I hesitate to keep this rather pointless thread going, but with regard to the mural: I've been a EFDSSoc member since 1952 and to the best of my recollection (which, I have to confess is not so reliable as it once was) the mural was paid for by the War Damage Commission, when the Society decided that they would not claim for reinstatement of the minstrels' gallery in the wrecked hall. It is difficult to believe that any official body today would be so enlightened as to pay for a work of art when they could simply walk away saying 'Great saving for us. Thank you and goodbye'.

The quality of a work of modern art will always arouse argument, but the artist, Ivone Hitchens sems to have been fairly highly regarded for his landscapes and semi-abstracts. I believe the CSH mural was his largest single painting.