This page of the history starts with a progress report dated 13 September 1956
From Allner Morley & Bolton
To Commander Charlewood (Progress Report)
West Parley Church Hall
Since the commencement of the work and the preliminary clearance of the site, the foundations have been laid, steel frames erected and the walls have been carried up all round to the eaves level with the exception of the West end wall facing the road which the Contractors have left down for convenience of access and the bringing in of materials.
The internal piers forming the Sanctuary are at a level of about 6ft above the floor and at the stage end the raised walls and piers forming the back of the stage and the proscenium opening are also about 5ft above the raised portion of the floor at this end.
The Entrance Hall, Lavatory and Kitchen block also have the walls and partitions carried up to the level of the flat roof joists.
The solid concrete floors all over have been laid and the concrete steps at the sides of the stages are formed.
The door and window frames have been built in as the work proceeds.
The steel truss over the front of the stage is on the site; also the steel joist for the Sanctuary partition. These will be fixed as soon as the brickwork has been carried up to the required height.
The schemes for the lighting and heating are being thought out. Plans and calculations of the respective capital and running costs are being considered and as soon as we have definite proposals to submit we will make our recommendations.
The drainage work will be commenced shortly.
Proposals for the arrangement and furnishing of the Sanctuary are being prepared and will be submitted for consideration within the next week or so, together with a suggestion for forming a Porch to the side door to the Sanctuary which it is thought would be a desirable provision.
On the whole we think the progress satisfactory, although not as rapid as we could have hoped. We are pressing the Contractors to increase the speed of their work but are advised that they are experiencing difficulty in obtaining as much labour as they could place on this contract.
Howeve we are assured that they will do all they possibly can to complete the work by the original time mentioned.
Four months have past since the work commenced and it seems that good progress was being made. A great deal of development was taking place in the Bournemouth area, and the country generally, at that time so it is not surprising there was a shortage of skilled labour. Remember it was in 1957 that Harold Macmillan made his famous remark "...never had it so good", there was money around for the spending and some of it went on building. The Stacey's, the builders, were being paid against architects certificates. Allner, Morley & Bolton would issue a certificate to Charlewood certifying that work had been carried out and that a sum of £xxx should be paid to them. This system is still in use today as it provides a means of knowing that although the job may not be finished you have value for your money. Well, that's the theory. Certificates had been issued and Commander Charlewood had made calls on the various committees who had promised funds in order to put the PCC itself in funds to pay the builders.
Charlewood had written such a letter which he found necessary to chase on the 22 September 1956. The reply to his chasing letter is reproduced below. This little piece of trivia is included as a comment of the routines of the time. In the letter Mr Falkner uses the phrase "rung up", meaning he has telephoned someone. This is the only reference to the telephone having been used in the entire collection of documents that have been examined for this history¹.
To Charlewood
From Salisbury Diocesan Pastoral Committee
Dear Commander Charlewood
Thank you for your letter of the 22nd which I received to-day upon my return from holiday. I have rung up the diocesan office & they will let you have the cheque without delay. They have had a good many staff changes there recently & I think the matter got overlooked.
Sincerely Yours Falkner
Ah.. times change the excuses do not.... We now jump forward to the first week of November 1956 when it was reported that work had commenced on the roof of the building. Steady progress continues so that on the 16 January 1957 Allner, Morley & Bolton issued certificate number 3 for £950 to make a total drawn under the contract £3150.
Before we leave 1956 it is as well to remember that the P C C were not in full possession of the funds required to pay for the building and fund raising continued to be an urgent priority. No stone was left unturned as this thinly disguised pleading letter to Lord Wimborne evidences.
To Lord Wimborne
From Charlewood
Dear Lord Wimborne
West Parley - erection of Hall/Church
It is recorded in the Minutes of the West Parley Parochial Church Council that in the year 1930 Lord Wimborne gave in the vicinity of Parley Cross, in the parish of West Parley, a site for a church. For years that plot of land has remained just moorland with hardly a house in sight. To-day the plot is almost surrounded by houses and appears, more than ever before, to be the perfect place on which to build a church.
As the funds needed for building a church are not likely to be forthcoming for many years the West Parely P.C.C. decided that the immediate needs of the parish could be met by the erection of a dual purpose hall which can be used for religious services and other church-sponsored activities. Plans for this building have been passed by the appropriate authority and construction is now well advanced. The lay-out of the site includes provision for a church and a clergy house.
While my council is ever grateful to your Lordship for the foresight and generosity which have made it possible to embark on this much needed project it has been suggested that you would be interested to learn of the progress that has been made.
The P.C.C. is fortunate to have at its disposal a grant and a loan from the Salisbury diocesan Pastoral Committee, a loan from the Church Commissioners and donations from parishioners and other interested persons and so has been able to sanction the start of operations. The total of these contributions is not, however, adequate to complete the work and my Council would welcome further financial assistance.
A matter for consideration is the fact that the ancient parish church of West Parley is situated at the extreme southern end of the parish, far removed from any housing area and is, moreover, too small to accommodate any reasonable percentage of its parishioners. While it is not intended that services in the old church shall cease it is held that additional services in a more centrally sited building would best meet the need of the majority of West Parley churchgoers.
Well no harm done in tapping the chap for a fiver. It actually yielded ten guineas.
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1) It is also worthy of note (and you will have to trust me on this as it does't show in the picture but I have seen the original) that it is written in ball point pen and is the only one written with this type of writing instrument. The new invention of the time thanks to Mr Biro Go look it up in Wikipedia