Village Hall Series #497 - Pant Memorial Hall Traditional Cache

This cache is part of a series of caches which are placed at or near village halls and community centres. For details and statistics visit the Village Hall Series website Click here

UPDATE 2 MAY 2025: sadly the geocache has now been stolen twice in 18 months. The hall committee have decided not to fight this further and so the cache will be archived. Thank you to all finders, we hope you enjoyed your visit - all welcome to stop by and admire the artwork!

Welcome to our village hall! This geocache was first placed in 2019 following the installation of the Armistice Commemoration artwork at Pant Memorial Hall.

Please note: The hall is adjacent to a busy road and the car park is used by both hirers and locals, plus we now have a bus stop. Please watch out for moving vehicles, and of course please retrieve and hide discreetly; this cache has a history of vandalism. Thank you.

Plan ahead: EE and 3 have no signal in Pant, O2 and Vodafone do. Until the argument over mast sharing is resolved, please plan ahead to locate this cache if you are on EE or 3 signals. In case of emergency, the phone box at the other end of the hall is working.

Enjoyed seeing our artwork? We have souvenir postcards for sale, you can buy from our website on this link. All proceeds to the hall charity. Thank you!

The artwork was commissioned from ceramic artist Neil Dalrymple to commemorate the centenary of the Armistice in 1918, and to celebrate the beautiful area in which we live. The design began with gathering ideas from villagers at our 2018 AGM, and Neil then made a thorough tour of the area for photographs and inspiration. The artwork includes a wealth of detail showing our landscapes, our history, our present village and our local wildlife and plants. The consensus in the village was that we wanted to commemorate the centenary without a full military theme. Look carefully and you will see that there is a soldier waiting in the bus queue outside the hall, and another waiting for a train at Penygarreg Halt. There is also a field of poppies and some of the figures wear poppies in their lapels.

Other features to look out for include the stones in the carts on the track below the gin wheel; these are genuine pieces of stone from Pant. The glazing includes local limestone. The image of the hall has its own image of the artwork, indicated by one of the figures. The lime kilns on the left are shown in 3D, as are some of the cars, and there is a large variety of livestock and wildlife included everywhere you look. What else can you spot?

The artwork is made of fired and painted ceramic, mounted on a waterproof backing board. It is in low relief for durability and is designed to last many decades. The artwork was funded by two main sponsors, the Tirgwynt Wind Farm Community Fund and the Rotary Club of Oswestry's Mary Hignett Bequest. The associated car park works were funded by local companies and their details appear on the Welsh slate explanatory plaque which is mounted next to the artwork. We are enormously grateful to all donors and sponsors for helping us make this happen.

Pant Memorial Hall was built in 1922 as a practical memorial to the dead of World War 1. It began as a tin hut, and was rebuilt in 1981 to its present form. Since then it has been extended and refurbished, and it also now houses the village WW2 memorial which was relocated from a closed chapel. The hall is and always has been run by volunteers, and is owned by registered charity 240435 (Pant Memorial Institute). All proceeds from donations and bookings go to the management and improvement of the building as a lively community asset.

We hope that the artwork will inspire both locals and visitors to see more of our lovely locality. Our website also tells you lots more about the hall and how to book it.  You can also follow us on facebook (search @pantmemorialhall or on twitter as @pantmemhall. Thank you!

ps this is the second incarnation of the geocache - it was stolen in 2023 after four years. The brand new box was found at the roadside during a litter picking walk, the new starter set of trinkers were donated by locals. We hope that it will continue undisturbed. If you need a bin, there's one at the other end of the hall by the phone box - the village does get littered by locals and passers by so please do your bit to improve matters. Thank you.