Andy Vining shares his mother’s diaries in his new podcast. Listen to these beautiful stories on Spotify.
Andy Vining’s parents were John and Peggy (later known as Be Be).
family
Andy Vining’s Podcast: My Mother’s Diaries 1948 – 1976: Episode 10 — May and June 1949
Andy Vining shares his mother’s diaries in his new podcast. Listen to these beautiful stories on Spotify.
Andy Vining’s parents were John and Peggy (later known as Be Be).
May 1949 The Farm in Full Bloom
Andy Vining’s Podcast: My Mother’s Diaries 1948 – 1976: Episode 9 — March and April 1949
Andy Vining shares his mother’s diaries in his new podcast. Listen to these beautiful stories on Spotify.
Andy Vining’s parents were John and Peggy (later known as Be Be).
March 1949
Early Signs of Spring [Read more…] about Andy Vining’s Podcast: My Mother’s Diaries 1948 – 1976: Episode 9 — March and April 1949
Andy Vining’s Podcast: My Mother’s Diaries 1948 – 1976: Episode 8 — January and February 1949
Andy Vining shares his mother’s diaries in his new podcast. Listen to these beautiful stories on Spotify.
Andy Vining’s parents were John and Peggy (later known as Be Be).
Podcast Opening Introduction – January 1949
Welcome back to My Mother’s Diaries. Episode 8, January 1949
We begin a brand-new year now — January 1949 — a time when winter still grips the countryside, but the promise of a fresh year lies ahead.
There is always a sense of quiet optimism at the start of a new year… new plans, small hopes, and the simple rhythm of family and farm life continuing day by day. [Read more…] about Andy Vining’s Podcast: My Mother’s Diaries 1948 – 1976: Episode 8 — January and February 1949
Andy Vining’s Podcast: My Mother’s Diaries 1948 – 1976: Episode 7 — November and December 1948
Image My Mother’s Diaries by Andy Vining 2026
Andy Vining shares his mother’s diaries in his new podcast. Listen to these beautiful stories on Spotify.
Andy Vining’s parents were John and Peggy (later known as Be Be).
November 1948
November opened in foul weather — rain sweeping across the fields from morning to night — and the children home for half term filled the house with noise despite the gloom.
I went into Winchester for new shoes while John attended Lodge, and there was uneasy talk of foot and mouth in Salisbury — never pleasant news when one keeps cattle.
There were brighter interludes. I went dancing at The Richie Hall, though the gramophone misbehaved and caused some disruption. [Read more…] about Andy Vining’s Podcast: My Mother’s Diaries 1948 – 1976: Episode 7 — November and December 1948
Andy Vining’s Podcast: My Mother’s Diaries 1948 -1976: Episode 6 — September and October 1948
Image My Mother’s Diaries by Andy Vining 2026
Andy Vining shares his mother’s diaries in his new podcast. Listen to these beautiful stories on Spotify.
Andy Vining’s parents were John and Peggy (later known as Be Be).
September 1948
September opened with the Romsey Show. Betty and I set off early on the first, taking our lunch with us, and met John later among the livestock and produce stands. It was a jolly good show. There is something about the Show — polished cattle, prize vegetables, farmers inspecting each other’s stock — that feels like the summing up of a year’s labour. John still went to football that evening, never missing if he can help it. [Read more…] about Andy Vining’s Podcast: My Mother’s Diaries 1948 -1976: Episode 6 — September and October 1948
Andy Vining’s Podcast: My Mother’s Diaries 1948 -1976: Episode 5 — July and August 1948
Image My Mother’s Diaries by Andy Vining 2026
Andy Vining shares his mother’s diaries in his new podcast. Listen to these beautiful stories on Spotify.
Andy Vining’s parents were John and Peggy (later known as Be Be).
July 1948
July began unsettled, though full of movement as always. John went off to cricket on the first, while I went to Mrs St Johns for some dancing lessons for the children.
Jane and Margaret came to tea later, and I tried to do a little gardening, though the midges drove me indoors before long.
Jennifer was quite beside herself begging for a ride on Lister’s pony, who had been brought over to the farm again and so she had a ride. She was really happy.
On the 2nd July John was busy cutting vetches with the big Mower. the great green swathes falling in neat rows.
I went to tea at Beechcroft and washed Janet’s hair, I do hope we get the water laid in soon.
Ann Lister brought the pony right onto the back lawn — much excitement. Mrs Manning took John and I to look at bees going into the hive, and I was stung for my trouble. One forgets how sharp it feels.
The third brought a fine success — thirteen bantams hatched out from the eggs I thought might have been spoilt last month. A good strong number, and always satisfying to lift the broody hen gently and count them.
Andy Vining’s Podcast: My Mother’s Diaries 1948 -1976: Episode 4 — May 1948
Image My Mother’s Diaries by Andy Vining 2026
Andy Vining shares his mother’s diaries in his new podcast. Listen to these beautiful stories on Spotify.
Andy Vining’s parents were John and Peggy (later known as Be Be).
May 1948
May began with the yard still lively from the puppies. All had been sold, though we kept Jesse, Ruffles and Mr Leggs for another week or two before they too would leave. There is always a bustle when pups are about — feeding bowls, straw, sharp little claws on stone — and though one is glad when good homes are found, the yard seems strangely empty once they go.
Margaret Haskell stayed the first night of the month, and there were callers — Marge and Doug, Norah and her family. Bet and Fred had secured their job at last, which was heartening news.
John turned his attention to the front lawn, turfing a worn patch that had suffered through the winter. He went over to Norman Cooper’s in Hursley while I wrote letters indoors and telephoned the Sinclairs, inviting them for Whitsun. There is always something to plan ahead for.
On the Monday we went into Winchester. A calf was taken to market — never an easy sight, watching it loaded and driven away, though such comings and goings are the rhythm of farming life. The heifers were turned into the Sanitorium field, where the grass was coming on steadily. They took to it well enough, heads down almost at once, testing the new pasture. The land was improving with the season. Rain fell in the night, which would freshen the grazing and help the vegetable rows along.
[Read more…] about Andy Vining’s Podcast: My Mother’s Diaries 1948 -1976: Episode 4 — May 1948
Good Book to Read – INDISHMAN – Reflections from India, Britain and the Sea by Gopi Chandroth
Congratulations to Gopi Chandroth on his brilliant book, INDISHMAN.
Author Gopi Chandroth lives in Chandler’s Ford. He is a marine engineer with over four decades of experience in the maritime industry, including 15 as a marine accident investigator for the UK Department for Transport. [Read more…] about Good Book to Read – INDISHMAN – Reflections from India, Britain and the Sea by Gopi Chandroth
Andy Vining’s Podcast: My Mother’s Diaries 1948 -1976: Episode 3 — March and April 1948
Image My Mother’s Diaries by Andy Vining 2026
Andy Vining shares his mother’s diaries in his new podcast. Listen to these beautiful stories on Spotify.
Andy Vining’s parents were John and Peggy (later known as Be Be).
Episode 3 — March and April 1948
March opened with sunlight.
On Monday the first, the weather was beautiful and all the washing dried by lunchtime — a small triumph after the long damp of winter. And it was such a lovely day that I went for a walk with Heather in her pram over to Flexford. It was a long walk a long walk down the Farm drive then up Hursley Road and left at The Baddesley Crossroads. I posted a letter there on the corner and walked along past the cricket field on the left and down the hill, over Monks Brook bridge and past The Hatley Sawmills on the right pp the hill and over the Railway bridge past Richardsons, Bridge House on the left and the farm cottages on the right where our cowman, Bill Wren, lives and then right, just before Mr and Mrs Trenfields house into the Flexford Yard where we had picked all the Snowdrops last month but now there are beautiful daffodils in abundance. [Read more…] about Andy Vining’s Podcast: My Mother’s Diaries 1948 -1976: Episode 3 — March and April 1948
Andy Vining’s Podcast: My Mother’s Diaries 1948 -1976: Episode 2 – January to February 1948
Andy Vining shares his mother’s diaries in his new podcast. Listen to these beautiful stories on Spotify.
Andy Vining’s parents were John and Peggy (later known as Be Be).
In this episode, the name of Be Be’s father was Herbert Miller, originally Muller as he was German and became a naturalised Englishman before the First World War.
January 1948
My Father (Dad) has been quite poorly that week, and the worry of it sat quietly with me as I went about the ordinary business of the days. Still, life had to be kept moving. I went into Winchester with Betty my sister. Grateful for the small distraction of the trip.
While there we had Heather’s Polyphotos taken — she looked such a picture, bright-eyed and beautifully turned out. I bought new shoes for the children too, which cost £3 and 4d, (£160.00 Today), a sum that made me catch my breath, though it couldn’t be helped. Later, Eric and Phillip came by and we let them have the goose. It felt like one of those days full of little errands and bigger concerns, all jumbled together.
The next morning brought a small measure of relief: Dad seemed a little brighter. The white bougainvilla in the kitchen had opened fully and filled the house with a sweet, unexpected fragrance, lifting my spirits despite the dreadful weather. Rain fell endlessly, outside drumming on the windows as if it had no intention of stopping. [Read more…] about Andy Vining’s Podcast: My Mother’s Diaries 1948 -1976: Episode 2 – January to February 1948
Andy Vining’s Podcast: My Mother’s Diaries 1948 – 1976: Episode 1 — Introduction
Andy Vining shares his mother’s diaries in his new podcast.
Listen to these beautiful stories on Spotify.
Podcast Title: My Mother’s Diaries 1948 -1976
Episode 1 — Introduction
Hello… and welcome to this podcast.
My name is Andy Vining.
I’m eighty-two years old and as I record this, I I’m sitting quietly at home in Chandler’s Ford in Hampshire thinking about the past, and about the voices, people and places that shaped my life.
This podcast is not about me. It’s about our family. Memories, places, and the quiet, everyday moments that would normally be lost to time.
Most of all, it’s about my mother. And the diaries she wrote about her everyday life being a farmer’s wife and mother of five children while we were all growing up in on Hiltonbury Farm in Chandler’s Ford.
My mother was Peggy “Peg” Vining Nee Miller. Then when my brother Simon was born in 1958 she became BeBe because that’s what Simon called her.
But before I begin to read those diaries, I think it’s only right that I tell you a little about where this story truly starts… and how I come to be here, speaking to you today. [Read more…] about Andy Vining’s Podcast: My Mother’s Diaries 1948 – 1976: Episode 1 — Introduction
Pure Nostalgia
Last Century
Long ago, my little sister and I had a holiday with our parents and grandparents in Dunoon, Scotland. Grandfather loved things mechanical, steam-driven and related to the sea, so the opportunity to sail aboard the Waverley, a paddle-driven steamship, was as close to heaven as he could get on this earth. He bought tickets lasting a week and we sailed the Clyde with him every day.
From Dunoon, the Waverley set across to Wemyss Bay for more passengers, and the adventure began. We approached the Isle of Arran, a misty blue hillock on the horizon. Gradually, it resolved into a mountain of colour, green bracken on the lower slopes, replaced by yellow gorse and then purple heather over the top backed by the blue sky. At Lochranza, groups of young people disembarked to visit the Youth Hostel. Would I ever be old enough to be considered a youth and leave for an adventure on an island? I hovered between childhood and being a youth, wanting to be considered grown-up.
We sailed on to Campbelltown and then by bus to Machrihanish, where North Atlantic rollers dashed against the rocky shore. Against the wind, the roar of the waves and sea spray like a fog on the land, we held bags of chips in our hands and felt good to be alive.
In the gloaming, we sailed the smooth obsidian-black waters of Loch Fyne with mountains on either side. We had a feeling of space and stillness on the quiet waters. Sheep grazed the hillsides, and white-washed cottages dotted the shore.
Later that year, the Scottish Nationalists removed the Stone of Scone from Westminster Abbey and took it back to Scotland.
Last Month
Seventy or more years passed, and my sister and I embarked, once more, on the Waverley but in Southampton. On a beautiful sunny day, our cruise took us to Portsmouth, Yarmouth, around the Needles to Freshwater Bay and back. [Read more…] about Pure Nostalgia
A Special Trip to London Before the Queen’s Funeral
A group of us took the train to London last Sunday Morning, the day before the Queen’s funeral. We were very lucky that day as the train ran very smoothly. We bought the Super Off-Peak Return tickets, and it cost £25 for each of us. The direct train (The South Western Railway) ran from Eastleigh to London Waterloo. The train was fairly empty and we even had a whole carriage to ourselves. We all felt rather excited about this adventure as it was our first trip to London since the pandemic. Well I guess you might be asking, ‘How was the Queue?’ We didn’t go to London for ‘that’ queue, however we did see the queue of the queue of the queue and it was quite remarkable.
[Read more…] about A Special Trip to London Before the Queen’s Funeral
The Itchen Navigation Allbrook to Brambridge
By Steve Allen and Derek Johnson
We have been walking this part of the navigation for many years and in our opinion this 30-minute stroll has capture the river and canal in it entirety.
After making your way to Twyford Road and finding the track down to the canal you turn left, which takes you down past properties on the left bank, which dip their toes into the water edge. Look out for the signs of the kingfisher as they look for food. These bird are very elusive so you must have a keen eye to catch them perched on branches as they fish. Or you may see the distinctive turquoise rear as they fly past you at great speed.
The view opens out on the right. At this stage, just pause a while to see if you can watch many spices of birds going about their daily life. Some say a small blot on the landscape is Nuttall Construction but I feel this gives a sense of what the canal was used for in years gone by.
Passing under the railway bridge you emerge to meadow land on the right. High on the first pylon it has been known to see up to seven cormorants surveying their territory. In the meadows deer and geese can be seen grazing.
After crossing the road, stop a while to look at the lock, check the depth by looking at the ledge on the other bank. At this time the water is high above and we encounter flooding as we progress. As we wonder through the canopy of trees, just be aware of the river and watch for ripples on the waters edge, as this is a sure sign of the water vole as she make her way through the reed beds to her riverbank home.
New growth is starting to show along the edges of the canal; new life is about to begin.
On the left the meadow land opens out in the foreground; the reeds are growing. If you just stand awhile you may hear the distinctive sound of the reed warblers as he tries to encourage a mate to his domain. He loves to climb up the reeds to have a look at you before he flies away. Most odd.
Depending upon the rainfall, the canal can be clear as crystal. ThIs is a good time to watch the water surface as life is in great abundance on or below the surface.
Many a time I have stopped for a while to take in the peace and tranquility of the canal with its changing moods. Once you are up by the sliuce gates you will see the canal and river side by side, both trying to race one another as they make their through the Itchen Valley.
Lurking in the deep waters is a predator the river barracuda the pike – we have named her Jaws and have seen her in action taking a grayling or two. The heron and egret find this stretch of the river good hunting grounds. As we cross a wooden footbridge we come to the end of our stroll at Brambridge garden centre on the right. We can be found sitting outside under the canopy having a pot of tea and medium cappuccino and a nice ice buns.
THIS IS THE LIFE – ENJOY ONE OF GOD’S PIECE OF HEAVEN.
By Steve Allen and Derek Johnson
Forty Years in Chandler’s Ford – a Journal (Part 183, the last)
Condolences from a small great-grandson; a happy birthday and a treasured card; green-wellied Rick; farewell the Anderson Shelter; a new pond; “queer turns” and “nasty falls”; a last new bird for the garden; several new additions to the Family, and “Good night my dear. God bless you”.
It is June 30th 1991, four days after Jane’s funeral. Gran writes:
I rang Beverly to ask how she is and she said she had recovered from her exhaustion and was very touched and proud that Jane had asked her to be with her during her illness. I thanked her for being with Jane at the last and for her support for me in the Church at Jane’s Funeral Service.
The following day Gran receives a heartfelt and uplifting letter from Julian, based with the RAF in Germany, praising Jane and her “spirit, her values and her bravery”, adding, “… I’d be really proud if I were her Mum”. And with Julian’s communication is a letter from his son, Sam, saying, Gran writes, “Dear Great Gran – we were very sad too”.
[Read more…] about Forty Years in Chandler’s Ford – a Journal (Part 183, the last)
Forty Years in Chandler’s Ford – a Journal (Part 182)
A new gas supply; the “Great Gale”; worrying news of Jane; Peter Scott, George Green and “a little Pakistani newsboy”; taking a bath is risky; three additional residents at The Ridge; Frank Harding’s eyesight; a shop on fire; the last whist drive, and “the saddest Midsummer Day”.
On September 10th 1987 Gran’s gas supply is being upgraded, and she writes at the end of the day:
There was still no gas and the men dug up the top part of the drive and drilled a hole through the wall and from the cupboard under the stairs into the garage where the new meter is to be installed. The mess everywhere has to be seen to be believed… The gas was restored at 4.45 and the last man told me that men would return in a day or two to re-lay the drive and level the ground outside the gateway.
Forty Years in Chandler’s Ford – a Journal (Part 181)
“Contented and at rest”; no hot water and a need for porage; a long-lasting watering can; when Katie met Harry; a natural history bonanza in Scotland; two new orchids; farewell “Granny” Pickford; exciting news from Katie; “a wonderful and never-to-be forgotten day”, and “what gems are there still to uncover?”
Book 229
January 4th 1987, Gran writes, is “a dreary and dull day starting overcast after night rain and soon pouring for the rest of the day” but we feel that after a long period of stressful and unhappy events, she has managed to regain some of her equilibrium, as she continues:
… and I have seen no-one, and the front door has not been unlocked. Yet I have been contented and at rest. A thrush was singing when I went to take the temperatures soon after eight o’clock this morning.
The middle of the month is bitterly cold and family and neighbours worry about her keeping warm enough in The Ridge, a house, like many others at that time, with no central heating or double-glazing, and just a gas fire in each of the main living rooms. Barry offers to bring a sleeping bag for his Mother to use when sitting in her chair, and recommends she buy some cling-film to rig up some primitive double-glazing on the windows.
[Read more…] about Forty Years in Chandler’s Ford – a Journal (Part 181)
Forty Years in Chandler’s Ford – a Journal (Part 180)
Gran has a difficult time; support from all quarters; a memento from Tommy’s tree; letters to Auntie Bunnie; Grampa – a lovely, cheerful patient; solace in the garden; a simple Funeral Service; a family Christmas; Paul brings gifts, and a wedding to look forward to.
Difficulties at home continue for Gran. Grampa is increasingly frail and unwell, more or less confined to bed and needing daily nursing care, and, Gran says on November 1st 1986 , “The plumber came and cleared the airlock in the downstairs hot water tap and is coming to deal with the overflow pipe in the toilet and the leak under the sink”. Jane Elizabeth has been a wonderful support for Gran, her Mother-in-law, at this time but she needs to return to Bushey on the 2nd and Gran is sorry to see her go, writing also:
She meant to leave me half of the large brown loaf she bought yesterday but forgot. She phoned from Winchester Station to say she had left it in the grit bin by the Hiltingbury Road bus stop and luckily, Cousin Bill Worsfold came at 11 a.m. so I was able to go and get it while he was here with Bill.
Gran has mentioned several of her husband’s relatives or friends lately, as they visit Grampa at The Ridge, but we are not always enlightened as to their relationships to him. There is not only Bill Worsfold, but also Cousin Ray, who has often provided transport for Grampa; Anthony (a nephew) and his wife Hazel; Joan and Ken Birch (“Bill’s half-sister and her husband”, Gran writes), and Joan and Alastair McKenzie (“Joan is his Cousin”, Gran tells us).
“I made a bad beginning with tummy ache after I had taken Bill his breakfast and was sick just as nurse came to the front door”, she writes on November 4th, continuing:
I called that I was coming but I look so ghastly when this happens, she was very concerned and made me sit down and made me a cup of tea. I assured her that I do this occasionally but soon feel perfectly alright. After attending to Bill she took my pulse and blood pressure, both of which were perfectly normal, which is reassuring! Ruth came in, with a stick, because she saw me looking to see if she were about. She has broken and chipped ribs!
Joan and Alastair came early this afternoon and whilst they were talking to me, we heard a thump and Bill had fallen. Alastair picked him up and got him back into bed!
The following day sees Grampa taken by ambulance to the South Hants Hospital in Southampton, because he has lost all feeling from the waist down. There is much concern throughout the Family and amongst close friends. Bob Fowler and his daughter Jill visit Gran to give moral support, and Gran is delighted to receive from them, “… some very gorgeous red Maple leaves from Tommy’s favourite tree”. She presses them within the journal. Further support is provided by Barry on the 6th, who, given the beauty of the day, suggests a drive up to Farley Mount, where Gran delights in the beautiful colours, especially of the fruiting Spindles there.
[Read more…] about Forty Years in Chandler’s Ford – a Journal (Part 180)
Forty Years in Chandler’s Ford – a Journal (Part 179)
Stonehenge – not what it once was; Gran hides her ailments; Grampa – a last trip to Farley Mount; an obliging Home Help; two Redstarts in the garden; a communication from the Arctic; Granny Pickford is 100, and farewell to “Tommy” Fowler;
Book 227
On September 10th 1986, after the Nurse has visited The Ridge to check on Grampa, and Gran understanding that things are “somewhat easier”, she goes on the Club outing to Marlborough, having “something of a scramble to be ready…”
Gran describes all she sees on the coach journey, including:
We stopped at Stonehenge at 2.45 for twenty minutes but I did not leave the coach as I have been to the monument many times since my teens when access was freely available with no fences or circling pathways. I did not want a cup of tea or an ice cream at this time.
