possession was required by April 27 1968. While a long harangue ensued between the two parties regarding the time limit imposed and other matters concerning the premises, searches were hurriedly being made for alternative accommodation. One or two events took place at this time: subscriptions were raised to £2 per person and the Sudbury Bridge Club had, for their part, been given notice to quit their premises. It was suggested that the two Clubs combine. There was, it would appear, a little haggling over the manner of the marriage but in the final event the Sudbury Bridge Club was granted permission to use the Committee Room and given full facilities of the Club and ultimately, of course, were admitted as full members as they are now, operating happily and successfully as the Bridge Section of the Sudbury Institute Club. They meet regularly on Thursday afternoons in the Club’s Committee Rooms and from the start made a useful contribution to the Club’s life.
The previously despised gaming machine was installed for a trial period of four weeks and contributed £21. The machine remained and no subsequent ‘Treasurer has regretted the decision.
The long drawn-out wrangle with Barclays ended in 1968 when the Club was offered £478 if vacation could be completed in six months or £578 if in three months. It proved impossible to take advantage of the more generous offer but vacation was completed within six months.
There are, of course, Members happily still with us who can well remember the trauma of those months and, for those of us who came later on the scene, it is not difficult to imagine the problems and disappointments before a solution was found.
The Chairman had purchased a property in Station Road for £5,000; necessary repairs and alterations would cost £2,000. It was offered to the Club on lease at a cost of £1,650 per annum.
The immediate problem of chief concern was to find the finance to secure and equip the new premises. Appeals were made to members and others too for loans and donations. The amount received was £2,150; a shortfall of £2,850 if the Club was to purchase the building and the situation, with only £800 in hand, was serious if not desperate.
A special meeting was called to consider the matter and bravely it was decided to go ahead and purchase the property in Station Road. ‘Funds had climbed to a figure of £3,360 and the shortfall had been reduced to £1,700. It should be recorded with gratitude that the newly installed Bridge Section themselves contributed £250 as a loan over 12 months.
The Club moved into its new premises, formerly occupied by the Suffolk Free Press, at 54 Station Road – its present address – on July 8 1968. Members should not ever forget the courage and determination and, indeed, also the confidence shown by the Officers and Committee, supported by the Club Membership generally, that enabled the Club to surmount what must have seemed the insurmountable and, by so doing, put the Club on a route that has led to comparative prosperity and success and which enabled much good work to be undertaken in subsequent years.
Part of the upstairs floor was let at a rental of £250 per annum to a tenant who still occupies the space, though not, be it said, at the same rental. Electric storage heaters were installed and considerable alterations made, many of them structural, to meet the immediate needs of the Club for its proper functioning. Once again we have to give generous praise to a splendid volunteer force who shouldered the labour and responsibility involved. It would be good and in many ways right to mention the names of the labour force but it would also be invidious. Several are fortunately still with us and playing an active part; some, alas, have died but their endeavours are being enjoyed by us all.
The old, old question about the admission of ladies once again reared its head and after a Committee had been set up yet again to make recommendations, on April 15 1970, it was resolved ladies “be admitted to the bar for a trial period of one month”. Just what was to be learned from that period is not very obvious but one suspects that the tactics were employed to cover a graceful retreat on the part of some or to provide ‘a foot in the door’ on the part of others to ensure that admission became a certainty. Once again, one has cause to ponder why the admission or participation of ladies arose so often and was several times positively passed and recorded yet never in the Minutes is there any mention of these decisions being rescinded. However, be that as it may, ladies were accepted as Associate Members in 1971 and their presence “has graced the Club ever since without further argument. And now they have the Sex Discrimination Act on their side!
In spite of much voluntary work, some alterations had to be done professionally of course, and Percy Brown & Son undertook these at a “probable” cost of £930. Whether that proved to be the final cost is not recorded but the Company “agreed to come to some arrangement about payment” and it would seem that the arrangement was both agreeable and generous. The general layout of the Club was much as many will remember it to have been until 1981. The rear room was used for snooker, the front room at first the bar but later a Committee Room and Card Room, the main room accommodated the bar.
In 1969 the whole was insured for £8,250, of which £250 was cover for stock. The bar itself was making a monthly profit of around £50. When the bar was moved, as indicated above, from the front to the main room in 1970, the cost was £225.
To supplement income and help in the repayment of debts, “surplus effects” were sold for £17.15.6d (£17.77 2p), while the sale of prints that mostly had been in the possession of the Club (and part of the Museum?) sold for £133.19.0d (£133.95p). Some of the prints were retained and are on display today.
Suggestions for the conversion and better use of the premises were made from time to time, some ingenious and some ingenuous. One that made much sense on the surface and was repeated from time to time and, indeed, may possibly one day be accomplished, was that the upstairs room be converted into a games room. Though it may not in the light of subsequent events be needed as a games room, there are other uses to which it might well be put at some future date and become the basis of the next stage of development.
A demand for table tennis became apparent in 1971 but was rejected. Indeed one cannot see how it could have been otherwise given the accommodation then available. Wine and Cheese Parties were held and were successful and undoubtedly the newly enfranchised ladies had a hand in the provision of food, as they did frequently and generously for the special evening functions.
By now the Club boasted a bank balance of £1,700. Bar billiards was installed but proved a failure and, although after a lapse of time, table tennis was approved and the upper floor made ready for it, the implementation was postponed.
Loans to the extent of £1,015 were repaid in July 1973 and this was increased to £1,125 as the Club’s finances began to prosper and its balance crept up to £3,225. At the AGM in November 1973, the President was able to report that, of the £5,000 loan, £2,000 was to be regarded as gifts.
By now the bar was open at lunch times on Thursdays, the machine was making significant contributions and the bar profits were in the nature of £150 per month, and a further £485 of debts had been repaid.
The question of a second snooker table was strongly engaging the thoughts of the Committee and considerable pressure was being exerted on them by playing members. Professional opinion was sought and it was agreed that the upstairs room was strong enough to support it. This is hardly surprising since it has been learned that the Suffolk Free Press housed printing plant on the floor. However, no immediate move was made in this connection. A billiard table had, however, been offered to the Club on hire at a cost of £1 per annum but the cost of alterations to the upstairs room to convert it for the purpose of snooker would have been £1,000 minimum.
In 1974 the Club received an offer from an M. Allen that he purchase the site and sell the Club that part of it that it might require for its own purpose. It was thought the sale price could be £16,000 and the Club’s part of the new premises could be purchased for £4,000 plus the cost of alterations. Present members are much indebted to those Members who, at the time and on the recommendation of their Committee, rejected the offer. By this time the loan had been reduced to £600.
In March 1974, the Club moved boldly into the 20th Century and installed the telephone. It has been said that the telephone number was not published in the Directory at the time as some chauvinistic, or maybe cowardly, males feared that their wives might interrupt their snooker or their drinking to call them home – or, more likely, to warn them that the Sunday joint was spoiling.
Subscriptions now jumped to £3 and there were by now 172 Members and 59 Associates.
It was agreed that the second billiard table be hired from the Gainsborough and Cornard Club for a minimum period of five years at the already accepted hire fee of £1 per annum, with the thought then still alive that it might be installed upstairs, although there remained considerable opposition. £400 in loans had been promised from various sources to help towards the high cost of conversion. At the AGM it was agreed that £1,200 be repaid to Members who had made loans.
During the next two or three years, the Club made uneventful progress but gained members steadily. However, a vitally important decision was taken at an Extraordinary Meeting in January 1978 when, on the recommendation of the Committee, it was agreed to purchase the adjoining vacant property with a view to making improvements to the Club at some future date. There had been discussion about this possibility for some time but the asking price was beyond reach. However, when the property was finally offered to the Club for £4,500 freehold, it became a proposition worth close consideration. There was, however, a condition that the Club must give a speedy decision and thus the matter became one of urgency. At the meeting, the pros and cons were thoroughly thrashed out. It was opposed in particular by a substantial number of Members who quite reasonably held that the Club should better exploit the space it already possessed upstairs. Others wondered if it could be afforded. Thus the decision to proceed was by no means unanimously passed but there was a healthy majority in favour. The purchase was to be largely subsidised by loans from members whose response was generous. What had the Club bought? On the face of it, a hideously dirty derelict building, the only occupants being pigeons, dead and alive, became, as it was bound to do, a constant headache from the maintenance point of view. Indeed, so dilapidated was it that some regarded it as a health hazard. But the Club had bought a site that would allow for development and was of such a nature that it offered several options when the time came to make use of it. As the months passed, it also occasioned a certain amount of criticism that the Club had bought a white elephant (an unfortunate phrase perhaps) as there were few signs of fulfilling the original intention of using it for the benefit of the Club. These criticisms were somewhat unfair and impatient, for the next step had to be a serious and costly one.
In 1980, the derelict structure was demolished. The Club could now more than double its size if it so wished for there was vacant usable space at the side and rear of the Club’s premises. In the same year plans were drawn up by an architect making use of much of the space available. The primary consideration was to provide accommodation for a second billiard table but other improvements had been included. Estimates were obtained but, by then, the national economy had become shaky and the future uncertain, with interest rates still climbing. The project was reluctantly postponed but it became clear to members that the ideas had not been abandoned.
In 1982 the economic scene had not greatly improved but had steadied somewhat and it was felt that, if a step forward was not taken at that stage, the postponement would become indefinite and more likely the project would never get off the ground. Moreover, the pressure on the snooker table was increasing and, if the Club was not losing Members, many were using the Club less because the opportunities of a game were decreasing. Also competition had established itself in the town, both in terms of snooker opportunities and the success of a smart social club.
The Committee therefore gave the Officers authority to seek new plans and estimates without commitment. A small working party, comprising of the Chairman and Officers, together with two old and valued Members who were also Vice Chairmen, was set up to examine every aspect of the proposal and, in particular, its profitability. The plans submitted were better and more ambitious than the previous ones and not only allowed for greater expansion than before but increased comfort for Members generally.
The Treasurer and Chairman went deeply into the financial aspects and the Treasurer produced projections of anticipated revenue and expenditure covering a five year period, bearing in mind, of course, the relevant factors of inflation and the increased membership and benefits that would arise from the much improved facilities. The Club itself was in a healthy financial position but had to face probably capital expenditure of some £30,000 and no way had it resources of its own to meet such a sum.
Greene King & Co was approached and offered the Club a loan of £7,500 repayable over 10 years at the low interest rate of 5%. A good beginning. Then a very helpful Bank Manager was prepared to make us a loan of rather more than we needed. To what extent our Treasurer influenced the Bank’s generosity we do not know or ask, but it was a good piece of negotiation. The Club funds were also in a position to contribute a healthy sum.
The plan doubled the area of the existing Club, allowed for a recreation room that amply held two snooker tables and still left as such (and indeed more) room for spectator accommodation and other recreational or social facilities and functions. The wall dividing the old billiard room and the bar was replaced by a wide archway and the former was well furnished to become a comfortable and attractive lounge. The toilets were enlarged and much improved, the kitchen was expanded and re-equipped and the cellar brought up to standard.
The scheme was unanimously approved at the AGM in November 1981 and the work was substantially completed by the summer of 1982 and officially opened at a celebratory party on September 3 1982 and the party, as may be imagined, made a splendid start to improved bar takings!
Let it be said that predictions made by the Sub-committee and heartily supported by the General Committee have been more than realised. Although the work was carried out by Percy Brown & Son and sub- contractors, several members did sterling work with regard to fixtures and fittings.
It should be re-emphasised, as it was at the time, that one major factor borne in mind throughout was that the character and nature of the Club must not alter with the physical changes. Nor have they.
It had been the intention to introduce food and this was made possible with the appointment of Mr. Len Barrell as Steward and through the splendid co-operation and enthusiasm of his wife, Doris, who became involved with all the activities. The bar is in good hands indeed and, from September 3 1982, was opened up from noon to 2 p.m. every day of the week.
An innovation in 1982 was to combine the customary Christmas Draw jollifications with carol singing. The Sudbury Choral Society and the Long Melford Silver Band very happily supported the evening and it is hoped that these evenings will become established as a notable annual Christmas event.
Since the changes, the Social and Entertainments Committee have become a very active body, both on the social and recreational sides, and much credit and thanks are due to them. The Club has greatly benefited by their enthusiasm and energy.
Every Club, Institution and Association is dependent upon its nucleus of devotees to expend their energies and enthusiasm and to accept responsibility for the good of the many who gladly enjoy the fruits of such endeavour. It is evident throughout the various stages through which the Sudbury Institute Club has passed that it was certainly no exception to the rule and that it, too, always had its band of such devotees. It is no less true of more recent times and, in particular, since 1968, and in its marked progress of the last two decades. It is also heartening that it still has today such enthusiasms allied to some very wise heads who are in the splendid tradition, and that there are those who can be discerned who will continue to lead the Club into even better things and at the same time preserve its special nature. The Sudbury Institute Club in its 150th anniversary year is in good hands.