Just for fun, I thought I would share a few Christmas linked short stories (the famous 100 worders) and limericks.
I also share a couple of my family traditions at Christmastime. [Read more…] about Christmas Stories, Limericks and Traditions

Just for fun, I thought I would share a few Christmas linked short stories (the famous 100 worders) and limericks.
I also share a couple of my family traditions at Christmastime. [Read more…] about Christmas Stories, Limericks and Traditions

“She wrapped him in strips of cloth and laid him in a manger.” Luke 2 v 7
Last year, for the first time in nearly 25 years, we did not have the joy of watching a family dog open his Christmas present.
Our retrievers were clumsy animals, but [Read more…] about Christmas Unwrapped – Christmas Message from Churches Together in Chandler’s Ford

As a child in Chandler’s Ford, Christmas was a special time for my family and me, albeit mostly during WW2, as I was 5½ at the outbreak.
I was, to all intents and purposes, an only child (my sister, Jean, died from Scarlet Fever aged 7, 4 years before I was born), so, I guess, understandably, I was ‘spoilt’ (so I was often told). [Read more…] about Christmas Then and Now

Reading Andy Vining’s recent article, Farming in the Winter and Christmas at Hiltonbury Farm, sends me back to the 1950s and 60s, when my step-mother, Dad and I lived in the bungalows in the fourth service road (nowadays the third one!), on Hursley Road.
We looked from our back garden across the field to Hiltonbury Farmhouse where, in the 1960s, Andy was milking the cows and delivering milk. [Read more…] about Oh Happy Days! Fond Christmas Memories in Chandler’s Ford 1950s – 1960s

I am now going back to the 1962/3 before I was married, it was often very cold at this time of year. I used to get up at around 5.00 am to get the cows in for milking as we had yet to build the Cubicle House to keep the cows inside.
Sometimes when it was particularly cold and wet we kept the cows overnight in the cowshed but there was only room for thirty six of them in the cowshed so some had to stay under the lean-too to keep out of the weather, usually about 10 to twelve were the unlucky ones, usually the ones giving the least milk! [Read more…] about Farming in the Winter and Christmas at Hiltonbury Farm

At the Christmas Beacon Café at St. Boniface Church on Tuesday, Judith Bird set an interesting Christmas Carol Quiz.
It was great fun for many.
I’ve got a copy of the Christmas Carol Quiz from Judith. Why don’t you have a go too? [Read more…] about Christmas Carol Quiz: How Much Do You Know about Carols?
I popped into Beacon Café on Hursley Road on Tuesday morning and was surprised to see the Christmas Café was in full swing!
Beacon Café at St. Boniface Church (SO53 2FT) runs on the first and the third Tuesday of every month, from 10am to 12pm.
Judith Bird from the Parish Church of Chandler’s Ford started Beacon Café in April this year. [Read more…] about Feeling Lonely? Welcome to Beacon Café at St. Boniface Church

Eastleigh Fusion Choir will be performing this Saturday on 19th December 2015 from 7.30pm at the United Reformed Church on Kings Road.
The full Christmas Charity Concert by Eastleigh Fusion Choir will be raising money for Crisis, the national charity for single homeless people, and the Kenya Project. [Read more…] about Christmas Charity Concert with Eastleigh Fusion Choir at United Reformed Church

Christmas came early at Chandler’s Ford Produce and Craft Market, held at Age Concern Centre on Brownhill Road last weekend.
It was the third Produce and Craft Market in Chandler’s Ford since October, with over 100 visitors. [Read more…] about Christmas at Chandler’s Ford Produce and Craft Market 2015

If you haven’t got your Christmas tree yet (or if the one at home is simply not enough), you could pop down to the Fryern Arcade and get one.
Jimmy Peters, who grows and sells Christmas trees, is now busy selling Christmas trees at the Fryern Arcade in Chandler’s Ford. [Read more…] about Little Ranch Farm Christmas Trees at Fryern Arcade 2015

Thank you to all of those who came last night to see Far from the Madding Crowd at The Hilt. A good ol’ romantic to finish the season. Yes, I did notice the afterglow as you exited :-).
We have really had some good Movies this year with an average audience of about 80. The Imitation Game was the most highly attended with 124. [Read more…] about When a Curtain Closes Another One Opens

It’s my birthday this weekend, and I have some news for you.
Please don’t buy me flowers or chocolate. Flowers wither. And, if you don’t know about the fact yet – I don’t eat chocolate.
Over the past 3 years I’ve worked very hard building Chandler’s Ford Today as a community website for Chandler’s Ford. [Read more…] about The Best Birthday Gift You can Give – Donate to Support Chandler’s Ford Today

The Christmas lights will be switched on in Chandler’s Ford this Thursday.
Local traders from the Central Precinct have organised a friendly ‘Christmas light switching on’ ceremony for Thursday the 10th of December 2015, from 4.30pm to 5.30pm. [Read more…] about Chandler’s Ford Central Precinct: Christmas Lights Switching On: Thursday 10 December

A warm welcome to everyone to the Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols in St. Boniface (CofE) Church in Hursley Road on Sunday 20 December at 6.30pm.
The service is designed to last about an hour, and includes most of the best-known carols for the congregation and choir to sing, plus five short pieces for choir only, and the traditional Christmas readings. [Read more…] about The Nine Lessons and Carols Service at St. Boniface Church: Sunday 20 December 2015

I read the appeal for help by Hampshire Police to find a missing teenager in Chandler’s Ford, which led me to a post by Mike Sedgwick back in April about Chandler’s Ford Policing: Burglaries and Traffic Problems and the fate of Eastleigh Police Station.
These stories in turn led me back to my own memories … [Read more…] about A Night in the Cells

The Point theatre will be celebrating its milestone 20th anniversary in 2016 and is looking for stories and memories from the public to help with its year-long birthday celebrations.
Having already kick-started the celebrations with a radical redesign of its foyer and bar area, [Read more…] about Join The Point and Share Your Stories for its 20th Birthday Celebrations

Father Christmas will be taking to the streets of Chandler’s Ford in style again this Christmas, thanks to the Romsey, Chandler’s Ford and District Round Table travelling across the area, collecting money for local good causes.
The Round Table is one of the world’s largest voluntary clubs for men, offering 18–45 year olds the chance to have a great time whilst making new friends, trying new activities and supporting their local community. [Read more…] about Round Table Brings Santa to Chandler’s Ford

Have you been to the new Chandler’s Ford Produce and Craft Market yet?
The next market is on Saturday the 12th of December 2015 from 10am to 2pm, on Brownhill Road, at Age Concern Centre in Chandler’s Ford. [Read more…] about NEW! Chandler’s Ford Produce and Craft Market

When you travel along Bournemouth Road to or from Southampton, you pass on one side Keble Road and on the other Keble Close, in Chandler’s Ford.
Both were called after the Rev. John Keble (1792‒1866), vicar of Hursley from 1836 until his death (and briefly curate there in 1825‒1826). [Read more…] about John Keble: Keble Road and Keble Close in Chandler’s Ford

Last month, while waiting for the bus, I noticed a bright yellow object on the outside wall of the Methodist Church.
It contains a piece of life-saving equipment, a defibrillator.
Nigel Moorse, the driving force behind making the defibrillator happen, explains to us in this article the origin of this defibrillator, and how you can benefit from it. [Read more…] about Where are Defibrillators Located in Chandler’s Ford?