I didn’t date this negative but it’s from around 2017 or 2018 I think. It was a great photography subject – as can be seen from the number of times I stopped there to photograph it. A couple of years ago I was passing through and was brought up sharp as the village hall had gone – burnt to the ground. All that was left was the foundations and a pile of burnt wood. Last time I went through Stape it was a field full of sheep – no sign except the outline of the foundations with bales of straw on them.
I know a few people round there – it was near where my Dad was brought up and where he went to school. (The school, by the way, is to become accomodation for the NYMR volunteers).  I asked them what happened to the village hall and the answer was straight to the point – “Community burnt it down!” That was it!

Anyway, this is a record of the Village Hall in Stape before it was burnt to the ground.

Stape Village Hall circa. 2017

It was taken with a Nikon FM2n; 35mm lens; Ilford HP5+ film; printed last night on Ilford MG RC paper;