Sunniside Working Mens Club c1918-20
Pringle Appleby (1831-91), came from
Meldon c1859 to start a Market Garden,
on one and a quarter acres of land,
near where Sunniside Social Club now
stands. Known as Appleby Gardens, he
built a two roomed stone cottage, known
for a time as Rose Cottage, close to
the road. The cottage eventually became
vacant and almost derelict. A group of
local men decided to turn it into a
little meeting place and arranged the
delivery of a barrel of beer with the
equipment to dispense the product. It
proved to be spectacularly popular and
became known as ‘The Club’.
The Working Men’s Club movement was
beginning to take off throughout
Northumberland and Durham, so much so
that in 1919 the decision was taken by
a group of men (predominantly Coal
Miners), meeting at a Prudhoe Club, to
buy their own Brewery and supply the
ever increasing number of Clubs. The
reason for that far reaching decision,
was because the private Brewers had
become alarmed at the small Clubs
springing up and taking away the
customers from their own ‘tied pubs’,
so they stopped supplying the Clubs. As
a result The Northern Clubs Federation
Brewery was born and in partnership
with the Working Men’s Clubs, would
reign supreme for the remainder of the
20th century
The tiny Sunniside Club based in Rose
Cottage was a major success story, soon
their membership grew out of proportion
to the premises so a decision was taken
to build a new Club adjacent to Rose
Cottage. In 1918 the new Club was
built (pictured above with Steward Jack
Creitch) and Rose Cottage was vacated,
to be occupied later by the Club
Steward Ernie Robinson. Throughout the
years of WW1 the Club struggled
financially, most of the young men were
in the Armed Forces. Indeed the Club
was so hard up, that on 20th August
1919 Mr Robert Brabban a local business
man, loaned it £30 to help it survive.
The Club then had to struggle on
through the depression of the 1920’s
and began to fall into a state of
disrepair. By the end of WW2 after a
further period of financial struggle,
the Club was in a completely
dilapidated state. Undaunted, the local
men came back from the Armed Forces and
set to work to repair the damage.
Its trading position began to improve
and once more membership began to
increase. Rose Cottage was demolished
in 1960 to allow the Club to expand.
Ernie Robinson the Club Steward, moved
with his wife Mary from Rose Cottage,
into a new house ‘Rose Villa’, in
Holywell Lane, built purposely, as the
Steward's house.
Sunniside Social Club was originally named Sunniside Working Mens Club, but the name was changed to reflect the fact that women were also members. The Club has been at the centre
of village life for decades, not just
Sunniside but the surrounding villages.
From its humble beginning it has
evolved into arguably the best Club in
the Region. It is comfortable,
beautifully furnished and very well
managed by a group of dedicated local
men, known collectively as ‘The Club
Committee’. That title tends to
trivialise their role, Sunniside Club
is a business, with employees and
overheads and has to be managed by a
Management Board, no different to the
Board of Directors managing any
business.
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