Instead of going to a restaurant, Baslow WI held their monthly lunch club at the Village Hall to celebrate St George's Day. Jo's Pantry served a fabulous 2 course lunch to 43 WI members who were suitably dressed for the occasion in red and white. What a wonderful social event and what a great way to use the Village Hall.
The Main Hall becomes the Stockdale Hall while the committee room will be known as the Barbrook Room. These names pay tribute to both our history and our geography.
The Village Hall used to be known as The Stockdale Institute, named after Rev Jeremiah Stockdale, Vicar of Baslow from 1859 to 1907. The Stockdale family were one of the biggest benefactors of the hall.
Bar Brook is the small brook running through Baslow very close to the Village Hall. You cross over it if you walk from the carpark into Chatsworth Park and walk next to it until it joins the River Derwent near to the Caravan Park.
This was a great opportunity to welcome new people into the hall and show them our warm, welcoming and inclusive space. Several of our regular groups had promotional stalls and spoke to prospective new members. We served hot drinks and delicious home baked cakes and everyone had an enjoyable morning. Thank you to everyone who was involved.
The decorators came back to paint the committee room and the corridors. We also had new carpet laid in there to make the space much more cosy and comfortable. In the New Year new wiring and internet points will make this a smart office space.
Baslow WI kindly offered to provide new Christmas decorations for the main hall - blue and gold to match the new colour scheme. It looked great!
In October we gave a very warm welcome to Swervy World.
Mr Swervy and his band played a variety of instruments including saxophone, sousaphone, banjo and percussion, plus vocals as they performed an eclectic mix of rock ‘n’ roll, jump blues, boogie woogie, surf, ska, blue beat and even a bit of Abba!
It was a fun-filled evening for all who attended with plenty of surprises and laughter. Banjo player Roger, performed a memorable rendition of New York, New York, tailor-made for Baslow: "Start spreading the news ... It's up to you Baslow, Baslow!"
This was a charity event to raise money for The Associated Women of the World. It was a great afternoon and more than £800 was raised. Several WI members became models for the afternoon. Well done to Baslow WI.
The book exchange cabinet is at the front of the hall near the boundary with the Cavendish Hotel. This is a great addition, kindly supplied by the Parish Council. There are already some books on the shelves. Bring along a book you have finished and swap it for something new.
As planned the main hall and entrance lobby underwent a transformation. New curtains for the windows and stage will be arriving soon. The committee room and corridors will hopefully be decorated by the end of the year.
The Trustees have given approval for the interior of the hall to have a major redecoration. This does mean that the hall will be closed for the entire month of August. We are very grateful to our regular users for their understanding and thank Calver Village Hall and the Methodist Chapel in Baslow for taking over some of our bookings for us.
The exterior of the hall will be decorated this month. Plans are underway for the interior to be decorated later this year.
A great evening for the community at Baslow Village Hall. A truly wonderful performance by the famous Mayor & James at our first Live & Local event. Huge thanks to our audience, our volunteers & local businesses who supported us through raffle donations - Il Lupo (& also feeding our artists!), Charlies, The Chicken Shed, Cavendish Hotel, Wheatsheaf Hotel, Devonshire Arms, Baslow Pottery, Baslow Co-Op, Mad4Ink Bakewell & also to Baslow Spar for sorting out the wine for us and purchasing 100 glasses for us to use (now available for all your events!)
Over £300 profit was made for hall funds, sorely needed after the drop in income over the last few years.
Look out for our second event coming your way in the Autumn!