Page 33 - It's a Rum Life Book 3 "Ivy House Tales 1970 to 1984"

Next I tackled the District Council for a like sum and obtained half of the remaining costs,
not to be sniffed at. This left us with a small balance to find ourselves which we decided
would not be impossible.
The next hurdle was that all this money had to be spent within the current financial year so
we leaped ahead and found a sympathetic local builder with a quote within our budget.

The result was that within a year of thinking about the project it was up and finished. Oh,
one thing we did ‘forget’ and that was to apply to the District Council for planning
permission and then we thought ‘on reflection’ that as they had paid for at least one third of
the alterations they would not be likely to come and knock it down! We had the support of
the Historic Buildings Commission and that was good enough for us!

Now, as I write this in 2011, almost 40 years later, the Hall is still fulfilling our original
ideals from the 1970’s although it is in need of another facelift.

It is used today by various voluntary groups each and every week and is a real asset to the
community. The “Public” land alongside the Town Hall and used as a local amenity, is still
owned by the ‘Duchy of Lancaster’ from the time when John ‘O Gaunt the father of King
Henry the Fourth presided over all the lands surrounding his home at Old Bolingbroke.

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