Welcome to the Hersham Village Society Web site, large parts of the site are still under construction so please call back frequently to see how we are progressing. Welcome to all our vistitors especially those from overseas and there are many, we will soon have a large portfolio of pictures of Hersham on this site old and new. If you would like to contribute with your stories about Hersham or have old photographs please email to admin@hershamvillagesociety.org.uk We should be pleased to publish your requests if you want to get in touch with someone you knew in Hesham. We should also be pleased to take your banner advertising for only forty pounds per year. Do you have memories of the Hersham Fayre, meeting old friends etc. Let us know. |
admin@hershamvillagesociety.org.uk or post to Hersham Village Society, Hersham Community Centre, Burhill Road, Hersham, Surrey. KT12 4BJ |
HERSHAM HISTORY Hersham has a long and facinating History from Roman Camps up to the present day, Please click on the Hersham History button to read more. . | LITTLE TOE CLUB The Little Toe Club is our lastest way of serving the community. It is a new club which opened on March 1st this year and is open every Saturday evening between 6.00 and 8.00 p.m. especially for families with children. Please click on the Little Toe button for more information HERSHAM TODAY What is happening in the community today click on Hersham to find out | OUR COMMUNUTY ROLE Hersham covers a large area and has many roads, parks and buildings. The HVS has an Environment Sub Committee which meets on the last Tuesday of every month and monitors, discusses and submits comments on current planning applications and matters concerning the Environment in Hersham such as Highways, footpaths and open spaces Please click on Environment to learn more. Members of the public are invited to attend the meetings which commence at 8.00 p.m. Please be seated by 7.45 p.m. | THE SOCIAL ORGANISATION The Society has an active Social Section which participates in local events like Fayres and Fetes. It also runs a Social Club (with licensed bar for members) every Saturday evening at the Hersham Community Centre where various events are held throughout the year including dances, discos and evening entertainment. Please click on Social to learn more. HERSHAM BLOG What is the latest news, who has got married, been born or died. Tell us so we can tell the world. Got a comment or want to have a moan about matters in Hersham let us know |
History of the Society Throughout history, and certainly during the last fifty years Hersham was looked on as the poor relation in the district. It certainly was thought of as the Cinderella, while it's two ugly sisters i.e. Walton and Weybridge had all the goodies - for which Hersham provided the money- Hersham always came last. In the 1960s the country was in a poor state, and many factories and manufacturing industries were closing down and workers made redundant. Hersham also suffered this way when in 1973, The Hackbridge Electrical Company shut down it's large Transformer works and made 1,400 redundant. This in turn had a big effect on the Hersham community, the small local shops which had relied on the trade provided by the workers suddenly found that they had lost customers. HERSHAM WAS GOING DOWNHILL FAST! Shops were closing, there was a general feeling of decay. The Council set-up the Hersham Working Party to look in to ridding the community of the old Slaughterhouse and to build a new shopping centre and Day Centre for the elderly. Roy Green pusuaded them that a new village hall was necessary as well and they took up his suggestion. The new revamped Hersham finally come to fruition in 1986 when the new shopping centre was opened along with the village hall and day centre. Originally it is proposed that the Village Hall should just be a small building with toilets and a kitchen. This was not enough for Roy who said that Hersham was more deserving and needed a multi function building and so the present building was errected. Later Roy also got a lift incorporated into the building to meet the needs of the disabled to gain access to the upper floors. HERSHAM RESIDENTS ASSOCIATION 1971 On the 20th January, 1971 a twenty-five year old Warehouse Manager - Roy Green called a Public Meeting to establish the Hersham Residents Association. The Committee was heavily composed of members of the local political parties who held a great influence on the policies of the Association. When Roy suggested that the HRA should follow the other RA groups in Elmbridge and sponsor candidates for election, his suggestion was turned down because the national political parties did not want the RA candidates to take their seats even though their service to the Hersham community had been dismal and they had not achieved very much for Hersham. In 1976 Roy stood as an independent candidate in the Hersham North ward and paid his own expenses.Although he did not win he gained a high percentage of the vote, enough to convince him to stand again in 1978 and then in 1979. In 1979 (The same year that Mrs Thatcher won the General Election) Roy become the first independent councillor on the Elmbridge Borough Council removing the seating Labour councillor Peter Thorpe. Labour had held all three Hersham North seats for over 50 years. Following this success and relating to public opinion that the people of Hersham wanted an organisation independent of the national political parties, Roy with a group of friends founded the Hersham Independents which in March 1981 become the Hersham Village Society. The Society went on to become a big influence in Hersham and Elmbridge affairs through the councillors led by Roy Green. Due to illness and the inability to canvass Roy lost the remaining HVS seat to the Tories in 2008. | Contact details: Address: Burhill Road, Hersham, Surrey. KT12 4Bj Tel: 07932 704360 Executive Committee: Chairman: Roy Green Vice-Chairman: Margaret Mandeville Secretary: Carol Rose Treasurer: Brenda Green COMMUNITY CENTRE BOOKINGS The Centre in Burhill Road is available for hire for meetings, parties, anniversaries etc. It has a large hall 50 feet by 25 feet, kitchen, toilets, licensed bar and outdoor play area. PLEASE CALL CAROL ROSE 01932 227152 CAROL ALSO DEALS WITH THE BOOKINGS FOR ST.PETERS CHURCH HALL, HERSHAM |