The Collection

I was the Property Maintenance Officer with Truro City Council from 1966 to 1974. My responsibilities were the maintenance and improvements of fourteen hundred Local Authority Houses and Public Buildings. My office was situated on the first floor which is now the Assemble Room at Hall for Cornwall; this also housed the City Architects and Building Control Officer. City Hall was a building of two parts; the front section overlooking Boscawen street consisted of the Town Clerk, Committee Room, Council Chamber and Magistrates Court. The rear of the building overlooked the Car Park, which is now the Piazza and this housed the Surveyor, treasurer and Public Health Departments – the two were connected by a long corridor. Situated in the City Hall was the Regent Cinema, but this subsequently closed, and the Hall was then used for concerts and dances etc. Adjoining the hall was an annex separated by a sliding screen and this was used for many functions including private parties, trade shows, fur and feather, harvest festivals also Fat Stock shows, the latter sometimes causing the maintenance section considerable repair work. The annex floor was originally groove and tongued one and a quarter inch boarding, but over many years of heavy use, had worn considerably thinner. It was not uncommon to be informed that a heavy bullock had broken through the floor! Eventually, after the floor was re-laid, the FatStock show moved to another location. By its nature and age, the City Hall was in constant need of major repair work, but the necessary money was not always forthcoming and with Local Government Reorganisation drawing ever closer and the future uncertain, only essential works were undertaken. In 1974 Carrick District Council became responsible for the City Hall until it became Hall for Cornwall.