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Forty Years in Chandler’s Ford – a Journal (Part 115)

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Two winters compared; ” just what he needs”; a cocoon in a hat; Bucklers Hard – a disappointment; a visit to Bulcote; drawings lost – and found; the Mudds move out; fifteen Robins’ eggs, and an addition to the family.

The bitter weather of the now infamous 1962/63 winter is still making itself felt at the end of January 1963, and on February 1st, Gran says:

The snow is still with us and January’s final records are in!  It was the coldest January for one hundred and twenty-five years, but, paradoxically, it was also the sunniest and the driest this century.  It is certainly one that I shall remember.

And a few days later, she records the figures in more detail, comparing them with those from the equally memorable winter of 1947.  The lengths of the cold spells were similar: fifty days in 1947 and forty-six in 1963, but most telling are the days of frost and snow-lie, with fifteen days the longest run of frost in 1947 compared with thirty-seven in 1963; and the days with snow lying in 1947, a mere twelve compared with forty-two in 1963.

There are several newspaper cuttings pressed between the journal’s pages concerned with the plight of birds and other wildlife during the winter, including that of the Dartford Warbler, almost, and potentially completely, wiped out in its British stronghold – the New Forest.

Natural History outings continue, including a return to Hayling Island, with friend, Doreen Peters and brother Norris, the latter very keen to see his first Collared Doves, which they do, as well as finding a new goose species for Gran, who writes:

I spotted a small party of geese in a field close to the lane and we stopped to investigate.  We remained in the car to avoid disturbing them and had a wonderful view.  There was no doubt about it – they were actually Pink-footed Geese, nine of them and we could see every detail.  This was a new species for me.

Nine Pink-footed Geese – the most numerous winter goose in the UK – a new bird for Gran.  Image by Tony Morris via Flickr.

Later in the month, Barry visits, and, pursuing his new passion for mosses, finds one of interest to Gran:  “In Hocombe Road Barry showed me the interesting little Apple Moss Bartramia pomiformis, which has very round fruiting bodies…”.  It’s a nice little thing, which at some point in the future, they identify on the drive-side bank in the front garden of The Ridge, where it still grows to this day.  A bus-ride together to the New Forest and nearby coast on the 25th provides Gran with several new plant species, mainly rushes, and, describing the day, she adds, “We were amazed at the amount of sea ice still remaining and were interested but not very pleased to see the new and extremely noisy hovercraft in action”.

Common Apple-moss Bartramia pomiformis, in fruit.  It grows on the bank at The Ridge.  Image by Doug McGrady via Flickr.

More moss-hunting is on the agenda in early March, Gran travelling by train and Underground to Mill Hill on the 1st, in order to spend a few more days in the field with Barry.  She arrives at the bungalow before him, and what she writes next indicates the beginning of, in her hopeful mind, renewed happiness for her boy:

I reached Mill Hill soon after five o’clock and found that Barry’s very good neighbour had lit a fire so the bungalow did not strike quite deserted.  All the same, I was glad to be there when Barry came home so that, for once, he did not come home to an empty house.  In the evening his good friend Jane Lansdown came and brought an excellent supper, which she cooked for us and then we all played Lexicon.  I sincerely hope she and Barry will be able to make a home together when he is free.  She is just what he needs.

And Gran is disappointed that Jane, feeling unwell on the following day, though also keen on mosses, and botany in general, cannot join them.

Back in Chandler’s Ford, it appears that the male Blackcap, recorded in the garden of The Ridge earlier in the winter, has coped with the worst of it.  March 6th:

A Mistle Thrush was singing in the morning and I saw the Blackcap in the garden again.  I was so pleased for I had not seen him for a long time and wondered if he had survived the very cold weather.

She records him there, feeding on fat put out on the feeder, on several days until the end of the month.

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

Book 101

Every Spring day produces records of common birds and newly emerging flowers and insects, noted by Gran on many outings, some with Southampton Natural History Society but more usually on her bicycle (she never uses the word “bike”) to nearby favourite places.  Her first Chiffchaff of the year, on March 27th, delights her as always.  She hears it singing while she cycles “to get eggs”, and says:

I jumped off my bicycle grinning to myself like a Cheshire cat.  The excitement which I feel on hearing this first migrant every Spring remains as great as ever and I am sure will remain with me as long as I have ears to hear it.

And she smiles to herself again on April 3rd:

This evening I went to a meeting of the Southampton Natural History Society and on the way in the bus was much amused when a lady sat in front of me and I saw that a large cocoon had been spun in one of the folds of her velvet hat!  I wondered how long it had been there and where she had been keeping her hat.

It appears that the old open fireplaces in the Ridge are to be replaced with gas fires. On April 6th, Gran ventures into Southampton, “…to choose a new fireplace and stove for the sitting room and found a very pretty one with marble surround in soft pastel shades”.

“…with a marble surround in soft pastel shades”.  Those ebony elephants have been above the fireplace at The Ridge since the earliest days.

Six days later she cycles to Compton Church, overjoyed on the way, to hear her first Willow Warbler of the year, and she enjoys the Service too, which was:

…most inspiring, and took a new form this year, incorporating Matins and Evensong.  The address was given by the Rev. L. Lloyd Rees, Chaplain-General of Her Majesty’s Prisons, a splendid and uplifting speaker of great sincerity.  After leaving Church I went to the Hazel Coppice in Poles Lane to gather Primroses.  The area was starred with Wood Anemones, and I found Goldilocks in bud.  I asked permission to pick the Primroses from a man cutting bean sticks and pointed out to him the Green Hellebores, which were getting rather trampled.  He said he remembered me from three years ago when I showed them to him and he assured me that they would be quite safe with him…

A day out with John Gunningham, to Beaulieu and Bucklers Hard on the 15th, brings some pleasure but also some disappointment in relation to the latter place, so loved by Gran.  She writes: “Bucklers Hard itself was ruined for us by the masses of cars and people pouring in to the newly opened Maritime Museum”.

April 19th sees her on a journey, by train, to Nottingham, where she is met by Jane and Stuart:

We went straight to the little hamlet of Bulcote, through Burton Joyce, about seven miles out of Nottingham and here, for the first time, I saw Jane’s little home.  It is a dear little house in a rural setting, looking out upon three or four very nice white houses, with sloping tiled roofs and plenty of trees all around.  At the back are meadows…

She spends three days at Bulcote, helping to get the house in order for the arrival of the new baby.  Then, on the 23rd, the family rendezvous in Nottingham at the Trent Bridge Hotel, with Peg Eagle, who is to drive Gran back to Chandler’s Ford, via Tring, where they look for and find, Pasque Flowers, new for Peg, and thence through Strafield Saye, to enjoy the Fritillaries in flower.

“Today”,  Gran writes on the 24th:

…has been the Wedding Day of Princess Alexandra and Mr Angus Ogilvie, second son of the Earl and Countess of Airlie, and Aunt Em came out for the day to see it on our Television.  It was certainly a lovely spectacle in Westminster Abbey and the expressions of loyalty and admiration from the public lining the route were most impressive.

And also that day, livid at the earlier depredations of a cat on nesting birds in the garden, Gran has some hopeful news:

The Robins have built a new nest in the garden – this time under a clump of heather, and the hen is now sitting on six eggs.  I hope all goes well this time.

A nesting Robin – near the ground and vulnerable to predation. Image by Stanze via Flickr.

But it does not.  May 2nd:

Sadness descended upon me when I discovered that a cat or something had upset the Robins’ second nest, tearing out the lining and leaving the six eggs in a pathetic heap on the ground.

The very next day though, she notes that while mowing the grass, “The Robin followed me about and he is again courtship feeding his mate, so I think they mean to make a third attempt to nest”.

Southampton Natural History Society is planning an Exhibition around this time, in the Marlands Hall, Southampton, for the forthcoming National Nature Week. The Society’s botanist, Paul Bowman, selects a few of Gran’s four hundred and ninety-nine flower paintings, and other drawings for the display, which he takes away on his motorbike.  However, on May 4th:

Paul Bowman arrived here at ten minutes to eight this morning in a great state of consternation – he has lost the botanical drawings for the Exhibition!   He thinks the roll fell out of his saddle-bag along the rough end of this road when he left last night.  He had just completely retraced his route all through Baddesley and was much perturbed.  Later I put notices in three shops in the neighbourhood, and he was going to the Police Stations.  I went along to the paper shop at the far end, and on my way, heard Wood Warblers in the Pinewood.

Fortunately for me Paul had not taken my paintings but he had the two Botanical illustrations I did as well as others by Peg Eagle, Mrs Lucas and himself.  It is a great nuisance.

But there is some good news – May 8th:

This morning our most objectionable and quarrelsome neighbours moved out and we now hope to look forward to a Summer when we can be in the garden without having to hear the Mudds screaming at each other!

And more, on the 10th, “…a very cheering event was the return of our lost Botanical Drawings, which were brought to me by a man who had found them in Baddesley Road”.

“Our Robins are again making an attempt to nest and on the air-raid shelter the hen is again sitting, this time on five eggs.  May they be preserved from disaster this time…” she writes hopefully on the 13th.  And she adds, the following day:

I chased the Grey Squirrel in the garden, since I suspect him of the mischief to the first Robin’s nest, and he fled up the birch trees to the highest point, and then glowered down at me, swearing.  I wish I could discourage him from coming into the garden…  I was much cheered by seeing the Blue Tits repeatedly and rapidly going in and out of the nesting box, which, I hope, means that they are now feeding young.

A new two-stamp issue mid-month, commemorates National Nature Week, Gran enthusing, “…they are quite the most attractive designs we have had, depicting flowers on the one and animals and birds on the other”.

Gran approved of these “most attractive designs”.  Image courtesy of Andy Brenan.

The same day is a busy one packing and delivering flowers for the Fowlers, this time with Peg Eagle’s help.  They have lunch at Peg’s, “for which I climbed in a bedroom window as she had left her key at the shop”, she tells us, and then, home at the end of the day:

Sad news awaited me.  Our third Robin’s nest has come to grief, one egg being on the ground and the rest stone cold.  No sign of the bird all day, Mother said.  She is most upset and I am furious.  If only I could lay hands on whatever is doing it.  This means fifteen potential Robins lost in a season when every bird is needed to counteract the losses incurred by the unusually severe winter.

May 26th:  “Mother’s eighty-sixth birthday and we had hoped that Jane’s baby would have arrived today.  But there has been no telephone call giving us the glad news”.  Still no news on the 27th, when Gran writes: “Workmen came in this evening to start demolishing the grate prior to putting in a new one”, and:

… the early night calm and peaceful except for the agitated “chipping” of a Blackbird which, I discovered was due to a cat sitting beneath my window.  Unfortunately our new neighbours have this creature which will have to be taught that it is unwelcome in this garden.  I must keep a jug of water handy!

May 30th:

A joyful morning!  Stuart rang up soon after eight o’clock to tell us that Jane had a baby girl yesterday evening.  My first Grand-daughter.  All was well, and baby is to be Katherine with possibly Sarah as her second name.

Jane with baby Katie. Image courtesy of Andy Brenan.

Gran spends much of the day spreading the glad tidings, and she phones Stuart that evening, learning that Katherine weighed six pounds eleven ounces at birth, and that her Dad is overjoyed.

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Related posts:

Forty Years in Chandler’s Ford – a Journal (Part 48) Forty Years in Chandler’s Ford – a Journal (Part 61) Forty Years in Chandler’s Ford – a Journal (Part 111) Forty Years in Chandler’s Ford – a Journal (Part 127) Forty Years in Chandler’s Ford – a Journal (Part 132)
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Comments

  1. Rick, I enjoy skimming these articles, but am waiting until the last one before extracting all of them into an ebook which I can load onto my Kindle (not good at waiting for episodes).

    What date do these entries go up to?

    Reply

    • Gosh Stu – sounds like a good idea, but, having just found another 100 missing journals, I’m only about half way through the total of 250. Though I have titled the blog “40 Years”, really, it’s more like 50 years, continuing into the 1990s, though what my Gran writes may lose its interest as time goes on, so I may wind it up early. When I started this process, I thought it would be a story of the changes in Chandler’s Ford over the years, especially in its natural history, but as time goes on, it’s turning into more of a family saga, based in the village. I’m really delighted that you find it interesting enough to “skim”. Please keep with it and be patient. I hope to complete it in say, three years. I, too, would like to turn it into an ebook for my Kindle, though I fear that may lose the pictures, which would be a shame, as I think they break up the words nicely.

      Reply

      • I find the family elements balance nicely with the local history. Gives it a personal touch.

        Will keep following along. Fully intend to read to checkout for a week on a beach one summer and do the whole 50 years. Love a bit of ye olde escapism.

        Reply

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