Haltwhistle Working Men's club fire cause revealed

Northumberland Fire and Rescue confirmed this week that the fire at Haltwhistle Working Men's Club was likely caused by an electrical fault caused by an appliance.

The incident happened on December 1, 2022. The manager of the 100-year-old club, Amanda Findlay, raised the alarm after spotting smoke from a room when closing up.

The club has been left as it was since the fire four months ago, while there have been investigations by fire services and an insurance company to find the cause of the blaze.

Amanda said: "It is like our town has lost its limb, no one knows what to do with themselves.

"Everyone always went to the club for drinks after work or as a last port of call on a weekend when they finished their pub route here, but now hardly anyone goes out.

"We knew from the beginning that the fault could not have been anything or anyone's fault but electrical, but we hope investigations can end so we can start rebuilding it then we can open.

"It's been awful walking past it, and we can't go in the building to get our stuff or clean up.

"We just want to bring the 'club life' back to Haltwhiste and start again like a phoenix rising from the ashes."

Johnny Stratton, a committee member for thirty years and treasurer of the club, added: "It has been such a slow process and so much paperwork for the insurance, but we have barely been told a thing.

"The club is in the heart of the community and is slowly left to the elements as things continue to fall.

"With tourist season and big events such as the Haltwhistle carnival, discos, World Cup, big football games and the Coronation coming up, we would normally have had big parties.

"Tourists will be visiting the town in the upcoming months when they come to walk the wall and see the building as the state it is and think that we don't care about it, as it has been four months since the fire and nothing had changed from when it happened.

"But nothing could be further from the truth.

"We do care and are just waiting to be told what will happen next to the building."

During the fire, Amanda lost her workplace and also her flat, which was joined to the club, as did other residents.

Thankfully, a local councillor and B&B owner Terry Christie was able to house her until she found a flat.

Cllr Christie is one of many still hoping the community can continue raising money to replace Amanda's things she lost in the fire by donating to a GoFundMe page created after the fire.

He said: "Amanda has lost everything in the fire, and it will take years for her to replace, but I would like to ask the community to help her again by donating to gofundme.com/f/amanda-findlay."