A space that is light, bright, warm and inviting. That was the verdict of 'Bishop Monkton Today' when one of the team popped into the newly revamped Chapel Schoolroom for a cuppa after Sunday morning service.

Now open for bookings, the schoolroom, which has been transformed over the past few months, must not only be a real source of pride to the Methodist congregation (and rightly so) but its benefits will also be felt by the whole of the village as a meeting/celebration venue, a real community asset.

The room is larger as it now incorporates the old kitchen, as can be seen from the pictures above, has a smart new carpet, a new television has been connected for better audio/visual presentations and the wi-fi signal will be strengthened and available throughout the building.

The visiting minister, the Rev Ian Pruden from the Ripon & Lower Dales Methodist Circuit, of which Bishop Monkton is a part, was preaching at the service on Sunday. He had not been at the chapel since early summer 2024 and was astounded by the space that had been created. “I have always considered Bishop Monkton Chapel as a bright spark within our circuit and you can see the members' vision now really paying off. Despite Covid getting in the way, the plans continued and a village hub is emerging”, commented Rev. Ian.

All that remains to be done in the schoolroom is to put the finishing touches to the decoration and instal the secondary glazing to help make the whole building more energy efficient. The weekly Tuesday coffee morning and the monthly Men's Breakfast are now back in their proper schoolroom home for good.

If you would like to discuss a booking for the schoolroom please contact Angie Archbold on 01765677834 or [email protected]

The second phase of the project, the chapel itself, began at the beginning of the year, when the pews came out, the floor was ripped up and solar panels were installed. The new floor should be laid by the end of this month and the solar panels fully connected.

Methodist Central Office has now given the green light for the second part of this phase of the development to go ahead, so that, once the chapel has been finished, the builders will move straight onto building the completely new kitchen (design more or less already finalised), moving doorways and fitting a second toilet. Finally, for this section, a new, suitable for the 21st century, heating system will be installed, powered by a new boiler.

When this redevelopment was first mooted, thoughts and opinions of villagers and organisations were sought. It is intended that these views will once again be canvassed as to the possible future use of the building. The results of those many months of planning, fund raising, applying for grants and finally "getting going" are now coming to fruition.