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FOLLOWING THE LYMINGTON BLUE PLAQUES TRAIL In this regular series, Ray Mayes follows the <strong>Lymington</strong> Blue Plaques Trail. In each issue of The <strong>Lymington</strong> <strong>Directory</strong>, Ray enhances the detail provided in the Trail leaflet. This month he tells the story of The <strong>Lymington</strong> Centre. 6. <strong>Lymington</strong> Community Centre (New Street) On the corner of Cannon Street, the <strong>Lymington</strong> Community Centre is, according to the latest edition of Pevsner’s The Buildings of England: Hampshire South, “a well-converted former malting, much tidied up but in the best way”. With a distinctive cowl on its roof, the Centre building originally formed part of a Malt House for brewing. At the time of the wars with Revolutionary France, many French refugees and Royalists (émigrés) settled in and around <strong>Lymington</strong>. A band of 400 émigré soldiers (the French Artillery), commanded by Colonel Rothalier, occupied the Malt House, adjacent stables and a long row of buildings on the opposite side of the road (now long destroyed). In June 1795, émigré soldiers took part in an ill-fated attempt to regain a foothold in France at Quiberon Bay, Brittany. The Quiberon Bay expedition, however, was unsuccessful. Poor planning and leadership, together with treachery and divided loyalties among the ranks, led to the attempted invasion proving to be a complete disaster. After a period of hosting French Loyalist refugees, the conclusion of hostilities with Napoleon after 1815 saw <strong>Lymington</strong> settle back into some quiet normality. The Malt House saw a variety of uses, but over the years the premises became increasingly dilapidated. In the 20th century, Edward King (1893-<strong>19</strong>74) recounted in his A Walk though <strong>Lymington</strong>: “for amusement in the town we had a roller skating club at the Malt Hall” on the concrete floors. Health & Safety now sensibly precludes this activity! After the Second World War, <strong>Lymington</strong> townsfolk decided to form a Community Association. The founder of the <strong>Lymington</strong> Community Association was Robert Hole, who was the inspiration for the project leading to the acquisition of The Old Malt House and ¾ acre site in New Street (for £1,500) and Mr. Hole personally buying four ex-RAF huts. From <strong>19</strong>46 onwards, the Malt Hall became much altered and the Centre has become a thriving hub of cultural activity, entertainment and adult education in <strong>Lymington</strong>. The Community Centre was up and running in <strong>19</strong>48. From its beginnings, the Centre has provided a cinema. Clubs and societies, educational classes and a plethora of social and cultural activities take place. An article in Punch magazine in <strong>19</strong>52 on the Community Centre, quipped “except at present you cannot learn Chinese or Free ballooning, there seems no limit to the scope of the Association’s activities”. In June 2007, the Community Association celebrated its 60th anniversary with the opening of a new flexible hall arrangement known as the Fuller McLellan Hall. The building in Cannon Street, with its distinctive curved roofline, was built on the adjacent former <strong>Lymington</strong> library site. Funding for the Halls was possible because of two generous legacies from Miss Daphne Fuller and Mrs Joyce McLellan. The community centre’s 18th century origins live on in the name of <strong>Lymington</strong>’s only local cinema: The Malt Cinema. The <strong>Lymington</strong> Blue Plaques Trail comprises 13 blue plaques established since <strong>19</strong>98 by the Rotary Club of <strong>Lymington</strong> at sites of historical interest, highlighting important facts about buildings and people. To promote the plaques, the Rotary Club has produced a leaflet describing the Trail. The full trail leaflet is available from the St. Barbe Museum and Art Gallery. or from the Rotary Club. Please mention The <strong>Lymington</strong> <strong>Directory</strong> when responding to advertisements 5