When people talk about the village of Uffington the list of attractions is long and includes: the Oldest White Horse in the country; a church; a museum; a primary school; a pub; a shop and Post Office and so much more. Two things that are frequently mentioned in such lists are the White Horse Show and The Thomas Hughes Memorial Hall. Less commonly mentioned is that without one, we wouldn’t have the other.

But the story goes back further: At the end of World War I, the villagers collected money with the intention of using the funds raised to welcome home returning Servicemen. However, the servicemen decided against accepting the money and instead used the funds to buy an old Nissen Hut from the War Department to act as a Village Hall. This hut was erected on the land where the current Village Sign stands at the corner of the High Street and Fawler Road and, served the village and surrounding villages well. Unfortunately, by the late 50s the fabric of the building was causing concern and so, in April 1960 a Building Committee was formed to raise money for the building of a new hall.

The Committee held a variety of fund-raising activities including bingo nights, whist drives and a variety of sweepstakes associated with events such as football matches and horse races. However, it became apparent after about 10 years that the funds being raised were not keeping up with inflation, which was often in double figures during this period, and the Committee were not close achieving their goal. A new more ambitious approach was required. Step forward Mr John Little.

John had previously run the 1964 Flower Festival in the 3 villages which had raised funds to repair the Uffington Church roof. The Committee asked Mr Little for ideas and support. An inspired decision. It was Mr Little who noted that with the 150th Anniversary of Thomas Hughes birth approaching a festival to mark this event offered a significant fund-raising activity.

The first Show, a 3 day event held on the August Bank Holiday weekend of 1972, was called the Tom Brown’s Festival and was held on what is now the Jubilee Field, including the ground that the THMH now occupies and, the ground on which the Craven Common development now sits. The Uffington Museum holds copies of the ‘Lucky Programme’, which for a price of 50p gave entrance to the ‘Thomas Hughes Exhibition – Antiques Fair and Village Field’.

Of course, it wasn’t as easy as it sounds. And, just like today, a significant amount of work and investment is required. The Building Committee agreed to provide £100 from the monies that had been raised over the previous years; the Parish Council (PC) was approached for matching funds. They responded that they were not able to offer the required funds from the PC funds but did have access to £100 which had been left to the village for use towards the building of a new village hall. There appeared to be considerable consternation as knowledge of this bequest was not widely known. However, a fund of £200 was agreed as working capital to put on the Show.

Whilst a significant portion of the funds for the initial building of the Hall was generated by the Show it is important to recognise a number of other significant sources of funds. Professor and Mrs Seton-Lloyd of Woolstone donated the profits from the sale of the old school in Woolstone. A Grant Aid donation of £6,875 was received which, in his book ‘A Village Show’ Brian Tilling credits the MPs Airey Neave and Douglas Hurd for pushing. A further grant of £13,750 was received from the Department of Education and Science. But, the most generous of all the fund raising efforts came from John Little and Hugh Shorten and Colonel, later Brigadier, Harry Hopkinson. In order to halt the ever-increasing costs of the proposed build, caused by the rising costs of materials and labour, these

3 gentlemen, with we assume the agreement of their families, mortgaged their houses to provide loans to the Fund in order to allow the building work to commence. Hands up anyone who would be willing to do that today. The debt to these 3 was eventually discharged following the 1977 Show.

The Hall was officially opened on 29 November 1975 by Mrs Laddie Akroyd, accompanied by her sister, a great niece of Thomas Hughes, after whom the Hall is named. Following the official opening Mr Bill Mitchell, the Chairman of the Thomas Hughes Trust handed the building keys to Mr Alec Shand the recently appointed Chairman of the Management Committee, called the Community Association.

 

Whilst much has changed since the original Show, there are many similarities.

By 1983, with the initial build of the Hall and the addition of the small hall complete the White Horse Show Trust was in a position to provide support to other organisations and activities and in his book Brian Tilling details: resurfacing the Baulking Church walls - £805; Tom Brown School Heating System £425; Red Cross , local disabled and aged – £200; Uffington Primary School, re-siting garage and sheds - £600; Uffington Church, towards heating system £2,000; Craven Sports Field, towards drainage - £3,000, Tennis Club, toward court - £1,000 and, £7,000 for a new community minibus.

A comparison with recent awards made by the White Horse Show Trust demonstrates that the intentions of those who originally started the Show continues and many of the same organisations continue to receive support: Jubilee Field Play equipment £7,000; THMH – Flooring Refurbishment £3,025; John Little Award to the Primary School £100, an Award to the Saunders Trust of £250 for the provision of dictionaries to children graduating from the primary school; £5,000 for the St Mary’s church clock; £450 for science equipment for the School; £1000 for the establishment of a table tennis club.

One thing that has thankfully changed is the provision of toilets: in ‘A Village Show’ we learn that in the early days of the Show the conveniences were metal buckets in cubicles constructed by tarpaulin sheets in a wooden shed. Members of the organisation committee regularly emptied the buckets into a trench they had built for the purposed. By 1987 the facilities had been upgrade to cubicles constructed of straw bales. Unfortunately, someone using the facilities managed to set fire to them. Thank heavens for the provision of Portaloo’s which don’t require emptying by the Committee members.

The success of the Show, is very much governed by the weather and the support of volunteers. The weather prior to 2024 Show was not kind with a lot of rain on the days running up to the show. Fortunately, over the 2 days of the Show the weather stayed dry. Visitors numbers were a little down on the Sunday but picked up on the Monday and the Trust is pleased to report that after all operating costs have been taken into account a profit of £13,764 was made. Which is in addition to profits made by local groups that undertake their own fundraising activities at the Show. Organisations which would like to apply for support from the White Horse Show Trust should visit the Trust’s page on the Uffington Parish Council Website www.uffington.net As the 2025 Organisation Committee work toward another successful show details will be available on www.whitehorseshow.co.uk

The Thomas Hughes Memorial Hall continues to act as a focal point for the local villages as the returning servicemen intended the original meeting hall to be and, as John Little and the many volunteers who formed the Building Committee and Show Committees intended the current Hall to be. Details of the facilities available in the Hall and access to the on-line booking system can be found through the Hall website www.thmh.co.uk

The Uffington Museum has a library of photographs and documents of the building of the Hall and of the Show over the years.