So far we
have detailed the history of the building itself but let's now focus
on the Association and the men and women who supported its formation
and continuation.
The Hythe
& Dibden Community Association.
Earliest
known logo (circa 1977)
It all begins,
as all good stories do with people seated around a round table.
These were
not knights and the table was probably not round but for The Hythe &
District Branch of The Round Table, an
organisation that sprung up out of the Rotary and designed for younger
(18 to 45 y.o) Rotarians, those were distractions.
As
the minutes for that original meeting in 1972 are outside of our possession
(they're not lost but are deposited with The Waterside Heritage Centre),
We
can only comment on the outcome:
It was decided
that a "Community Association" was needed for the inhabitants
of Hythe And Dibden and so a "steering Committee" was set
up to accomplish this. This
is why a representative from the Round Table was present at some of
the later meetings and in fact the first chairman, J.S Palmer was
from the Round Table.
There had
been earlier attempts at setting up Community Associations. The
first one was in 1943 when Mr W. Wilson (future life president of the
H&DCA) in his position as "social organiser" at
the British Powerboat Company used the company's social club rooms,
canteen and sports grounds for this purpose. He became that Association's
first Secretary. When that "Association" was wound down in
1962, the money collected from it remained with Mr Wilson where
it would be kept safe for a decade until the H&D Community
Association was formed and he generously donated the money to the natural
successor of his "pipe dream".
Details about
the final year of the Steering Committee minutes can be found under
"1974" in the
archives. The meetings held prior to that may be lost or among the Round
tables files stored at the Waterside Heritage Centre.
In 1974, a
fresh attempt at setting up a Community Association had begun and
on the 7th of May 1974 the inaugural meeting of this Association was
held. The minutes for this meeting and those for the rest of the year
are in the archive for "1974".
This Community
Association continues to this day.
The first Chairman
of this H&DCA was, as stated, Mr J.S Palmer. The Steering committee
converted to be the "Provisional Executive Committee" at inauguration
with a proper "Executive Committee" to be elected at the first
A.G.M. Due to personal reasons Mr Palmer resigned later in 1974
and Mr Stan Wade was elected. Six months later the first A.G.M was held
with Stan as the "first" Chairman. Stan would remain Chairman
for the next thirteen years and become one of the pillars that the Community
Association, and later Community Centre, were held up by.
Next came
the problem of what to do with this new Association.
The first
solution to this was to have a social event and invite groups who could
become "affiliated" (or associated) and hope to convert them
into becoming members of the Association.
This didn't
take that much time.
Piecing together
from the eariliest remaining sources you can find that groups that were
"affiliated" or "members" of the H&DCA include:
A Yoga class
run by "Mrs Pope", a whist group, a dog training
class, the Fuchsia Society, a Natural History class, a "wayward"
art group (possibly a mispelling) and a writers' circle.
These groups
met at various places but included "West Shore House" and
the "Waterside Activities Group"(W.A.G) Centre which was run
by the Waterside Council of Community Services which the H&DC.A
was an "affiliated" member of.
This is why a
representative, Usually Mr M.L. Bickley, from the W.C.C.S, was present
at a number of the meetings.
The W.C.C.S had only been formed a year or two earlier.
In the archives
below you will find the minutes of the meetings on the H&D.C.A beginning
in 1974.
In
memoriam
The British Powerboat
Company closed in 1946 with its "Community Association" presumably
closing at the same time.
The
W.C.C.S changed it's name to the T&W.C.C.S in October 1991 after
20 years of existence and moved deeper into the Forest.
The
Hythe Branch of The Round Table folded in the late 1990's.
The
National Federation of Community Associations (renamed "Community
Matters" in 1980's) ceased in Feb 2020 after 75 years.
The achives are closed for improvement at the moment.
