15/4/2010 Morpeth Comrades Club

It´s the start of a new era for a Morpeth social club as members raised their glasses to new state-of-the-art premises.

The recently completed Comrades Club project, designed and managed by A C Liani, marks a move to the Market Place, which means work will soon begin on the final stage of the £32m Sanderson Arcade scheme.

Dransfield Properties Managing Director Mark Dransfield said: "This opening marks the start of the second part of our works to complete Sanderson Arcade.

The new club houses a function room, lounge and bar areas, with games provision, including dart boards and a full size snooker table, as well as a lift to take people to the first floor facilities.

There is an outdoor roof-top beer garden and a display cabinet in the hallway with trophies, certificates and old pictures.

"When I came up to Morpeth I didn't think we would need to bring the club into the scheme, but the high take-up of retail space meant we had a reverse of position and I spoke to Chairman Dennis Wheadon about relocation," said Mr Dransfield. "He said we would need to put some effort in if we were going to convince the members so we put together a detailed video walk-through, which included beer mats and trophy cabinets, and the roof garden went down well.

"I'm very impressed with how it looks and the professional team behind the design and fitting out must be congratulated as the quality is first class."

The club has been based in the town since 1920. It was originally opened to give ex-servicemen from the First World War somewhere to socialise. Since then the membership has changed and grown and it is hoped the new premises will encourage even more members to join.

Mr Wheadon said: "Our final night at the old club was really emotional for us when we looked back at things, but this is a very exciting time for the Comrades Club and everyone is really looking forward to using the new club.

"This is a major step forward for us to have these fantastic new premises and being right on the Market Place is great because I expect that we will get a lot of passing trade. We are grateful to everyone involved in delivering the new club."

The work took 12 weeks to complete and the project was designed by A C Liani and fitted out by Tavern Developments.

A C Liani Design Director Stuart Young said: "The members wanted some new features, but they also wanted to retain some of the elements they had in the old club: "I think we managed it and the feedback I've had so far has been very positive. The video walk-through was a key element, because members knew exactly what they were going to get."