The Infant Welfare Centre

The Infant Welfare Centre
The Temperance Hall


Village parade (picture from SWOP website)	The Temperance Hall in 2010

The baby clinic, I recall,
Housed in the local Temperance Hall,
Was where the babies sat on scales
Amidst the noise of children’s wails,
And checked that they had grown in height
And sleeping well throughout the night
By Mrs Fabel, mother hen,
Who tried to keep her eye on them.

The Temperance Hall was used as a meeting place for people who had taken the pledge i.e. that they would not drink alcohol. As times changed the village social gatherings, e.g. dances, required that alcohol be made available and since this was not allowed in the Temperance Hall the activities moved to the Memorial Hall on Lady Carrington's recreation ground (the site behind the Temperance Hall). Thus the hall became under-used and for a while was the home of the Infant Welfare Centre. The Mrs Fabel in the poem was the mother-in-law of Beryl Fabel of Wayside.

Back to map