Your Village Hall

Location

The Hall can be found on the B4101 (Grange Road), just after Dorridge Park heading towards Hockley Heath. We are about 4 miles from Solihull town centre and close to the M42 (see map). The building is set back from the main road, on the edge of Dorridge Park, and is an attractive setting for photographs.

Hall

The main hall is 15.5 m x 9.5 m and is accessed from the bar area with two sets of double glass doors. There is a fully sized stage at the head of the hall dressed with velvet curtains. The hall is big enough to accommodate a full-sized badminton court.

The hall is very popular for wedding receptions (Saturdays only), anniversary parties, children's parties and adult birthday parties (at the moment, due to licensing restrictions, we do not cater for birthday parties for those aged between 14 and 21 inclusive). It will comfortably seat 120 people for a sit down meal, but could accommodate more (see Capacity box below). The hall has wall lighting suitable for social functions and fluorescent strip lighting if required.

We have 20 rectangular tables which seat up to 8 people. The chairs are a dark navy blue fabric which matches almost any colour combination you may wish to use for your function.

The carpeted bar area measures an area of 7m x 5m. Lounge chairs are placed around this area for a more informal social setting. Click here for a picture.

We have a fully staffed licensed bar which can be opened at your request subject to licensing restrictions - please discuss this when you make your booking. We are licensed from 12:00 until 24:00 Friday and Saturday, and from 12:00 to 23:00 Sunday to Thursday.

The kitchen is 5m x 4m with two sinks, fridge, cooker and large working areas. There is a large hatch with metal roller-shutter of 3m x 1.2m that opens up onto the hall/bar area for serving of food. Please note that the cooker, whilst being larger than a standard domestic model, has capacity limits for catering on a large scale. In particular, heating and cooking food from cold may take longer than you might expect at home. You may need to allow for this in your planning. If in doubt, please ask our Booking Secretary for advice.

There are male and female toilets off the main corridor plus a disabled toilet.

Stage

There is a curtained stage which is 7m wide by 5m deep which is licensed for public entertainment. The Hall can accommodate an audience of up to 150 people (when seated in rows). Stage lighting and a new projection screen (3m x 3m) is available. Behind the stage area there is a dressing room which measures 3m x 4m. It has mirrors and shelving around the walls for use as a dressing room, and has access to both wings of the stage.

This year we have new space for smaller meetings (which, at 6m x 7m, is over a quarter of the area of the main hall), designed to accommodate (under normal conditions) up to:

• 20 people boardroom-style around central tables,
• up to 36 people when grouped around up to six separate tables, or
• up to 50 people, conference-style in rows.

This space can be used for committee meetings, smaller groups, such as classes, lectures, crafts or other activities that need less space than the main hall.

There is a tea-making point (kettle and sink) in an adjoining room, and there are also toilet facilites available within the same block (separate from those for the main hall). To see pictures, click here.

Car park

There is a large car park right outside the Hall with provision for about 40 cars.

Capacity Limits

• 180 people in the building (including main hall, bar, kitchen, stage and backstage)
• 150 people in the main hall, seated as an audience in rows
• 120 people for sit-down meal in the hall

The first constraint is due to the fire regulations, the second is derived from rules imposed in the entertainment licence, and the third is just a practical recommendation based on the available number of tables which can be accommodated (say 20 tables, assuming 6 people to a table).

Note: Capacity limits for The Meeting Room are described above; these are independent of, and additional to, those of the main hall.