I met John Lankester a few weeks ago at Hocombe Mead. He told me some exciting projects at the newly revived Eastleigh & District Local History Society.
Many of you know that John and his wife Hazel both are active members of Friends of Hocombe Mead in Chandler’s Ford, where Hazel is the Chairman. Now they are also promoting Eastleigh & District Local History Society, where Hazel is Secretary and John Treasurer.
21 June 1979.
The Society was originally formed in 1974 and was active in collecting, preserving and researching material about Eastleigh and its immediate surroundings. However, the Society became inactive for a while. Now with support from Eastleigh Borough Council and One Community, the Society is getting active and has started to hold regular meetings.
You are welcome to join as members to support Eastleigh & District Local History Society. John told me that they would love more people to join and discuss our local history.
You’ll find a few hundreds black and white images of Eastleigh on the Society’s new website, including 112 pictures about Chandler’s Ford. Here are some of them:
The Photograph Gallery of Eastleigh & District Local History Society contains images from these areas:
- Chandler’s Ford
- Hiltingbury
- Market Street
- High Street
- Central Eastleigh
- Shops and Businesses
- Bishopstoke
- Eastleigh People
With kind permission from John, I’m sharing some images from Chandler’s Ford on Eastleigh & District Local History Society in this post. Remember to visit the Photograph Gallery of the Society to see more images and share what you know. You can comment on images, and share the stories about them.
Has any of these pictures stirred your memory?
If you would like to join Eastleigh & District Local History Society, contact webmaster@eastleighhistory.org.uk and they would love to hear from you.
Related posts:
An Interactive Local History Talk by Martin Napier
In Loving Memory of Wilfred Herbert Hillier
Barbara Hillier: Story of My Great Uncle Wilfred Herbert Hillier and His Memorial Plaque
Jane Austen: An Appreciation by Allison Symes
Jane Archer – A Simple Vision, and 37 Years Leading The Coffee Room at Dovetail Centre
There are probably some people who remember events during the build up to D day in 1944. Who was in Chandler’s Ford and where?
At the bottom of my garden there was a concrete slab spanning the boundary to the house at the back. I presume is was the base of a temporary hut.
In Chilworth Manor I remember seeing trees with names and initials carved on them, some dated 1944. One had, carved on its trunk, …, the morse code for ‘V’ for Victory, a widely used call sign. I planned to take a photo of it one day but the tree was cut down during woodland clearance.
Someone told me that the old Winchester bypass, the only bit of dual carriageway road round here, was parked solid with tanks and armoured vehicles on one side.
was chandlers ford an actual ford
Yes, where the Monks Brook passes under the A33 near Fryern Arcade, before the modern road was built, this was the site of a ford on the Southampton to Winchester road.
There were actually 3 Fords in Chandler’s Ford … ONE, as mentioned above, where Monks Brook crosses the main Southampton to Winchester Road (Winchester Road at that point) near the Central Precinct Shopping Centre (NOT Fryern Arcade as stated above, which is 1.2 kilometres to the north at Fryern Hill) … TWO is where Monk’s Brook crosses Hursley Road near the junction with Park Road and the Monk’s Brook Hotel (Originally the Railway Hotel), and which some believe (Including myself) is the ford that gave its name to the ‘village’ … THREE is in Leigh Road, between Ford Avenue and Oakmount Road (now known as Ford Bridge) where Monk’s Brook runs across the back of Fleming Park towards Swaythling.