HISTORY OF THE HDSA

The “Hut” has stood on the Beach at the Western end of Hove Esplanade for over a hundred years, and became the Angling club hut when the club was formed in 1909. At this period the club would have resided in Aldrington as the Hove boundary finished at Medina Villas area.

One of the founders of the HDSA was Mr AWF Varley, who was a capable sportsman in his youth, winning in excess of fifty prizes for sailing, rowing, fishing and cycling. He was elected to serve on Hove council in 1907 and was made an Alderman in 1939.

In 1912 on the 8th January, the title of ownership of the club hut was transferred from a Mr HW Stenning to the Deep Sea Anglers. This was approved by the Hove Council, who as land owners of the ground the hut stood on, levied an annual rental of £1-0s-0d payable by the club.

In 1917 the HUT dimensions were described as 60ft x 9ft x 7ft but 5 years later the dimensions increased when a larger hut replaced the original.

In 1922 the new hut remained at 60ft in length but was 20ft wide x 12ft in height.

In March 1929 HDSA held a joint annual dinner with the Brighton Anglers at the clubhouse.

In 1929 PE Beaumont was HDSA club president

In 1933 during Safety First week, a demonstration took place on the 7th October, involving the Shoreham lifeboat, who rescued a “stricken wreck” just off the foreshore…..the “wreck” being lent by Leo Evershed, who was the secretary of the HDSA at the time.

By 1937 the total membership stood at 300 approximately.

During the 1930’s it was reported that most of the HDSA members owned motor vehicles and had been parking them on the beach opposite the clubhouse for the previous 20 years. However somebody on Hove Council discovered this was an illegal practice and the practice was stopped in 1937….much to the disgust of club members !! Later towards the end of the 20th century the club got a hard standing area near the clubhouse for members vehicles.

The “2nd World War Years” - no information about the club is recorded, probably because the area and beaches along the Sussex coast were heavily fortified with soldiers occupying positions in The Hove Bungalows (Mansions today), next door to the clubhouse whilst old WW1 tanks were positioned along the promenade as decoys to fool enemy aircraft, and most of the lagoon and beach area was cordoned off to the public as the area and sea defences were heavily mined.

In 1983 the Architect, Christopher Dodd, designed a new extension to the clubhouse. It was a replica design of a Martello Tower, 25 ft in diameter, utilising red bricks with three broad, contrasting circular bands, also in brick, rising to 15 feet and housing a circular stairwell. It cost the club £18,000 and won the best new building award in 1983 organised jointly by Hove Council and the Hove Civic Society.

In January 1996 council officials became concerned after stormy seas had eroded the shingle on the Seaward side of the clubhouse exposing part of the foundations, and as a gesture of goodwill, the council arranged for a fleet of lorries to transport shingle from other beaches further along the promenade and deposit the loads in front of the clubhouse.

In late October 1996, as a result of the “Great Gale, which hit the Sussex coast early in the morning, parts of the clubhouse were demolished, the roof caved in, several walls collapsed, the snooker room was levelled and the interior of the club was under two feet of water. Fortunately the Bar survived unscathed, much to the relief of the 450 members and the repair bill amounted to around £20,000. The damage was caused by wind gusts of over 80 mph, from the tail end of ‘Hurricane Lili’ coming in from the Southern Atlantic.