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Forty Years in Chandler’s Ford – a Journal (Part 111)

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An entertaining summersault; confounded cats; to Dungeness in a Chevy; wedding cake anxiety; rare breeders at Nursling; Cheddar Gorge – a minor ambition fulfilled; Billie-Jean causes an upset, and all ready for Scotland.

Returning to The Ridge late, on April 11th 1962, after playing Badminton, Gran is surprised to find Jane there.  Excitedly, she writes, “She had brought home her Wedding Gown, the loveliest, daintiest creation of Nottingham Lace in a design of roses”.  And two days later, in Winchester with Jane, she purchases the material for her own dress.

Book 97

The family gathers for Easter.  Gran has made a Simnel Cake, and Jane and Stuart arrive at The Ridge late on April 19th.

“Just as we were finishing lunch, rather late”, Gran writes on the following day:

Barry, Julian and Ricky burst in upon us, a day earlier than expected but, happily we were able to find enough for them to eat, and afterwards all went down to Beaulieu Road, which proved a most enjoyable expedition.

There they hear their first Cuckoo of the Spring but I do not remember this so much as the entertaining but accidental reverse somersault off the top of a five-bar gate, which I performed, when Stuart, attempting to hurdle it, whacked it with his foot, knocking me off my perch!

Easter Day is April 22nd and after lunch, the New Forest is their destination again.  Julian is anxious to see Rufus’ Stone but his Dad is keener, as Gran tells us, to find a particular moss:

After parking the cars, we walked along the valley in which were the trees on which Barry’s moss was said to grow. He was lucky, for following directions read in a report, he went straight to a certain Beech tree and found the moss Zygodon forsteri, which is one of the rarest mosses in Britain and only known from five Beech trees in the Rufus’ Stone area.  It is dark green, with soft leaves and grows in the clefts down which moisture seeps.

Zygodon forsteri. Image courtesy of Cesar Garcia via Flickr.

I almost invariably choose to omit the few passages in her journal that do not put Gran’s character in a good light and, in fact, it is only when she writes about cats that a less flattering side of her nature is revealed.  I cannot resist the following though, on April 27th:

…today brought me more anger than pleasure and roused murderous thoughts within me!  Whilst I was dressing this morning, I heard the distress calls of Blackbirds and saw the confounded cat from next door up in the Yew tree in which the Blackbird chicks had hatched in the nest yesterday.  I cursed it loudly, clapping my hands and it immediately bolted but I have no idea what harm it may have done.

This afternoon another cat, a beastly ginger, was on the fence by the nest, and, in attacking it, I tore the palm of my right hand on the wire netting which I had put to protect the young birds from such marauders.  Never have I felt more furious and I really believe I could have killed that cat could I have got at it!  I hardly simmered down all day!

Joan Adelaide Goater - her journal about Chandler's Ford.

On May 8th Gran is again in the company of Pauline Muirhead, staying with her for a few days and undertaking field trips with Pauline, Andrew Young and Ceres Esplan.  They have a wonderfully plant-rich day in Kent:

We set out early for a trip to Dungeness.  Pauline hired a car, and, when Mr Tyler arrived with it, it was newly acquired and the realization of his life’s ambition!  It was an enormous American Chevrolet, in two shades of green, and had once belonged to Dickie Valentine’s wife!  What a fortune can be made by “pop” singers and how utterly ridiculous it is!

A 1962 Chevy Impala – not a normal mode of transport for Joan Goater! Image by Jack Snell via Flickr.

A cutting from the West Sussex Gazette kept between the journal’s pages, gives details of the outing, including that the vehicle was a Chevrolet Impala.  The article is written by Ceres Esplan under the name of Alison Ross.  On the way to Dungeness they pass through Ditchling:

…near where we met the famous bird-woman Len Howard, walking down the narrow lane.  As the great car passed, it looked as though she made some rude remark – possibly something about American tourists taking up all the road…

At their destination, Gran writes that:

Although an atomic power station is being built at Dungeness, it is not interfering with the bird observatory nor with the best part of the beach from a botanical point of view.

The pages of her journal show an extensive scatter of underlinings where she records many plants new to her, found growing on the shingle of the Ness; ten species altogether.

The cuspate foreland of Dungeness – home to myriad natural history wonders.  Image by Mike Beales via Flickr.

They visit various Sussex sites over the next few days, and also territory more familiar to Gran: the New Forest and coastal Dorset. There she is able to show her companions some of her favourite plants, including the Narrow-leaved Lungwort, new to both Ceres and Pauline, and Early Spider Orchid.  Equally exciting for Gran is the time they spend together planning their forthcoming Scottish expedition.

May 13th:

Jane’s twenty-eighth birthday and may it be the happiest she has ever known and a prelude to a long and happy future with Stuart.  God bless her.  An uneventful day for me, until the early evening when I went to Kimbridge, an area new to me, with George Green and his parents.

They find Spotted Flycatcher and Turtle Doves for the first time this year, and this is the first mention of a young George Green, who will become an important fount of Hampshire bird knowledge in the years to come.

It is still a few months before Jane’s wedding but Gran’s mind is already on the cake.  She writes on May 21st, “This evening I prepared the fruit for Jane’s Wedding Cake, which I hope to make tomorrow.  I am very nervous”.  More details follow next day, a day when she records a Cuckoo calling at dawn, but noting that there are “very few this year”:

I spent an anxious and exhausting day with Jane’s wedding cake, but the ultimate result looked very promising.  My recipe must have been for the largest Society Weddings, for, though it was for only two tiers and I reduced the amounts to three-quarters of those given, there was enough mixture left for next Christmas’ cake also!  However, I shall no doubt appreciate this in December!

May 25th:

I went to Compton this morning to see the Rector about some of Jane’s Wedding arrangements, and found Mr Fawkes very kind and helpful. On the way I heard Wood Warblers singing in Cranbury Park, and rescued a “woolly bear” caterpillar who was endangering his life by walking across the main Southampton – Winchester road.  In spite of his quite incredible speed he had no hope of crossing in safety as I snatched him up in the path of several cars and lorries travelling in each direction.

A Garden Tiger caterpillar – often referred to as a “Woolly Bear”.  Image by Nick Goodrum via Flickr.

Out with John Gunningham (I wish we knew more about him, as he spends many a day out with Gran chasing birds and flowers, but has never been introduced to us) on the 26th, visiting Selborne, and walking in a fairly restricted road, Gran recounts this:

Two men were leading a very large bull ahead of us, and I had a few uncomfortable moments when we realised that they were only exercising it and soon turned to bring it back.  I had just decided to cross the road and at least be on the other side when a station wagon drew up and the young driver offered us a lift.  We accepted with alacrity but when we sped down the narrow, tortuous road between sixty and seventy miles per hour, we wondered if we had chosen wisely!  However, we were soon in Selborne and had a wonderful day.

Later:

When I reached home I found Barry in the house!  He had climbed in my bedroom window, eaten a couple of eggs for lunch and was about to have a late tea!  This we had together, after which he asked me if I felt like cycling to Farley Mount to see its special plants!  A preposterous notion after a day’s walking round Selborne but I went!

They record Martagon Lily, Fly Orchid, Field Mouse-ear Chickweed, Lily-of-the-Valley, Gromwell and many other chalkland plants, as well as hearing Grasshopper Warbler for the first time ever at Farley Mount.

Natural History outings continue as the summer progresses, including one to Nursling gravel pits on June 3rd where the successful breeding of Pochard (eight ducklings seen) and Little Ringed Plover (four chicks seen) are of particular interest.  Gran writes of the Pochard that this is the first breeding record for Hampshire.

A drake Pochard – surely one of our most beautiful ducks. Image by Mike Prince via Flickr.

Cycling to Swaythling a week later, on the way to meet Mrs Banks for another outing, Gran finds more change being wrought to her familiar landmarks:

Going along the lane to Eastleigh, whence I have not been for months, I was shattered to find both farmhouses derelict and the field being cleared for building.  The lower lane, with a factory at the end, was impassable with the road up…

Mrs Banks, we learn, is bursar at the University Hostel, and she and Gran return there after their day out, and have a “pleasant tea during which we talked of wild flowers in many areas and I borrowed some articles by Ceres Esplan, and [others] upon the flowers of the Cairngorms and Ben Lawers”.

“Today”, Gran writes on 17th June:

…was the fiftieth anniversary of the ordination of our former Rector, Mr Burdett, and he has spent the day at Compton, taking all the services, at the invitation of Mr Fawkes.  The flowers were lovely, by the altar, blue, pink, yellow and white Iris, with white Lilac and Stocks…

She attends both Morning and Evening Services at Compton, and says, “It was good to hear Mr Burdett again and he has lost none of his sincere ability in spite of his age”.

A few days later, a cold and dreary one, and having received from Jane her list of wedding guests, Gran spends time writing many invitations.

On the 21st, she begins her entry:

A truly fantastic and wonderful day, which resulted in the fulfilment of one of my life’s minor ambitions – a visit to Cheddar Gorge and the finding of the Cheddar Pink Dianthus gratiano-politanus.

A postcard of Cheddar Gorge sent to Gran in 1963 by her friend John Gunningham, after he had visited there.

She goes with her two lady-friends, Mrs Banks and Peg Eagle, the latter driving.  Clearly Gran has known Mrs Eagle long enough now to call her “Peg”, but her relationship with “Mrs Banks” still has some way to go!  The journey is described in some detail, and on arrival:

The Gorge left me breathless and awe-stricken, for, though I had often heard it described, I was not prepared for the immense wonder and beauty of the area. We very soon picked out the famous Pinks with our binoculars and were delighted later to find some in quite accessible places where we could see them at close range.  Close to the first ones to which I climbed I found Lesser Meadow-rue and Rock Stonecrop, and among rocks close by, Wall Hawkweed…

…and many other species unfamiliar to Gran, and judging by the number of plant names underlined, many are completely new to her.

Cheddar Pinks in their natural habitat.  Image courtesy of Natural England via Flickr.

On the following days she has flowers to paint, including the Cheddar Pink.  Lesser Lady’s Mantle, painted on the 23rd, is her four hundred and eighty-third, but she says she is not yet half way through all the species she has found!

Book 98

Almost all of the 126 pages of Book 98 are taken up with Gran’s Scottish visit and Jane and Stuart’s wedding.  It is a busy time.  Being away from July 3rd, she misses most of Wimbledon but not before watching the first few days on television and noting that Ladies’ Day, June 26th:

…brought a great surprise and an upset, for the first seed, Margaret Smith of Australia, was beaten in the first round by an unseeded American, Billie-Jean Moffatt, who thoroughly deserved to win.

No doubt we shall hear a lot more about this lady in the years to come.  Gran calls the next day’s morning “hectic”, as she puts:

…marzipan on the three tiers of Jane’s wedding cake, whilst workmen upstairs tore the bathroom to bits putting in a new bath, cistern et cetera and preparing for further onslaughts tomorrow.  But at least my part in Jane’s cake is now completed!

She receives a worrying letter from Pauline Muirhead this day, which shares Gran’s excitement about their prospective journey north, but adding that:

… should she, by any accident, be delayed on Tuesday, I am to proceed to Perth, go to the Station Hotel, where she has reserved rooms, have dinner and go to bed, and she will telegraph and follow!  Heaven forbid that such should happen!

July arrives, Gran writing that the past June has been the driest since 1940 but also the coldest for forty years.

The following is the last part of her entry for July 2nd, the day before her holiday dream comes true:

This afternoon, after ironing, more exciting tennis from Wimbledon, and final preparations for tomorrow…I have posted the invitations to Jane’s wedding and delivered her cakes to Diana Sykes’ home for her to ice them at her leisure.  All is set now for my holiday in my lovely Scotland – it only remains for me to get away safely tomorrow.

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Forty Years in Chandler’s Ford – a Journal (Part 48) Forty Years in Chandler’s Ford – a Journal (Part 49) Forty Years in Chandler’s Ford – a Journal (Part 53) Forty Years in Chandler’s Ford – a Journal (Part 61) Forty Years in Chandler’s Ford – a Journal (Part 127)
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