By Sandra Gordon
You gave me Vice-Captaincy,
coffee with friends,
massages, the gym, weight loss.
You gave me a published poem
about a girl in white socks. [Read more…] about Review of 2016 – by Sandra Gordon
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
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
It’s hard to believe we are wrapping up 2016 of Chandler’s Ford Today.
Chandler’s Ford Today received 176,229 views from January to December in 2016.
Visitors numbers: 118, 107.
240 posts were published in 2016.
Since March 2013, we have pubished a total of 1,147 blog posts. [Read more…] about A Year of Chandler’s Ford Today in 2016
I love Christmas, most of it anyway. I would love to see more goodwill being shown by the Christmas shopping crowds as we all try to buy presents and so on but that’s another story.
Being a Christian, the Christmas story and services have special resonance of course, though I know all would welcome the idea of goodwill to all men being practised by ourselves at all times of year (despite mankind failing on this count miserably so often, just look at the news for the proof, but the goodwill idea is a sound one and we shouldn’t give up on it. I don’t think it’s been given a long enough trial period!). [Read more…] about What I Like (and Dislike) about Christmas
Last weekend the zip on my jacket got stuck and I spent several unsuccessful minutes trying to release it. Eventually, my partner grew frustrated at my display of ineptitude and took the garment from me – well, she is a mum, therefore well qualified and experienced at solving all clothing malfunctions and failures.
No, she couldn’t free the zip either. After a few minutes she gave up and went to do something more interesting and useful (and there are lots of things that are more interesting and useful than freeing a stuck zip). [Read more…] about How Do You Solve Problems?
While I was concentrating on some very important piece of academic writing this evening, a tweet by Sonja Davison came through.
Sonja told me: “John & I helping with Eastleigh Rotary Christmas collection in Chandler’s Ford with Trigger the Train.” [Read more…] about Christmas News: Eastleigh Rotary Club with Trigger the Train in Chandler’s Ford
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
From Friday 15th December Santa from Romsey, Chandler’s Ford & District Round Table begins a two night run visiting: Friday 16th December in Valley Park, around Sandringham Close from 6pm; Saturday 17th Valley Park, around Skys Wood Road from 5pm. [Read more…] about Santa and The Round Table Visiting Chandler’s Ford Area
Christmas is, for authors and publishers, the most important time of the year for selling books and is a major lifeline for our bookshops.
With so few independent bookshops around now, it is nice to be able to share news of one that is not only continuing to do well but is also stocking local author Richard Hardie’s Young Adult novels, Leap of Faith and Trouble With Swords.
[Read more…] about Local Author News: Richard Hardie
The end of places holds a fascination for many of us; Land’s End, Finisterre, John o’ Groats, North Cape, Cape Horn and the end of Sri Lanka. [Read more…] about The End of Sri Lanka
Today I’m very pleased to introduce a Chandler’s Ford blogger to you: Wendy.
Wendy keeps a lovely blog about moving into Chandler’s Ford, called Chandlers Ford Connect. [Read more…] about The Travels of Wendy and Lou in Chandler’s Ford
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
You may be surprised to find Chandler’s Ford Today website has a new design today.
The colour is now much toned down.
The improvement today has made Chandler’s Ford Today a mobile friendly website. If you read this site using mobile phones or a tablet, you may find the site is now easier to navigate and read. [Read more…] about Chandler’s Ford Today Community Website – New Design, Great Content
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
Seven volunteers spent 90 minutes cleared the disused platform at Chandler’s Ford last Sunday afternoon.
The aim is to provide a clear area on the old platform where a new wooden train planter provided by Eastleigh Men’s Shed will be placed, on Thursday 8 December 2016.
See the transformation: [Read more…] about New Wooden Train Planter for Chandler’s Ford Disused Platform
Update 20 March 2017:
We have been awarded £28k from @veoliaenvtrust for improvements to Hocombe Mead Local Nature Reserve #ChandlersFord https://t.co/K8gtzhEBDk
— Eastleigh Borough (@EastleighBC) March 15, 2017
We don’t normally see the name ‘Chandler’s Ford’ being mentioned in the national news (ok, the HSBC armed robbery on Bournemouth Road in September 2007 was an exception: “Two armed robbers were shot dead by police”).
However today, ‘Chandler’s Ford’ is mentioned all over the media, from The Times, Daily Telegraph, The Sun, Mirror…, and on the BBC radio programme. [Read more…] about Roger Clark’s Quest to Antarctica to Photograph the Right Penguins
It is typical there is no Local Author News for ages, then there are two at once!
I am delighted to bring you news of my latest publications, including the production of my first book, From Light to Dark and Back Again, which is a flash fiction collection being published by independent press, Chapeltown Books. [Read more…] about The Writer’s Journey: Allison Symes
Father Christmas will be taking to the streets of Chandler’s Ford in style again this Christmas, thanks to the local Round Table travelling across the area, collecting money for local good causes.
Whilst Santa’s elves have been busy making Frozen Toys ready for the big day, Santa’s fitted a GPS tracker in his sleigh, so you’ll know exactly where he is. This means if you can’t wait for them to knock on your door, or if they are not coming to your street this year, you are welcome to see if they are nearby and come and find them. [Read more…] about Round Table Brings Santa to Chandler’s Ford and Valley Park – 2016
