Nature

Another family wedding; two new ducks; Gran – “extraordinarliy fit”; a Yorkshire Dales holiday; the car and caravan are sold; “God bless the Queen”; Serpentine in Cornwall;  Julian runs a 10,000m ‘PB’; a morsel of family history, and missing Brother.

April 10th 1977:  After Barry and family depart Chandler’s Ford for their home in Bushey, Gran:

… had just settled to a lonely afternoon and evening when Beverly and Ricky appeared, a delightful surprise.  I gave Ricky Brother’s microscope and he was so pleased to have something which had belonged to Norris.  They suggested that they would take me to the Caravan to get papers etc. that I had forgotten before, and I let Ricky take the South Moth Books and brought the Readers’ Digest Bird book for Geoffrey who always asks to see mine when he is here.  Ricky then asked if I would like a ride round the Forest and I led the way to Ladycross of happy memories of my last outing with Brother.  We saw a Stonechat on the way and, passing Hatchet Pond, I showed Ricky where the Bog Orchids grow as he has never seen them.  We stopped at “our gate” at Ladycross and went for a walk, so that I could show Ricky and Beverly the Lungwort, also new to them.

Resumption of local walks; a new dress for £6.99; paid with a joint;  “a concoction of my own”; Ship Canal shares from Gilbert; Crossbills at Woodfidley; “dear old brother”; sadness and sympathy; friends and frustrations, and an ambition fulfilled.

January 12th 1977: Gran always looks forward to new stamp issues but today’s are not her favourite:

New stamps were issued today, Racket Games, Tennis, Badminton, Squash and Table Tennis, but I think they are spoilt by the “stroke lines” on them, which look like scribble.  I sent the usual to Penang and Australia.

On the 13th, she tells us that, “In northern, eastern and western areas it has been the worst Winter’s day for fourteen years, with snow in some places ten feet deep”.  It is frosty in Chandler’s Ford but rain sets in later and Gran walks to Hillside for the whist drive there, “… going in Wellington boots and my old, long tweed raincoat which Jane gave me over twenty years ago, and taking warm slippers with me”. [Read more…] about Forty Years in Chandler’s Ford – a Journal (Part 153)

An engagement is announced; a holiday is planned; Nastase – a “rotten sport”; Katie does well; sad news of “a kind and understanding friend”; Christmas dinner – but leave the washing-up; Rob is impressed on HMS Victory; birds on the Ibsley floods, and “one of the darkest threads of life”.

Book 165

On October 23rd 1976 Gran takes part in an outing with the Southampton Natural History Society, looking for fungi in the Otterbourne area – her first such outing since her hip operation, and at the end of the day declares it to have been a great success and to have thoroughly enjoyed it.  She had been given a lift there by a kindly but unknown couple, who saw her waiting at the bus stop, and had been brought home by S.N.H.S. members Pat and Peter Heppleston.

On the 30th:

Barry, just back from the Scilly Isles, rang to tell me what a marvellous time he and the boys from Haberdashers’ Ornithological Society had enjoyed.  Barry had seen nine new species as well as many exciting but previously recorded ones, mostly American, but I cannot remember all he mentioned.

Heat and drought; no more sticks; the Schneider Trophy; back on the bike; a resignation; disapproval at a banquet; trying to save Beattie’s field; a new bird at Keyhaven; “Granny” Pickford is 90, and budgie match-making.

The 1976 drought continues and Gran writes on August 8th, “Oh for a few days of gentle rain!”.  Two days later she has a dental appointment and writes gratefully:

It was very hot indeed and the surgery was not yet open – it was ten minutes to two – so I went into the V.G. stores… I asked if I might wait in the cool shop and was kindly offered a stool to sit on by the cold counter.

And she adds that, “Trying to water the garden is a heart-breaking job in this driest Summer since 1727!” [Read more…] about Forty Years in Chandler’s Ford – a Journal (Part 151)

An operation; convalescence; a wedding, and home again.

The time for Gran’s left hip replacement is nearing, and during the week before it she receives countless expressions of good wishes from friends and neighbours, several of whom she barely knows but who have seen her going about the district on her crutches over the last few months.  On May 24th 1976, Gran’s husband, Bill, drives her to the Royal Masonic Hospital in London, her place there enabled through his activities in the Masonic movement.  “I clocked in”, she says:

… just before two o’clock this afternoon and was soon taken to my ward, a pleasant four-bed one on the third floor.  Happily my bed is by the window and, though I look out on other parts of the hospital, I can see a tree-lined road at the end and the sky telling me about the weather – with Swifts flying round.

X-rays, blood tests and various examinations follow, and then: [Read more…] about Forty Years in Chandler’s Ford – a Journal (Part 150)

Misplaced credit; Vera gets wet; Sue loves the garden; Paddy Hine “fixes it”; an Oakley Easter; a heron at Radipole; Saints win the Cup; a green wedding invitation, and tennis at Bournemouth.

Gran, needing to find indoor things to do while still on crutches, writes on March 19th 1976:

I found out the lacquer-covered Japanese album of coloured and black and white prints which Daddy gave to Mother in 1897, and mended the damaged back and stuck in two loose prints.  I believe it would be quite valuable now and Enid wants to see it.

Ten days later her writing reminds us of a strange family anecdote about a family friend who, perhaps luckily in retrospect, avoids publicity about his role in giving the Loch Ness Monster, never officially seen by anybody, the scientific name, Nessiteras rhombopteryx.

A letter from Jane and a Mothers’ Day card from her and Stuart were very welcome.  Jane’s letter included an article and pictures of the Loch Ness Monster, written and photographed by Alan Wilkins, Stuart’s Best Man, who had seen the creature more than once.  It was he who supplied this information to Peter Scott and other scientists who took the credit and publicity, which was due to Alan.  It will be interesting to see if further proof of the existence of the monster is forthcoming.

[Read more…] about Forty Years in Chandler’s Ford – a Journal (Part 149)

Christmas in Lancashire; news from the Masonic Hospital; a proud headmistress; some rare birds – but not for Gran; Gerald Summers and “The Lure of the Falcon”; Margot Fonteyn gives pleasure; catkins for Beverly; “I would not exchange my life…”, and the kindness of a lady bus driver.

On December 12th 1975 Gran receives a visit from a friend she has not mentioned for some time:

A most unexpected and pleasant surprise resulted from a knock at the door this morning.  It was Peg Eagle, whom I had not seen since she moved to Devon several years ago and I enjoyed a good natter with her.  I had just finished putting the marzipan on the Christmas cake when she came.

And later that day:

Anne Hockridge and her fiancé John called in this evening for the mattress that I had promised Jean for her upholstery.  They are nice youngsters and had coffee with me before they left.  Mary rang and I was very sorry indeed to hear that Frank had had a coronary and is in the General Hospital in Southampton, where Brother went.  I trust his recovery will be as complete as Brother’s.  They are such good friends.

[Read more…] about Forty Years in Chandler’s Ford – a Journal (Part 148)

Obliterated stamps; good company; a rare bird at Keyhaven; Frank makes a bookcase; the Rectors of Compton Church; the Kingstons return; a bronze medal; George Green; news from the Masonic Hospital; memories of Father; a Turner Exhibition, and a lost glove.

On August 27th 1975, letters from Marjorie and Vera, Gilbert Whitley’s sisters, arrive at The Ridge, and Marjorie’s encloses a tribute to Gilbert from the Sydney Morning Herald.  “Vera told me”, Gran writes:

… that Gilbert had willed his stamp collection to her granddaughter Vicki, whom Gilbert had often mentioned in his letters.  Vera would like me to send her the First Day Covers and stamps, which I used to send to Gilbert and this I shall be pleased to do.

There is more stamp-related comment a few days later:

Post brought our latest stamps of August 13th, which I posted to myself in order to have them post-marked for my collection.  The envelope was posted in the box in Hursley Road and I noted that it had been franked in Southampton instead of at Eastleigh when posted here.  Characteristically it had been hand-stamped instead of horribly obliterated as happens in Eastleigh.  A tip for the future.

[Read more…] about Forty Years in Chandler’s Ford – a Journal (Part 147)

Gilbert – a tour cut short; Gran – pro Europe? Julian – M.A. (Oxon) and selection for the World Student Games; more changes at Farley Mount; a bright pink posterior; astonishing tennis; a bombshell from Sydney; Gran on crutches – “imagine me!”; a bat in the bedroom, and the Brenans in Austria.

On June 2nd 1975, a day when Gran paints Rhododendron, which, she notes, “… brought my total of flower paintings to six hundred and ninety”, she receives a disheartening letter from Marjorie Frewer, Gilbert Whitley’s sister:

A disappointment by post today.  Gilbert is not well enough to continue his travels so will not be able to come to England.  He and Marjorie are flying back to Australia today.

In the afternoon she visits family members in Bassett:

… sister-in-law Joan Birch, and spent a very enjoyable time with her.  Nephew and niece, Brian and Angela, both married, called in so it was nice to see them also.  I took Barry’s book, two albums of flower paintings and my scrap-book of Julian cuttings, which I thought might interest Joan and Ken, and they did indeed… Ken and Joan gave me some very nice stamps from Virgin and Cayman Islands.

On June 5th, following a day out with Norris on the 4th, Gran does not appear to follow her instincts:

Brother went back to Lyndhurst this morning after taking me to vote in the Common Market Referendum.  I followed Julian’s advice and voted to stay in – he has studied Economics at Oxford and it will be the young people who will face the results of our decision.

[Read more…] about Forty Years in Chandler’s Ford – a Journal (Part 146)

First prize – bath salts; farewell to Mother – sadness but a welcome freedom; loneliness and the importance of friends and Wednesdays with Norris; looking forward to a visit by Gilbert; birding at Stodmarsh, and back-garden wildlife.

On March 9th 1975, Gran is preparing flowers to take to Mary Harding for her birthday.  Mary, knowing this, invites her to tea, and we hear a little more of Mary’s family:

Frank came for me at a quarter to three and I had the extra pleasure of seeing Tim, Daphne and their little girls Judith and Joanne.  I had not seen Tim for years, and Joanne never.  A nice little family.  After tea I went to Church with Frank and Mary, at St Boniface and we were given little posies for Mothering Sunday.  Mine had a Daffodil, a spray each of Rosemary and Viburnum, and pink and white Heather.

Gran is shopping next day:

I went by bus as far as the Station to get bird sand and Budgie seed from Dean’s as our local shop is going out of business, and also to buy a pair of shoes.  Mine are getting beyond repair.

And a week later: [Read more…] about Forty Years in Chandler’s Ford – a Journal (Part 145)

Anxiety over Mother; friends are a tonic; an owl brings pleasure; some lovely Tristan stamps;  “Greaty” receives sherry; hot water in the taps and a new fireplace; the concern of neighbours; wicked pain; a wonderful surprise; Gran – an “old person”?; Isabelline envy, and a book by Barry.

Gran’s thoughts at this time are dominated by the state of Greaty’s present and future welfare.  On October 30th 1974 she writes:

I rang the hospital at nine o’clock and was relieved to hear that Mother’s condition was satisfactory after an operation last night.  Brother came as usual and was naturally very concerned.

She and Norris visit the hospital later that day having spent some time at Farley Mount where they see a Rough-legged Buzzard – part of a widespread influx of these birds from Scandinavia that autumn, and find Mother, as Gran says, somewhat drowsy, not very “with it” and expecting to be home in a day or two!

On November 1st she is uplifted by a chance meeting with strangers:

I went to see Mary [Harding] and spent a comforting hour with her. She has such a sympathetic and understanding heart.  Near the Lake a very small and enchanting girl, whom I did not know, told me, with a bright smile, that her boots were new.  They were red “puddle boots”.  This led to further conversation with her and her mother, and a peep at baby sister, who was just as beautiful and endearing and their young mother was so obviously proud of them.  A real tonic for me.

[Read more…] about Forty Years in Chandler’s Ford – a Journal (Part 144)

Enough of football; a tame squirrel; the Wye Valley again; Ross’s Gull at Stanpit and rare terns at Dibden; conversion to natural gas; great tennis at Wimbledon; extraordinarily fit at 70; Ruth Hockridge gets married; sadness as the Kingstons depart, and Greaty is taken to hospital.

It’s May 4th 1974 and sixty-nine year old Gran is still playing tennis. With a friend, Lesley, that evening, she enjoys “a good knockup and two sets”, which, she says, “I won 6-1 6-3.  Shots were working well”.  She does not enjoy all sport though.  She writes later that night:

I stayed up late to see “The Pallisers” on Television which had, unfortunately, been postponed to the late hour because of the eternal time given to the Football Cup Final.  Thank goodness we shall now be spared football for a spell – we get such an overdose of it during the Winter.

She is at tennis again, at the private court in Merdon Avenue, three evenings later and she recounts the following, saying:

During play some boys brought in a baby squirrel and asked if the garden went right down to the wood because the squirrel would follow them and they could not get rid of it.  When they put it down it got through the netting onto the tennis court and I picked it up and carried it to the furthest corner of the garden.  The boys went down the road but re-appeared with it later.  It had evidently jumped over the fence and through the next garden to reach them again.  The baker told me this morning that a baby squirrel had been following people about the car park and a lady took it to the pinewood where it refused to leave her, and some workmen relieved her of it.  It is extraordinarily tame and, of course, is a pest but who, with any soul, could kill the little creature?  Certainly none of those so far in contact with it.

[Read more…] about Forty Years in Chandler’s Ford- a Journal (Part 143)

A betrothal; a comet on Julian’s 21st; gales bring down trees; a cabinet for medals; a ferocious audition; a negligent godfather; Greaty does what she ought not to; “I could have wept”; Gran owes Tommy five pence; Andy – the peak-bagger, and Katie receives a necessary boost.

Gran enjoys Christmas Day, 1973; Barry and family join her and, to her great satisfaction, the day starts with Church at Compton:

Barry and I took the little boys and were joined by Julian at the Church gate just before we went in at eight o’clock.  It was overcast and rather murky outside but the Church looked beautiful and the Service was taken by the Bishop of Southampton.  The boys were very good and, as Mr Ovenden was seeing people away afterwards I introduced him to Barry, Julian, Geoffrey and Robin and felt very proud of them.  I returned to the business and excitement of the Day with renewed heart and spirit.

Presents are opened, distant family members telephoned and, Gran writes, “… as we celebrated afterwards, Barry announced that Ricky and Beverly are soon to become engaged and everyone was delighted for them.  The dinner was a great success”.

Among the events mentioned in Gran’s journal, summing-up her year on its last day – “… a trying one for our dear Country”, she says, referring to strikes and, oil shortages, she writes that:

The Grandchildren continue to be a great joy to me, and Julian has become a full International Athlete and an Oxford Blue.  Now at the close of the year, Ricky is engaged to Beverly, whom we all like very much.  I have only seen one new bird this year, the Pectoral Sandpiper, but Brother and I have had some very pleasurable outings together.

[Read more…] about Forty Years in Chandler’s Ford – a Journal (Part 142)

The routines of life; Gran’s first American bird; a friend – not seen since schooldays; a tree planted for Adrian; the Rector makes her day; a royal wedding; an operation for Norris; a fuel shortage and a rush on bicycles; Ricky bucks his ideas up, and Julian – “in a class of his own”.

Book 150

The Summer of 1973 passes for Gran, sixty-nine years old on July 22nd, with little change from a routine that includes an outing with Norris every Wednesday; tennis, at least weekly, which sometime does and sometimes does not exacerbate pains in her various joints – especially one hip; gardening; knitting; letter-writing; delighting in the receipt of stamps and first day covers from overseas; monthly visits from the new Rector of Compton, Mr Ovenden, to administer Communion; preserve-making, including gooseberry, and blackberry and apple jam, and enjoying hearing about the activities of her family.  Ricky, she says, leaves school, is awaiting A level results, hopes for a career flying helicopters and will spend some time birdwatching on Fair Isle in September.  Julian, amongst many other athletics exploits, qualifies for the final of the 5000 metres in the World Student Games, held this year in Moscow.  He finishes fourth and the winner sets a new Student Games World Record.

Jane and Stuart, the Brenans, visit The Ridge and they spend much time with their children, Katie and Andy, down at the Lake. Barry, Jane Elizabeth and their boys, Geoff and Rob, are in Orkney for the summer holidays, from where, Gran writes, “they sent me an Orkney silver brooch – a deer – made by Ola M Gorie, a real piece of native craft which is really delightful”, and they enthuse about finding quantities of Scottish Primrose “which I have never seen”, she adds ruefully.

[Read more…] about Forty Years in Chandler’s Ford – a Journal (Part 141)

Crowds at Dibden; good news and bad by post; Hoopoe envy; the Black Prince; a “Goater Gallop”; “Mrs Hilly’s” last day; Rick grows a beard; worry over “dear old Tommy”; wonderful neighbours; sporting behaviour at Wimbledon, and the “Swedish boy Borg”.

On April 13th 1973 Gran needs an eye test and takes the bus into Southampton.  She says, with relief:

The eye-test was very satisfactory, with no deterioration in my sight since 1970, and I called in hopefully to Martin’s to see if my binoculars were back yet, and they were!  So I am fully equipped again now.  My knee was extremely painful and I was glad to get into the ‘bus.

And on the following day:

I took my swollen knee to the Doctor this morning and he said it was synovitis which was causing trouble.  I am to bandage it firmly and rest it as much as possible, but, as usual, I can do my household chores except for kneeling!  Well, I am going out with Brother for the day tomorrow…

The outing is to Dibden Bay, where she and Norris meet up with a British Naturalists’ Association (although Gran continues to call it the British Empire Naturalists’ Association) group in the afternoon.  The first Swallow of the year is noted in Baddesley Road, followed by a singing Blackcap, Crossbills and a drumming Lesser Spotted Woodpecker in the Forest.  Car parking at Dibden proves difficult, “People with binoculars were everywhere”, Gran complains:

… but they were not birdwatching.  The Queen Elizabeth II was sailing from Southampton for a cruise to Israel, and such is the present political situation between Jew and Arab that aeroplanes and helicopters were flying round and watching for anything unusual.  But our eyes were for birds, and the disturbance around left us few to see.

[Read more…] about Forty Years in Chandler’s Ford – a Journal (Part 140)

Stamps  from New Zealand; good birds in Suffolk; Ruddigore at Sadlers’ Wells; excitement on The Ribble Marshes; childish stamps from Australia; “a perfect specimen of human babyhood”, and a Camellia causes some anxiety.

On February 19th 1973, Gran receives some mail:

Second post brought me New Zealand stamps from Brother-in-law Norman – two strips of the newest issue with the margin numbers and printers’ name, with the names of the artists which, according to a newspaper cutting sent with them, had been attributed to the wrong artist in these particular values.  Norman thought they would be interesting and, perhaps, valuable.

Sika whistles; various ailments; much knitting; an old doll; birds on a wire; a 25th wedding anniversary; a rude beginning to the day; the Rector retires; a near disaster; kind residents, and new friends at Cranbury Park.

Gran’s restlessness and depression, which characterised her first day of October 1972, lift on the 2nd, after a day out in the New Forest with Norris.  There they search for Sika Deer hoping in particular, to hear the remarkable whistling calls of the males and they have to wait at Ladycross until seven o’clock before they are rewarded, Gran says, with “a sound which I would never have associated with a deer”.

[Read more…] about Forty Years in Chandler’s Ford – a Journal (Part 138)

Three birds new to Gran, and several flowers; a “nice piece” about Julian; Nastase – “the idol of the crowd”; a visit from Gilbert’s sister; the Fowlers retire; Gran is sixty-eight; the Brenans move house; the “ghost of a frustrated artist”; Barry collects things other than moths, and “my life is rushing away”

Gran and Norris spend twelve days in mid-Wales during June 1972, loving the countryside they explore, together, and sometimes in the company of others.  Their host, referred to as “Mac” is knowledgeable about the local breeding birds of prey and he takes them to see the nests of Sparrowhawk and Merlin, the latter, unusually, in a low Hawthorn tree, rather than on the ground, where he has set up hides for photography. [Read more…] about Forty Years in Chandler’s Ford – a Journal (Part 137)

Happy in Church; Gran’s “Gilbertiana”; plans disrupted by “The Troubles”; pleasure and pride; Oxford or Cambridge?; a new position for Stuart; Gran yelps; Greaty is quite overcome, and a holiday with Brother again.

Book 140

Gran is always very much at home in her beloved Compton Church, and on March 12th 1972 she goes there again, for Matins, and is:

…particularly happy to do so as the new Bishop of Southampton, who now resides in Compton, preached the Sermon and pronounced the Blessing. He took as his theme for his Sermon the vital part to be played by parents during their children’s critical growing period between the ages of eight and eighteen.  This was inspired by two things – today is Mothering Sunday, and next Saturday several of our young parishioners are to be confirmed.

Gran’s collection of her so called “Gilbertiana”; press cuttings, articles, books, drawings and letters concerning Gilbert Whitley, found its way into my hands recently.  A difficult search in Australia for a more appropriate custodian of these items was ultimately fruitful, owing to Gran’s recording of the birth of one of Gilbert’s great-nephews, son of his niece, Pamela Clare Frewer.  Pam married Lazaros Archotides, a Greek musician.  Their son Bernhard, today better known as Panayotis Archontides, is an internationally acclaimed pianist, based in London. Gran writes of the little family on March 13th:

Post brought a First Day Cover from Gilbert in Australia – very welcome – and his letter contained the news that Pam and Lazaros, with baby Bernhard, are soon due in Sydney.  There will be much rejoicing.