• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to content
  • Skip to primary sidebar

Chandler's Ford Today

  • Home
  • About
    • About Chandler’s Ford
    • Chandler’s Ford War Memorial Research
  • Blog
    • Blogging Tips
  • Event
    • Upcoming Events
  • Community
    • Groups
    • Churches
    • Schools
    • GP Surgeries
    • Leisure
    • Library
    • Charities
      • Eastleigh Basics Bank
      • Cat & Kitten Rescue in Chandler’s Ford
    • Fair Trade
      • Traidcraft stalls in Chandler’s Ford
    • Chandler’s Ford Parish Council
  • Contact
    • Subscribe
  • Site Policies
  • Site Archive
    • Site Archive 2018
    • Site Archive 2017
    • Site Archive 2016
    • Site Archive 2015
You are here: Home / Community / Those were the Days: the Potters Heron Hotel in the 50s and 60s

Those were the Days: the Potters Heron Hotel in the 50s and 60s

March 22, 2018 By Graham MacLean 2 Comments

I thought I would take this opportunity to respond to Chandler’s Ford Today’s informal invitation to provide some input that might catch the eye of a few older folk.

Being an environmentally aware person and property man who cut his teeth in a very beautiful part of England I was at an early age drawn to the Potters Heron for a variety of reasons. It is magnificently located for its purpose on a stretch of highway that sweeps majestically in a gentle curve on its way to my favouritecity.  Strangely enough, and it may seem totally irrelevant but I had the same feeling when I last swept along the Big Sur stretch of the coastal highway in CA.

Ampfield Layby. Image by David Howard via Flickr.
Ampfield Layby. Image by David Howard via Flickr.

Potters Heron: a totally lovely place in the 50s and 60s

The Potters Heron was in the minds of 50s and 60s people like myself a totally lovely place to go and have a drink and never just one more stop on the pub crawls of that era. Presumably family managed. It was also the first place that families in the general Southampton area too would almost automatically have at the head of the list for wedding receptions, twenty-firsts and the like as well as the almost obligatory annual company dinner dance and thereby hangs a shortish anecdote.

Potters Heron Hotel, 2013. Image by Nick Young, Southampton Chauffeur Hire.
Potters Heron Hotel, 2013. Image by Nick Young, Southampton Chauffeur Hire.

All the actors are long gone so I can mention Shell’s annual thing there in the early 1960s where we had all consumed the After Eight Mints and commenced having a go at The Gay Gordon’s, The Belita, a clumsily performed Eightsome Reel and last but not least The Dashing White Sergeant, and were recovering a bit with the standard Cointreau when the regional manager or similar commenced his round of dancing with all the wives.

The Scottish Fiddle Orchestra – The Eightsome Reel

Now this gentleman was a man of considerable girth and he asked my quite heavily pregnant wife (son number three) for a slow foxtrot. During this he thought he was saying the right thing by stating that being a mother and a housewife was a truly noble calling and almost patriotic too. Well my wife who could barely conceal her consternation broke off the dance and plumped herself down next to me. I then uttered a crassly stupid explanation by way of saying that as a good company man’s wife she had to go along with this! What this well intended gentleman did not know was that my wife was an ardent supporter of Germaine Greer, Jane Fonda and regular reader of Cosmopolitan magazine. Oh well!

The following day we received our annual pay rise: GBP 980 to 1010 p.a. I was requested to exchange my Morris Minor (12DOU) for a brand new Hillman Imp (ALH569 ) or similar. Can’t recall any car numbers these days!

Potters Heron Hotel. Photo © Maigheach-gheal (cc-by-sa/2.0) , 2008.
Potters Heron Hotel. Photo © Maigheach-gheal (cc-by-sa/2.0), 2008.

Potters Heron was the place choice for many celebrities

This was time of excellent Southern TV establishing itself at the old cinema site close to Northam Bridge. Almost overnight we learned to recognise Cliff Michelmore, Reginald Bosanquet and last but not least the extremely attractive and captivating Meryl O’Keefe. One summer evening myself and my regular gentle boozing friend Rodney just happened to find ourselves in the cocktail bar sitting almost opposite this lady who was obviously waiting to be joined by somebody. Lucky fellow he. I have to admit that I hardly ventured much outside Hampshire let alone seen a movie star or anybody like this beautiful woman. We were both mesmerised. Later we were to discover that the Potters Heron was the place choice for many local celebrities not least Southern TV people. People like Jack Hargreaves and Oliver Kite.

Embed from Getty Images

Further up this main road in the direction of Romsey was located the quite famous Two Lakes or Twin Lakes trout fishery, which sadly had to close due to a severe infection of all the fish there which could not easily be eradicated. Anyway during the good times those fishing there would tend to end up in the bar at the Potters Heron and regale each other with the inevitable ‘one that got away ‘ stories.

Potters Heron Hotel – Romsey

On the opposite side of the road and quite close to Ampfield Golf Course there stood an almost classical Keepers Cottage which came on the market in those far off days at an asking price of 4,500-00. I met the agent at the Potters Heron and pulling out all stops made an offer of 4,350-00. I was politely and firmly told not to waste my time or his either.

Last week we saw the movie Goodbye Christoper Robin here in Hong Kong. I must be the only person here to have immediately identified to Christopher Robin’s newly married Nanny (‘Nou’ I think) living in an almost identical Keepers Cottage. They have a distinctly Victorian red brick style of architecture.

Cheeky behaviour of impecunious young men at Potters Heron

Well if readers are still with me I will end with a very short story about the downright brazen and cheeky behaviour of impecunious young men accompanied by generally attractive and well behaved young ladies. On one or two occasions a bunch of us took to quietly invading the weekend tea dances at the Potters Heron. We appeared reasonably respectable but we seemed to have a problem when it came to paying for a ticket! We had several successful ‘getting away with it ‘ afternoons.

We had been rumbled the very first time I was to subsequently discover, I suffered the acute and deserved embarrassment of having my shoulder discreetly tapped by the assistant manager in mid waltz no less and quietly and firmly told to leave the establishment. Always ready to face a challenge the other two guys promptly offered to stump up the cost of a ticket to let me stay on condition they left. What are friends for? Amazingly we resumed dancing. Sangfroid indeed! The girls just giggled. Cost me a lot more in drinks later than the ticket. Makes me shudder just to think about what I used to get up to in those far off days. A truly awful young man in fact.

Potters Heron Hotel. Photo © Maigheach-gheal (cc-by-sa/2.0) , 2008.
Potters Heron Hotel.
Photo © Maigheach-gheal (cc-by-sa/2.0) , 2008.
After the fire: the Potters Heron Hotel. Image credit: Robbie Sprague
Fire at the Potters Heron Hotel, 19th March 2018. Image taken on the 20th of March. Image credit: Robbie Sprague

Related posts:

Those were the Days: the Potters Heron Hotel in the 50s and 60s

How to be Safe in a Thatched Roof Property?

Another Turn of the Potter’s Wheel

Another Potters Heron Story Before the 1966 Fire

Forty Years in Chandler’s Ford – a Journal (Part 34)

Fire at the Potters Heron Hotel

Subscribe to Blog via Email

Enter your email address to subscribe to this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.

Print Friendly, PDF & Email

Share this:

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Google
  • Email

Related posts:

Another Turn of the Potter’s Wheel Another Potters Heron Story Before the 1966 Fire Celebrate the 80th Anniversary of the Spitfire Fire at the Potters Heron Hotel How to be Safe in a Thatched Roof Property?
Tags: community, Hampshire, memory, news, Potters Heron, Romsey, storytelling

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Rick Goater says

    March 22, 2018 at 7:38 pm

    Love it!

    Reply
  2. Allison Symes says

    March 22, 2018 at 8:11 pm

    Great post, Graham. Such a shame about the recent fire but hopefully it won’t be too long before the Potters Heron is running again.

    Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Primary Sidebar

Search

Subscribe to Blog via Email

Enter your email address to subscribe to Chandler's Ford Today blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.

Archives

Top Posts & Pages

999, 111, 101, 112? Emergency Numbers You Must Know
101 Things to Put into Room 101
101 Things to Put into Room 101 - Part 7 - The Final Leg
Home
First Aider and First Responder
Cat & Kitten Rescue in Chandler's Ford
New 0300 Phone Numbers for Hampshire County Council
Peculiar British House Numbering System
Read Bill Bryson's Portrayal of Eastleigh Town. Do You Agree?
Part 4 - 101 Things to Put into Room 101

Categories

Tags

arts and crafts books Chandler's Ford Chandler's Ford Today Chandler’s Ford community charity Christianity Christmas church community creative writing culture Eastleigh Eastleigh Borough Council education entertainment event family fundraising gardening gardening tips good neighbours Hiltingbury Hiltingbury Road history hobby how-to interview Joan Adamson Joan Adelaide Goater local businesses local interest memory Methodist Church music nature news reading review social storytelling theatre travel Winchester Road writing

Recent Comments

  • Doug Clews on Smart Phone – No thank you
  • Zorba on Smart Phone – No thank you
  • Christine Lassam on July Gardening Tips by Wellie
  • Allison Symes on St George’s Day Glide
  • Gopi on St George’s Day Glide
  • Marny on St George’s Day Glide

Regular Writers and Contributors

Janet Williams Allison Symes Mike Sedgwick Rick Goater Doug Clews chippy minton Martin Napier Roger White Andy Vining Gopi Chandroth Nicola Slade Wellie Roger Clark Ray Fishman Hazel Bateman SO53 News

Forty Years in Chandler’s Ford – a Journal by Joan Adelaide Goater

Forty Years in Chandler’s Ford – a Journal by Joan Adelaide Goater

Growing up in Chandler’s Ford: 1950s – 1960s by Martin Napier

Growing up in Chandler’s Ford: 1950s – 1960s by Martin Napier

My Memories of the War Years in Chandler’s Ford 1939 – 1945 by Doug Clews

My Memories of the War Years in Chandler’s Ford 1939 – 1945 by Doug Clews

Chandler’s Ford War Memorial Research by Margaret Doores

Chandler’s Ford War Memorial Research by Margaret Doores

History of Hiltonbury Farmhouse by Andy Vining

History of Hiltonbury Farmhouse by Andy Vining

My Family History in Chandler’s Ford and Hursley by Roger White

My Family History in Chandler’s Ford and Hursley by Roger White

Do You Remember The Hutments? By Nick John

Do You Remember The Hutments? By Nick John

Memory of Peter Green by Wendy Green

Memory of Peter Green by Wendy Green

History of Vickers Armstrongs (Supermarine) Hursley Park by Dave Key

History of Vickers Armstrongs (Supermarine) Hursley Park by Dave Key

Reviews of local performances and places

Reviews of local performances and places

Copyright © 2022 Chandler's Ford Today. WordPress. Log in

loading Cancel
Post was not sent - check your email addresses!
Email check failed, please try again
Sorry, your blog cannot share posts by email.