
was a bow in the wall which needed urgent, extensive and costly repairs and
perhaps the main and second reason was that during the general strike of 1926,
the local coal miners would meet in the hall and play cards for matches, just
to relieve the boredom of the strike and with this being a Methodist chapel,
gamling even on a scale as small as this was a big no no. So when the hierarchy
of the Methodists in Cheadle came to hear of this so called gambling, it was
decided to demolish the hall instead of repairing and saving the building
which was of great sadness to the villagers and others whom used it.
Two Local builders, Tom Wright and Tommy Cheadle volunteered
to repair the bow in the wall which was on the front of the building, but
the methodists of Cheadle still decided to have it demolished.
After the demolition, some of the bricks taken from the hall were used to
build a bungalow in Quabbs Lane, Forsbrook (Lyndene). They were transported
from the demolition site and up Cheadle Road to the lane via a lorry owned
by the local coal merchant Mr. Tom Dennis.
The land which was once occupied by the hall then became a builder's yard,
storage area and laterally it was sold by the Methodists organization at a
public auction held at the Butchers Arms Public House in 2003 and subsequently
purchased by the owners of the Restaurant which adjoins the land. The area
is now a car park and at the rear, provides a storage area.