HAMSTERLEY Social Club has been shortlisted for a national award thanks to its role as a base for community events.
The venue has been shortlisted for the Community Club of the Year title at the annual Club Mirror Awards.
Two members of staff, Debbie Wrigglesworth and Shelly Walker, have also been nominated for community hero awards.
Club secretary Gayle Fidler said: “I am really proud of them for all the work they do – they do a lot for the community.”
She added that the club was shortlisted for the community events it puts on, such as an autumn crafts session, regular darts and bowling sessions for children, charity domino drives and weekly Sunday sing-a-longs.
It is also putting together a risqué “Tractor Boys” calendar to raise cash for cancer and dementia charities.
Last year the club was honoured with a Club Mirror centenary award, to mark 100 years since it was established.
Ms Fidler said: “In 1920 it became a club. We would have got it back in 2020 but because of Covid it was postponed.
“Prior to being a workingmen’s club it was a pub called the Spinning Wheel, and before that, in 1856, it was an auction house. So, it has always been part of the community.”
She added that the village had once boasted three pubs and several businesses.
In the early part of the last century business changed in the village, and the Spinning Wheel pub closed its doors.
Ms Fidler said: “For whatever reason some of the businessmen decided to save the building.”
One of those involved was blacksmith William Henderson.
Ms Fidler added: “I found the original deeds with all their signatures on it.”
As Halloween approaches, the club also has its fair share of spooky tales.
Ms Fidler said strange events included people seeing strange shadows and figures out of the corner of their eye, glasses jumping off counters and “quite often you hear footsteps upstairs” when there is no-one there.
Anyone who wants to experience the atmosphere of Hamsterley Social Club can do so any day of the week except Tuesdays, with the doors opening at 5pm each day.
The Club Mirror Awards take place on November 25 at Doncaster Racecourse.
