Perched on an embankment in the centre of the little village of Jerrawa, just outside of Yass, is a reminder of a once cherished community building that is sadly becoming a thing of the past.
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The weatherboard Jerrawa Hall was built in 1898 by well-established local families as a meeting place for its growing district. After 120 years of amazing service and with the changing of the old guard, Jerrawa Hall is slowly becoming derelict.
The last keeper of the keys for the hall was Pat Bush, who lived in Jerrawa for well over 80 years and has now retired to Yass. Not long before Pat left Jerrawa, she gave me a tour through the old community building that played such a big part in her life.
I couldn’t wait to get home and get my frock on and then off to the dance.
- Pat Bush
Even filled with clutter, the interior is a little bigger than you’d think from the outside, and the building still stands on its original yellow box piers driven into the ground manually 120 years ago.
At the end of the hall, is a small wooden stage and to the right, a door that leads to a tiny kitchen that once turned out amazing suppers. Pat tells me we are standing on the original hardwood floor and how as a teenager in the 1940s, she and her friends made the Jerrawa Hall rock. Saturday night dances at the hall were hugely popular as Pat recalls.
“I couldn’t wait to get home and get my frock on and then off to the dance,” she said. “The hall was lit with lanterns and the musicians sat on the stage. Sometimes they only had a penny whistle and a squeezebox between them, but boy oh boy could they play.”
After supper, we would sprinkle pops dancing dust all over the floor to make it really slippery and the band would start up again.
- Pat Bush
“After supper, we would sprinkle pops dancing dust all over the floor to make it really slippery and the band would start up again. That was when the real fun started,” Pat added. “No alcohol of course, but that didn’t stop a few of the boys getting three sheets to the wind and into a bit of mischief. But it was all good, clean fun and the next day we were all still friends.”
Pat’s main concern about the hall is what will become of the Honour Rolls to the local men who fought in both world wars. These large memorials have had pride of place just above the stage for a long time. There is also a mix of old Odd Fellows and Masonic lodge memorabilia.
“I accept the fact the hall will eventually fall down and that’s okay, but I worry about these memorials to our local boys and I would like to see them saved,” she explained. “And another thing, surely some of the wood in the Hall could be saved and put to a good purpose. The dance floor is as good as the day it was put down.”
These days, the Jerrawa Hall is in serious disrepair. Its ceilings are sagging, the roof leaks and its old yellow box piers have started to give way. But once upon a time, this lovely wooden building, with its good vibes, was an event capital for the little district of Jerrawa.
