I make no apology for the pun! Reading aloud is encouraged in youngsters to help them develop their vocabulary and rightly so but, unless you are a performance poet or oral storyteller, this habit is forgotten in adulthood. I think this is a shame. I find it is a real treat to be read to and it makes a lovely connection to the old oral storytelling tradition too.
[Read more…] about Reading Aloud Allowed (and Local Author News: Allison Symes)
Pinch out tips of new growth on figs at the end of month, when the shoots have 5 leaves. Stop cutting asparagus now and topdress with a general purpose fertilizer.
Thin fruit on young or heavily bearing fruit trees, after the June drop, to improve size and quality. Regularly pinch out side shoots of cordon tomatoes.
[Read more…] about 2019 June Gardening Tips by Wellie
Editor’s note: A new Saturday Story series by Gopi Chandroth
A short version of this story recently won the first prize in a competition held by the Society for Civil and Public Service Writers (SCPSW).
The SCPSW membership is open to civil and public servants, current or retired, including local government, NHS and the police. Contact Gopinath.chandroth@gmail.com for more information.
“999 – what’s your emergency?”
“I need an ambulance”, is what I planned to say, but didn’t. Sometimes, the best ideas in life come in a flash. In that brief interlude between hearing the operator’s voice and opening my mouth to speak, I was struck by a thought that changed my life forever, and threw me in prison.
In 2008, I was charged with the first-degree murder of Charlene Smith, a street walker in her early twenties. The jury was unanimous in their ‘guilty’ verdict and I got a life sentence.
[Read more…] about Stolen Murder
In almost every walk of life there are those who are behind the scenes, who are easily overlooked but without whom life would be that much poorer. In any organisation or indeed on a website like this, there is at least one person driving it who makes things happen (take a bow, Janet and Neil).
I guess it is like housework in a way. Nobody notices when you’ve done it. They do notice when you haven’t!
Is that rotten? Oh yes.
Is it human nature to a T? Oh yes.
This is a community website about Chandler’s Ford, but today we’re going to touch upon the war, knitted scarves, Clementine Churchill, and the Russians – all in this short article. So please read on.
Last week we published an article about Audrey Steele, who at the age of 90 has recently been awarded the Citizen of Honour for the Borough of Eastleigh.
Eastleigh Borough Council recognised Audrey’s excellent community work, and her contribution for the people in Eastleigh Borough and Brazil.
Today I met Audrey again, and she showed me a handwritten letter sent to her in June 1942 by Clementine Churchill, the wife of Winston Churchill, a cross-bench life peeress in her own right. Clementine Churchill was described as “a keen promoter of social and humanitarian causes” in this National Trust article by Eamonn Gearon.
Why did Clementine Churchill send Audrey Steele this ‘thank you’ letter? The letter was dated June 1942, sent from 10 Downing Street, Whitehall.
Audrey told me during the war she knitted scarves and mittens for the North Sea convoy.
Here is the 2-page A5 sized letter from Clementine Churchill:
[Read more…] about Audrey Steele Received Recognition from Clementine Churchill in 1942
Gran remembers with sadness Jane’s late friend Robin de Crespigny Eastwood on September 12th 1957, writing Requescat in pace in her journal. He died three years ago this day. “I awoke with the beginnings of a migraine”, she says, “but I had promised to help Bob at the shop and then have tea with Tommy, who is feeling rather down since Jill’s departure”. Gran is busy at the shop and then goes down to the Docks to help deliver flowers on the Southern Cross. She continues:
Unfortunately, as I got out of the van on returning to the shop, I hit my head hard on the top of it and, never since I was a child, have I so much felt like weeping with the physical pain! Diana, however, got me some Veganin and these eased it somewhat, though a large “egg” came up on my scalp.
Next day:
I went to Winchester this morning to see an Exhibition of Bird Photography by Eric Hosking in the Public Library. The Exhibition was wonderful and well-worth the journey, for, apart from excellent photography the pictures were both interesting and beautiful.
[Read more…] about Forty Years in Chandler’s Ford – a Journal (Part 88)
Editor’s note: A new Saturday Story series by Gopi Chandroth
A short version of this story recently won the joint first prize in a competition held by the Society for Civil and Public Service Writers (SCPSW).
The SPCSW membership is open to civil and public servants, current or retired, including local government, NHS and the police. Contact Gopinath.chandroth@gmail.com for more information.
In Gorkha district of Nepal, halfway between Kathmandu and Pokhara, is a 17th century temple called Manakamana, which literally translates to heart’s desire. It was one of the scheduled stops in my itinerary. The cable car ride up the Himalayan mountain was famous for the spectacular views and the deity at the temple was believed to grant the wishes of those who visited her. Good value for money, I thought as I queued up to pay for my ride. I was tickled by the fares table that announced a two-way ticket for goats at 240 Rupees. I assumed it was a joke.
After boarding, I noticed that the car in front of mine was carrying several goats. So, it was no joke. Anyway, the scenery, as promised, was heavenly. The mountain range in its pristine glory cradled the fast flowing Trisuli river shimmering in the sun. As the cars ascended, the verdant flora changed rapidly. The icy peaks of the Himalayas, like sculpted crystal, refracted the sunlight into the azure sky. Little hutments clung on impossibly to vertical slopes.
[Read more…] about A Two-Way Ticket for Goats
Can someone ever define what a good book is given everyone has different tastes in genre? I think so.
I’m delighted to have met 90-year-old Audrey Steele recently. Audrey Steele was awarded the Citizen of Honour for the Borough of Eastleigh early this month.
Audrey has recently celebrated her 90th birthday. This award recognises the voluntary work she has done for the people in Eastleigh Borough and Brazil.
Eastleigh Borough Council recognised the excellent community work of two local residents, Sri Kandiah and Audrey Steele. The Council conferred them with a Citizen of Honour award at the annual Mayor making meeting on the 9th of May this year. [Read more…] about Meet 90-year-old Audrey Steele – Eastleigh Citizen of Honour
Two down, another one coming up.
‘You’re joking. Not another one!’
Local council elections, European elections and next, an election for the new leader of the Conservative Party. But do not worry, you will have no part to play in this unless you are a member of the Conservative party and who will admit to that today. [Read more…] about Elections and Politicians
August 5th 1957:
Early this afternoon Jean Hockridge called me in to see a baby hedgehog, which she had found in her drain, soaked by very hot water and soapsuds from her washing machine. The little creature seemed little the worse and was drying off in the warm sunshine.
[Read more…] about Forty Years in Chandler’s Ford – a Journal (Part 87)
This morning at the Fryern Arcade I was surprised to see that we now have a Specsavers in Chandler’s Ford. [Read more…] about Specsavers Opticians and Audiologists – Now in Chandler’s Ford
By Syd & Sue:
We are opening our garden to the public for the second time as part of the National Garden Scheme.
The address is Twin Oaks, 13 Oakwood Road, Chandler’s Ford, SO53 1LW. There’re more descriptions on this page.
The date is this weekend Sunday & Monday 26 & 27 May. We are open between 1pm & 5pm each day. [Read more…] about Open Garden in Chandler’s Ford : 26 & 27 May
One of the joys of going away is getting to see different landscapes of course. I’ve recently returned from a week in the far north of Scotland and my trip there gives me a deeper appreciation of cartography as an art form. Why? [Read more…] about Maps in Fiction and History
Did you know there was a Plants and Crafts sale at St Boniface church yesterday (Saturday 18th May 2019) from 10am to 2pm?
It was a popular community event run by Judith James, Chair of The Friends of St. Anne’s Hospital (Tanzania), with support from many members of St Boniface and St Martin’s churches. [Read more…] about Fundraising for Friends of St Anne’s Hospital and Defibrillator Fund
Cuckoos are abundant in the Chandler’s Ford area this Summer of 1957, and Spotted Flycatchers, though late in coming, appear to be plentiful, with a pair nesting on the house next door and hawking insects, usually from the gateposts in the front garden of The Ridge. Gran hears a Nightingale from the house, the first, she says, for several years, but many of the heathland, scrub and birch wood birds, familiar to her in past years, no longer nest nearby as the area is gradually built up. She records Wood Warblers in the Pinewood still though, and writes on June 3rd: [Read more…] about Forty Years in Chandler’s Ford – a Journal (Part 86)
The Fairtrade Fashion Show took place last night (Friday 17th May 2019) at the St Martin in the Wood church in Hiltingbury.
Tricia Urquhart, with Heather Dibb and their local network have organised the Fairtrade Fashion Show in recent years. These events have been so successful, and they bring people together. [Read more…] about Eastleigh Mayor Attended the Fairtrade Fashion Show in Chandler’s Ford – 17 May 2019
How often do you take time out to consider the things you value most? Like me, I suspect, not often enough but given it is so easy to be bogged down by the pressures of life and cynicism in general, I thought I would take time out to look at what I value most. The reasons why are self explanatory! [Read more…] about What You Value Most
Chandler’s Ford Today regularly receives emails / letters from readers. Today we’re sharing 2 items here.
This has just happened this evening (15th May 2019), at around 5.40pm. You can see the pictures for yourselves. [Read more…] about Chandler’s Ford News from Readers: Road Accident and Nottingham Knockers
