Topcliffe Village Refurbishment - Press Release - March 2016

Topcliffe Village Refurbishment - Press Release - October 2016

 Topcliffe Village
Grand Re-opening of Topcliffe & Asenby Village Hall

Following a year-long major refurbishment, the 55-year-old Topcliffe & Asenby Village Hall was
officially re-opened this Saturday (15 October 2016 at 2pm).

The official opening was performed by Thirsk-based Vet, Peter Wright, who co-stars in the "Yorkshire Vet" series on Channel 5, and he’ll be ably assisted by Nellie Ascough, who is believed to be the oldest resident of both Topcliffe and Asenby villages.

The village hall committee has invested over £140,000 on a large extension to provide new toilet facilities, together with a much enhanced lobby and entrance area, access ramps and storage areas. Additionally, significant other works including a total refurbishment of the kitchen, re-decoration of the main hall and ancillary rooms, new lighting, resurfacing of the excellent dance floor in the main hall, installation of an audio visual system and many other smaller improvements have been undertaken.

Village Hall Chairman, Andrew Eckersley has led the team responsible for the project and he’s delighted with the outcome. He said: “I am very happy to report that the major improvement work at the village hall is now completed and the results are amazing.

“The hall, which is shared between the neighbouring villages of Topcliffe and Asenby, is the main centre of community activity. The investment undertaken will ensure we have a much improved facility that locals and other users of our village hall, can enjoy and appreciate.

“Without the support of our hard working committee and a range of very generous grant-giving bodies, we wouldn’t have been able to undertake this work, so I am very grateful to them all.” Everyone is welcome to attend the re-opening ceremony and to have a look around the muchenhanced village hall.

Beyond that, the village hall committee is hoping to attract many more activities and events that will
be of interest to residents and other users.

The main contract was carried out by local building contractor Paul Thompson Ltd., based in
Ainderby Steeple, near Northallerton.

Vet Peter Wright performed the opening ceremony and local resident Nellie Ascough, believed to be the oldest resident of either village, assisted by cutting the cake.

Peter Wright referred to the importance of village halls as “hubs” in local communities…and linked to that the importance of village hall committees that keep them running and undertake improvement schemes like the one here. He commended the committee and community for the massive achievement in raising over £140,000 to pay for the refurbishment. He also thanked all of the organisations that contributed by providing grants: without their support it would be impossible for villages to maintain their halls.

Peter spent a few years living in Topcliffe and he recalled some of the interesting characters that he knew and the activities that he and his friends used to get up to – particularly fishing and snooker…but also many events at the village hall.