IT IS the end of an era in Aberporth as the demolition of Parcllyn’s Civil Service Social Club gets underway.

The building – a well-known and popular venue in south Ceredigion for the past seven decades – will make way for a planned new housing development.

‘The Club’ – which finally closed its doors in 2020 – was a regular haunt of personnel based at the Royal Aircraft Establishment missile-testing base from the early 1950s.

“It’s not only a loss of facilities, it’s the loss of a community club,” one long-time stalwart told the Tivy-Side.

“At one point membership ran between 500-600 – during the days pubs still had Sunday closing the bar would be heaving!

“It was a popular lunchtime venue for RAE personnel and there was always a real mixing of the ranks.

“It had been a big part of local life for seventy years until Covid finally finished it off.”

Having opened in 1950 as the PDE Social and Recreation Club, the venue became known as the ‘RAE club’.

In later years, it was re-named the Civil Service Social Club.

A ‘community hub’ long before the phrase was coined, ‘The RAE’ was a centre for pool, darts and bingo nights played to packed houses twice a week.

Celebrated entertainers such as Ryan Davies and Max Boyce appeared on its stage.
A spokesman for Cardigan-based developers Cela Associates, said: “It’s sad to have witnessed the club’s decline, but we are excited to now have the opportunity to bring new opportunities and benefits to local people by providing much-needed new and efficient homes for local families.”