The new Railway Institute of Melton Constable, which, by the liberality of the directors of the Midland and Great Northern Railway Company, has been provided for the benefit of some 500 or 600 employees, was opened on Friday evening. The enlarged and also new premises which have been erected at an approximate cost of about £600, include a spacious lecture or entertainment hall, a refreshment bar, dining room, a reading room, library and a billiard room. For these advantages the employees are largely indebted to then indefatigable exertions of Mr. William Marriott, the Superintendent engineer, who presided at the opening ceremony.
Supporting Mr. Marriott on the platform where Reverend C. Q. Knowles, (Rector of Briston and Melton Constable), the Reverend G. W. Rolf, (Rector of Swanton Novers) Messrs. W. Curson, J. Dunbar, Gribble, Colling 7 etc. and in the body of the hall were the Reverend Dr. Roberts, (Rector of Fulmodestone), the Reverend W. Enraght, (Curate of Briston) Messrs. Palmer. Lawry, H. Codling, S. W. Thwaites, and many others.
After an overture by the Melton Constable String Band, excellently rendered under the conductorship of Mr. E. Rouse, Mr. Marriott gave a history of the Institute from its inception to the present date. The Rev. C. Q. Knowles, the local secretary to the Science and Art Department, South Kensington having acknowledged the aid given by the railway companies and the County Council to Melton Constable classes, preceded, in the absence of Sir Alfred Jordell, a munificent benefactor of the Institute, to distribute the prizes consisting of handsomely bound textbooks on technical education ,to the successful students at the late examination. The prize-list was as follows.
Slade, second Advanced Machine Drawing, second Advanced Steam and second Applied Mechanics.
Smith, second Advanced Machine Drawing.
George Clarke, second Advanced Machine Drawing and attendance prize.
S. Rivett, second Advanced Machine Drawing and passing Applied Mechanics. Langley, second Advanced Machine Drawing, passed Steam and attendance prize. Rouse, pass Applied Mechanics.
H Roberts, passed Applied Mechanics.
Basil Roberts, first Advanced Steam, second Applied Mechanics.
Sadd, Ramm, F. Vickery and Williams passes in Geometrical Drawing.
Attendance prizes were awarded to S. Richardson, J. Williams, C. Cage and Donald Silcock.

At the conclusion of the distribution, the members of the Institute presented Mr. Marriott with a handsome silver fruit service, and Mrs. Marriott with a silver sugar basin, together with an illuminated address as follows:-
Presented to William Marriott Esq. C.E., by the members of the Railway Institute, Melton Constable. October 1895.

Mr. Marriott, in returning thanks, was visibly affected, this testimonial having been a secret carefully kept until its presentation. Vocal and instrumental music were rendered by messrs Westcott, Slater and Mallet. A vote of thanks to the Chairman and the Directorate of the Railway Companies was moved by Mr. Dunbar, second by Mr. Brook, and carried with acclamation. Invited guests afterwards partook of light refreshments at the new buffet. “God Save the Queen” ended the proceedings.
The Yarmouth Gazette - 2nd November 1895

Vice President - Vicky Barrett
Committee - Arthur Wiffen
Secretary - Eric Wiffen
Treasurer - ? Barrett
Barman - Bob Wilson

Two billiard rooms with a table in each. The downstairs room was only used for matches and the sole use of team players
The upstairs room table was for the use of aspiring players
Table tennis room
Bar with seating and a darts board
Large Hall with a stage and a dressing room
Kitchen
Committee Room
Outside block of Ladies & Gents toilets

As remembered by Arthur Wiffen

Frank Morgan was a railway man at Melton Constable and worked there for many years. In June 1999, when he was in his 90s, he wrote down his memories of the Railway Institute in 1927.
Built in 1896 as the Railway Institute and extended in 1912, this building was constructed for the recreation of railway men and for the furtherance of education for the apprentices that were employed on the works. After the extension, it consisted of 6 rooms upstairs and 2 rooms and a dance hall and kitchen downstairs the boiler house, 2 bathrooms and ladies and gents toilets were situated in the yard. A large cellar was situated underneath the 1912 extension.
In those days there was no demand for a lot of storage room and as Boy Scouts we were allowed to store all our camping equipment in there free of charge until about 1930, when the institute obtained a licence for selling alcohol. Then we had to find room in the Scouts Hall for all the gear as the celler was then needed for beer and stores. The members money was 1 penny per week for apprentices and two pence per week for adults. This was stopped out of your wage packet weekly.
The staff employed was a caretaker and assistant, I don't recall anyone else. They did all the chores, serving at the counter and controlling all that went on, including the letting of the bath which cost just 4 pence per bath. The hot water for the bath was supplied from the boiler which was situated next to the bathrooms. This boiler was also tendered by the caretakers and the supply of coal was delivered by horse dray by Messers Attoe and Twiddy coal merchants, this was delivered a ton at a time and had to be carried in Cwt. sacks up the alley alongside the Institute and tipped through a hatch into the boiler house.
The reading room (now the billiard room) was very well equipped. Every daily newspaper was supplied, and each was placed on the reading desk in a manner so that you could puruse the whole paper without any problem of slipping pages or any obstruction. The only sang being you had to stand up all the time. The large table in the middle of the room and the bench on the east side had all the books and periodicals of the day and all the seating in the room was of wooden but comfortable armchairs. A noticed hung on the wall stating that audible conversation was not permitted.
The next room was the Committee room, the only time the room was used was for the committee meetings and as a gents cloakroom when there was a dance on in the hall. Next came the Music Room, probably so-called because it housed the piano and was let to music teachers, was also used for evening classes for apprentices. At one end was a huge glass showcase which housed a large machine, all made in wood and operated by a wooden handle. This was also for instructional use.
Next came the library containing 3000 volumes, this was in the able hands of Mr. Loue Porter, it was only open on Monday evenings from 7:00 PM till 9:00 PM, and members of the public were allowed to have books, but I can't remember what they had to pay for the privilege. Next came the Juniors billiard room containing a three quarter size table, this was for members 14 to 16 years of age to learn to play on at 2 pennies per half hour and Monday evenings the table cover was promptly put on by the Liberian at 7:00. and cards approximately 10” by 8”, laid all around the table and booked numbers were printed on them from 1 to 3000 as an index and the name of the book. You made your selections from these cards and then studied the chart in the corner of the room, and if the book you fancied was in the indicator showed green, if it was out it showed red.
The end room contained a full-sized billiard table and on reaching the age of 16 you were allowed to use this room and of course play on a full size table. The ground floor consisted of the dance floor which on Sundays was used by the “Railway Mission” and a service was held at 11.00 am. Sunday school at 2:30 and another service at 6:30. During the week various organizations used it such as the Choral Society, evening classes, etc.
The kitchen was rather crude, containing some rather large ovens which I believe were gas fired. Next the bar, a small counter which only covered an area of about 6’ by 6’ which only left about 4’ by 4’ for the caretaker to move around in, anyway this sufficed until about 1930 when the license was granted and then things became a bit cramped, but they soldiered on for several more years until it was eventually bought and taken over by the Country Club committee and made into the nice club of today.
The north wall was a well upholstered seat and faced by 3 marble topped and iron frame tables. This was the only place that chess, domino's, drafts etc were played. Through now into the main billiard room which housed the reckoned second best billiard table in Norfolk. When we ‘became of age’ we seldom got the chance to play on it as it was mostly taken up by the ‘Nobility’.
At 10:00 PM, everyone out, doors locked and bolted, gas lamp at the bottom of the yard extinguished, the 2 iron gates chained and locked, and that's it.
This is this as I remember in 1927.
Frank Morgan

Mr Marriott was once described as a man of very narrow religious views. Sadly a description prompted by the uncontrollable fury of one who could not come to terms with the fact that on 1st January, 1919 Mr Marriott, a Civil Engineer, was appointed Traffic Manager at Austin Street, a position he held until he retired on 31st December 1924.
Besides being an extremely gifted and practical Civil Engineer, he was a pioneer in the design and construction of reinforced concrete and was a man who practised the Christian virtues that he preached, and they came through very strongly when he planned the housing development of Melton Constable. He very wisely decided that one of his priorities was the provision of leisure facilities for everyone connected with the running of the railway. So the Railway Institute came into being.
It was always referred to as "The Institute" and was an excellently designed and well-built structure consisting of two floors sited near the centre of the village.
The ground floor consisted of a Mission Hall for the use of all those who wished to practice the Christian faith. It was also used as a lecture hall for evening classes and musical and vocal concerts. The ground floor consisted of a lecture hall used during the winter evenings for apprentice further education, mathematics, mechanics, and machine drawing, dancing, socials, and concerts by the local choral society, and last but by no means least, a Christian organisation, the Railway Mission every Sunday and Wednesday evening over the whole year. A kitchen and a dry bar providing nothing stronger than Pinchen's lime juice and soda, tea, coffee and confectionery and a full-sized billiard table for use by members twenty years of age and over.
The first floor housed a library of 3,000 books to suit all tastes, very efficiently run by Mr Phillip Porter's father, Mr L C Porter. Also, a reading room with every daily paper from the Times to the Daily Herald together with monthly and weekly magazines including the Illustrated London News, the Sketch, the Railway Magazines, John Bull and Tit- Bits, all conveniently laid out for easy reading. Two small rooms, one used by the leisure committee attached to the Institute, the other for smaller evening classes and by a lady who taught the very pleasant art of the pianoforte on Fridays and Saturday mornings. There were also two billiard tables, a three-quarter size for the use of members up to the sixteen years group, and a full sized table for use by members from sixteen to eighteen years. All for one penny per week for members up to the age of eighteen, and two pence per week for members twenty years of age or over, plus the fees of a penny and two pence per game of billiards. The leisure sports bowls, cricket, football and tennis had their headquarters there besides using"Institute" in their official titles/ Also attached to the Institute were two slipper baths, gallons of lovely hot water, a piece of soap large enough for all cleansing operations and a large clean white towel. All for two pence - a long way removed from the galvanised bath in front of the kitchen stove.
We were, I think, very fortunate to have such facilities at our disposal but they were there, perhaps we took them all for granted. Population for population Melton Constable as a happy railway engineering centre was unsurpassed over the whole length and breadth of our country.
M&GN Circle