Sports and Social Club
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The Ridgeway Sports and Social Club was formed in 1919 in remembrance of local men who gave their lives in the Great War. The club is affectionately known locally as the Memorial and Institute and, since its formation, has been the hub of the village sports and social interests. With the help of many local people much of the first 10 years were spent creating a sports field and children's play area. Other amenities were added as the years progressed. The centre to it all was Kent House, which acted as the Village Hall. Throughout most of the 20th century, these facilities served the village well, despite encountering hard times. By the late 1980's, Kent House, a grade 2 listed building, was becoming very difficult to maintain. Much of the funds raised during any year were swallowed up in costly repairs. After much debate, it was decided to sell the Kent House building and use the proceeds to erect an all-purpose modern village hall. With this completed, the next stage was to redevelop the grounds to encompass all popular sports and maintain a children's play area, hopefully to cater for the 21st century. This is now in place and with landscaping of the grounds beginning to take effect, the newly planted trees and shrubs are slowly bringing back a rural blend to what at first seemed a harsh contrast to its village setting.
A wide variety of activities take place on the grounds including the traditional sports of football, tennis, bowls and cricket. The hall is used for such interests as keep fit (Mondays each week at 6.15pm), and the Mums and Toddlers group who meet each weekday morning.
The hall is also available for private hire. Children's parties have proved very popular and a licensed bar can be arranged for family functions, parties, weddings etc. Details for hiring the hall can be obtained from Mr Derrick Whittaker.
There are currently a number of vacancies of the Board of Management for the Sports and Social Club. Ridgeway residents who are interested in being part of the management team should contact the Secretary for more details.
Please see the Newsletters sub-folder which contains recent copies of Sports and Social Club newsletters which you can view or download to your PC. These are in PDF format. Please see the Using this site tab for further information.
Last modified 06-08-2005 10:15