Taking our COVID-19 permitted daily period of exercise is good for our health, but the restrictions on “keeping it local” can make it bit monotonous. So why not add a bit of variety and adventure to your walk by finding a route where you can spell out a word or phrase with the first letter of street names.
In true Blue Peter fashion, here is one I made earlier. [Read more…] about How to make the daily exercise more interesting
While queuing outside Tesco, I thought that the tape marking the 2-metre social distancing spaces should be replaced with brass (a bit like the brass studs that mark the boundary of properties in shopping streets). They can then remain as a legacy after the COVID-19 restrictions are lifted.
Why? So that in 20 years’ time when our grandchildren ask what they are there for we can tell them about the great lockdown of 2020.
So, what other legacies might the crisis give us? [Read more…] about What could the Covid-19 legacies be?
How are we all doing with social distancing and self-isolation? It’s something that cats have been doing for years.
Here are a few tips about what’s changed in daily life. Apologies if it is reiterating what you know already, but hopefully there are a couple of new pieces of information. And there’s a quiz (nothing to do with lockdown, COVID-19 or shopping) at the end [Read more…] about Life under Lockdown
For many people, working at home has suddenly become the new working practice. This may be familiar for some, but a big change for many. Working from home is notjust working from the office without a commute. There are a number of things to be considered on both working practicalities and home life. Here are a few reflections after two and a half days of working from home. I was going to entitle this piece “Broad thoughts from a home”, in tribute to the poem of similar name by Robert Browning, but didn’t think I would get away with it. [Read more…] about Working from Home
The M27 will be completely closed in both directions between junctions 3 (M271) and junction 4 (M3) this weekend – from late evening Friday 31 January to early morning 3 February.
This is the third and final closure required for the replacement of the Romsey Road bridge. More details can be found on the Highways England website. [Read more…] about M27 Closure 31 Jan – 3 Feb
It seems that pretty much every singer has recorded a Christmas song. Some are originals; some are covers (which may or may not be better than the originals). Some of the songs are quite enjoyable; others are less so.
Here are some of the less well-known songs that have made it to my Christmas playlist. You may or may not agree with my somewhat erratic and eclectic selection.
I want a Hippopotamus for Christmas by Gayla Peevey is possibly the oldest recording in the list. This is such a fun song that it is permanently on my MP3 player – proving, perhaps, that a Hippopotamus isn’t just for Christmas but for all year round. [Read more…] about Christmas Songs
Just over a week to go to Christmas, and churches will be preparing for their carol services. Technically, there is a difference between a Christmas carol and a Christmas hymn, but I’ve never been able to definitively put my finger on which is which. As a rule of thumb, I think that songs that tell a story – such as While Shepherds Watched or Good King Wenceslas – are probably carols while those that are more worship-based – such as Hark the Herald Angels and O Come All Ye Faithful – are probably hymns. There are also Easter carols, but let’s leave those for a few months.
Some carols/hymns I like more than others. The Holly and the Ivy, for example, has always struck me as a collection of rather tenuous links. [Read more…] about Christmas Carols old and new
I visited the Many Mangers exhibition at St Martin in the Woods church this weekend, not knowing quite what to expect.
Well, obviously I was expecting nativity scenes. But the flyer stated “over 100 from all over the world”. Really? Where was a small church in Chandler’s Ford going to get hold of such a variety?
The answer was simple yet amazing. From local parishioners. Dozens of people had come forward with their cherished nativity scenes, lending them to the church for a few days before they took on their annual role as part of the family’s Christmas decorations. [Read more…] about Many Mangers at St Martin in the Woods
Hello, it’s Chippy again with a few more photo teasers. My last photo quiz ended with a picture of the logo from the former Peter Hansford cycle shop and I hinted that this might have been a link to my next quiz. And so the theme this week is Cycling. More specifically cycle paths and their bridges. [Read more…] about Weekend Teaser
A return to the occasional “spot the location” quiz this weekend, with guest quiz-master Chippy Minton.
This week’s theme is Signs, and I’ve been out and about to see what I could find. Four photos this week – and a chance for a Chippy Bonus Point hidden somewhere (but I won’t tell you where, as then it wouldn’t be hidden). [Read more…] about Weekend Quiz
Work will soon begin to upgrade the M3 between Junctions 9 and 14 (Winchester to Eastleigh) to a Smart motorway. Site clearance and preparation works will start in the winter, with main construction scheduled from later in 2020 until 2022. When complete, the upgraded motorway will neatly dovetail between the new Smart M27 and the proposed improved junction layout at Winnall. Does this sound like a coordinated plan of road improvement schemes? I think it does.
A Smart motorway is a motorway with an extra lane instead of the hard-shoulder. A host of electronic gismos allow Highways England to monitor traffic flows, respond to incidents, and generally keep the traffic moving. [Read more…] about M3 to get Smart
Many years ago, when my siblings and I were all of primary-school age, we went for a family walk around a country village a few miles from home. As we walked from the car, my sisters and I spotted a sign outside a cottage: [Read more…] about Family Histories – pas devant les enfants
Armed with the research I’d already undertaken, I set off on my bike to see what I could see at the Pine Road Cemetery. [Read more…] about Pine Road Cemetery (part 2)
A letter came into the Chandler’s Ford Today office recently asking abut the graveyard in Pine Road, near the junction with Hursley Road. I’d never noticed this before, and neither had the editor. “You like local history”, said the editor, “and you’ve got a long weekend coming up. Go and find out about it”. OK, that may not actually be how she said it, but it is how I heard it. [Read more…] about Pine Road Cemetery (part 1)
In a slight variation on the Saturday morning quiz, I thought I would combine it with my occasional “days out” features, and post some pictures of somewhere I’ve been this week.
All photos are of the same place – but where?
Looks as if the ceiling hasn’t been swept for some time … [Read more…] about Where Was I?
If you want refreshments on a train journey today, your choice is pretty much limited to plastic-wrapped sandwiches and instant coffee served in a paper cup. But there was a time when the meal was as important as the journey itself. You would sit at a linen-clad table and eat from china plates using steel cutlery; smartly uniformed waiting staff would provide silver-service at your table; and all this would take place in a specially designated restaurant car.
You can still recreate this golden age of railway catering on Hampshire’s Watercress Line, where the Countryman Dining trains offer Sunday lunch and Friday and Saturday dinner excursions. Ideal for that special occasion, or when you want something a little different. [Read more…] about Dining on the Watercress Line
There were two differences to Thornden School’s summer production of Guys and Dolls. The first was that it wasn’t in the summer, it was last week (29 January to 1 February). The second was that it wasn’t in its usual location of Thornden Hall.
[Read more…] about Thornden School summer production – the show does go on
Almost time to start eating the Christmas cake – but first I better make it.
I use the trusted recipe I’ve been using for years – and my mother used before me. It comes from an old and well-used recipe book. [Read more…] about Baking the Christmas Cake
Regular listeners to Radio 2’s Simon Mayo programme will be familiar with the Confessions slot where listeners write in with their admissions of guilt for past misdemeanours. With the imminent departure of Mr. Mayo from the station, I no longer have an opportunity to bring my Christmas confession before the nation. Instead I seek forgiveness from the good readers of Chandlers Ford Today.
As we approach the weekend of Christmas carol services, I am reminded of this shameful event from when I was a child of ten or eleven. [Read more…] about A Christmastide Confession
I’ve been writing my Christmas cards this weekend. I’ve been using pretty much the same Christmas Card list that I’ve used for the last few years and it always strikes me that it contains a couple of anomalies.
Firstly, there are the people for whom our only communication is the annual Christmas card. Should I still bother sending them cards? Secondly, there are the people I know won’t send me a card. Should I still bother sending them cards? [Read more…] about Christmas Cards
