The Salvation Army at Clowne celebrates 130 years of serving the community

[The Salvation Army New Hall - Clowne, 1918]

Playing music for Kings and Queens, assisting the community after a major disaster, multiple new homes later, The Salvation Army is still serving the people of Clowne since 23 June 1887.

Clowne Salvation Army Corps [church] is getting ready to celebrate 130 years of service in the community on the 23 June. Local people will be joined by the leaders of The Salvation Army in the UK and Ireland, Commissioners Clive and Marianne Adams.

 [You can view the slideshow here]  

The Salvation Army will march through Clowne leaving Recreation Close at 3pm on Saturday 24 June, followed by an Anniversary Buffet at Clowne Junior School at 4pm and a Celebration Festival at The Salvation Army Hall on Church Street at 6.30pm. Sunday at the Corps will celebrate the 130th Anniversary with worship and thanksgiving at 10.30am and 4.00pm.

[Home League 1957]

Clowne Salvation Army is a family-centred church where different people of all ages attend the various activities throughout the week. An attendee at the recently held Thursday coffee morning said: “It’s been my God-send since my husband died last year.” Another person commented: “If I didn’t come here, I wouldn’t go out at all.”

Major Elaine Holder said:

“People come here to spend time together with others, they know they can come here and meet a friendly face and have a chat. 

We are always doing something here at the hall, and people will always find a warm welcome and a safe place to be. We invite all members of the community to come and share their memories of The Salvation Army with us.”

Many people from the village have had links with The Salvation Army at some stage during their lives.

The first Salvation Army meeting took place in the loft of a joiners shop at the top of Cliff Hill in 1887. A disused cottage was the next meeting place until the Salvationists moved to a corrugated iron hut on the site of the present Lambs Garage and affectionately known as the ‘Tin Tabernacle’.

It was during this time that The Salvation Army Band played for King George V and Queen Mary when they visited the village in 1914. A temporary platform was erected outside the hall at the Lambs Garage site for the elderly and frail to sit and view the Royal guests.

[Major Mark and Elaine Holder from Clowne Salvation Army]

Second–hand bricks were used to build the current hall in Church Street in 1916, with men from the corps building with the assistance of local builders G. Taylor & Son, with land donated by Mrs G. Hubbard and her daughter Olive.

The Salvation Army has always run activities through the week for the community, and had a brass band as well as a choir, or ‘Songsters’ as they are known in The Salvation Army.

The Salvation Army was heavily involved in the Creswell Colliery Disaster in September 1950 along with the other churches in the village.

Captain Smith, the Minister of The Salvation Army corps at the time, was at the pithead soon after the disaster where 83 people died. Salvation Army Bandsmen and other members of the corps ministered to the physical and spiritual needs of those directly affected and the community as a whole.

The senior band from Clowne also played for the community for 18 consecutive August bank holiday Sundays at Skegness between 1981 and 1998. They have also headed the village remembrance parade every year since 1960.

[Mother's Day 1953]

Clowne Salvation Army corps currently runs a full programme of activities for all ages including carers and toddlers group, various ages children’s groups, community coffee mornings (Tuesday and Thursdays), lunch club followed by Crafternooners on Wednesday, older people’s club on Thursdays (entitled, ‘We Have A Purpose’ or ‘WHAP’) a Community Choir, as well as the normal church-based activities that include band and songster practice, Sunday worship and regular prayer and Bible Study.

Other groups for children, including Rainbows, Brownies and Guides, have also been run at The Salvation Army hall for many years. The church also runs the only remaining Salvation Army Boys Adventure Corps, a similar group to Scouts for boys, on a Friday evening. Generations of boys have attended the corps, with a number of current boys, the sons of previous Adventurers.

The officers of the Salvation Army in Clowne, Majors Elaine and Mark Holder have links with the Church back in 1986 when they accompanied some cadets for training at the corps during an Easter campaign of outreach over 10 days. Many people from the corps still remember their work and the cadets that assisted with the Easter campaign. The Salvation Army is also a member of the Clowne Union of Churches.