Old Drill Hall, New Horwich Road

Image: © Peter Barr Taken: 17 Mar 2014

Built c 1873 for the Band of Hope,a Temperance Society which helped working class children, promoted abstinence from alcohol and arranged events for the children. In 1908 the building became a Drill Hall, and was the headquarters of ‘H’ company,6th Battalion, of the Sherwood Foresters regiment and was used by the territorial army for meetings, drill and shooting practice. Later, the town of Whaley Bridge took over responsibility for the Hall and in the 1960s it had the biggest function room in the town and was used as a dance hall and social club. The floor was then at a lower level than it is now. The Local Council later used the Hall as a local depot for tools and storage of equipment. The large entrance at the east end was probably installed at this time to allow for the refuse collection vehicle to be based there. The building has been used by a number of commercial companies since,and then was left empty for ten years. It is currently occupied by a company called Web Processing.

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