Ken—Now where shall we go from there? How about the much loved, much missed, Drill Hall?
Cecil—That was used for all sorts of occasions—concerts and so forth. Chiefly, when I was a young lad in the twenties and thirties it was a ballroom, for dances were held there. It was a very appropriate place when it was nicely decorated—good floor—had a good band. Then there was Rifle Range for refreshments or a bar. There was a kitchen at the back and the local Territorial Club was put at our disposal sometimes. At other times a marquee was erected in the forecourt and connected up to the hall.
Ken—Wonderful. But I know that the Mayor’s Ball, the Hunt Ball and all those sort of things were all held at the Drill Hall, weren’t they?
Cecil—Oh yes—Territorial Ball and Fire Brigade Ball. The local tennis club held a couple of dances there every year. They were all good and all worthwhile going to. They were all pleasant functions and I know that we boys used to go to pretty well every one.
Ken—During the war years when we used to have those Saturday night hops, that was the beginning really of the end you might say, because that deteriorated into Saturday night brawls.
Cecil—Yes. Ballroom dancing finished during the wartime. Now you get discos and all that sort of thing.
Ken—Oh be careful. There’s a very thriving ballroom dancing club at Winnersh of which we were members for many years.
Cecil—Everything was done very genteelly, and the benefit was, these dances were attended by all sorts of people in Wokingham. Many of the youngsters went, but then you would get the local doctors, solicitors, businessmen with their wives. It was a good mixed bag and they all mixed together very well and all danced together. It was a much more making of levelling sort of events than we get sometimes now. We all had to behave ourselves. No rioting went on because, if it had, it would have been stamped down straight away and usually there was a master of ceremonies to see that the function went off properly.