At some p0int during the autumnal months of 2009, at least according to the minutes of the first business meeting of 2010, the new bar was constructed in Allendale Village Hall, as presented to the community by the Allendale Lions Club.
It had taken years of planning to move the bar from its infelicitous position jostling with the food service area in front of the kitchen to a better placement on the other side of the room. The Lions funded the construction of the new bar, which included both a service counter for the fonts and handpumps, and a back counter for the spirits and till. But after an incredibly efficient and professional joinery effort by tradesmen in Trevor Newman’s sphere of influence, I could report to the Lions that the bar was built and was working well.
Possibly its first function would have been to serve at one of the early New Year’s Eve Ceilidhs, and then again for the annual Burns Night Supper around about the 25th of January in the new year of 2010. As time went by, of course, new fonts and services would be added to the framework of the counters (the image above was actually taken five years later, but in my photo library there doesn’t seem to be any record of the original completed work).
Apparently, however, I did make a request for a collective design for the plaque for the back wall, to commemorate the Lions’ contribution. Not receiving any submissions, I pinched a grey frame from one of Nigel Baynes’ cupboards, and created a small memento.
It made sense, of course, to have a dedicated bar area, since by that point the hall had become a fully licensed premises, and Graham Girvan and I were each Personal Alcohol Licence holders. That was a handy licence to have!
Meanwhile, a new bar seemed like as good a way to round out the year as any other, with special thanks to the Allendale Lions for making the facility possible.