THIS WEEK IN 1977: Chruch hall in poor state gets renovated

The old church hall in Rivers Street, Somers Town, was being renovated and turned into a community centre with the help of six unemployed men under the Job Creation Scheme.
Left to right, Peter Smith, 25, Tony Crowling, 18, and Reg Berry, 17, clearing the groundLeft to right, Peter Smith, 25, Tony Crowling, 18, and Reg Berry, 17, clearing the ground
Left to right, Peter Smith, 25, Tony Crowling, 18, and Reg Berry, 17, clearing the ground

John Hamblin, 28, from North End, was the scheme’s supervisor and instructor.

He said: ‘I was made redundant three weeks ago and took on the challenge after hearing about the job creation scheme. We have a tough job on our hands but we hope to make the hall usable in five months.’

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The hall was built in 1868 by St Jude’s Church as a national school for the education of poorer parishioners – adults as well as children – but it had been left empty for seven years and was in a poor state.

Four of the workers were school leavers.