Community celebrates new South Downs Centre

Community celebrates new South Downs Centre

July 29, 2014

More than 500 people visited the new South Downs Centre in Midhurst on Sunday 27 July for a special community open day to celebrate the new facility and mark the start of National Parks Week. Many were former students and staff who had studied or taught in the building when it was a school.

Around 50 people arrived via organised walks or cycled in from the surrounding area – the South Downs Society led walks in from Lodsworth, Stedham and Cocking and a the Fernhurst Society organised a walk in from Fernhurst – and were able to claim discount vouchers at local cafes in Midhurst.

Andrew Lee, Director of Strategy and Partnerships for the South Downs National Park Authority, said:
“We were delighted to welcome so many people to the South Downs Centre. Many of our visitors joined behind-the-scenes tours to see how the building has changed, the work we’ve put in to restoring and making it more sustainable or just to reminisce.
“We heard fascinating memories of the day Midhurst was bombed, old school plays and cricket games. For some it was clearly very moving.”

Many local groups came along to talk about their projects. The South Pond group showed some of the creatures they hope will inhabit the pond in the future. Meanwhile Coultershaw Heritage and Beam Pump and Butser Ancient Farm talked about the new work they’ve been able to carry out through the SDNPA’s Sustainable Community Fund.

Meanwhile smaller people were kept entertained with giant jigsaws, a mobile planetarium, sash making and face painting.

Andrew Lee added:
“For some the highlight of the afternoon was hearing Fred, the winner of our school’s writing competition, read out his prize winning entry. For others it was the amazing celebration cake from Exclusive Cake Shop and Vintage Tearooms which Fred cut and shared out amongst our visitors. Thank you to everyone who came.”