MOST people danced at the Carfax Assembly Rooms in Oxford, but Eamonn Woodley was different – he played cricket there!

The building, off Cornmarket Street, became a carpet centre when it closed as a dance hall and restaurant in 1968.

During their lunch hour, staff would bring out the stumps and batsmen and bowlers would swing into action.

Mr Woodley, a former pupil at New Marston Primary School in Copse Lane, who now lives near Princes Risborough, was reminded of the lunchtime games when he saw Dennis Fogden’s picture of well-dressed young men in the restaurant in the 1960s (Memory Lane, November 22).

He writes: “In 1969-70, I worked as a junior for the display department responsible for window dressing and shopfitting for the Oxford & Swindon Co-operative Society. My boss was a great man named David Barlow.

“The Oxford and Swindon branches had only recently amalgamated. The new organisation was headed by a Yorkshireman, Jim Richmond.

“I believe Mr Richmond had joined the Co-op as a junior and worked his way up to area manager.

“He was a no-nonsense man, absolutely without pretension, very kind and with a great sense of humour. After the Assembly Rooms closed for business, the building was due for demolition and had, for the most part, been cleared.

“The Co-op used the empty building as a carpet centre, in which massive stocks of broadloom carpets were stored.

“The centre was managed by a really amiable man named Mike Long. Mike had a great but wicked sense of humour.

“Being ‘The Boy’, I was often the butt of his and his team’s jokes. It was all in fun and I look back on very happy times.

“We had to go regularly to collect off-cuts and pieces of carpet for window/shop display and tidying up some of the older shops.

“I well remember going up and down the fantastic stairways carrying heavy rolls of floor covering.

“There were still posters on the stairway and in what had been the box office advertising the bands.

“The dance floor was sprung and vast. Most of the carpets were placed around the walls which left the floor clear for laying out and cutting to size.

“Mike had set up some cricket stumps and fashioned a ball from carpet binding and Copydex glue. It was as heavy as lead.

“During lunch, there would nearly always be an impromptu game of cricket. If the ball hit the ornate plaster ceiling or cornices, it would leave a deep dent.

“One day, Jim Richmond unexpectedly arrived during one of our games. Being a true Yorkshireman, he took some interest and offered a few tips.

“Mike was batting and sent the ball flying to the ceiling, where it landed with a resounding thud.

“Jim looked up towards the huge, magnificent cut-glass chandelier and said in his usual accent: ‘Eh, Mike, what happens if you hit chandelier?’ Without thinking, Mike said: “Oh, you’re out, Jim, you’re out !”

“Satisfied, we carried on with the game. Happy days!”

Any more memories of Carfax Assembly Rooms to share with readers?