THE MEMORIAL Hall at Clarbeston Road is celebrating 50 years since it was opened this July.

The hall has served Wiston, Walton East, Clarbeston, Ambleston and New Moat since 1968.

Clarbeston Road History Society is presenting an exhibition of the history of the Hall - "A Dream Was Realised" to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the hall.

The exhibition will take place on Tuesday, July 3 to mark the day of the anniversary between 2pm and 6pm.

The hall will also be open between 2pm and 6pm on Saturday, July 7 and Sunday, July 8, as well as Saturday, July 14, and Sunday, July 15.

The exhibition will include the war memorial project, events at the hall through the years, the institute and the Picton Hall, 1968 remembered in local and world news, and a selection from the history society archives.

When the hall was built in 1968, the Western Telegraph reported on its opening.

The Western Telegraph's report as the hall opened.

The headline for the piece was “A dream is realised after twenty-five years”, referring to the fact that plans for the hall had begun with the Memorial Hall Building Fund Committee’s founding in June 1943.

When it was opened on July 3, 1968, a Mrs Grace Trevelyan-Jones, president of the hall committee, who said: “This hall has been achieved by a tremendous amount of work, time, effort and thought.”