According to White’s Directory dated 1891, “The Benhall Village Club opened in 1885, occupies a house lent by Mr. Holland, and contains a library of 600 volumes.”
In the Framlingham Weekly News dated 18th April 1890:
“BENHALL, Club Tea. On Friday evening the members of the Benhall Village Club and Reading Room held their annual tea in the school… about 100 being present. The club has been so successful that it has outgrown its accommodation.”
After tea there was a programme of songs, recitations etc. which included most members of the Ayden family.
On April 1901 census there is an entry for ‘Village Club’ which is under the building column and states that it is in occupation but uninhabited. See census below:-
The main impetus to village hall building came after the First World War with a national drive to develop social and educational provision in rural areas. The building or improvement of a village hall was quickly seen to be the most effective way of bringing all interests in a village together.
Swelled by the desire to provide a lasting memorial to those young men who gave their lives and the availability of former army and RAF huts, more halls were built between 1919 and 1929 than in any ten year period. Approximately 10% are War Memorials. The Benhall & Sternfield Ex-Servicemen’s Club is in the same design as a WWI war hut.
Our present Club was built in 1923 after a formal legal agreement (an Indenture) was drawn up between Edmund Robert Holland (owner of the land ) and the Trustees, which were William Sampson, Albert Howard, William Evelyn Long (of Hurts Hall), William Walter Howard and Tom Pearse. The Club was referred to as “The Club or Recreation Room” in the document.
The money to build the Club was partly funded by the United Services Fund, a fund that was set up after WWI to care for ex-service personnel and their dependants. H.A. Howard of Benhall Low Street was contracted for the build in November 1922, his bill calls it the ‘Benhall Exservice Men Hut.”
Click on each document to enlarge.
1923 Lease
United Services Fund of Dec 1921
Cost for building Benhall Club 1923
On 6th February 1925 a lease was executed for a ‘piece of meadow’ adjacent to the Club and Edward George Ayden (known as Ted Ayden) became a Trustee to replace William Walter Howell who had ceased to reside in Benhall or Sternfield.
A Committee was needed to run the Club and in 1925 the Committee consisted of: John Chambers, C. Edmunds, E. Berry, W. Leathers, F. Watling, Leo Howard, A.A. Knappett, C. Storey, J. Edmunds, W, Danfer, W. Storey, A. Newson, J. Winter, H. Girling, T. Pearse, C.W. Daniels, H. Wisby, B. Flatman and A. Woodward.
A sketch of the meadow, now known as the Memorial Field, was attached to the lease.
Above, signatures to the Lease of the field in 1925
Above; the earliest known image of inside the Hut for George V’s Silver Jubilee in 1935
The Hut was intended for everyone to use and there was, and still is, an enormous range of sports, events and organisations for which it provides a venue. Sports included football, tug of war, cricket, hockey, quoits, bowls, table tennis, billiards, pool and darts.
Events were bazaars, dances, sales, shows, discos, Christmas parties, Harvest festival suppers, Whist drives, bingo, Flower Show & Miss Benhall competitions, dog shows and in 1936 for an Inquest after a fatal road accident near Saxmundham.
Organisations used it such as the Parish Council, Sunday school, book club, Elders club, Good Companions Club, Benhall school. Cycle Club, ramblers and of course the History Group.
From Newspaper Article, 22nd April 1960
TED AYDEN – “an ordinary sort of fellow”
Ted Ayden was a founder member of the Club when it was built in 1922. In those early days of the club he gained a reputation as an entertainer and organiser putting on shows in aid of club funds and in particular he produced “Benhall on Broadway” in 1932 a show which earned a lot of favourable comment and £10 for the club.
Ted Ayden (far left) in drag on stage at Benhall Club 1953
From an oral recording of Frank Clarke:
I remember coming to Sternfield in 1940. I got involved with the club and knew a lot of people. I went on the stage on several different times. I went on the stage with the postman, Ted Ayden, that was in pantomime. I went on once when there was a Women’s Institute came to Benhall and gave a show and I was the compere.
Image of the Club dated 1950
On 28th April 1948 a DEED OF DECLARATION OF TRUST was executed giving the Trustees at the time: William Sampson, Albert Howard, Edward George Ayden and Humphrey Scrimgeour, possession and upkeep of the Club property and any other buildings erected thereon as well as the freehold land, previously known as the meadow, for the sum of £100. This sum of money was collected from the inhabitants of Benhall and Sternfield and neighbourhood.
The name of the Club was to be known as the Benhall and Sternfield Ex-Servicemans and Village Club.
From recording 2009 in the Club with Corky Burch:
In the 1950s they borrowed £500 to level this field (referring to the Recreation Field at Benhall Club). They brought the bulldozer in and pushed all the top soil to one side, then levelled the ground and pushed all the top soil back. Mr. Moore lent us a couple of trucks and we used come round and clear up. We made a bowls green, tennis courts and then four beds for the quoits as there was a huge lot of trees along there.
Football Club success in 1951/52. Fred Ward far left, Sid Flatman back row far right. Can you help us name the other players please?
Thought to be Football Club Dinner & Dance C 1950s. Saxmundham Football Shield and photos of Football success on back wall of Club. Can you help name any of the attendees?
Benhall Bowls Team 1950s/1960s.
BACK ROW – L to R: William Smith, Bert (Ringer) Smith, Dick Hanby, Alec Tricker, Ted Woollard, Billy Moore
FRONT ROW – L to R: Bert Storey, Fred ‘Hickey’ Ward, Percy Scopes, Wac Burch, Maurice Stannard
1965 Flower Show with Ted Ayden
1967 Harvest Supper, Billy Ling singing
1967 Miss Benhall competition
From written family history by Ruby Smith:
My father, Bert Smith (known as “Ringer Smith”) was on the committe of the ex-service men’s Club in Benhall, where he used to light a fire in the afternoons in winter . He arranged whist drives, which were very popular then, and he was a member of the bowls team.
Click to enlarge images below. The Club was often referred to as a mix between Benhall Hut or Benhall Club.
1969 re Club advertising
Miss Benhall 1971 Poster BENHALL HUT
Miss Benhall 1973 Poster BENHALL CLUB
Image left dated 1993 and above dated 1995 show the extension to the Club but when was it built?
The Club has had many modifications over its lifetime. In 1995 the walls came down!
Series of images below L to R: 7th May 1995, 9th May 1995 & 10th May 1995. Did you help? Please let us know.
In 1999 the car park was re-surfaced, the whole area, at a cost £2,500. This included donations from the Pre-school and Benhall School. The contract for the work and the majority of the costs was undertaken by Benhall Club.
The Parish Council requested that the car park be made available to the pre-school and school so that children could be safe when alighting from their parent’s cars.
However by 2001 the car park was in need of repair as it had been used by cars accelerating off the speed bump and making tight circle turns. A request was made to everyone to please drive slowly and remember the children otherwise the car park would be closed.
A complete re-paint in 2002, did you take part?
On 20th June 2023 the Club celebrated its 100th year anniversary in style! The History Group put on a display of images, fashion & inventions from the 100 years that the Club had been in existence.
Classic Cars were invited, a themed 60s & 70s night inspired attendees to dress for the part all day and a sumpteous afternoon tea was provided free.
