Hall heart (From Barry And District News)

Hall heart

I HAVE particular interest in the Barry Memorial Hall - my father, who served in France throughout the First World War, was deeply involved in raising the money that was needed to build the Hall.

As so many of your correspondents have said it was a massive united town effort that made it possible with everybody from schoolchildren to pensioners playing their part. Imagine facing a challenge of that magnitude today.

As a very small boy, I can remember the sense of achievement that existed as the building rose.

Its raison d'etre is the Hall of Memory where the names of so many are inscribed, and it is worth remembering that one of the financial problems faced was the cost of inscribing all those names in gold leaf.

This special relationship is one of the reasons that it is so often referred to affectionately as "The Memo". Many people have affectionate nicknames by which their friends know them, but when the occasion is more formal or is in writing, their proper name is more appropriate. I feel that this is the same with the Memorial Hall. It is fine for those of us who hold the Hall in very special regard to call it informally "The Memo" but the use of this name in publicity material and particularly on the signs outside the Hall is utterly inappropriate and demeaning.

So please Barry Town Council remember that our memorial to those who gave their lives for our freedom is not "The Memo," but "The Barry Memorial Hall Theatre." I suspect that you have misjudged the views of the people of Barry on this issue, so may I ask that at the next Council meeting you take steps to issue an instruction to the Hall manager that the use of the title "The Memo" is to be discontinued forthwith?

One final point: the hall has been refurbished but the Hall of Memory is now in need of dignified, sympathetic and loving renovation and repair to show that we do still remember those whose names are inscribed.

Gareth Howe Romilly Park, Barry