The community hall.on the black pitch,{why it was named the black pitch,i do not know}had many and varied uses.my earliest recollection was the billeting of young soldiers in 1943-44, many who had been repatriated from Ceylon and the Far-East At the age of eight I was in awe of thes fit young men, and would hang around, then follow them, along with other facinated children to the Institute,which had been converted as a mess hall for them.We would hang around till they had been fed and march back to the community centre
A number of these young soldiers later tranfered to the Marine Commando training unit at Achnacarry in Lochaber and became involved in the D-Day landings,in France,{My mothers sister married one of these soldiers,and moved to Australia in 1960, both still live in Melbourne]sadly a few of these young men that i remember did not survive the war.
After the war it was used by the local branch of the army cadets,and it was olso used for various social events during the late 40's and early 50's. The local concert party 'The Sea Breezes' put on shows, and a social group 'The Friendship Club organised dances and social evenings,[my mother and father were loyal members,this was a good place to learn to dance,]
Hi Phil, I remember the Community hall on Moriston Street. I had to ‘Google Map” it to find if it was the one mentioned, it was. Two little incidents are all I remember of it, the first was a show of sorts and a comedian telling jokes. The one I remember was “ Cumslang folk are very good workers, Ower the Clyde Brig they are employed with steel and lead products, this side they are better at steelin leed”. (not me of course)
The other little thing that I remember was my best friend Wullie Lyons (Borgie Cres) and I (Meek Place) we were about twelve or so at the time, attending an Army Cadet recruitment drive there. We both signed on. For a few weeks we just marched up and down the hall, heavens know why? After about two months of this we were issued with the first parts of our army uniforms, i.e. a pair of ankle gaiters, we gave up a month or so after that, we felt so foolish walking up and down with our short trousers, vest and gaiters covering our wellies? About three years or so after that I joined the army as a Junior Leader in the south of England and I spent the next 22 years regretting that. Wullie emigrated to Canada a few years after that.
James
Just sent you an email initiated from the forum link and it bounced with this message....
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The following message to was undeliverable.
The reason for the problem:
5.1.0 - Unknown address error 550-'Requested action not taken: mailbox unavailable'
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And I have not received any direct emails from you recently
re commmunity hall
that hall was the home for the morriston street follies they had concert there regular they started of round the back of 45 park street just kids dressing up and having fun ,needless to say it snowballed and they ended up going round the hospital to perfom for charity
if you look at the group photo you will see in the centre at the back a
man with a bowler hat that was the comedian.
