Three Miners’ Union members and three officials of Burnhope Colliery formed a Welfare Committee. The group was later enlarged to include Mechanics, UDM and Enginemen Union members.
This committee was the means of having the Miners’ Welfare Hall erected. By their foresight and initiative they introduced a “Penny Per Ton” scheme granted by the colliery owners U.A. Ritson and Sons to raise money for the building of the hall.
On March 21st 1925, Mrs. W. H. Ritson performed the ceremony of opening the newly built hall.
Memories of films being shown four nights a week, “sitting in the dark, eating a packet of Pickering’s crisps, suddenly crunching on the little blue twist of salt!”
Many dances and concerts were held on the nights when the Miners’ Union did not require the hall. Dances were regularly held from 10pm until 2.00am but as no dances were allowed on religious holidays, the Sunday dance was sometimes postponed, to begin at 1 minute past midnight and continue until 4am on Monday.
Besides the main hall and balcony there was a stage, smaller meeting rooms and cloakrooms. Dancing lessons and card schools were regularly held there.
The Miners’ Hall burned down on St. Patrick’s Day, March 17th 1961. Its demise was a huge loss to the village.