hea05
Quoits
Meadowfield House Social Club, Quoits Ground
54.982300, -1.576245
Heaton
Opened:
1910
Closed:
Unknown
Redeveloped
Condition:
Home Teams/Clubs:
Last Updated:
25 Sept 2023
HER Description
NEHL - Newspaper reports a covered Quoits ground was located at the social club from 1910. It was opened by Mr Martin Wedderburn the Northumberland representative on the Executive of the Club and Institute Union, and presided over a later smoking concert chaired by Councillor Alex Wilkie MP, also the club president.
There was also a billiard hall and concert hall at the property. A general history can be seen below:
Heaton Meadowfield Social Club gives vintage clubland vibes thanks to the extension on the front, but the actual building has a much deeper heritage.
Before its life as a social this was Meadowfield House, a fairly grand townhouse built in the late 1860s/early 70s.
A fair few notable names lived here too. One of the first tenants was Cuthbert Hunter, part of the famous shipbuilding family and went onto marry a Jane Vickers, likely of THAT famous family. Someone will be able to tell me the exact relation. From what I can find, he was a local governor for the Walker Township.
Mr Matthew Heckels lived here straight after. He was manager for the Walker Coal Company who owned all the pits around the Walker township, and was also president of the Byker Conservative Club.
It was later occupied by William Turnbull in the 1880s, a well known wine and spirit merchant who opened the East End Hotel on Chillingham Road. This is now The Chillingham, which is right next to it. It was one of the first pubs in Heaton thanks to Armstrong’s temperance restrictions on his land. There’s still only a few pubs today.
The social club moved in the building in 1907 and was altered to include a billiards hall, concert hall for 250 people and all intended to provide “temperance refreshments”.
Thanks to Steve Ellwood for the tip.
Ordnance Survey, 1916
The social club in 2023
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Historic Environment Records
Durham/Northumberland: Keys to the Past
Tyne and Wear: Sitelines
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