Castleton Moor Conservative Club to be auctioned

Date published: 22/08/2008

The former home of Castleton Moor Conservative Club is to be sold at auction early next month. The Newchurch Street building, which has been empty since the club closed in May last year,will go under the hammer on Tuesday 9 September in a sale to be held at Lancashire County Cricket Club. The auctioneers Edward Mellor & Co., in their auction guide and list pricings, expect the property to fetch in the region of £110,000 at the sale.

The Conservative Club had been a fixture of Castleton's social scene for many years, at its peak it had a membership in excess of 1,500 people - in recent years this number had fallen considerably. After struggling for several years the club was finally forced to close its doors due to financial difficulties, with payments not being met to both their brewery and other suppliers.

Mr Allan Luck, a former committee member and longstanding member of the club, commented on the sale: "It was sad when we had to close and its even sadder now that the building is finally being sold. I think many people expected it to reopen at some stage in the future.

"Many locals will retain many happy memories of good times spent in there over the years.

"It is a fact of life though you can't go on if you can't make ends meet and the club just couldn't do that"

Following the sale it is expected that the new owners will probably want to convert the building into either flats or offices, it is thought highly unlikely that it will become new licensed premises.