The Mists of Time
The Fishersgate Flyers remembered by Bob Caffrey in ‘Memories of Fishersgate’
‘In the south west corner of Fishersgate rec. some lads and their dads dug a cycle track for speedway. This was a national craze and gradually the track was refined with cinders and starting tapes on springs. They were called the ‘Fishersgate Flyers’. Lads had special bikes and wore colours and numbers. It was gradually wound down with lads going off for national service for two years, so it all disappeared’.
Over thirty years later, in 1987 the Arun Roller Hockey Club found a home at Fishergate on the same South West corner and, renamed the The Adur Skating Club, laid what is now the Roller Rink with the aid from Sports England.
The Mists Clear
The Roller Hockey and Roller Skating went from strength to strength. Fishersgate started producing players of national competetive standard. The newly laid rink became a focus for all sorts of other sporting activities. Young and old, children and parents took advantage of the first real facility that Fishersgate had seen in their lifetime.
Strength in Numbers
The success of the rink was a catalyst for ambitious plans to regenerate Fishersgate. With the help and enthusiasm of Margaret Wilson, Community Development Officer for Adur, The Fishersgate Community Association and the Adur Skating Club which had now developed into the Fishersgate Community Sports Club joined forces in 1997 to develop a brand new complex of Community Facilities, the Dome Project – a combined Community and Sports Centre designed to provide the space and the facilities to deliver a wide range of services, and leisure and sporting opportunities to the Fishersgate community.
Tragically the developer’s law suit against the Trustees and subsequent arson attacks halted the project in 2005. At considerable financial cost to the Association and the individual trustees, the Court eventually found in favour of the Charity. The insurance claim for the fire damage to the Centre was settled at £144, 038 and paid over to Adur District Council to be held in trust to fund the work required to bring back the facilities into use.
Defects in construction mean that the geodesic dome structure cannot be economically completed and will therefore need to be demolished. However, the two surviving wings, the multi use Sports Rink, the Fishersgate Community Wing and the Changing Room Wing can be repaired and completed with a new building linking the two, all affordable within the budget provided by the fire insurance settlement. Completed this Community and Sports Complex will bring major additional capacity to Fishersgate and, in association and collaboration with the Healthy Living Centre, Children and Family Centre and other exciting new initiatives planned for the area, will provide facilities rare in their range and scope.
The Community and Sports Complex is budgeted to be self-funding..
