ATS used church hall as hostel

A RECENT picture of the Church of the Martyrs Hall in the Leicester Mercury brought back many memories for Eileen Chambers, nee Hibbert, who lived Salvatore Ferragamo next door to the hall as a youngster and took part in many activities there.

She remembers that it was taken over by the ATS during the Second World War for use as a hostel and the large upstairs concert hall formed a dormitory for the servicewomen stationed there.

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Cubs, scouts and guides were only allowed the use of one downstairs room during the war years and activities took place there most evenings, including many a game of British Bulldog by the Scouts.

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TENT PITCHING Eileen was a Guider there but also remembers that the actor Michael Kitchen (of Foyle's War fame) was a member of the Cub pack.

Equipment was stored in this one room so there was not MLB jerseys much space. Marching went on in the yard of the hall and tent pitching took place on a small plot of grass.

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The ATS used to conduct their courting under the bedroom windows of Eileen's house, much to the annoyance of her father. She recalls they had two Royal Army Pay Corps MLB jerseys sergeants billeted with her family and she thinks their office was on Western Road in Leicester. Can anyone confirm this? When the war finished, the hall was eventually returned to the use of the church. A youth club was formed, dances were held in the upstairs "dormitory" hall with live bands, concerts took place, Sunday School lessons were held and the hall came back into its own, although in a rather run-down state after the war years.