David Rees Morgan is leading the campaign to save the hall:

"Penrhyncoch Village Hall is almost 45 years old. The story of its construction starts just after the Second World War when a group of people got together to decide whether there was a need for a hall in the village. From that meeting there was an open meeting and everybody was overwhelmed with the idea. It all started from there.

In those days they didn't have any money so they had to raise money. To get the funds rolling, they went round collecting 3p from every household. That was the beginning. They raised money for about ten years to get the materials.

The hall was built voluntarily, by craftsmen and non-craftsmen from the village. It was a major operation. In those days there were no mechanical diggers to be had and the work was mostly done by hand. There was one tractor and loader but otherwise it was pick and shovel.

The Hall was officially opened in 1960. Plays and concerts used to be very popular but the artists are quite expensive these days.

Every year the horticultural show is held in the hall which is very successful. And of course the Eisteddfod, which is very well known by now, is held in the hall every April. It is one of the few local Eisteddfods still to be held in a Village Hall.

Throughout the year the Ysgol Feithrin (nursery group) meets here five mornings a week. On Thursday afternoons we've got the Mother and Toddler group and every Tuesday evening there are Welsh learning classes. There are even Martial Arts classes held in the hall!

I hope these things will remain with us but like all old buildings, the hall is deteriorating and requires urgent work. The priority at the moment is to re-wire the hall by the end of March. Then we'll have to have a look at the roof which is leaking.

There are also plans to move the kitchen, which is downstairs at the moment, up to the same floor level as the main hall. It's quite a big programme of work for which money will have to be raised.

The Secretary of the Village Hall Committee, Anne James, came up with the idea to produce a calendar to raise money sponsored by local businesses. The calendar contains many old photos of Penrhyncoch including ones depicting the construction of the Village Hall.

The loss of the hall would be devastating to the community and as the Chairman of the Village Hall Committee for the past twenty years I would consider myself a failure if this work is not done. The calendar is available for purchase from the Post Office in Penrhyncoch."

By David Rees Morgan, Chairman of Penrhyncoch Village Hall Committee.

Nigel from Rainham sent us this message in June 2008:

Nigel: "I was a boy living in Penrhyncoch when the hall was being built and my father Elfed Davies was very involved in the organisation and collecting of the money. He was also very involved in the electrical wiring of the original building. I wonder if anyone there now remembers him?"