The adoption of Cobbydale by Silsdeners surely received an impetus with the shock of local government reorganisation in 1974. The town mourned the loss of its independent status and was receptive to anything that helped it hold on to its identity.

If we were able to go back to the day that the memorial was unveiled on Saturday, 12th November 1921, we would see an official group reverently assembled for the opening service. We would also observe fifteen children, whose fathers had been killed in the Great War.

The Mechanics Institute was initially run by a board of Trustees. In 1909, however, the trustees handed over the management of the building to the Urban District Council and it became officially named the Town Hall.