To celebrate the centenary year of the Women’s Institute (WI), members of the Acklam branch have planted 100 snowdrop bulbs next to the newly restored pond at Acklam Hall.
The multi-million pound redevelopment, by Acklam Hall Limited, has seen the complete restoration of the building, which dates back to the 1680s and was home to Teesside’s Hustler family for almost 250 years, before becoming a school in the 1930s.
The Grade I listed building is due to open in February 2016 offering four unique function suites for weddings and other special events, 18 serviced offices, state-of-the-art conference and meeting room facilities and The Brierley restaurant serving homemade dishes from breakfast and lunch to afternoon tea and dinner.
Val Cunningham, president of Acklam’s WI, said: “As well as marking an historic occasion we also wanted to celebrate new beginnings and Acklam Hall was the ideal place. After all, it’s full of history and will soon re-open which is such an exciting prospect for our area. We had a lovely afternoon planting our bulbs, eating chocolates and sipping sherry in the rain!”
Kelly Mennear, from Acklam Hall Ltd, said: “The ladies at the WI are keen supporters of Acklam Hall and we were delighted to be involved in the bulb planting which was such a lovely idea to mark their centenary year. We will continue working closely with the local community and look forward to welcoming the WI to the Hall for afternoon tea when we open.”
Acklam WI meets in St Mary’s Church Hall on the first Thursday evening of the month. New members are welcome and more information can be obtained by contacting Val Cunningham on 01642 975131.
