Because of my passion for history I’m a sucker for old books and some years ago I was delighted to find ‘Highways & Byways in Hampshire’ by D. H. Moutray Read, first published in 1908. My copy, soft brown leather with a gold embossed title, is an updated version published in 1923. [Read more…] about Old Chandler’s Ford and Victorian Dentistry
Community
Ex-Pats Lives; Where is Home?
Out in Sri Lanka there is an interesting group of people, the ex-pats. These people have decided to make their lives on the tropical island for a number of reasons. None of them is quite sure where home is, here, there, or somewhere else. Perhaps home is a different concept for them, home is where they happen to be today. Here are the stories of some of them. [Read more…] about Ex-Pats Lives; Where is Home?
New Footbridge: Chandler’s Ford to Valley Park
The new Footbridge at the level crossing by Sutherlands Way in Chandler’s Ford has now opened to the public.
I walked on the footbridge yesterday with my son and marvelled at the beauty of this architecture. The footbridge was open to the public last Friday.
(My son insisted this event in Chandler’s Ford was more important than what happened in the USA on that day.) [Read more…] about New Footbridge: Chandler’s Ford to Valley Park
New Footbridge at the Level Crossing by Sutherlands Way in Chandler’s Ford
Have you seen the new footbridge at the level crossing by Sutherlands Way in Chandler’s Ford yet?
You can’t use it just yet, but it looks like this:
(Update 24 Jan 2017: you can now walk on the bridge: New Footbridge: Chandler’s Ford to Valley Park) [Read more…] about New Footbridge at the Level Crossing by Sutherlands Way in Chandler’s Ford
Introducing Guy Stauber – Marvel at Sir Bevis Comic
One of the great joys of writing for Chandler’s Ford Today (and in reading it too) continues to be the wide variety of topics it covers. It’s only due to CFT that I found out about the Road to Agincourt Project and, due to my love of history, started writing about it.
I’ve particularly liked The Story Shuffle Project and the Sir Bevis of Hampton posts as the first is a phenomenally good idea to get kids involved in creative writing and a local legend. The second post was, of course, all about that local legend. [Read more…] about Introducing Guy Stauber – Marvel at Sir Bevis Comic
A Staircase for Sale
The house of my childhood has been demolished. I am told that the staircase, complete, is for sale. It is solid teak, of excellent quality, impervious to termites. Someone said that one of us should buy it.
Buy a staircase? The million times I ran up and down those stairs, chased by my brothers and sisters, running up to complain to father, running down for dinner. If I buy that staircase, with its brass fixtures and its knurled banisters, will I hear father coming down in his wooden clogs? See the emerald green of his eyes? Will my mother give me refuge from the persecuting siblings? Will I hear the gentle shuffle of her feet? [Read more…] about A Staircase for Sale
Random Acts of Kindness
We hear a lot about random acts of kindness and how little things can make a big difference to people. With this in mind, whilst shopping in Winchester and Asda today (1 January), I made a point of thanking the shop assistants who served me, for being at work today, a public holiday – a day when I and many others are fortunate to be off work and furthermore expect to find the shops open. [Read more…] about Random Acts of Kindness
Seasonal Limericks and Flash Fiction
I thought I’d finish for this year with some light-hearted seasonal limericks and flash fiction pieces. Hope you enjoy them.
I also hope you had plenty of books (in print or electronically) for Christmas and you are happily working your way through them! [Read more…] about Seasonal Limericks and Flash Fiction
Experiments with Spirituality
My first son was born in Delhi in 1987. Two months after his birth, like Prince Siddhartha Gautama of Lumbini, I kissed my sleeping wife and son and travelled to Rishikesh, located in the foothills of the Himalayas. I didn’t know then that I would return there 22 years later. But that is another story, to be written when I have the mental fortitude to narrate it.
For now, let me tell you about my spiritual quest and how unlike Prince Siddhartha, I failed to become the Buddha or the enlightened. [Read more…] about Experiments with Spirituality
Give a Girl Some Graphite
For a pre-Christmas treat I took my wife on a special trip. She dressed beautifully in mainly white with her large sunhat and a pair of gold lame shoes. I like to give a girl a good time and I had heard of this place up in the hills near Kurunegalla in the centre of Sri Lanka. Not many girls get a chance to visit there.
We drove up a narrow lane through an attractive area of jungle to a small settlement with a couple of bungalows and installations of mining equipment. [Read more…] about Give a Girl Some Graphite
Christmas Gathering at Beacon Café, St. Boniface Church 2016
On Tuesday morning, I went to the Beacon Café at St. Boniface Church on Hursley Road for some refreshment (ok, plus more than one piece of home-made cake).
I got there just after 11am, and saw people were happily solving Christmas quizzes, which involved identifying some very old (at least to me) British TV sitcoms. From the participants’ enthusiastic discussions and laughter, I could tell they knew most of the answers while reminiscing the good old days. [Read more…] about Christmas Gathering at Beacon Café, St. Boniface Church 2016
Room 235
What is special about this card key that occupies a prominent place in my museum of memories? The story may amuse you, but to me it is just one episode from a long list reinforcing my lifelong suspicion that I am the unsuspecting protagonist in a never-ending series of candid camera.
I was in South Tyneside College to attend a course on high voltage electric propulsion, in connection with an investigation. I had rung ahead to a nice hotel located by the sea and asked for a room with a sea view, but when I checked in, was told that all the rooms with sea views were taken. Nothing new there; I rarely got a hotel room with a view. [Read more…] about Room 235
Christmas Books and Local Settings
Once upon a time almost every child found an annual under the tree or in their stocking and I have one given to me when I was about seven – The Christmas Stocking.
We carried on this tradition with our children who always opened their annuals at bedtime on Christmas Eve so they had something to keep them happy until morning. I always hoped they’d lie in bed and read instead of getting up at the crack of dawn on Christmas morning, but it didn’t work!
[Read more…] about Christmas Books and Local Settings
Thornden Community Wind Band Christmas Concert
“It’s beginning to feel a lot like Christmas” – well, it certainly is for the 380 people who went to “A Swing-Along Christmas” concert presented by the Thornden Community Wind Band with their special guests The Spitfire Sisters on Friday evening. This was a wonderful concert and a fine introduction to the week before Christmas.
[Read more…] about Thornden Community Wind Band Christmas Concert
Otterbourne Mummers: Traditional Mummers Play in Otterbourne, Christmas 2016
Yesterday, we went to see the Mummers street play in Otterbourne, Hampshire.
It is a very old and traditional folk play and depicts King George slaying the dragon, Turkish knights and other adversaries. It was good fun to watch and the costumes were very colourful. [Read more…] about Otterbourne Mummers: Traditional Mummers Play in Otterbourne, Christmas 2016
Review: Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols at St. Boniface Church 2016
I attended the Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols in St. Boniface (CofE) Church this evening. The church was packed. Superbly directed by Dr. Hugh Benham, the carol service certainly defines Christmas musically for Chandler’s Ford.
(If you missed the carol service this year, try not to miss it next year. Trust me, you won’t regret it.) [Read more…] about Review: Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols at St. Boniface Church 2016
Some Christmas Thoughts
By Reverend Peter Hutchinson
So, as the old saying goes, “Christmas is upon us and the goose is getting fat” and, to stay in Dickensian vogue, “Bah, Humbug!” Sorry, but I had to get that off my chest! Seriously, I do find Christmas hugely stressful and have often wished that it would simply go away.
As a Clergyman I find that it is a time of high workload, with many additional pressures (as is also the case for so many in the retail trades). [Read more…] about Some Christmas Thoughts
Introducing Myself – Nicola Slade
I write mystery novels set in and around Winchester – and sometimes even in Chandler’s Ford!
Chandler’s Ford has been home since 1981 when we moved here from Surrey for my husband’s new job. I come originally from Poole and my husband comes from Oxfordshire. When we moved here our son was twelve and went to Thornden, followed in due course by his sisters: our elder daughter who was ten when we moved here and went into the top year at Hiltingbury Juniors, and the younger one, who was five, who started school at Hiltingbury Infants. [Read more…] about Introducing Myself – Nicola Slade
Wooden Train Built by Eastleigh Men’s Shed Arrived at Chandler’s Ford Station
Today Eastleigh Men’s Shed group installed a new train on the disused platform at Chandler’s Ford Station to help brighten up the area.
Eastleigh Men’s Shed is a not-for-profit group based in Hamble.
Mark Miller, Three Rivers Community Rail Partnership Officer, praised Eastleigh Men’s Shed volunteers for their dedication: “The Men’s Shed have been working on this project for some time, and we are delighted with the finished product – a wooden train planter.” [Read more…] about Wooden Train Built by Eastleigh Men’s Shed Arrived at Chandler’s Ford Station
As Others See Us – Brexit Britain
I spoke with a Sri Lankan Professor called Sunil about who are the Sri Lankans. The guide books say there are Sinhala, Tamils, Burghers, Moors and Veddah. How do you tell which are which? I asked.
“Did you expect Britain to vote for Brexit?” He asked. “And did you expect Donald Trump to be elected President of USA?” I told him “No” on both counts. ” [Read more…] about As Others See Us – Brexit Britain