The Bratton Recreation Ground Committee celebrated the opening of the newly built team room on Friday 22nd July.
Construction of the £13,000 team room was generously funded by grants from Westbury Area Board, Bratton Parish Council and Wiltshire Community Foundation. Antonia Southern and several members of the Recreation Ground Committee also gave donations and the balance was found from the Recreation Ground’s development fund.
Mike Manson, Chairman of the Recreation Ground Committee gave a short speech of thanks to all those involved before the room was formally opened by Antonia Southern and her grandson, Ivor Ritson.
The event was attended by councillor Jerry Wickham, Wiltshire Councillor for Ethandune, several Bratton Parish Councillors and many villagers, all of whom enjoyed sparkling wine, tea and cake served by Lizzie Cloke.
The project was managed by Chris Cloke, a member of the Recreation Ground Committee, and the room was built by Scisco Construction Ltd of Westbury.
The room is the latest stage in the development of the Recreation Ground and filled the gap between the pavilion, built when the Ground was first established in 1997, and the garage which was built in 2010. It fills a need for a social and educational room which had been missing since the Ground was established.
It has already been used and enjoyed by Bratton Cricket Club, Westbury Cricket Club 3rd XI and Trowbridge Cricket Club A XI, all of whom use the Ground as their home pitch. It will also be used by Trowbridge Football Club Youth teams and other football teams who play they home matches there, and by Bratton Youth Club, Bratton Comets Youth Club and Bratton Guides and Brownies, who regularly hold events at the ground.
In due course it is hoped that it will also be used by Bratton School, by other organisations and by local families who can book the ground for parties.
The recreation ground already boasts a pavilion with changing rooms, showers, toilets and kitchen, as well as adult and youth football pitches, a cricket square with six wickets, a trim trail, a basketball net, a car park and a skateboard ramp.
