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It’s All Greek to Me

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In my head, and probably in yours too, there is a jumble of memories of ancient Greeks — old men, bald and with beards, who did stupid but essential things. There is one who overflowed his bath and ran naked down the street. One drank hemlock, and another lived in a barrel; one married his mother. They fought a lot, invented gods and wrote unreadable books. And they were good at geometry.

I resurrected one of these weirdos from my memory; they all look the same, dressed in chitons or togas and sandals. I first made the acquaintance of this one when I was 12 years old, Pythagoras by name. He died about 500 years BCE, but he was clever with triangles.

‘Pythagoras, please help me. I need a length of rope to hang from a high branch on a tree to make a swing. How long should it be? I can’t get up there to measure the height.’

"Pythagoras, please help me!"
“Pythagoras, please help me!”

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St Valentine – Who, Why and How?

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We all know that 14 February is St Valentine’s Day – accompanied these days with its commercialised retail opportunity to buy cards and gifts for loved ones. But do you know how it all began?

It all started as a third-century Christian feast to commemorate some early martyrs, all called Valentine, which must have been a popular name in those days. There was Valentine of Rome, a priest martyred in 269 (he ministered to Christians persecuted under the Roman Empire) and Valentine of Terni, a bishop martyred in 273. There also seem to have been another saint called Valentine who was martyred in Africa with other companions, although not much more is known about him.

I love you lollipop - via kaboompics
I love you lollipop – via kaboompics
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The Mighty Oak

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The mighty oak (Quercus rubor), the one in the centre of our garden is due for a haircut, we decided. Visitors comment on our lovely garden – but such a shame about the oak tree – all that shade. If they lived here, they would chop it down, except that it is subject to a tree preservation order.

If the tree was chopped, there would be an open space. The summer sun would beat relentlessly down, and an umbrella would be needed. I would miss the sturdy black limbs etched against a grey winter sky with the playful skitter of squirrels among the branches. I would miss the birds, there are two magpies in the branches as I write, and hundreds of others birds visit to feed on the myriad of insects living in the nooks and crannies of the bark. Blue tits nest in the attached birdbox and tree creepers and the nuthatch hang, head down, to feed.

Tree clipping - Paul climbed 20 M or so into the topmost branches with his chainsaw swinging from his belt.
Tree clipping – Paul climbed 20 M or so into the topmost branches with his chainsaw swinging from his belt.

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A Daily Visit by Royalty – and a Sumptuous Meal for a King

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When I built the new Wykeham House in Hiltingbury I got the digger driver to dig out a large pond in the back garden, piling the spoil at one end in readiness to make a waterfall. This was the basis for our landscaping, planting and stocking once the lining and filtration system were in place. The day at last came when we flicked the switch and the water gushed and eddied down the waterfall. This comforting sound has stayed with us for the past fifteen years and it is a joy. When the water had cleared and the balance was right we stocked our pond with twenty golden rudd, some green tench, three black comets and three shubunkin – and the odd goldfish contributed by neighbours.

Herons
Heron-proofing the pond

Over the years, and thanks to the early morning visits from a hungry heron, we lost some fish – usually speared and left on the grass – so we had to find an ingenious way of heron-proofing the pond. At first, we didn’t mind the heron’s visits; seeing that majestic bird landing and taking off was exciting but he was greedy and cruel and had to be deterred. We strung fishing line across the pond and installed a water sprayer triggered by a motion sensor. So far, so effective………..

Every early summer there are a few days of frantic activity when the water froths like a cauldron and a month or so later a large shoal of small fry of mixed variety can be spotted and, over the years the fish population has multiplied alarmingly. [Read more…] about A Daily Visit by Royalty – and a Sumptuous Meal for a King

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The Christmas Jigsaw Tradition

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One of my childhood family’s traditional Christmas holiday pastimes was to complete a jigsaw puzzle (or two).  Christmas presents generally included at least one puzzle.  This year’s Covid-19 restrictions on travel and socialising made it a good time to resurrect the tradition with my adult family.

There is something incredibly relaxing and therapeutic about tacking a jigsaw puzzle.  You can’t rush a jigsaw; it takes as long as it takes.  They are addictive too – once you’ve started you have to keep going.  One evening, Mrs Chippy and I had to remind ourselves that it was 11.30 pm and we really should be going to bed.  I have been known to stay up into the early hours in order to finish a puzzle. [Read more…] about The Christmas Jigsaw Tradition

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Keeping us Cheerful – the Windmills of my Mind

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On April Fools’ Day 2019, I had the following letter published in the Daily Telegraph:

Sir,

Every lawn in my road has been devastated by crows frantically digging for chafer grubs. The day they started on my lawn I ordered two hundred and fifty children’s windmills and placed them over the entire grassed area of my front garden. That was five months ago and not one crow has ventured into our garden and our grass has flourished. These colourful windmills are a great source of entertainment for families walking up and down the street – one or two have even spread into neighbouring gardens.

Having had success, I decided to harness the potential of each windmill by modifying them to become miniature wind turbines, interconnecting them and linking them to the National Grid. The power that is generated reduces the cost of my electricity bill by approximately 25%.

In these challenging Brexit times when we all have to become more self- sufficient, I offer this simple, yet effective scheme to save your readers money – and to fend off crows.

Sincerely,

We have given away literally hundreds of windmills to little – and not so little – children.
“I ordered two hundred and fifty children’s windmills and placed them over the entire grassed area of my front garden.”

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What to do in Lockdown

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A Happy New Year to all Chandler’s Ford Today readers. Is there anything to be happy about? The only good news is that I have had the first of my vaccination jabs against COVID-19 (the Pfizer-BioN Tech for the techies, I can even tell you the Batch number if you like). The next one is due on Jan 9th. Then, at the end of January, I shall be free, protected, like a modern-day knight in armour. The vaccine is 95% effective. Does that mean that, if I get COVID, it will only be 5% as bad as expected? Or does it mean one in 20 of us might get COVID? More important is, although I am protected, could I spread the virus to others?

More important still is that the AstraZenaca vaccine is now approved and is more robust in that it is easier to store and distribute.

Vaccine Image via Kaboompics
Vaccine Image via Kaboompics

Party Outdoors

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Memorials to our War Dead: the Cenotaph and the Tomb of the Unknown Warrior

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I wonder how many people know the history of these two significant and impressive memorials to those who fell in war.

The Cenotaph.

Cenotaph London, Armistice Day 2018. Image via UK Government's Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (CC BY-NC-ND 2.0)
Cenotaph London, Armistice Day 2018. Image via UK Government’s Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport. (CC BY-NC-ND 2.0)

Designed by Edwin Lutyens, the Cenotaph (meaning ‘empty tomb’) was first erected in 1919 as a temporary wood and plaster structure for a victory parade at the end of the First World War. It was to be temporary as it was thought that this parade would be a one-off. But the Cenotaph quickly captured the public imagination. Repatriation of the dead had been forbidden since the early days of the war, so the Cenotaph came to represent the absent dead and served as a substitute for a grave. Beginning almost immediately after the parade and continuing for days afterwards, members of the public began laying flowers and wreaths around the Cenotaph’s base: people needed to mourn their sons, fathers and brothers. So clear was this need for a visible monument, that in 1920 it was replaced by a permanent Portland stone structure, to the same Lutyens design, and designated the United Kingdom’s official national war memorial. [Read more…] about Memorials to our War Dead: the Cenotaph and the Tomb of the Unknown Warrior

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Life in a Pandemic: Who am I?

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There is a story of a pompous man pushing into the front of and airport check-in queue. The check-in girl tells him to go to the back of the queue. ‘Do you know who I am?’ asks the man. The check-in girl asks the queue, ’can anyone help? This man does not know who he is.’

I sympathise with this man, not because of pushing into a queue, but because I am not known by my name any longer. The days when I heard people say, ‘Hello, Mike, nice to see you,’ have gone because, in COVID protection mode, no one sees me.

kaboompics - man working on a computer
Image via Kabookpics

Reduced to a Binary Digit

I am known to my computer but only as a string of digits. The screen wants to know my ID number, password, authentication code, admin password, username, wireless key, PIN, account number or registration key. Then there are numbers and codes sent to my phone which last only an hour or so. If I go to a bar or restaurant, my phone communicates with a QR code. I can text my order and someone brings drinks. [Read more…] about Life in a Pandemic: Who am I?

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A Romantic Romp through the NATO Phonetic Alphabet

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In this bit of nonsense, I have included each of the NATO Phonetic Alphabet codewords …

Last November, alpha male Mike and his Zulu boyfriend Charlie took a holiday at the famous golf hotel in Lima. Wanting a break from the game, they took a drive through the delta, up into the sierra, where they heard the famous echo. In the evening they were joined by their yankee soldier friend Victor (who was in uniform) and his Papa.

They all went to the theatre where they saw Romeo and Juliet (it was an Oscar-winning performance – ‘Bravo’, they cried) and then went dancing, first the foxtrot then the tango. [Read more…] about A Romantic Romp through the NATO Phonetic Alphabet

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My Love Affair with a Beautiful Lady – Part 3

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Many Greek Migrants had joined the ship at Piraeus, headed for Australia and New Zealand.

After Suez, this led to an additional source of entertainment every day, in the form of Greek Dancing in the Ballroom. Most of the participants were, of course, Greeks, but lessons were also provided by Greek instructors for Non-Greeks who wanted to learn. Such dances as the Sirtaki, which featured in the 1964 film, Zorba The Greek, were most popular. That particular dance featured in Greek Restaurants in Perth we discovered.

Greek Dancing in The Ballroom. Photo: Chandris Lines
Greek Dancing in The Ballroom. Photo: Chandris Lines

Also after leaving Suez, a School was set up for Non-Greek kids, and a creche for the toddlers. The School was staffed by volunteers with teaching experience, and the creche by willing mums … this was great for the kids, and, unlike home, it wasn’t compulsory, so they loved it! [Read more…] about My Love Affair with a Beautiful Lady – Part 3

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The Grand Houses of Chandler’s Ford

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It’s an afternoon in August and, after the morning’s continuous rain, my wife and I have been out for a brisk walk around the wooded roads of Brownhill, Merdon, Lake and Lakewood. It’s warm and the overpowering sweet smell of Scots pine and Douglas fir pervades the landscape. There are still large numbers of conifers among the mature oak trees where they were once a dominant species.

I first moved into Lakewood Road in 1955 when the woodlands prevailed; the area to the west of the Lake was a pine forest through which I regularly went horse-riding. It is now, tragically, an inaccessible tangle of overgrown species – but that’s another story!

At that time, in the rectangle of land formed by Hiltingbury, Hocombe, Lakewood and Hursley Roads, there was little development, the oldest house being our neighbours’ house,The White House, the land for which had been acquired in 1908. The area was woodland and heathland. I galloped across this land frequently and, like many other boys, rode my bike aerobatically over ‘the bumps’ behind the present Ashdown Road.

As a young boy, I had that wonderful sense of freedom, space and adventure. The land was ripe to be plundered and developed and, from the 1890s, the land from Ford to Brownhill, and Hiltingbury to Hocombe was destined to fall under the woodman’s axe to make way, initially, for exclusive houses.

Kings Court - Imagine a sweeping gravel driveway and gardens where there is now a car park!
Kings Court – Imagine a sweeping gravel driveway and gardens where there is now a car park!

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My Love Affair with a Beautiful Lady – Part 2

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I was prompted to write this article by the inclusion of a photograph of the ship ‘Australis’ in Part 121 of Adelaide Goater’s Journal ‘Forty Years in Chandler’s Ford’, published on this site by her Grandson, Rick Goater, on 12th. April 2020 … Thank you Rick!

A couple are from my own meagre collection.

See My Love Affair with a Beautiful Lady – Part 1

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Day 3 – we are about to enter Piraeus, the very old port for Athens, and Greece as a whole.

The Old Port Of Piraeus from a postcard
The Old Port Of Piraeus from a postcard

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My Love Affair with a Beautiful Lady – Part 1

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I was prompted to write this article by the inclusion of a photograph of the ship ‘Australis’ in part 121 of Adelaide Goater’s Journal- Forty Years in Chandler’s Ford, published on this site by her Grandson, Rick Goater, on 12th. April 2020 … Thank you Rick!

s.s. ‘Australis’ berthed at Southampton in 1973 in her new grey / white livery.
s.s. ‘Australis’ berthed at Southampton in 1973 in her new grey / white livery.

s.s. ‘Australis’ berthed at Southampton in 1973 in her new grey/white livery

Above photo by Les Fisher, via Flickr, from his album ‘Old family photos – A collection of memories’

Most other photos used are from Chandris Lines ‘Official’ brochures, unless otherwise stated. A couple are my own.

My love affair with this beautiful lady lasted just 3 weeks, from Wednesday 9th. March 1966 until Friday 1st. April 1966, only to be
re-kindled in October 2000 when I started writing my life’s memories, but that, my friends, is another story … [Read more…] about My Love Affair with a Beautiful Lady – Part 1

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Peter Hammerton: My Family, My Life Living in Chandler’s Ford – Part 3

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In 1963 I met Mandy Fry, a girl who lived with her parents and sisters in their family farm in Bramdean. Mandy was lodging during the week with my Aunt while she was attending Eastleigh College and that’s how we met when visiting one day.

Peter Hammerton: in 1963, I met Mandy Fry.
Peter Hammerton: in 1963, I met Mandy Fry.

Malcolm Road

In October 1966 Mandy and I bought a plot of land in Malcolm Road. We had plans for a house drawn up. Although passed by the local authority, we still had to take the drawings to Scammel & Smith, the local estate agents, to have the drawings approved by them for the Hiltingbury Estates before we could start building. [Read more…] about Peter Hammerton: My Family, My Life Living in Chandler’s Ford – Part 3

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Peter Hammerton: My Family, My Life Living in Chandler’s Ford – Part 2

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In October 1960 in Chandler’s Ford, the Monks Brook river that ran behind our house burst its banks and many of the houses in Mead Road were flooded, some up to 18” of water inside, but I remember our house staying dry inside because the ground floor was built higher than those around it and stayed just below the floorboards.

October 1960, the Monks Brook river burst its banks
October 1960, the Monks Brook river burst its banks.
October 1960, the Monks Brook river that ran behind our house burst its banks, in Chandler's Ford.
October 1960, the Monks Brook river that ran behind our house burst its banks, in Chandler’s Ford.
Peter Aged 18 holding firemans boat waiting to rescue people from flooded bungalows in Chandler's Ford.
Peter Aged 18 holding firemans boat waiting to rescue people from flooded bungalows in Chandler’s Ford.

In the 1950’s during my teens I had a paper round working for the newsagents on the corner of Mead Road and Park Road. On Saturdays I used to take a tea chest full of old newspapers to the waste land opposite the newsagents and burn them on a bonfire. [Read more…] about Peter Hammerton: My Family, My Life Living in Chandler’s Ford – Part 2

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Peter Hammerton: My Family, My Life Living in Chandler’s Ford – Part 1

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My family came to live in Chandler’s Ford in the 1880’s when my great grandfather Levi Hammerton and his family moved here from the Bournemouth area. Levi worked as a builder building houses in and around Chandler’s Ford.

In 1902 Levi was presented with a beautiful oak carved swivelled chair with a plaque that reads: Presented to Mr Levi Hammerton by the Inhabitants of Chandler’s Ford as a mark of their appreciation of the many services rendered to the Parish 1902.

In 1902 Levi was presented with a beautiful oak carved swivelled chair.
In 1902 Levi was presented with a beautiful oak carved swivelled chair.
Presented to Mr Levi Hammerton by the Inhabitants of Chandler’s Ford
Presented to Mr Levi Hammerton by the Inhabitants of Chandler’s Ford

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Cat in the Bag

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This is a true story. The illustrations are by my nephew Hari Gopinathan, a talented furniture designer and freelance illustrator Hari Gopinathan (Instagram handle).

Paul,

I owe an apology to your cat. On my evening walk yesterday, I saw him halfway to Tesco, looking lost and forlorn. An elderly couple was engaged in conversation with him. He was instantly recognisable: a mix of tabby and white with tortoise shell grey, playful kitten approaching full cathood, no collar, and slight to moderate belly. It was Sonny and he was lost.

Sonny
Sonny

Sliding my headphones off, I said to the couple,

“It’s my neighbour’s cat”. [Read more…] about Cat in the Bag

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Pandemics and Epidemics – I have been locked-down for 100 days

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By the time you read this, I will have been locked-down for 100 days, from March 9th in fact.

This is not the first epidemic or pandemic I have experienced. The first, in 1961, amounted to nothing very much but, without prompt action, it could have been even more serious than the present one.

I returned home to my student flat late one night to find the door locked and bolted. I rang and banged and shouted and eventually my flat-mate, Taffy, appeared on the balcony.

‘You can’t come in, mate.’

‘Stop messing around, Taffy and let me in.’

‘Can’t, it’s smallpox.’

‘There’s no smallpox here. Let me in.’

Lockdown for 100 days
Lockdown for 100 days

‘But there is in South Wales and in Bradford. We are possible contacts because we spent the weekend in South Wales. We are in quarantine for 10 days and must have no contact with anyone. Public Health sends someone around with food which they leave at the door.’ [Read more…] about Pandemics and Epidemics – I have been locked-down for 100 days

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Music in Chandler’s Ford during Lockdown: “Love thy neighbours is so true”

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Steve Allen has shared these videos, in which he captured some happy moments in the neighbourhood of Chandler’s Ford during the lockdown. These included music on Thursday evenings, and a piper playing for a neighbour’s birthday.

With Steve’s permission, we are sharing these on Chandler’s Ford Today.

1 – Malcolm the Piper was playing for a Scottish lady on her birthday.

Malcolm and lovely neighbours in Chandler's Ford - supporting key workers and sharing community spirit.
Malcolm and lovely neighbours in Chandler’s Ford – supporting key workers and sharing community spirit.

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