A CLUB which has been operating in Oxenhope since 1937 is shutting down.

Oxenhope Social Club, known locally as “The Idiot Hut”, will cease trading from Sunday January 27 with the committee in charge citing a lack of revenue.

An official statement posted by the club’s committee explains: “We feel we’ve been left with no other option. Unfortunately we don’t have enough trade to continue.

“There will be an AGM on Friday February 1 to discuss where we go from here but it’s unlikely that the bar will be open for this.

“In light of this we are holding a leaving party, ‘One last bash’ on Saturday January 26 from 7pm where there will be lots of drink offers on!”

The committee has thanked people for the support they have offered the club over the years.

In a second statement posted on its Facebook page, the committee notes: “The decision to cease trading had to be taken because the income is not sufficient to cover the bills.

“What happens next is a matter for the members to decide at the AGM. The committee will set out the various options, which will include the sale of the club site.”

Robert Goulding, an Oxenhope-based farmer who serves on the committee and has been a member of the club for 20 years, said: “We’re just never going to generate enough money for the repairs needed to our building.

“We have plenty of members and the club does get really busy. We are packed on band nights.

“However, generating enough revenue just from selling beer is nearly impossible.

“There is an inevitability to this and there comes a time when you’ve got to draw a line under it. We have to be realistic, and at least we’re going out with our heads held high.

“It is incredibly sad because there’s so much history associated with the club, and it will be a loss of an Oxenhope community asset.

“We hope someone will take the site on and use it for something else, though it would be a shame if it just becomes more houses.”

Councillor Ken Eastwood, chairman of Oxenhope Parish Council, said: “It’s tragic really. The club has been part of the fabric of Oxenhope for over 80 years and it will be a great shame to see it go.

“Hats off to the committee who have tried to save it. I do know they’ve worked hard and deserve credit for the effort they’ve put in to seeing if they could make the club a going concern.

“They must be extremely disappointed that it hasn’t worked out.”

The social club’s venue, in Watson Close, was originally dubbed “The Idiot Hut” thanks to the wooden building’s unlikely, quirky history.

It began life as a Methodist chapel in Nelson, Lancashire. However, in the 1930s, a group of mill workers and farmers pooled their resources to buy it, travelled to Nelson, then managed to bring the building to Oxenhope piece by piece via horse and cart.

The property was then re-constructed in Lowertown. Most parts of the church were removed, though the old lectern remained in place well into the 1970s.

Club members have previously successfully applied for permission to replace the old building with a purpose-built clubhouse.