Chandler's Ford Today

We meet some of Bill Goater’s family; gracious passengers on board ship; Gran receives a florin; painting autumn berries; soloist Cyril Smith leaves her breathless; spiders in London; Dartford Warbler at last; a gown cunningly cut, and the Queen’s “wonderful composure”.

On August 20th 1955, Gran plays tennis in the heat in Eastleigh and enjoys an evening at home listening to a Promenade Concert with much music by Gilbert and Sullivan, which she loves.  She records that:

At the end of the concert, after Suppé’s “Poet and Peasant Overture”, which was encored, Sir Malcolm was presented with a Peter Scott bird picture in recognition of his sixtieth birthday in April and his work for the Promenade Concerts, by a representative of all Promenaders, both at the concert in person, and listening in at home.  Unfortunately we did not hear Sir Malcolm’s response.

Four days later:

I came home on the one o’clock bus, and this afternoon finished painting my Goldenrod.  I also listened to a charming little radio play, called “The Little Flautist” – rather old-fashioned perhaps, but gentle and entirely lacking in the present-day banalities and over-loud humour.  I enjoyed it.

A moth, which I caught in a pill-box in order to identify it, proved to be one of my favourites – a Burnished Brass.  I released it out of one of my windows – whereupon it promptly came in the other one again.  Now it has gone to rest somewhere behind the bookcase near my bed!

Tennis on the telly; a visit to Selborne; a mouse in the bed; an act of kindness; historic activity with “our pale lady”; birthday gifts; Ricky is christened; like old times in the New Forest; The Ridge – fully furnished at last, and a diversion – an important mentor and the Beaulieu Tomes.

Gran’s dislike of television seems to have been overcome, and the watching of it more or less normal by July 1st 1955, the word itself no longer qualifying for a capital “T”:

I spent this afternoon glued to the next-door television and saw Tony Trabert of America, win the Men’s singles at Wimbledon from Kurt Nielsen of Denmark…  I saw the gold cup presented to the winner by the Duchess of Kent and there was much fun and laughter between the victor and the vanquished which was good to see.

An encouraging and pleasing result of play in the semi-finals of the Women’s doubles is the fact that there will be an All-British final tomorrow – the first since 1936!

[Read more…] about Forty Years in Chandler’s Ford – a Journal (Part 72)

Studying orchids with The Expert; a dream comes true – in the shape of a budgie; Jane does well; a visit to Mill Hill; Compton Church is 800 years old; television –  for the first time; painting flowers at a great rate and a family link with the troopship Dilwara.

Book 51

News from Mr Roseweir on June 4th 1955, is that V.S. Summerhayes, the Orchid specialist from Kew, plans to visit the area the following day.  Gran, with Brother and Fin make their way to Steven’s Castle Down, in the east of the County, in order to check on the condition of the orchids he plans to investigate there.  Stopping on their way, to check the Farley Mount area also, she notes:

We turned left at the Farley – Sparsholt fork, past what used to be the vast rookery, but today I hardly recognised it, for all the fine old beech trees have been felled and there is now a wide-open space.  If it was cleared in the hope of destroying the rookery, the result must be disappointing, for the Rooks are now occupying a line of Pine trees beside the road, only a few yards away!

[Read more…] about Forty Years in Chandler’s Ford – a Journal (Part 71)

A visit to Salisbury; Jane’s twenty-first; Vaughan Williams’ Bridal Day; preparation for a visit by Mr Summerhayes; “eight hateful shops”; a return to tennis; an invasive plant, and the New Forest – still good for Red-backed Shrikes.

In the second week of May 1955, Gran visits Salisbury with her friend Joan Sheppard, to see an exhibition of floral art at the Guildhall there.  She fully describes, in particular, those exhibits that she finds most attractive, noting that there is only one male contributor – Gordon Clarke from Dorchester – and whose work was “truly sensational”. [Read more…] about Forty Years in Chandler’s Ford – a Journal (Part 70)

Several field trips; a couple of new birds; “Adventure lit their star”; a Nightingale competes with Southampton’s traffic; with Brother and Fin in The Forest; the Habs at Beaulieu; country buses and painting flowers to capture memories.

On March 30th 1955, Gran, with Adrian on her mind, writes:

During the evening I listened to a beautiful but poignantly sad play, “Autumn Crocus” by Dodie Smith, and have come to bed dear, with my soul wrung by it and living again its own anguish.  But, as with Fanny, the beauty remains and nothing can take that from me even though I grow old.

[Read more…] about Forty Years in Chandler’s Ford – a Journal (Part 69)

A longed for book; a medical worry results in an unquiet week; Gran gets her Smew; a bike is mislaid; flower paintings for friends; Tussock Corner; did Kew get it wrong? Oppressed by the London Underground; Roman Snails and a kind gesture.

On February 10th 1955 Gran is in Southampton.  She has an appointment there for a chest X-Ray but does not enlarge upon this, preferring to record that:

I had drawn an unexpected fifteen shillings overtime for Christmas week, and, having also a book token to spend, I went to Smith’s bookshop and gave myself a book for which I had longed for many months.  It was “Wild Orchids of Britain”, by Summerhayes, of Kew, and I also bought the latest edition of “Hampshire Review”, in which an article of Barry’s on birds of the coast appears.  It is a good article and reveals depths in Barry’s character, which may not be apparent to those who only know him superficially.

[Read more…] about Forty Years in Chandler’s Ford – a Journal (Part 68)

A letter from Mill Hill; a hectic train journey; those migraines will not cease; Mr Tod seeks food in the town – but when he is hunted, Gran will always side with the fox. Spring is coming – the garden tells her so.

Gran is still looking after the two-year-old Julian while Jock recovers from my birth, and she finds it a tiring business, “…in spite of Jane’s help”, she writes, on January 9th 1955.  She continues:

Jane took Julian for a long walk this afternoon whilst I did some cake-making.  They saw several Grey Squirrels, which ran up the trees and Julian gave me a graphic description on his return. He also stroked the nose of a horse but withdrew in alarm when it snuffled at him, and this, too, was described to me with much drama.

[Read more…] about Forty Years in Chandler’s Ford – a Journal (Part 67)

A bit of London bird news; another friend emigrates; beloved trees continue to be felled; a prolonged period of child-care; Honey-buzzard in the New Forest, a child is born and the young family moves to North London.

November 29th 1954:

Gran completes her last painting of the year with Butcher’s Broom – she has been doing one each month – and her skill appears to be improving. She writes:

I was quite pleased with the result and intend to paint wild flowers seriously next year when I should have more free time.  I feel that I could do better with more practice, for these last are a great improvement on my earlier efforts.

[Read more…] about Forty Years in Chandler’s Ford – a Journal (Part 66)

Empty nest syndrome; fun collecting crab apples; flowers for a Queen; a dockers’ strike; a farm wedding; “Goodbye Mary”; and another wedding.

September 21^st 1954:

Jane left early this morning to return to college at Eastbourne and Jill Fowler, who joins her there tomorrow, arrived just before she left, with some things which Jane had promised to take for her.  Our farewells were brief, for even when we feel our best, we dislike these partings but today with the shadow of Robin’s tragic accident hanging over us, neither of us was fit for prolonged speech.

“Poor little Jane”, Gran continues, “it is the first time tragedy has so nearly reached her and she is being very brave”.  Later that day, she cycles to the top of Otterbourne Hill “to get some blackthorn upon which to feed a Fox moth caterpillar which I am looking after for a youngster while he is on holiday”. [Read more…] about Forty Years in Chandler’s Ford – a Journal (Part 65)

One that got away; enjoying Barry’s and Julian’s company before they leave the district; quiet reflections in Compton Church; goodbye Mary Robinson; news of a tragedy; another wedding, and a hedgehog knocks over a milk bottle.

Jane encourages Gran, dogged this day and regularly at fortnightly intervals, by her debilitating headaches, to accompany her on a walk along the Itchen, downstream from Brambridge, on the evening of August 16^th 1954.  Few people are about, apart from a lone fisherman and a single dog-walker. A Kingfisher flashes past, and a family of Mute Swans is on the water.  Gran and Jane observe the fisherman, whom they saw: [Read more…] about Forty Years in Chandler’s Ford – a Journal (Part 64)

A visit to the Cotswolds; a manipulation; Gran is 50; a tryst on Compton Downs; a Drinker is saved; two years of National Service – done; a couple of enthusiastic Irishmen; and four get a soaking on Farley Mount.

Gran, we learn on July 18^th 1954, is Godmother to John, one of Tommy and Bob Fowler’s children.  On that day, she, with Jill and Diana (the other two Fowler offspring), and Tommy, drive to Cheltenham, where John is at what Gran describes as “the famous school”. The journey is, typically, described in some detail, Gran enjoying the Cotswold villages with, to her, unusual names: Warborough, Stratton St Margaret, Blunsdon and Cricklade.  She is impressed by the verges near the last named, “massed with Meadow Cranesbill”, some of which she collects for planting in her garden at The Ridge. And she recounts an amusing incident:

… a boy emerging from a side road was so startled by the sight of an approaching car that he promptly fell off his bicycle and disappeared into a ditch, though we were nowhere near him!

[Read more…] about Forty Years in Chandler’s Ford – a Journal (Part 63)

A memory of Italy; delight in caring for a baby again; the Queen comes home; some serious athletics; a lot of orchids; more trees felled in Chandler’s Ford; Chelsea Flower Show again and a mouse causes some amusement.

Book 44

Gran records with pleasure an experience enjoyed by Jane, with Robin Eastwood, early in May 1954 when on a wet and windy day, which made travel in the open-topped Talbot uncomfortable, the couple end the day with dinner at the Grand Hotel. A good orchestra was playing, she tells us, and after Robin had asked the name of a piece just played, the leader asked if there was anything Jane would like to hear.  She chose a selection from Tchaikovsky’s Swan Lake and this scenario reminded Gran of her very similar and wonderful experience as a seventeen-year old, when, she writes, “the leader of the Orchestra in the Carlo Felici Restoranti in Genoa used to ask me, with a low bow, “and what would the signorina like us to play now?”. [Read more…] about Forty Years in Chandler’s Ford – a Journal (Part 61)

Good views of Siskins; 1950’s baby transport; Fallow Deer in the Forest; Robin Eastwood – a “kindred spirit” and “an exceedingly nice young man”; a bird-call mystery solved; Tom Jenkins in the flesh, and Barry’s career is secured.

On March 10th 1954, Gran records her first good views of Siskins, the little finch that in later years became a familiar visitor to garden bird feeders:

This afternoon I took Julian for a walk, going first into Cranbury to get some moss for a bowl which I wanted to arrange for Mary’s birthday today.  I was sorry to see that much clearing was taking place in Cranbury Park and many birch trees have been felled.

[Read more…] about Forty Years in Chandler’s Ford – a Journal (Part 60)

Isobel Baillie; a red cord out of place; an amusing wedding; a new duck and Jane is “stepping out”.

On February 17th 1954 Gran is suffering from a bad cold but manages to attend a concert in Eastleigh with her friend Mary Harding: [Read more…] about Forty Years in Chandler’s Ford – a Journal (Part 59)

Simple Christmas gifts; valuing our treasures; extinct species; a kindly flower-seller; prayers for the Queen on tour; it snows – and Julian falls in it; communication in the 1950s and a couple of nice books.

Book 40

Late October 1953 and Gran’s thoughts are turning to Christmas.  On the 23rd she gathers material for making presents:

I collected some twigs, acorns, seeds, bark, lichen and such, with which to make Christmas novelties and my invalid [probably her disabled friend in Southampton] assiduously stuck the acorns back into their cups for me… a little Seccotine ensuring that they would not fall out again.  The next step will be to paint them.

And two days later, feeling ill, and the weather stormy, she writes: [Read more…] about Forty Years in Chandler’s Ford – a Journal (Part 58)

A poor fruit crop this year;  12 years’ work at Pinewood Gardens comes to an end; some new Hampshire plants; a muddy situation along Southampton Water and the Dominion Monarch’s  special place in Gran’s heart.

Gran has already mentioned that the blackberry crop is particularly poor this year, 1953, and the same appears to be true of the apple crop.  She writes on September 16th, that she spends time in the Pinewood Gardens apple shed:

…clearing up and laying out the Green Blenheims, a poor crop, covering only half of one shelf with one layer, instead of being heaped right up.  It is a bad apple year here, for there are no Bramley Seedlings or American Mothers, and only a few Russets and Newton Wonders.  One tree of Lemon Pippins is fairly well covered but I have not seen the Christmas Pearmains or the Worcester Pearmains.  There were no Beauty of Bath and no Gladstones.  Three baskets comprised the bulk of the Grenadiers and there are only a few of the Early Victorias at the top of one tree.  I have not searched but I can see no Lanes from the end of the greenhouse, and there is only one Maltster.  I have never known a worse year since I have been working at Pinewood Gardens.  There simply was not the blossom in spring – the frost in May had nothing to do with it. Plums were the same.

[Read more…] about Forty Years in Chandler’s Ford – a Journal (Part 57)

The lovely site of a baby’s awakening; tastes in flower arranging; one more year of National Service; a trip to Jefferies Country; new flowers for Gran’s list; a historic Test Match; arthritis in the hips, “but I can still play a decent game” and finding friends of Gilbert Whitley.

It’s the last day of July 1953 – a wet one – and Gran is clearing peas in the Pinewood Gardens, and picking a few loganberries.  She hears:

…familiar footsteps running up the road and knew that Barry was arriving.  He is on leave for the Bank Holiday and was pleased to have done well in the R.A.F. Sports, winning the 440 and 880 yards and the third prize in the sack race! He ran the three-legged with the Squadron Leader but they were unplaced.  His prizes consisted of three useful additions to the home – water jug and glasses, teaspoons and a leather wallet.

[Read more…] about Forty Years in Chandler’s Ford – a Journal (Part 56)

Mouse, Man and other traps; “getting your eye in”; John Keble and the Oxford Movement; Crossbills in Merdon Avenue; times have changed with regard to children’s entertainment; accents; two tennis stars on the Mauritania; Bog Orchid at last!; and Jane’s school days are over.

On July 7th 1953, Gran travels to Earley, near Reading where Adrian’s mother is staying with her sister at the house called “Anathoth”. On the 8th, they visit the neighbouring towns of Goring and Streatley, separated by the River Thames, travelling by bus, via Pangbourne, and Gran is amused, “at a small village whose name I could not see”, where:

…the driver of the ‘bus leant out in passing and accurately threw a parcel of newspapers right into the doorway of a shop.  Obviously it was not the first time he had done this!

[Read more…] about Forty Years in Chandler’s Ford – a Journal (Part 55)

Coronation Day; up and down for the National Anthem; a civic reception; Swifts at Staines; a night visit to London; orchids and seabirds; Dad gets under two minutes – just; Wimbledon again – and the Americans should enjoy it more.

On May 28th 1953, Jane and Gran go to the Winchester County High School Open Day, and after the school has been inspected, the visitors are treated to a “delightful concert by members of the school”.    This includes ballet by Kay Lardy, “who has recently won a scholarship to Sadlers Wells”; a pianoforte solo, “admirably executed by Mary Sales”, and a violin solo, “played with great sensitivity and from memory, by Janet Ashford. A trio of very talented children”, Gran writes.  They are driven home by the Ashfords as the sun is setting.

There is another minor hint at provisions for a family dinner on May 31st, presumably a Sunday, when Gran is in a tizzy because:

Having lost a day somewhere this week I imagined today was Saturday and had quite forgotten to get any vegetables for dinner, so I had to dash round to Mr Woods in Park Road and see if he had anything.  He had – cauliflowers, which were some of the nicest I have ever had.  On the way to his nursery I heard a Whitethroat singing…

And she is unkind again to Eastleigh, where, that afternoon, she “unfortunately” had to play in a tennis match:

What a deadly, dismal, dirty place is Eastleigh – even the gay flags and bunting for Coronation Week could not disguise its squalor and ugliness.  It never seems to be clean and impressions on emerging from the railway station – itself one of the dirtiest I know – are depressing in the extreme.

[Read more…] about Forty Years in Chandler’s Ford – a Journal (Part 54)