You don’t need to travel far for autumn and Christmas markets.
Chandler’s Ford is the hub for markets from now till Christmas.
Upcoming markets in October and November include: [Read more…] about Upcoming Chandler’s Ford Craft Markets and Fairtrade Autumn Market
The Hiltingbury Community Centre (The Hilt) will be hosting a unique event on Sunday September 13th 2015 at 2:00pm. Two distinguished guests from India will be sharing how their passionate, selfless medical work in a rural area has transformed thousands of lives.
The dedication of Dr. Prakash Amte and his wife, Dr. Mandakini Amte, and their story has been made into a moving film, The Real Hero. [Read more…] about Event at the Hilt – Meet the Real Heroes: Doctor Prakash Amte and Doctor Manda Amte
Hampshire Scout Shows Unite!
For the first time in the history of Scouting in Hampshire, the creative talents of multiple districts will be brought together in collaboration for a one night only performance as Hampshire Scouts present ‘Stepping Out’. [Read more…] about Hampshire Scouts Present ‘Stepping Out’
Parenthood changes your outlook in many ways. One way is when it comes to secondary school education and beyond, with exams in the offing, you can be guaranteed every August without fail your blood will boil. You will be annoyed. Why?
Because, without fail, somebody will claim, as the national exam results are much improved, the exams must be getting easier. That same old tired mantra comes out every August. Your blood boils every August. QED. [Read more…] about Always Annoyed in August (Are Exams Easier?)
Christmas is approaching (What? Have I just mentioned “Christmas”?), and this year, there will be a lot of craft, arts, and produce markets in Chandler’s Ford for you to buy the best gifts.
Chandler’s Ford Age Concern Centre on 7 Brownhill Road (SO53 2EB) will become a major centre for many upcoming markets. I hope you could visit these markets to support our local businesses. [Read more…] about Chandler’s Ford Age Concern Centre: Upcoming Craft and Gift Markets
Chandler’s Ford author Richard Hardie will be signing copies of his Young Adult novels, Leap of Faith and Trouble With Swords, at Chandler’s Ford Library.
Richard Hardie will be hosting two sessions on Thursday, 29th October. The first one will be between 10.30 and 12 noon and is called Let’s Write A Book. This session is aimed at 10 to 12 year olds. [Read more…] about Richard Hardie’s Book Writing Fun at Chandler’s Ford Library
This post continues from yesterday’s article where Gill James shared some of her thoughts on life as a creative writing lecturer and author.
Gill gave me my first publishing credit via Alternative Renditions, a Bridge House anthology, and I have since had other work published online and in Limerick Nation and The Shamblelurklers Return. I’m currently working on a short story collection. [Read more…] about Gill James: Top Tips to Writers’ Networking
Earlier this year, I posted my interview with Gill James who as author, creative writing lecturer and small publisher gave me my first break into publication with my short story, A Helping Hand, when it appeared in the Bridge House Publishing anthology, Alternative Renditions. [Read more…] about Gill James: Teaching Writing
We have had many reminiscences about WWII. Here is one about the end of it all. The newspaper is dated 1945. At the time I was with my family, on holiday in Filey, Yorks. Picnics and games were organised for us children on some waste ground at the rear of our lodgings. [Read more…] about VJ Day
The 1160 students who sat A-level exams at Barton Peveril Sixth Form College in Eastleigh this summer have maintained the excellent results of recent years. [Read more…] about Consistently Outstanding Results at Barton Peveril – 2015
What is the best thing about fiction for you? The plot? The characters?
For me, the characters are everything. The best plot in the world will fail unless it has the characters to “run” with it.
Do you prefer stand alone novels or a series? [Read more…] about My Top 10 Terry Pratchett Characters
Chandler’s Ford Today is all about conversation.
We write and publish posts. We engage in meaningful conversations, sharing a bit of our life and our views of the community through comments.
This post invites you to look back and enjoy some great posts which have triggered excellent, relevant, and interesting conversations. [Read more…] about Best of Chandler’s Ford Today: Your Comments
I have loved books, especially fiction, since I was very young.
My mother taught me how to read but was told off for it by teachers when I started school because she hadn’t done it in the correct way. I think these days she’d probably be given a medal. Mind, with all the issues in the news recently, I sometimes wonder how any of us of a certain age ever made it through the 1970s! [Read more…] about Top 10 Reasons to Love Books
In this tutorial post, I’ll be showing you step-by-step how to create an image with text.
On Chandler’s Ford Today, all images with added text are created on a free photo editor called PicMonkey.
For each post, I also create a Featured Image measuring 240 x 240 pixels.
You can see all Featured Images to the left of the published posts on the Chandler’s Ford Today Blog page. [Read more…] about Easy Steps to Create Images with Text Using PicMonkey
When I was very young, my father gave me The Reader’s Digest of Fairy Tales. These were in two hardback volumes and contained the original versions of the classic stories.
I still have these books, which are bound up with tape to stop them falling apart, as I couldn’t tell you how often I read them. There are also wonderful illustrations of the characters. [Read more…] about My Favourite Fairytales
After two days driving through France we arrived at our gîte in Provence for a holiday.
It is a delightful place in a 40 acre estate of olive trees and a lavender field. There were no guests in the other gîtes so we had the whole place, including 3 swimming pools to ourselves. One border of the estate was a river and half a mile upriver was a waterfall or cascade as the French call them. [Read more…] about The Waterfall
There are many Radio 4 shows I love but I am especially fond of Desert Island Discs. My only problem with it is I would want to take at least 8 books with me to the fictional island, as well as the pieces of music. Since I can’t arrange that, I thought I would share what I love most about stories and list some of my favourites.
One of the first things I pack when getting ready for going on holiday is at least one good book (I also take The Good Book but that’s another matter!).
A good story, whether it is a full length novel or a shorter piece, stays with you long after you have finished reading it.
Writers are lucky here as if it is their story. They get the pleasure of writing it (and reading it first!).
Felicity Fair Thompson has sent me details of a writer’s talk this coming Saturday, 25th July 2015.
The details are below. I’m not able to go myself but thought I would post this in case other writers can do so. [Read more…] about The Writer’s Process – 25th July 2015
I used to dread going to Winchester, whether to the hospital or to the shops, because I am not someone who enjoys sitting in traffic queues, and parking at Winchester hospital is a nightmare, unless you arrive before 8.30am.
However, now that I have discovered Park and Ride (South) I really enjoy all my trips into Winchester, as it is so quick, pleasant and efficient! [Read more…] about Park and Ride (South) – Winchester
Are you a tourist or a traveller?
With the holiday season upon us, you have probably already decided. Travelling can be nerve-wracking. What’s the difference?
Shall we say that a traveller decides where to go and arranges it, but a tourist buys a dream sold by a travel company. [Read more…] about Travellers Need Brains
