Prices are very reasonable. For further details, contact Joyce Plested on 01844 3339200

1. After midnight - £5.00 per hour
2. Periods of less than 1 hour will be charged at £4.00 per hour
3. A licence is required to continue after midnight - discuss your requirments when booking.
4. Preparation time to be agreed with booking.
5. Hirers are responsible for payment in full for all breakages and damages incurred while use the hall.
6. A deposit may be required in some instances.

Please Contact Natalie Morton 01844 339358 to join.

The building is constructed of timber arches with timber sections for the sides of the hall. Fixing the outer cladding of Canadian shingles and laying the teak block floor had to be done by professionals, but otherwise volunteers built the hall in two years. It represented a tremendous community effort and the final cost of the project was £3,000. A painting by Lady Floud, which depicts the construction of the hall, hangs over the fireplace. The hall was opened on the 16th September 1950.

Here is the perspective of one of the men involved:

In 1945, with the war over, the men of returned to the village. Sometime in 1946, Major Keene from Thame came to see my husband, Jim Garrett, and asked him to form a British Legion with the four villages: Ickford, Shabbington, Worminghall and Tiddington. This was done and we spent some social evenings in a Nissen Hut in Thame, which the Government were selling off. This was on what is now the Cattle Market.

Kim was now on the Village Hall Committee and as their lads wanted somewhere to meet it was decided to approach the Hall Committee with a view to borrowing some money, as Oakley Camp were selling off Nissen Huts. A public meeting was held in Ickford School led by Sir Frances Floud, Lady Floud, Mr Guy Mace, Rev. Dodd and Alec Neill. It was decided against the Nissen hut and to try to build a village hall. Lady Floud had been to an exhibition in London where she had seen the Best Painting of a Village Hall and this style of building was chosen for the proposed hall. The painting we have mounted in Ickford Village Hall was painted by Lady Floud as a tribute to all those involved in the construction of the hall.

Lawrence Dale, an architect in Oxford, was contacted to draw up plans. Permission to build at this time was very difficult to obtain as all building materials were being used to rebuild the bombed out houses in London, etc. Sir Frances Floud, who was working at the Ministry in London, puled a lot of strings, the outcome being that the materials were made available for purchase but the hall would have to be built voluntarily. Sir Francis obtained a grant from the Carneigie Trust and together with other grants, this formed the basis of the funds required to start building.

Mr. Guy Mace gave a piece of land freely to the village. Lawrence Dale & Son promised to oversee the project throughout and the men of the village offered their labour. We found brickies, carpenters, plumbers, pipe-layers and plenty of other skills in the village. The only paid labour was the floor and exterior shingling. Some of the men worked through their holidays, evenings and weekends and the Hall took about two years to build.

My husband served on the Committee from 1946 until his death in 1975. He took over as Chairman from Sir Francis when he left in 1959 and continued until 1971. He was heavily involved with the hall for 30 years, chairing various committees, such as the Cricket Club and Parish Council.

The first event held in the Hall was a social evening for the village for which two full-sized billiard tables, two table-tennis tables and other games were purchased. Later, cam e a Badminton group and Youth Club. The School used the Hall as an extra classroom for some time. Also, the Doctor held his surgery in the hall on a Monday evening.

The social life in the village was very active with dances, festivals and fetes held in the Manor and Mrs Dover's garden (Mrs Dover was a teacher at Ickford School for many years and taught all three of my children). We also ran Bingos in the Village Hall on Saturdays with Sid and Mary Tinson. In 1969, the Derby & Joan Club was formed by Mrs Buxton of the W.R.V.S. This was held on the second Wednesday of ebry month in the Village Hall. Myself, Mrs. Lane and Mrs. Dora Bunce made teas. I joined the committee and am still a member at 84 years of age.

I came off the Village Hall committee in 1975 when my husband, Jim, died. At this time I took over selling poppies in the village for Remembrance Sunday, which Jim had done from 1946 and I continued doing this until two years ago.

Jim & Ivy Garrett, 2003.

Memorabillia:

• IVH Accounts, 1950, [98kb] courtesy of Jim Garrett.
• Lady Floud Birthday Card: cover [147kB], inside [67kB], courtesy of Jim Garrett.