Community 'badly needs' threatened Labour club

23 hours ago

Martin HeathHertfordshire political reporter

News image — Jennifer Barton is taking a shot at saving the club by starting a petition

Martin Heath/BBC Jennifer Barton with long blonde hair and glasses, wearing a blue cardigan and holding a snooker cue whilst leaning on the table. She is about to hit the white ball which is near the centre of the snooker table. There is another cue resting on the table. In the background, there are wooden doors and white walls. Some trophies sit atop a wooden cupboard. — Jennifer Barton is taking a shot at saving the club by starting a petition

Time has been called at a popular community hub which could be razed to the ground as part of a regeneration programme.

Opened in 1963, the William Morris Labour Club in South Oxhey, Hertfordshire, has provided a regular venue for everything from a quiet chat with a pint to wedding receptions, funeral wakes and birthday parties.

But the land is included in regeneration plans and the club has sent a letter to members saying it will close permanently on 29 April.

Regulars have described what the club means to them.

Martin Heath/BBC Entrance to brick-built club with William Morris Labour Club sign over the door (black writing on white background). The exterior includes a covered area containing tables, with a white wood and glass wall. There are brown tables with benches attached, resting on paving slabs. — The William Morris Labour Club was built in South Oxhey in 1963

The club was named after William Morris, the socialist campaigner known for his influence on the Arts and Crafts movement.

It serves the South Oxhey estate, built after World War Two on land that had been part of the Oxhey Hall Estate.

Jennifer Barton, who has a large extended family in the area, has particularly fond memories of her niece's wedding.

"My brothers-in-law got up and did the Full Monty - well, they almost did," she said.

"They took their shirts off and their ties, and they had put hats on, and everyone was stomping and cheering.

"'That's quite enough of that,' said my husband, and the brothers-in-law ran away and hid."

She is desperate to keep the doors open at the club because "everybody's going to be isolated - we'll be like little islands with nowhere to go."

In three weeks, her petition to save the venue has collected more than 1,000 signatures.

Martin Heath/BBC Gill Clint with long blonde hair smiling at the camera. She is wearing a blue top. Behind her is an artificial log fire with a stone lintel, above which is a mirror. The walls are painted green. — Gill Clint said the club was badly needed by the community

Another regular, Gill Clint, said the club would be "greatly missed - where else would we go?"

Her family has been holding annual gatherings there for at least 30 years and, she said, "the community needs it badly".

Yvonne Kelly moved to South Oxhey from Bethnal Green in 1962 and has known some of the faces in the club for six decades.

She said: "It's for people who are lonely that might need to come and watch the football or old people that are on their own.

"It is a large part of this community but they've brought all these new people in and they still need places to go."

Martin Heath/BBC Yvonne Kelly with long blonde hair and brown-framed glasses smiling at the camera and wearing a beige top and dark grey cardigan. She is sitting in front of a red-carpeted stage which has a black curtain at the back and a red rope on gold poles in front. — Yvonne Kelly says new arrivals on the estate will still need somewhere to socialise

A spokesperson for the council said: "As part of the wider South Oxhey Regeneration scheme, Three Rivers District Council has long been interested in pursuing additional phases of the scheme, which could eventually include the site of the William Morris Labour Club.

"Previous attempts to find suitable alternative existing premises for the club were unsuccessful."

The spokesperson added that the council had been approached by the club's owners about the future of the lease on the building and any decision would be subject to formal council approval.

The company which owns the club has been contacted for comment.

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