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Dispatches from Sri Lanka – The Tunnel in Kandy

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(Editor’s note: For new readers to Chandler’s Ford Today, just to say that once in a while this site has kind of become Sri Lanka Today, while our well-loved writer from Chandler’s Ford travelled to Sri Lanka as analysing snake poisons seems to be a fun hobby when you retire.

A few more interesting stories from Sri Lanka will soon appear in the next few days. Happy reading!)

To get to our house in Kandy we have to go through a tunnel. The alternative is a 3 km detour. The other day we had the Granddaddy of Tropical Storms with torrential rain from 3.00 pm until about 3.00 am. In the morning the tunnel was blocked and we had to get to work via another route. [Read more…] about Dispatches from Sri Lanka – The Tunnel in Kandy

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An Unusual Carol Concert in Sri Lanka

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A choir of girls was scheduled to sing carols in the foyer of a new five-star hotel here in Kandy. As some of the girls attended the school where my wife Brenda has worked, we went along.

I expected to see a crush of proud parents but there were none. [Read more…] about An Unusual Carol Concert in Sri Lanka

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Christmas Then and Now

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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

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Oh Happy Days! Fond Christmas Memories in Chandler’s Ford 1950s – 1960s

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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

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Farming in the Winter and Christmas at Hiltonbury Farm

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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

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Christmas in Sri Lanka: 9 Things in England I’ll Miss This Christmas

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Yes, I know that when it comes to Christmas, I am a miserable old fart.

This year I will be 7,000 miles from Chandler’s Ford; will I be unhappy because…? [Read more…] about Christmas in Sri Lanka: 9 Things in England I’ll Miss This Christmas

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Dispatches from Sri Lanka: a Loverly Bunch of Coconuts

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Two or three times a year, the coconut boy comes around to harvest the coconuts. This year he was delayed as there has been so much rain it has left the palm trunks slippery.

There are six coconut palms (Cocos nucifera) in our garden here and they all have a ‘loverly bunch’ on them. Two of the trees are King Coconut, a variety of large yellow nut found in Sri Lanka. [Read more…] about Dispatches from Sri Lanka: a Loverly Bunch of Coconuts

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An Interactive Local History Talk by Martin Napier

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I spent a fascinating and hugely enjoyable afternoon at Chandler’s Ford library yesterday where I attended a talk on “Growing up in Chandler’s Ford in the 50s and 60s” by local ‘lad’ Martin Napier.

Extra chairs had to be brought out to accommodate everyone. [Read more…] about An Interactive Local History Talk by Martin Napier

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Agricultural Restaurant in Sri Lanka

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An important department of the University of Peradeniya is Agriculture. It teaches the management of all things agricultural and hosts a seed bank.

Its experimental plots, rather like allotments, are planted with crops with the aim of increasing production in natural ways. [Read more…] about Agricultural Restaurant in Sri Lanka

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Remembrance Sunday in Chandler’s Ford: 8 November 2015

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On Remembrance Sunday on the 8th of November in 2015, people from Chandler’s Ford remembered and honoured the fallen.

180 people assembled outside St. Boniface Church at the Chandler’s Ford War Memorial as poppies were laid at the foot of the memorial. [Read more…] about Remembrance Sunday in Chandler’s Ford: 8 November 2015

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My Memories of Chandler’s Ford in the 1930s and 1940s: Part 2

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By Peter David Shuttler

Here I am at the age of 83+ with still vivid memories of my early life at Chandler’s Ford.

I will have to skip for a moment but you will realise the relevance.

While I lived at Woodbridge (Tasmania) our local GP was a Dr Wilson. When mother was out here she went to visit him. Realising that she was originally from Chandler’s Ford he said that he did his internship at Chandler’s Ford. [Read more…] about My Memories of Chandler’s Ford in the 1930s and 1940s: Part 2

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Bats and Hallowe’en

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Having a quiet evening and sitting with the door and windows open listening to the rain hammer down and waiting for the next flash of lightning. In flew a bat, large, about 40cm wingspan.

It did half a dozen circuits of the room and then found its way out. It reminded us that it is Hallowe’en back home. [Read more…] about Bats and Hallowe’en

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My Memories of Chandler’s Ford in the 1930s and 1940s: Part 1

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By Peter David Shuttler

I was born in Chandler’s Ford in 1932 – lived at Kingsmead (corner of Winchester Road and Ford Road) until 1946.

I tried to contact Barbara Hillier some years ago as I have two copies of her book. I sat next to David (Ginger) Hillier in Miss Drover’s Grade 4/5 in 1945/46. [Read more…] about My Memories of Chandler’s Ford in the 1930s and 1940s: Part 1

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Back to Sri Lanka

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It is good to be back in Sri Lanka. We have been here enough times now to feel it is a second home. All those weird tropical things are becoming familiar. I had forgotten how noisy the night is after rain. All those frogs and things calling out for a mate. The fireflies too, silent and magical in the darkness. [Read more…] about Back to Sri Lanka

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A Batch of Cumbers: Review of Hamlet at Thornden Hall

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Lats Thursday I saw Hamlet broadcast by National Theatre Live, starring Benedict Cumberbatch, at the Thornden Hall in Chandler’s Ford. It was the fifth acting role I have seen Cumberbatch in, and apart from writing my review about the play, Hamlet, I would also like to write about how actors are defined by the roles they play. [Read more…] about A Batch of Cumbers: Review of Hamlet at Thornden Hall

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Review: The Importance of Being Earnest at Thornden Hall

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Despite knowing Thornden well and visiting the Hall for numerous parents’ evenings, this was the first time I’d visited the Hall for a show.

The Importance of Being Earnest was being shown as a live broadcast of the performance taking place at the Vaudeville Theatre in the West End. There was a short interview with the production’s director, Adrian Noble, and a further short piece with David Suchet, playing the unforgettable Lady Bracknell, before the performance. [Read more…] about Review: The Importance of Being Earnest at Thornden Hall

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Charlotte Mary Yonge in Eastleigh

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Charlotte Mary Yonge? Who is she?

She is the woman represented by the new statue of a seated figure in the approach to Eastleigh Railway Station. Yes, but who is she?

Charlotte Mary Yonge is hardly known these days but she was a notable novelist in her time. [Read more…] about Charlotte Mary Yonge in Eastleigh

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VJ Day

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We have had many reminiscences about WWII. Here is one about the end of it all. The newspaper is dated 1945. At the time I was with my family, on holiday in Filey, Yorks. Picnics and games were organised for us children on some waste ground at the rear of our lodgings. [Read more…] about VJ Day

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My Memories of the War Years in Chandler’s Ford 1939 – 1945 (Part 6)

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Doug Clews lived in Chandler’s Ford between 1938 and 1966. Now living in Perth, Western Australia, Doug shares his fascinating childhood memories of Chandler’s Ford with us.

Part 6 (Final)

I remember that, due to the shortage of diesel (distillate) and petrol, the buses were powered by gas, generated by a converter of some description, which was located on a little trailer towed behind the bus (very dirty and smelly).
[Read more…] about My Memories of the War Years in Chandler’s Ford 1939 – 1945 (Part 6)

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