Hanging Heaton Working Mens Club in Dewsbury has been serving its local community for well over a hundred years and continues to be a thriving social hub at the centre of village life.
Situated on the village High Street, Hanging Heaton Working Mens Club in West Yorkshire has been serving its members and the local community on this site since 1915.
The club was actually founded in 1907 by a group of men who used to meet at Shaw Cross Co-op Reading Room, and was described in the local paper as ‘a circle of men in search of more congenial relaxation and more varied entertainment’.
That circle has certainly got a lot larger since those early days, not least with women now being an integral part of the club, but the basic description still stands true with the club providing a home-from-home and an array of regular activities for its 370-plus members.
The club has a long association with the CIU and the certificate from the Union marking its one hundred years of affiliation takes pride of place on the club’s wall alongside other official certificates, historical photos of the club and items of sporting
memorabilia.
“We’re currently doing really well,” says Club President Colin North.
“We are now two years past the end of the last Covid lockdowns and it probably took us six to nine months after reopening to really get back to normal.
“Of course, there are a few members who just never came back to club life after the lockdowns.
“For example, I bumped into someone the other day in the village who used to be a member and came in with his wife every three days or so and he told me that they had just got out of the habit of coming to the club during Covid and it had stuck!
“Thankfully, that wasn’t the case for the majority of our members who were really keen to come back, having missed the club so much when we were shut.
“In fact, we have managed to increase our membership over the past couple of years and a lot of that success is down to the fact that we reopened as soon as we could and made sure we were consistent in terms of opening hours right from the start.
“There is a cricket club in the village which has a lot of social members who drink there but after Covid they were very haphazard about when they opened and didn’t have any consistency with their hours.
“When people came to our club they knew we’d be open and we have definitely picked up some members who have switched to us. We have added around 40 new members which is really pleasing.
“The cost of living crisis might also have helped us to attract new people as we are very reasonably priced compared to the cricket club and the pub which is about half a mile down the road.
“Our top seller is Carling which is priced at £3 a pint to members and the quality of our beer across the board is excellent.”
But, of course, the club has plenty more to offer alongside its well-priced bar and boasts excellent facilities, including snooker and pool tables and a dartboard.
“The sports facilities are really popular, particularly with the younger members who come into the club on a regular basis and fancy a game of pool, snooker, darts or dominoes with their mates,” says Colin.
“We run two snooker teams who compete in the local leagues so we generally have a home fixture once a week which is great for midweek trade.
“We also have a Fishing section who have their own lake just down the road but are based at the club and hold all their meetings here.
“Once a week, we have the Slimming World club meeting here and we’re very happy to encourage other local groups and charities to use the club for their meetings.”
The club has a large Function Room which provides a significant year-round boost to the club’s financial bottom line.
“We took the decision several years ago to move away from paying for weekly live entertainment every week and trying to make that money back over the bar,” says Colin.
“Instead we have publicised the Function Room to members and the local community as a venue for private parties on Friday and Saturday nights and this has proven extremely successful.
“It’s a great room for celebratory events like wedding receptions, anniversary and birthday parties and it really helps to boost trade at the club with people coming in and spending over the bar.
“It also brings new people into the club for the first time and they’ll often want to sign up as a member when they see what a great environment we have here.
“We’ve got bookings for many months in advance so it really is an important source of income for the club and the feedback we get from people is always positive.
“Venues in the area where people can hold their own events are pretty far and few between so we’re providing a really valuable service for people to come together and enjoy themselves in our club.”
The club has forged strong links with the Dewsbury Rams RLFC Supporters Club, with the Rams’ home ground around half a mile from the club.
“We do really well out of the Rugby League,” says Colin. “Whenever the Rams have a home game we’ll have a good crowd of supporters who come in for a couple of drinks on their way to the game and on their way back after the final whistle.
“I’ve also written to the supporters clubs of all the teams who play in the same league as the Rams – basically the third tier – and told them they’re assured of a warm welcome at our club on matchdays.
“We recently hosted a coachload of 52 supporters who were heading to Batley Bulldogs – another nearby Rugby League side – ahead of a game and they stayed for two hours.
“We put on sandwiches for them and they absolutely loved it. We’re very happy to host large groups if they let us know in advance.
“Likewise, we have a number of football supporters who pop in on their way to watch Leeds United at Elland Road which is only 15 minutes away.
“Indeed, if any Club Journal readers are in the area to watch Leeds, the Rams or the Bulldogs, we would love to see you in the club.
“We have the full Sky Sports package so we show all the Premier League, Football League and Super League matches in the club, as well as racing.
“One of our members has shares in several racehorse so there’s always a bit of excitement when one of them is running – especially if he’s given us the nod and some members have bet a few quid!”
The club is blessed with a dedicated Committee willing to put in the hours for the good of the club, not least Colin himself who recently received the 50-Year Distinguished Service Award (DSA) alongside fellow Committee Member Billy Calvert who received the 40-Year DSA.
“We have some very loyal servants on the Committee and it was very pleasing to see Billy receive his award as he been a brilliant servant for the club,” says Colin.
“But we are also delighted to have some younger members on the Committee who have been eager to learn the ropes and take the club forward.
“For the good of the club it’s important to be able to hand over to the next generation when the time comes.”
The Committee is ably assisted by Club Steward John Brier who has been in the role for the past 10 years.
“John is a great asset to the club and works really well with the Committee having worked alongside the previous Steward before taking over the reins himself,” says Colin.
The club has raised money for a number of charitable causes over the years with its most recent initiative in aid of the Kirkwood Hospice.
“Earlier this year, one of our members, John Longbottom, set a target to raise £5,000 for the hospice, who had cared for his late wife, by selling homemade jars of pickles to members,” says Colin.
“It was so successful that he upped the target to £6,000. Sadly, he passed away a month or so ago before reaching that total but club members carried on the fundraising in his memory to reach the goal.”
With lots of new homes currently being built in and around Hanging Heaton, Colin believes that the club is in a good position to benefit from the new construction boom.
“There are 50 houses going up in the field directly behind the club as well as a further 280 being built half a mile down the road,” he says.
“Once they are completed and the new residents move in, we’ll be doing a leaflet drop letting everyone in the community know about what the club has to offer.
“We have already picked up some new members who have just moved into the first phase of completed houses so hopefully many more will be coming through our doors in the near future.”
It would appear that Hanging Heaton WMC, in addition to its illustrious past, has a very bright future at the centre of its local community.
