About the Playing Field

The Playing Field is a registered charity (No. 270069) and is supported by fund-raising, charges and donations.

It's run by a committee of trustees with much help from our friends and volunteers.

The land is leased from Hadlow Down Parish Council.

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The Committee

The current committee is:

Would you like to join the committee?

We would like some some new committee members. If you would like to help us in the running and improvement of the playing field, perhaps bringing your knowledge and expertise, please make contact.

We are a friendly lot, respected in the village (mostly) and have a lot of fun getting things done and organising social and fund-raising events.

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History of The Playing Field Site

An extract from a letter to all members of the parish. dated Febuary 1974:-

"On Monday, 18th Febuary, a Public Meeting in the village hall gave unanimous approval to the plan to purchase a part of one of Curtains Hill Farm Fields and to convert this piece of land into a Village Playing Field and Recreation Ground. The purchase price of this 4 acres of of land is £3,000 and it is estimated that a further £3,300 will be needed to convert the land to a playing field and to provide an access road from School lane and a Car Park."

1. Purchase of Land

"The contract for the purchase of the land by the Parish Council has already been signed, and the required deposit of £300 has been paid by a generous member of the Parish who has provided an interest-free loan for this amount. The remainder of the money i.e £2700 will be borrowed from a bank of necessity at a high rate of interest. This is necessary because it will tale about a year before the grants and low-interest loans can be obtained from the National Playing Fields Association, and other organisations from which we expect to obtain financial aid..."

Historical context

Just for the record, the committee back in 1974 was:-

• Mr. U.G. Huggins (Chairman)
• Mr. C. Beale (Deputy Chairman)
• Mr. J. Bickerton (Treasurer)
• Mrs. M. Anderson
• Mr. C.W.M. Purser

To put the sums of money into perspective, the bank base interest rate in May 1974 was 12%. The average house price was £10,000 compared with £224,000 now (Q2 1974 - Q3 2020, whole country, all houses. Source: Nationwide Building Society).

Another letter from this committee stated: "For many years a number of people in Hadlow Down have felt the village needed a playing field. At various times efforts have been made to bring this about, but but these efforts have not met with any success. Now the time seems opportune to make a determined effort..."

Sound familiar?