by Lionel Elliott
Hidden away in the Chandler’s Ford Central Precinct is a Club that aims to be the place in the Chandler’s Ford area to meet up with friends, to relax and unwind, and to have some fun. It’s the Chandler’s Ford Central Club. [Read more…] about Chandler’s Ford Central Club – Something for Everyone
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)
We have erased the name of a school on this sign. Do you know the name of this school?
[Read more…] about Saturday Guessing Game (6)
This morning we joined our friends Mike and Alison Standing, together with Deborah Hockney (Alison’s sister) and her family on A Walk for Adam.
The walk aims to raise awareness of the high level of suicide that occurs in our society, especially amongst younger men, which seems to get hidden from view from the general public.
The 40-mile walk started from Chandler’s Ford Methodist Church this morning, and will spread over 4 days. Today we completed our first day’s walk and arrived at Winchester Cathedral. Friends and families will continue the rest of the journey over the next 3 days. [Read more…] about A Walk for Adam – from Chandler’s Ford to Winchester Cathedral
Farewell, my love. I hope we meet again. An adolescent emptiness swells in the breast as the love affair ends. I will see her again, but it will not be the same. We will not have that informality of friendship where one can take up again where one left off the last time. No more will we lie long and easy under the apple bough. When we meet next I will have the same yearning, but I will be in a new position, a stranger, étranger, and you will be in a different situation too, having to regard me as a foreigner. Formality and reservation will be the order of the day. Likely we will need to make an appointment, obtain a visa, before we meet. Certainly, we will be supervised by authorities who believe they know better than both of us. [Read more…] about On Returning from France
Image Credit: A very big thank you to Geoff Parkes for kind permission to use some of his photos from the recent Swanwick Writers’ Summer School.
Why should writers get to a good writing conference if they can and not just the once?
The obvious benefits are learning new skills, how to improve those you already have, or both, from a wide range of speakers. You literally tap their knowledge and experience and apply it to your own writing. If you need to know more about editing, you go and listen to top tips from an editor working widely in the industry etc. [Read more…] about The Benefits of a Good Writing Conference
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)
I thought a lighthearted post would be appropriate as we head rapidly through August.
By the time this goes up, I will be on my way back from the Swanwick Writers’ Summer School, having had good opportunities to learn, meet old friends, make new ones, and come back buzzing with ideas and even more enthuasism for the projects I’ve got in mind over the next few months or so. [Read more…] about Books That Should Have Been Written – Allison Symes
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)
S59 Anti-social Behaviour, Crime and Policing Act 2014
‘It’s an offence to continue to drink alcohol when asked not to do so by a Police Officer …. Failure to comply may lead to arrest and a fine upon conviction.’ [Read more…] about Saturday Guessing Game (4)
By the time you read this, I should be on a train heading to the wilds of Derbyshire to enjoy my annual week at the Swanwick Writers’ Summer School. [Read more…] about Getting Away From It All
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)
It’s our third Saturday guessing game with 3 mystery photos.
[Read more…] about Chandler’s Ford Saturday Guessing Game (3)
Image Credit: As ever, a very big thank you to Lionel Elliott and The Chameleons for supplying the pictures.
There can’t be many plays which manage to be entertaining and reveal all you need to know about Shakespeare’s King Lear at the same time but A Bunch of Amateurs managed this beautifully.
Ben Williams’ review shows what a great play this is and, if you love a laugh AND Shakespeare, it is the play for you. (It was a film, starring Burt Reynolds, but for a play about a play, the stage is the best place for it).
[Read more…] about A Bunch of Amateurs – Review by Allison Symes
Over the August bank holiday weekend, Mike and Alison Standing will be joining Deborah Hockney (Alison’s sister) and her family (Gabriella and Joel) on ‘A Walk for Adam’, to raise awareness of the high level of suicide that occurs in our society, especially amongst younger men, which seems to get hidden from view from the general public.
Going to the loo used to be easy, you just looked for the signs that said, Ladies or Gentlemen. Somehow these two straightforward words have become politically incorrect, they hinted at elitism. Now we use Men and Women.
The latest performance A Bunch of Amateurs by the Chameleons is a hilarious satire on Hollywood egotism and Shakespeare. When Stratford (Suffolk, not on-Avon) runs out of money for the theatre, the Stratford Player’s only choice is a washed up Hollywood actor called Jefferson Steel, who agrees to act in an amateur dramatics production of King Lear – only to find himself in the wrong Stratford- not the luxurious home of Shakespeare, but a nondescript English village. [Read more…] about Review: A Bunch of Amateurs by Chameleon Theatre Company
Another Saturday guessing game with these 3 photos.
‘Customer Clothing Notice: Please wear appropriate clothing and footwear at all times while in our store’. [Read more…] about Chandler’s Ford Saturday Guessing Game (2)
Summer holiday has just started. Let’s have a Saturday guessing game with these 3 photos.
‘Dog fouling high priority zone: We need your help to catch offenders in this area’. [Read more…] about Where are These in Chandler’s Ford? Chandler’s Ford Saturday Guessing Game (1)
