Merton Hall: A Meeting Place Since 1965

Up until 1965, the old people of Ponteland had no communal space to meet each other and to chat and compare notes. There were various organisations that catered for them in the various church halls and at the Ponteland Memorial Hall, but these venues had to be hired. There was no space that they could call their own.

The Merton Way Shopping Centre had just been opened a few years earlier as part of a comprehensive redevelopment of the western side of the village. The approach to this from the Main Road was via a footpath. The left hand side of the path was occupied by the new premises of the Ponteland Club and Institute but there was still a narrow vacant plot on the right hand side. Castle Ward Rural District Council decided to build an old people’s recreational centre on the site.

It cost £10,000 and was designed by the council’s Engineer and Surveyor Mr. G. E. Dimmack who was having a big influence on 1960’s Ponteland.

The whole building was centrally heated and it was single storey with no awkward steps for the old people to climb. Another asset was high intensity lighting for those with weak eyes. A key feature was the south-facing conservatory where people could sit and watch the world go by.

The building is still extensively used sixty years after it was provided.