More than a hundred years of community, music, and good company.
The Bentinck has been part of Kirkby-in-Ashfield since 1923. Built by the hard work and unity of miners, we’ve outlasted the pit, the closures, and a century of change. We’re still here for the local community.
About The Bentinck
The Bentinck today
Today, The Bentinck is a community venue open to everyone—members and visitors.
We host live music, bingo, darts, pool, and private events all under one roof. Our original ballroom, with its stunning 1920s architecture, is still the highlight.
There’s nowhere else like it in Nottinghamshire.
We’re independent, run by volunteers and members. Our goal is to serve the people of Kirkby-in-Ashfield, just as we always have.
The people at the bar may have changed, and the music is different now, but our purpose is the same: we’re here for the community, and it’s the community that keeps us going.
We’re excited for the next hundred years. Will you join us?
The decades that followed brought change. Membership expanded beyond miners and their families as the town changed around it. Through the post-war boom, the turbulent years of the strike, and the final closure of the colliery in 2000, the club kept its doors open. When the pit closed and took the economic heart of the community with it, The Bentinck was still standing. It still is.
Find out more about the history of the Nottinghamshire mining community here.
Do you have any historical photos of The Bentinck or the local community? We’d love to hear from you.
The Bentinck Miners' Welfare Club opened in 1920 to serve the men of Bentinck Colliery and their families. It began as part of the wider welfare movement in the Nottinghamshire coalfield, but from the start, The Bentinck stood out as a true local institution with its own character.
The upstairs ballroom was, and still is, the heart of The Bentinck. Built with ambition and civic pride, its vaulted ceiling and raised wooden stage remind us of a time when entertainment meant dressing up and coming together. Over the years, it’s hosted live bands, dances, and community events.
The Bentinck: one hundred years and counting
The Bentinck Miners’ Welfare Social Club is a Limited company (03877634) with all profits ploughed back into The Bentinck Miners Welfare Trust (charity no 522233), which owns and maintains the venue.
This means we run for the benefit of the community, not for private profit. Every pound from the bar, events, venue hire, and membership goes back into running and improving the club.
We believe venues like The Bentinck matter, not just for a good night out, but as real anchors of local life. Keeping us open and thriving is a shared responsibility, and we take it seriously.
Our legal and charitable status
We believe community spaces matter, not just in theory, but in real, practical ways. Places like The Bentinck help towns look after themselves, where people connect, support each other, and have a great time together.
We believe a night out should be affordable and welcoming for everyone. We look after our members, our staff, and each other. And we believe this building, with all its history, is worth every effort to keep it going.
We’re not trying to be anything else. We’re The Bentinck. We’ve been here for a hundred years, and we plan to be here for a hundred more.
What we stand for
Volunteers:
Kelvin Crumpton (liqueur licence holder)
Dave Whitton
Peter Cook
Pauline Brown
Karl Sheldon
Interested in volunteering or joining the committee? Get in touch
The Bentinck is run by a volunteer committee, elected by our members at each Annual General Meeting. They’re not managers or directors—they’re community members who care about this place and give their time to keep it going.
Gary Brown - Chair & Director & Trustee
David Bonnert - Treasurer & Director & Trustee
Pete Keeling - Director
John Taylor - Trustee
Dianne Cooke - Trustee
Committee members:
Kevin Turner
Trever Storey
Stuart Pike