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OLD HASTINGS PRESERVATION SOCIETY (OHPS) Hastings History House, 21 Courthouse Street, Hastings Old Town, East Sussex. TN34 3AU tel 01424 424744 |
Newsletter Spring 2009 You will notice the optimistic Spring in the title. We usually manage to get a newsletter out in January but this year I have been busy getting the accounts for 2008 finished and taken a holiday so apologies for this being later than usual. This does mean that we can get more information in it about future plans and activities, although the all important subscription reminders have been delayed. We were delighted with the take up last year by members who chose to pay their subs by standing order, if anyone else would like to change to this method of payment forms are available. You will see from the programme that we have fixed the AGM date for 12th June. The new storage heaters have been installed thanks to financial help from the Isobel Blackman Foundation and our two partners in the centre Hastings Area Archaeological Research Group and Hastings Local History Group. The space is warm and we have been able to open the History House for most weekends over the winter thanks to a few dedicated volunteers and we are looking to widen the pool of helpers we can call on for this and special events. A weekend rota is included in this mail out or if you can help during Old Town or Hastings weeks or any other time please let us know. Continuing thanks are due to Dennis Collins, Steven and the Thursday team for the many improvements to the spaces, the archiving and display and for ensuring visitors have a warm welcome. Visitors do have questions which we do our best to answer or point them in the direction of Hastings Museum or library or East Sussex Record Office if that is where the answers lay. Some volunteers may feel they need coaching in this and we are organising a couple of sessions where Dennis will explain our resources and how to field enquiries and also essential information on fire evacuation procedures etc. So if you think this would be helpful to enable you to become a volunteer please some along. We ensure that there are two people in the building when it is open so no one has to manage on their own. Bookings have come in for extra Old Town Walks and also a themed talk from Westfield School and this is just the sort of interest and activity we hoped to generate with the project. Thanks to Ray Barrett and his walks team and Dennis Collins for making this possible. The downstairs space now provides a good meeting/class room for hire. If you know of a group who is looking for a meeting place please spread the word that these facilities are available for £7 an hour with regular booking deals negotiable. We expect to complete the leases for the shared research room space on the first floor to HAARG and HLHG next month and we hope to take up a most generous offer to register the Hastings History House as a publisher so that we can provide ISBN numbers for publications and increase sales thereby. An editorial board will be asked to approve items for publication. Events Our book sales have proved most successful and we would like to hold 4 during 2009. The first is on Saturday 14th March. See programme for dates. If you can donate good quality paperbacks or non-fiction please contact us for delivery/collection. We are delighted to welcome Hastings and Rother Family History Society back for another Family History day on Saturday 23rd May and thank them for agreeing to hold this event. So come along with your genealogical enquiries for expert help. Outings Jill Bradley is willing to reorganise the Faversham outing planned for last year if there is sufficient interest. Following Mike Wilsdon's talk on his Museums, many of us would like to visit the Kew Cabinet of Curiosities. There is a lot of choice for things to visit in Kew even though the Marianne North Gallery is currently closed, so it maybe possible to fill a coach even if you would prefer to visit Kew Gardens . Please complete and return the forms enclosed if you are interested and we will keep you posted. Old Town Walks A guided walk around Hastings ' historic Old Town , with its wealth of historic buildings and literary associations, takes place every Tuesday from 5 th May to 15 th September. During August walks take place on Tuesdays and on Thursdays as well. Starting at 2.30 pm, the walks are led by knowledgeable members of Old Hastings Preservation Society and take approximately 90 minutes. We meet at the top of the West Hill Lift and proceed gently downhill into the heart of the Old Town . The walks are free, but donations to OHPS are welcome. Private parties can be booked at other times by telephoning 01424 420555 Exhibitions The Hastings in Wartime exhibition and Nathan Goodwin's book has proved very popular. As well as some of our historical material, we currently have on display until 29th March some photographs taken between 1945-1982 by Eric Phoenix and loaned by Robert Mucci. Among a wide range of subjects are some amazing microscopic pictures.
9th April - 26th April we will be showing All Saints Street as recorded by Leslie Badham in 1923 and David Clover 2008/9. This provides a fascinating record of the changes in the street over 80 years. We are grateful to Hastings Museum for allowing us to use the set of Badham copies taken by Peter Fuller for one of his "Then and Now" Old Town Week Exhibitions in 1995.
David Clover is a skilled draughtsman and artist and we are delighted to be able to offer for sale prints of his work after the exhibition. David is generously donating the originals to the OHPS. 2nd May - 10th May Jack-in-the-Green we are glad that this display put on by the organisers of the festival will once again be in the History House over the holiday w/e. We need volunteers to keep the display open for this period - please see enclosed rota if you are able to help. Planning I have represented the Society on the Stade Advisory Committee and several other Trustees attend these meetings on behalf of other groups they are involved with. I am delighted that common sense has prevailed and that the traffic requirements of the proposals for the Stade are no longer considered to need any change of layout or works to the roads and gardens at the top of the Old Town as originally proposed. At the meeting on 6th February we were shown the proposals for the new Jerwood Gallery by their architects. The external finishes had changed following various consultations, and it is now proposed to commission large black glazed mathematical tiles to cover much of the structure. A scale model and no doubt the plans will be on exhibition for public viewing on 6th March at the Town Hall and on the 7th March at the Fishermen's Museum. It is proposed that the planning application will be advertised on 6th March allowing the 21 days for comment. I would like the Society to be able to make a collective response and the Council of Management will be discussing it on 12th March. I am keen to hear member's views on the scheme so please let me have your comments. We have to comment on the scheme as presented for planning permission so the issues over whether this site is the most appropriate are not relevant on planning grounds. The issue is do we want this building on this site for the use proposed. The plans for the café to occupy the site of Tom's Cabin, the new community building to be built along the west of the site and details of landscaping the rest of the site are not as advanced as the gallery plans but I think it is hoped that they will also be on display at the same time although the application may be submitted later. In case there is any confusion as to the content of the gallery I understand it is original modern art and as well as the collection there will be 6 additional shows a year. Bohemia Walled Garden Association - you may have signed the petition in the History House last year supporting this venture and I am delighted to say that plans have progressed and a draft constitution can be obtained from bohemiawga@yahoo.co.uk. The Stables Theatre You will probably all be aware that the Stables Theatre has something to celebrate this year. You may not be aware that it was largely thanks to the efforts of the OHPS that the building was saved and with the society's encouragement the new use evolved, after one suspects some fierce debates. The first mention I found in our minute book was the report of a Hastings Borough Council meeting which had recommended the preservation of the buildings, authorised the immediate expenditure of £100 on roof repairs and accepted the OHPS offer to sponsor an appeal and seek the support of the Georgian Group. In early 1954 the use of the Stables for a School of Art had been rejected by the Education Committee and there was real concern that the building might be lost. A resolution to Hastings Borough Council was passed that "This Society views with grave concern the possibility of 1a High Street and the Old Town Hall ceasing to exist as buildings of vital important to the life and history of the Old Town, and expresses a strong recommendation that all possible steps be taken to restore these buildings to a fit condition, and to find uses worthy of their historic and architectural merit." It was reported to a special meeting of the OHPS committee in July 1954 that "it appears that the real object of the Council was to demolish the Stables and use the site to for re-housing unless a suitable use and appropriate tenant could be found". The Society immediately started an action and publicity campaign. Following a meeting with Sir William Holford, the first plan was for the Historic Buildings Council to do a measured drawing and the OHPS's architect would come up with a conversion plan for 4 flats. Sir William made the important point that the retention of the Stables was crucial to provide a correct scale for any future developments in the area.
The appeal was launched at a luncheon at the Queens Hotel on 31st March 1955. The Hastleons put on a historical pageant and after a tour of the Old Town the Winkle Club enrolled the Duke of Norfolk [Lord Lieutenant] as a member. Offers of help for the appeal flooded in - Mr Roger Frewen of Brede Place offered to contribute the normal entry fee of 2/6 back to the society from a members visit, East Sussex Arts Club gave a show, All Saints Young Wives held a hobbies exhibition and the Pier Manager a ball. One of the fundraising ideas was to sell flowers to departing visitors from the coach park which had been given the Chief Constable's blessing, this brought in £10.16s. There were many calls on this appeal fund as by then the Fishermen's Museum was also being planned and it must be said there was some dissent as to how the money should be divided and anxieties that the OHPS should not over commit itself by agreeing to purchase or take a full repairing lease on the Stables at this stage. In order to attract grant aid from the Pilgrim Trust the OHPS needed too qualify as a charitable organisation - there being no general system of registering charities at that time - advice from the Charity Commissioners was sought. In July 1955 the first suggestion that the Stables might be a cultural centre was made and on 5th September the society's architect Mr Hickes met with the local Theatre Guild to discuss the way forward. By the end of 1955 the Appeal Fund stood at £1836.19s.2d including a loan of £200 to St Mary-in-the-Castle Church.
The OHPS committee meeting on 6th April 1956 considered a sub committee report on the Stables. They debated the acquisition of the lease for the Stables but some members felt the cost of £11,000 for the repair and conversion was beyond the capability of the society. Although the Theatre Guild was keen to rent the premises they could not contribute to the repairs/conversion and the Historic Buildings Council had only offered £1000 towards this. Mrs Dannreuther, Miss Bowerman and Mr Dyer [HBC's publicity officer] urged more fundraising together with the Theatre Guild and the possibility of a specialist appeal. There was a vote taken that the OHPS should discontinue its efforts for the Stables and this was lost by 7 votes to 12. the prime speaker against the OHPS taking on the Stables was Rev Napier and he was not alone. It was clear that members feared the Stables scheme could swallow the entire appeal fund. However Rev Savins was a firm supporter of the Stables and less concerned that monies maybe lost to his church than some of the other members of the committee. The motion being lost, the sub committee was urged to prepare costs and plans and what we would now call a fundraising strategy. The Fishermen's Museum [opened on 17th May] and various Old Town developments took up the next few meetings. However the sub-committee led by Mrs Dannreuther were not going to let the Stables be sidelined and a further report was presented to special meeting held on 2nd July in the Fishermen's Museum. There is a great sense of the dedicated sub-committee beavering away at these comprehensive and professional reports, their hearts totally committed to the scheme, encouraging the Theatre Guild to contribute and work up their ideas. In this report the Theatre Guild offered to reduce the estimated costs of conversion by £3280 with their volunteer labour and made a strenuous plea that based on success of the Lewes Little Theatre, and their members enthusiasm, that the scheme go ahead. The OHPS committee then agreed to a General Meeting in October to consider the offer from HBC of the lease, but by 9 votes to 8 with 2 abstentions the sub-committee report was not adopted. Before that meeting could be held however further correspondence was received from the Hastings and District Theatre Guild needing consideration, for the first time including the suggestion that the Guild take on the lease and raise the conversion funds. It was this point that Miss Bowerman resigned from the OHPS committee, one suspects she had lost patience with the pussy footing being one of the Stables most keen supporters. The meeting on 2nd October asked for firm proposals from the Guild regarding the lease and stated that the OHPS was not prepared to undertake the full costs of restoration but retained an active interest in the appearance of the building. By 8th November Mrs Dannreuther had also resigned from the OHPS committee as "a Trust had been formed in East Sussex to ensure the restoration and conversion of the Stables which would involve a considerable amount of work." The OHPS sent their thanks to her and to the new Trust their support and a grant offer of £1000 from the Old Town Appeal. They were also happy that the Historic Buildings Council grant be transferred to the new trust and they continued to receive funds for the scheme which they subsequently passed on to the new Trust, most notably £1000 from Mrs Prideaux. In July 1957 Mr Hickes presented his plans for the restoration and conversion of the Stables to the OHPS and was congratulated and the scheme welcomed. By February 1958 work had started and it was agreed the Theatre Trust could use the ex Police Box [presumably on the Stade] to display their model, by September 1959 it was agreed to pass said Police box over to the Stables for their sole use. This rather long account of the part played by the OHPS in saving the Stables and its eventual highly successful Speaking personally I think the Jerwood Foundation's plans for their gallery are generous, although they will seemingly be given a prime piece of publicly owned land. Art, heritage and culture are not Olympic sports and will increasingly be dependant on private, charitable and voluntary support. Our final connection to the Stables was for the OHPS to take a great leap of confidence and buy the Theatre's former scenery and property store in Courthouse Street for Hastings History House. In this anniversary year our congratulations go to the Stables Theatre Trust, who have ably demonstrated what can be done with minimal public grants and maximum dedicated membership. We are graeful to all who work to ensure a lively programme of drama and art in that Old Town 's much loved cultural centre - here's to their next 50 years. In my trawl through the minute books I got diverted by many interesting issues such as the proposal by the Borough Engineer for a caravan park at Rock-a-Nore and mention of a screening for members of the Hastings Film "the Sands of Time" , I wonder if a copy of that still exists? At the AGM in 1956 it was suggest that a Georgian Group for St Leonards be formed as there was concern at the state of East Lodge, St Leonards Gardens - presumably this led to the Burtons ' St Leonards Society. One of our tasks now we have computer equipment and office space, must be to glean from the minute books all references to planning and development issues such as the demolition of derelict buildings on Tamarisk Steps mentioned during 1958/9. Your ideas for talks and events and any help you can offer are welcome. We hope to see you soon at Hastings History House. Anne Scott |
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We have had a varied winter talks programme and I wish to thank the speakers who have all given of their time and expertise to entertain and inform and help our funds. The last in this series will be on 7th March when Keith Leech will talk on "Jack-in-the-Green" we hope to open next season's talks in the autumn with Keith talking on Hastings Bonfire traditions. 
conversion to a little theatre gives some idea of the passion with which plans were discussed and funds raised. The minutes are very formal but there is a great sense of the worry that the society's fundraising could be concentrated on this one project to the detriment of other good causes, whilst some members were totally convinced that the Stables should be a priority. It is easy to see a strong church lobby on the committee concerned that some of the Old Town Appeal funds were kept for Church restoration and less sure than Mrs Dannreuther that both could be achieved. I am sure there will always be many calls on funds to secure the future of the historic environment in Hastings and St Leonards. In the Old Town there is a great concentration of important buildings and streetscapes which puts pressure on all involved in maintaining historic fabric. Gone for the foreseeable future are the days of generous English Heritage and/or local authority funding. The Society's fundraising efforts are now concentrated on the History House as well as the Fishermen's Museum and in the short term is unlikely to be able to consider any restoration grants. 
