Ten and more year’s work by villagers is a step nearer achieving fruition with the submission of the planning application for our new Memorial Hall.
The Memorial Hall as it may become (view from the road).
In the 1990s the then managing trustees of the Memorial Hall Charity developed plans to extend the existing building on all sides, even putting storage cupboards in the narrow gap between the building and the ginnel. The ideas embodied in these plans are remarkably similar to the overall design concept of the current planning application. A significant amount of money was raised, but the Millennium Fund Lottery application was not submitted in time.
In 2000, Parwich Village Action Group, in conjunction with Parwich Parish Council and the Peak Park Authority surveyed Parwich Parish. Nearly 90% saw improving our community hall facilities as important or very important. The Action Group developed outline plans for a new village hall combining additional sports hall facilities on the sports fields, with the suggestion that the existing Memorial Hall site be sold for local needs housing. The consensus of user groups however was that the Hall should not be moved from the heart of the village.
Various legislation in 2002 and 2003 made improving our community hall facilities a legal necessity, as well as a desirable thing to do.
In early 2003 the Memorial Hall Trustees again took up the baton again, under Denis Laycock as Chairman (as a Community we owe much to Memorial Hall Committee Members past and present). As trustees of a registered charity the Memorial Hall Management Committee are legally obliged to act in the best interests of the ‘area of benefit’ (i.e. the parishes of Eaton & Alsop, Ballidon and Parwich, including the hamlet of Pikehall).
In order to establish what those ‘interests’ are, various user group surveys and consultations culminated in the 2004 community vote (involving the full area of benefit and not just Parwich). This indicated that a clear majority of our community felt that a new build on the present site is the preferred option. The Management Committee as Trustees of the Charity thus became bound to follow up the directive of the community.
Since then, various information gathering work, further surveys and the May open meeting have led to the development of the plans submitted. Despite the various difficulties of the site, both in relation to the right of way and its awkward shape, we now have a very exciting possible new Memorial Hall.
The creation of the Royal British Legion Club and the Memorial Hall in Parwich was a result of the enthusiasm of those emerging from the Second World War, wanting change, moving forward to meet the needs of the second half of the twentieth century. Though those dark days of war are in now just history to many, we again have the opportunity to honour the memory of those who did not return and to take the aspirations of those that did forward into the twenty-first century.
The Poppy Fields by Ruby Hickmott will hang in the new Hall
It will not be easy for all to see the building they, their parents and their grandparents helped create and maintain and that has provided a focus for our community’s social life for over 40 years, be demolished. Those that saw the demolition of the old Parwich Church Institute in 1963 after nearly 50 years of dances, socials, weddings and funerals will have had the same mixed feelings. Those who are able to share their memories and any photographs of both the old Parwich Institute and the Memorial Hall please send them to parwich@hotmail.co.uk or to parwichmemorialhall@hotmail.com.
Just as we should not forget the sacrifice made by those in the two World Wars, it is important to remember all the work that went into the Parwich Church Institute and the current Memorial Hall building, that has enabled us to take up the present opportunity.
Parwich Church Institute was demolished to make way for the Memorial Hall
The Memorial Hall as it is today
Although we have a number of hurdles still to go, before we can be sure of the £476,500 grant from the Big Lottery Fund (we have already received the £23,500 enabling money), it certainly now feels like things are progressing. There is still the need to obtain planning permission, to get through the next stage of the grant application process and then to raise our contribution either in commitments for ‘in kind donations’, or as fund raising, or by attracting further grants or sponsorship (see Project Parwich).
However, well done to the Committee and its various sub-groups, and all those whose work in the past has got us this far. There have been times when even submitting a planning application seemed a pipe dream.
Though we are now committed to the realisation of the community’s expressed wishes in the overall approach of the plans submitted, there is still more development work to be done. The architect Steve Riley of Marsh Grochowski will endeavour to respond to any questions and issues raised by the plans. We will forward any comments left at PARWICH.ORG to him and he or the Steering Group will post responses as soon as is possible.
Some more drawings of the proposed new Memorial Hall
(Added 5/8/08: Since this post was written, following internal discussions and discussions with the Peak Park Planners, there have been modifications to the drawings below. To see the updated drawings, sent to the Planners on 30/7/08, please go to Memorial Hall News Updates @ PARWICH.ORG)
from the corner of the former Spar Shop
from Pump Hill (outside the Square, i.e. Pippa’s)
from the ginnell by the former Spar Shop
the front facing onto the road
from the car park at the front
from Honeysuckle Cottage (i.e. Ed & Nia’s)
from outside Posh Pete’s
along the ginnell from by Honeysuckle Cottage
from Shaw Lane House
Though this is a modern design, local people have already shown we are ready to meet the challenge, to quote the Planning Inspector Katie Peerless recent description of us:
I was impressed by the strength of feeling that brought so many people out to speak positively … … … Development, especially in a modern idiom, is often unpopular in conservation areas and it is more usual to hear objections to change, both before and after it has occurred, than praise for an innovative approach.
PARWICH.ORG 
Having first put my comment on the Memorial Hall page I will follow the examples of the Professor and Mike A, in also pasting it here.
Working on putting these plans onto the Memorial Hall website has left me very impressed with what has been achieved. Further, looking at all these drawings, what immediately strikes me is how well the proposed new building fits in with the surrounding buildings. Well done to all the Committee Members, to the sub-groups and to the Parish Council.
I had personally been in favour of a move to the sports’ fields, which would have released this site for affordable housing. The community vote made this no longer an option, but these plans have convinced me that we can after all achieve our aspirations on this small plot in the middle of the village.
I do have a few questions: is the square between the former Spar Shop and Fernlea cart shed essential for these plans; although the right of way can not be permanently blocked, will it be included in the general garden area and be available for access to the rear of the building; is it possible to use the building to light up the footpath along side the Hall; also, is there scope for enhancing the War Memorial aspects of the building (perhaps members of the Legion would have ideas)?
Thank you to Steve Riley of Marsh Grochowski for the following answers:
(1) Is the square between the former Spar Shop and Fernlea cart shed essential for these plans?
The square is not essential, in the sense that access could still be gained from the ginnel even if access to the Square is lost, as the building is set back from southern boundary of the Square. In the design proposal the landscaped area we are proposing between the Fernlea cart shed and new building essentially ‘borrows’ the space of the square in order to extend it to be a more significant public space.
(2) Although the right of way can not be permanently blocked, will it be included in the general garden area and be available for access to the rear of the building?
It is intended that the right of way be an integral part of the garden area. As the designs develop we will give more detailed thought as to the best way to achieve this in terms of the landscaping finishes and materials used. The same applies for the space between the two outbuildings accessed by the right of way. This is currently labelled as hardstanding, but it may be more appropriate to treat this in a softer fashion.
(3) Is it possible to use the building to light up the footpath along side the Hall?
It is intended that discreet lighting would be incorporated into the building along the footpath in order to light this area. This would probably be best controlled to automatically come on at dusk, as with conventional street lighting.
(4) Is there scope for enhancing the War Memorial aspects of the building?
Certainly, this would be a good aspect to canvass opinions and ideas on. Possibilities might be the incorporation of appropriate inscriptions into the external or internal fabric of the building, or the inclusion of a memorial in the landscaping approaching the main entrance for example.
Does anyone know the correct spelling of ginel, ginnel, ginnell, jinel, etc? Where does the divide happen between the Yorkshire ‘ginnell’ to the north and the Staffordshire ‘jitty’ to the south?
The above drawings of the proposed new Memorial Hall have been modified following discussion with the Peak Park Planners. To see the updated drawings please go to https://parwich.org/memorial-hall/