The old Hall built in 1928 and called the Unionist Hall belonged to The Conservative & Unionist Association. They sent a letter to Henllys Parish Council in 1965 to give them the first refusal to purchase the Hall. Copy of the letter is as follows: -

J.E. Humphries Esq., 14th December 1965

The School House,

Henllys

Nr. Cwmbran, Mon.

Dear Mr Humphries,

Further to your letter of the 11th inst.
The matter of the disposal of our Hall at Henllys has been considered by the appropriate committee of this association, who decided unanimously that Henllys Parish Council shall have the first option on it.

It was further thought that, in fairness to the Council, it would be advisable to obtain the opinion of a professional valuer.

That has now been done with following results:-

(2) That the value of the hall structure and its present contents, is £200.

The valuer has indicated that he has taken into consideration a number of factors in arriving at this low figure of £200 for the value of the hall and contents - namely its present condition, necessitating considerable repairs in the near future, rather infrequent use of the hall even by the Parish Council, and so on.

Perhaps you will kindly place this letter before the next meeting of you Council, and then let me have their opinion in regard to the valuation figures.

Yours sincerely

D V Woolley.

Secretary & Agent.

The first meeting held at the Hall on November 23rd 1966

Mr J Humphries the Headmaster of Henllys School was invited to be the acting Chairman
His first task was to recieve propositions for a permanent Chairman of the Governing Committee.

In this instance because this was the first one I will enter the minutes of the meeting.

Chairman. Cllr F W Richards Prop Mr D J Williams. Sec Mr A Samuel.

Mr Humphries then vacated the chair for Mr Richards

Vice Chairman. Mr D Williams. Prop Mr A Samuel. Sec Mr R Griffiths.

Secretary Mr Humphries Prop Mr D Williams. Sec Mrs P Saunders.

Treasurer. Mr A Samuel. Prop Mrs Roderick. Sec Mrs Shaw.

Proposed by Mrs Shaw and Seconded by Mrs Roderick .

That the Governing committee be:-

Mr F Banfield, Mr J Humphries, Mr H Burton, Mr F Richards, Mr D Williams, Mr A Samuel, Mrs R Lloyd, Mrs P Saunders, Mr R Griffiths.

Prop by Mr A Samuel.

Sec by Mr R Griffiths.

That the property be called HENLLYS VILLAGE HALL.

Prop Mr R Griffiths

Sec Mr F Banfield

1 That the letting of the Hall be left to the Governing Committee.

2 That the secretary writes to the Clerk of MAGOR & ST MELLONS R D C requesting a reduction in rates because the above concern was to be a "Non-Profit organization" running for the benefit and pleasure of the parish.

3 Anybody could apply for hire of the Hall.

It was agreed that members should meet at the Hall on Sunday 27th November 1966 to inspect and make a report on the condition of the Hall.

It was decided,after a general discussion,that the General Meeting be held at the Hall on the 7th December 1966 at 7.30pm.

Donation for coal. .£1.00 given by Mr F Richards.

£1.00 given by Mr J Humphries.

£1.00 given by Mr H Burton.

The keys of the Hall to be held by Cllr A Samuel.

Prop by Mrs Lloyd.

Sec by Mr D Williams.

That £20 be given from the Sport Fund to the Village Hall.

Now there we are. The first Hall meeting had been held. All officers had been elected and are ready for the off.

TOTE

To enable us to get money to pay for the trip to the Pantomine and eventually purchase the Hall we organised a TOTE.

Most of the villagers would sell the tickets, especially our best sellers Vera and John Williams. Fred Banfield and myself would meet every Sunday lunchtime at the Dorallt Inn to draw out the numbers and count out the money. This we did from 30.01.1967 until 20.01.1973.

The TOTE book and the money was controlled by Mrs Phyllis Reeks Brynawel Henllys.