Part of the ‘Hanover Day’ fundraising event recently saw a trio of Brighton bands descend on The Hanover Centre on Southover Street, under the auspices of the Hanover Association.

First up were The Brown Stripes – a motley duo of somewhat diverse character who proceeded to play such ironic ditties as the theme song from Rainbow, in the ‘so bad it’s good’ category. All a bit student humor and hilarious false moustaches. They weren’t taking themselves seriously, so the audience lapped it up.

Next up were The Passion with their dirty yet rose-scented take on rock and roll. Having seen this band a few times over the last year or so, they really have perfected and tightened up their set with their trademark venomous vignettes being sung with, as the name suggests a fair bit of passion. These four women do really sound like they mean it and to boot it looks like they’re having a great time too! Once the sweat and perfume had been mopped off the small and rather cramped stage, it was host to
Dates – initially appearing a far more sombre proposition but a few songs in and I was beginning to like their take on the art-rock side of things. With spiky guitars and clipped drums they seemed to veer towards the lineage of the Television/Wire/Interpol tradition. By the end of the set they appeared to be a strong and vibrant contemporary band with nowhere to go but up.
So thanks to The Hanover Association for starting the wheels turning on this hidden little hall becoming a much needed gig venue in the future.

Louise Oliver, Ruth Calder, Justin Colman and Amy Kennedy

Fundraiser Gig was a great success;
Over £400 profit was made on the night which will be handed over to the newly formed Hanover Day Association.
A big Thank-you to all those who took part and helped make this event such a great success!

We owe a big thank-you to the team of volunteers from Legal and General who paintd our downstairs hall on 7th and 8th June. Everyone who has used the hall since has commented on how much better it looks and members of the HCA committee and staff are very pleased and even inspired with the result!
The team was found through the Business and Community Partnership so thanks to them too!

The Hanover Community Centre was opened on 3rd June 1977 by Dame Flora Robson as part of the Silver Jubilee celebrations. In 1975, negotiations had started with the Council to get a community centre for Hanover. Funding of £15,000 towards renovation of the building and £3,500 for the first years running costs was approved early in 1976. An enormous amount of effort and a great many hours of work was volunteered by local residents who did the renovation work themselves, including all the carpentry, plastering and plumbing.

History of the community Centre Building
(from ‘Hilly Laine to Hanover’ 2008 Edition)

St Mary’s Boys School (late school of the Annunciation) was opened in 1865 by the Reverend A D Wagner with 21 boys, and moved to Southover Street in 1872. The letters ‘SM’ can still be seen carved over the front entrance. It was known as St Paul’s School when the Annunciation was served by curates from St. Paul’s church. It became the Annunciation School in about 1900, the Corporation’s Handicraft School in 1924, the Southover Street Canteen – or soup kitchen as it was known in the 1930s, an education supply store after the war and is now the Hanover Community centre.

Fifty Years of Change
(from an article published in the Hanover Herald 2006)

Hanover has lost many of its local shops, so those we have left deserve our full support – none of them has an easy time withstanding the competition of the big chains, especially the supermarkets.

If we look back 50 years to 1956, the diversity of shops and businesses in Hanover was striking. You only have to look at a few hundred yards at the bottom of Southover Street where we now have the Greys, the Geese, and the Tea Rooms to see what has been lost.
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