New Quay Memorial Hall
New Quay Memorial Hall, Towyn Road, New Quay
This building was erected, using money raised through public subscription, in the 1920s in memory of the local people who had died in the First World War. Their names are displayed on a plaque beside the entrance. A second plaque lists the local dead of the Second World War.
The hall was designed to cater for a full range of community activities, with an auditorium for up to 200 people and various smaller rooms for games, classes and meetings.
During the Second World War the hall was extensively used by the London Nautical School, which had been established to improve the competence of future British seamen following the sinking of RMS Titanic in 1912. The school’s home in Rotherhithe was vulnerable to aerial bombing in the war.
The pupils, mostly teenagers, and their teachers were moved to Ferryside, Carmarthenshire, and later to New Quay, where the Memorial Hall’s rooms were ideal for lessons, physical training and assemblies. Dances were held here at weekends, under the teachers’ stewardship.
In 2018 the hall was under threat of closure because Ceredigion County Council no longer had funding to maintain and repair it and other similar facilities in the county. Campaigners said the hall was used by c.20 local groups. The hall was transferred to a committee of local residents, with fundraising events to meet the hall’s operating and maintenance costs.
Postcode: SA45 9QQ View Location Map
Website of New Quay Memorial Hall