Do you know there is a Rev. Wilbert Awdry Bridge in Chandler’s Ford?
The Rev. Wilbert Awdry (15 June 1911 – 21 March 1997) was an Anglican minister who created Thomas the Tank Engine (and other engines). In interviews he said his son Christopher (aged 3) had measles, so he came up with stories to amuse him. [Read more…] about Rev. Wilbert Awdry Bridge in Chandler’s Ford
Illness is illness – impairment of normal function of part or all of the body. Why, then, do we have illness and mental illness as if they are different things? We all fall ill from time to time, it may be an infection, heart disease, liver, bones, joints, any organ including the brain. But when it comes to the brain we call it mental illness and it carries stigma. [Read more…] about Why isn’t Mental Illness a Brain Disease?
March 18th 1949, Gran writes:
Necessity took me to Southampton today… The bombed sites are ablaze with Coltsfoot now, creeping over the rubble and pouring down the slopes like golden streams. Knots of people standing about and the Convent schoolgirls lining The Avenue spoke of some untoward excitement and I was surprised to hear that Mr Churchill was expected to pass at any moment on his way to the docks to board “Queen Elizabeth”. I was already in the ‘bus for home and I cannot say that I saw him but we did pass his car on Hut Hill! In Park Road a Larch tree is already decked in its soft green tassels of fresh, new growth, one of the loveliest sights of Spring.
[Read more…] about Forty Years in Chandler’s Ford – a Journal (Part 24)
A few weeks ago, I went to the Gift Day at the Dovetail Centre of the Chandler’s Ford Methodist Church. The purpose of the day was to raise fund to refurbish Dovetail Centre, one of the most popular community centres in the heart of Chandler’s Ford.
It was a happy morning. We were sitting at the delightful Dovetail Centre, chatting to old and new friends, and were all excited about the new project. [Read more…] about Refurbishment for a Modern and Contemporary Dovetail Centre at the Methodist Church
It’s late January 1949. Gran spends most afternoons in the Park Road garden on a range of tasks; transplanting Caucasus Primroses; various jobs in the greenhouse (where, on the 27th, she is saddened to see a long-tailed field mouse caught in a trap – “I would lose all my produce rather than catch them if the place belonged to me”, she writes) also outside weeding a bed of Primula wanda; watering Arums; sowing peas to bring them on for sowing out later, and enjoying the quiet and peace as she mixes soil and sieved leaves for seed-sowing. “I like to feel the soil in my hands…”
On the 27th she records that:
Iris stylosa opened her first four beautiful flowers to the sunshine in the garden. How I love them, and how they break my heart! Just over two years ago I sent some to Adrian because he had never seen them. He never did see them though he was sufficiently conscious to know they came and were placed near him and later his mother put them into his hand for me – a gesture I shall never forget and one which in itself secured for her my undying friendship and affection.
[Read more…] about Forty Years in Chandler’s Ford – a Journal (Part 23)
Given publishing is a tough business and it is the hardest it has ever been for a writer to find a publisher and/or agent, why on earth would writers want to form groups? Surely they should focus on their own books?
Ironically, it is because the world of publishing is so tough, that writers forming co-operatives is (a) becoming more common and (b) a fantastically sensible thing to do. [Read more…] about Writer Co-operatives
It is not on every holiday that you find yourself involved in the rescue of a drowning man.
Our son, who lives in Chandler’s Ford, was enjoying a holiday at Bonchurch on the Isle of Wight. Relaxing after day visiting nearby children’s attractions with his four-year-old daughter, he heard cries for help. From his flat overlooking the sea he could see a man in deep water out beyond the breakwater waving, calling for help and in distress. Already another man was swimming towards him with the life buoy which was provided nearby. [Read more…] about Saved from Drowning
On November 25th 1948:
Stonechats were present at Stony Cross in the New Forest this afternoon. Here also is the largest oak tree in the New Forest, known as the Knightwood Oak. Last August the tree measured 22ft 4½ ins in girth. The largest tree to be cut down in the New Forest was also an oak – in Langley Wood. When felled in 1758 it was found to contain 300 rings of annual growth, and required twelve horses to drag it to the coast. [Read more…] about Forty Years in Chandler’s Ford – a Journal (Part 22)
Last weekend, I revisited the Medieval Village in the River Hamble Country Park, set up as part of the Medieval Weekend arranged by the Road to Agincourt Project.
Image Credit: All pictures taken by Allison Symes at the 2017 Medieval Weekend
The weekend was fun. I learned all sorts of things from the “villagers” I talked to such as the cook and her girls once being camp followers and having to change their back story as they were “ladies who provided a service” (and not food either!). [Read more…] about Revisiting Medieval Hampshire in 2017
Joan Goater writes on 15th September 1948:
A large green and black bodied dragonfly flew about under the yew tree opposite here, performing amazing feats of aerobatics. I agree with what Brian Vesey-Fitzgerald said recently on the wireless about this lovely creature’s misnomer. It is far too beautiful to be named “Dragon”, which one always associates with an ugly monster, but the repulsive “grub” is equally mis-named “nymph”, because one always thinks of a nymph as an exquisitely dainty creature. They should certainly bear each other’s names. [Read more…] about Forty Years in Chandler’s Ford – a Journal (Part 21)
Image Credit: Many thanks to Janet Williams for taking the signing photos at the railway station. Like many women, I can multi task but there is a limit and even I couldn’t take a picture of myself signing a book!
Many thanks to all who came to my book signing at our lovely railway station on Saturday 8th July. Particular thanks go to Mark Miller and Nick Farthing of the Three Rivers Rail Community Partnership, Hilary Stone for “manning” the drinks and snacks bar, Janet Williams, Richard Hardie and Daniel Symes.
[Read more…] about Why have Book Signings? Report from the Station – Allison Symes
It’s August 20th 1948. A change of season is in the air and Gran writes, while blackberrying again in the woods opposite:
Again the fragrance of damp bracken and water mint mingled with the perfume of ripe blackberries to give that indescribable scent of the August woodland, and the tang of Autumn was heavy in the air… the birds were silent, save for an occasional “T’seet” from a Tit…”
Great, Blue and Coal Tits, together with several other small woodland species, I found difficult to identify by their calls when I started birding, and I remember asking Dad’s advice about how to tell them apart. His answer was, in a Mexican accent, “ eetz eazzy” (this being the call of all these birds) which we both found entertaining, but was of little help to me, as I did not find it easy!
[Read more…] about Forty Years in Chandler’s Ford – a Journal (Part 20)
Why am I interested in history? I suppose it is because I love stories of all kinds and history in many ways is the ultimate tale.
When all is said and done, history reveals, only too clearly at times, who we are, where we came from, what horrible mistakes we’ve made in the past (and sometimes what things we did right!). [Read more…] about Medieval Weekend – 15th and 16th July 2017
Every infantry man in a combat zone loves to hear a Chinook. Wop, wop, wop, you can hear the characteristic sound, you know what it is but you can’t see it. The twin rotor helicopter is coming in at 160 mph with 10 tons of stores and ammunition or re-enforcements. Once it lands, it will be there for 60 seconds, there will be no departure delays, no last calls for passengers, no check in queues. What isn’t taken off or loaded within the time is left where it is. [Read more…] about Chinook
In the 1980s there were no fancy coffee shops in Chandler’s Ford. It wasn’t common for supermarkets to offer you ‘free’ coffee either. Many young mothers found themselves isolated at home with young children, and elderly people were struggling to meet someone for a friendly chat.
One person saw that acute problem in Chandler’s Ford and decided to do something about it, to change for the better.
Her name is Jane Archer. She has run the Coffee Room based at the Dovetail Centre at the Methodist Church on Winchester Road for 37 years. Many babies who had played at the Coffee Room have grown up to become parents themselves. [Read more…] about Jane Archer – A Simple Vision, and 37 Years Leading The Coffee Room at Dovetail Centre
By the time you read this, I will be coming to the end of a much needed break in stunning Scotland. (Sadly it’s not one I can write about for CFT as there’s no question of using our lovely railway station as a starting point!). [Read more…] about Signing at the Station by Allison Symes
A few years ago someone told me that a group of people meet in Fleming Park every Saturday morning to run 5 km. My first thought was “why would they do that?”, swiftly followed by an assumption that it was a training run for a local running club, and wouldn’t be open to non-runners like me.
That’s before I discovered parkrun. I ran my first parkrun – after over 25 years of not running – in March 2015 and since then have been back 100 times – pretty much every week. I think it’s safe to say I’m hooked. [Read more…] about parkrun 101 – a run (or walk) in the park
Gran writes on July 11th 1948, shortly after daughter Jane’s Confirmation:
Another cloudy dawn but fine enough for us to get to Compton Church for Jane’s first Communion. A Wood-Pigeon was softly calling in the opposite wood when I awakened at 6.15 and the Lark was already singing in the nearby field, or rather over what used to be a field, but it is now part of Hillier’s nursery, at 7.15 as we left home. …a Green Woodpecker flew over the church during the service uttering its strident alarm notes. The flowers on the altar were, as usual, beautiful and tastefully arranged.
[Read more…] about Forty Years in Chandler’s Ford – a Journal (Part 19)
Last week Anne Wan, local children’s author, talked about why writing for children is fun and what she learned from writing her debut novel, Secrets of the Snow Globe: Vanishing Voices. In Part 2 she shares her three top tips for writers and what she loves and loathes about editing. There will be a lot of common ground here for writers in all genres! [Read more…] about Writing Children’s Fiction – Anne Wan Interview Part 2 – Allison Symes
Gran writes on June 2nd 1948 (at a time, of course, before the introduced Grey Squirrel became such a confounded nuisance, and people’s attitude to it changed:
Cycling along a quiet lane I was startled when a Grey Squirrel leapt off a post almost into my lap, but my surprise was nothing compared to his. He lost his head completely, tried to regain the post but instead plunged into the wire netting beneath it, where he struggled desperately to get through. How I wish the little wild creatures knew that I would never hurt them!
[Read more…] about Forty Years in Chandler’s Ford – a Journal (Part 18)
