Village Hall Heritage Project

In association with Community Action Northumberland (CAN) and Northumberland Archives, with funding from the National Lottery Heritage Fund, the Breamish Hall Heritage Project aims to:

Preserve, record, and share the heritage of the Breamish Hall for the benefit of the community it serves.

Background

This project is a part of a larger county-wide project aimed at recording the history of Northumberland’s Village Halls.

Through cross-generational work the county project aims to combat isolation amongst elderly people, help to educate children and young people, and strengthen community cohesion. Most of Northumberland’s 200+ Village Halls have for many years been the main venue for communal activities in their villages and hamlets and are central to the shared memories of generations of local people. Many are historically significant buildings with previous lives.

Further background information

Further detail regarding the county-wide project can be accessed via the following download:

Local project

In October 2021 two Powburn residents, May Wilson and Graham Williamson, started the Breamish Hall Heritage Project.

As there were only two active participants, this necessarily limited the project’s scope. In addition, as most of the more senior members of the local community have passed away, it was decided that the Breamish Hall Heritage Project would not undertake oral history interviewing. Instead, it was considered more effective to focus on the following limited activities.

• Review the existing ‘History of Breamish Hall’ documentation: Collaborative work from previous projects culminated in the production of an initial historical timeline of Breamish Hall. This document will be the framework for expanding on the historical account.
• Promote the project in the local community: Posters will be distributed locally, together with posts on this community website. Should anyone wish to assist with this project then please feel free to contact us.
• Collect documents, photographs, artefacts and memories
• Collate information
• Preliminary analysis
• ‘Summary’ timeline exhibition to be mounted at a Warm Hub Lunch at Breamish Hall
• Amending/expanding the written timeline
• Archival preservation
• Temporary/permanent exhibition (with interpretation boards)
• Timeline permanently added to community website
• Contributing to the county-wide evaluation of the project

Further local project information

More specific information regarding the local plan and its phases can be accessed via the following download:

Can you help?

Should you wish to assist with the Project in any way then please feel free to contact either:

May Wilson: 07901 860613

Graham Williamson: Contact Form

Got any documents, photos, artefacts or memories?

If you have any information (documents, photos objects) that you think will help us build a more detailed history of the Breamish Hall then please contact either of the above.

Unless you wish to donate anything you have, we would only need to borrow your items so that we can copy and/or record them. We will then return the items to you.

Credits

NB: Dates in (brackets) indicate the year when the images were first shared with either the Breamish Valley Photographic Collection or the Breamish Hall Heritage Project and, therefore, the date when permission to use the images was granted.

Header image consists of:

• Background image: 3P8A6228 (Breamish Hall) Graham Williamson personal collection (2022)
• BVPC0463 (Halloween Party) Hedgeley Women’s Institute from ‘Hedgeley WI Golden Jubilee Book 1930-1980’ (2022)
• 3P8A0017 (two girls) Graham Williamson personal collection (2022)
• BVPC0139 (grandparents at reception) Chris Robinson personal collection (2019)
• BVPC0324 (group photo) Sally Tait personal collection (2022)
• 3P8A1240 (Santa) Graham Williamson personal collection (2022)