The Hampshire Family Historian | Vol.49 No.3 | December 2022

Chairman’s Report/HGS News

Description has been put on our Website. It is very important that this Principal Officer role is filled. If you think you would like to fulfil this role, please contact me to discuss. The HGS is still looking for a Minute Secretary to attend 6 Executive and 3 Development Forum meetings per year if you are available. Carrying out this important role will allow the Secretary to participate fully within the meetings. Finally, during this past year we have seen two The picture on the cover shows the Denmead Community Association after snow in 2017. Denmead Community Association started life as the Anthill Common Board School. It was constructed in 1874 but closed 99 years later when two new schools were built in Denmead, one for infants and one for juniors. The former school building remained empty for several years while Hampshire County Council The School was offered to Denmead Parish Council for some kind of community use, otherwise the site would be offered on to the market for housing development. The parish council could not afford to buy it at that time as they had just purchased the land adjacent to the Memorial Hall. Therefore, they called a public meeting to ascertain local opinions on what to do with the Old School. A campaign started in 1977 to save the building and convert it for use as a community centre. Firstly a ‘Feasibility Study Group’ was decided what should be done with it. Consequently, it deteriorated rapidly. Front cover

groups being suspended due to a lack of a person to run the group. Unless we ensure people come forward, we may see this become more common. We are working on next year’s Conference Day and 49th AGM which will be held on Saturday 17th June in Winchester. Further details will be on our Website shortly. Well enjoy the rest of December Historian and ‘Good Hunting’ Paul Pinhorne Chairman set up to consider if such a conversion was possible and how much it would cost. Then a ‘Steering Committee’ was formed to establish a ‘Community Association’ with a nationally recognised charitable constitution. The Feasibility Group’s report in January 1978 gave the green light, so that a Constitution was adopted and the ‘Denmead Community Association’ was formed on 7 March 1978 at a meeting in the ‘Forest of Bere’ public house. A ‘Lease Committee’ was set up to negotiate with Hampshire County Council. The negotiations were concluded on 15 February 1980 with the grant of a 21-year renewable lease. After the initial conversion work was completed, the old school was formally opened as the Denmead Community Centre on 6 September 1980. Since then a huge amount of work has been accomplished. The building has been refurbished, new facilities added and a thriving programme of activities put together. Today the Denmead Community Association is an important part of village life.

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