Don’t forget the renowned Chandler’s Ford Produce and Craft Market is back on Saturday, the 6th of October, from 10am to 1pm.
It’ll be held at the Age Concern Hall, on Brownhill Road. Thanks to Steve Allen for running the market since 2015, supporting local people and local small businesses.
Empty nest syndrome; fun collecting crab apples; flowers for a Queen; a dockers’ strike; a farm wedding; “Goodbye Mary”; and another wedding.
September 21st 1954:
Jane left early this morning to return to college at Eastbourne and Jill Fowler, who joins her there tomorrow, arrived just before she left, with some things which Jane had promised to take for her. Our farewells were brief, for even when we feel our best, we dislike these partings but today with the shadow of Robin’s tragic accident hanging over us, neither of us was fit for prolonged speech.
“Poor little Jane”, Gran continues, “it is the first time tragedy has so nearly reached her and she is being very brave”. Later that day, she cycles to the top of Otterbourne Hill “to get some blackthorn upon which to feed a Fox moth caterpillar which I am looking after for a youngster while he is on holiday”. [Read more…] about Forty Years in Chandler’s Ford – a Journal (Part 65)
One that got away; enjoying Barry’s and Julian’s company before they leave the district; quiet reflections in Compton Church; goodbye Mary Robinson; news of a tragedy; another wedding, and a hedgehog knocks over a milk bottle.
Jane encourages Gran, dogged this day and regularly at fortnightly intervals, by her debilitating headaches, to accompany her on a walk along the Itchen, downstream from Brambridge, on the evening of August 16th 1954. Few people are about, apart from a lone fisherman and a single dog-walker. A Kingfisher flashes past, and a family of Mute Swans is on the water. Gran and Jane observe the fisherman, whom they saw: [Read more…] about Forty Years in Chandler’s Ford – a Journal (Part 64)
Gran, we learn on July 18th 1954, is Godmother to John, one of Tommy and Bob Fowler’s children. On that day, she, with Jill and Diana (the other two Fowler offspring), and Tommy, drive to Cheltenham, where John is at what Gran describes as “the famous school”. The journey is, typically, described in some detail, Gran enjoying the Cotswold villages with, to her, unusual names: Warborough, Stratton St Margaret, Blunsdon and Cricklade. She is impressed by the verges near the last named, “massed with Meadow Cranesbill”, some of which she collects for planting in her garden at The Ridge. And she recounts an amusing incident:
… a boy emerging from a side road was so startled by the sight of an approaching car that he promptly fell off his bicycle and disappeared into a ditch, though we were nowhere near him!
[Read more…] about Forty Years in Chandler’s Ford – a Journal (Part 63)
Book 44
On June 19th 1954, Gran is delighted for Barry, who:
…came in very late, straight from Uxbridge, where he had been running in RAF Fighter Command Championships, and was delighted to have won the half-mile race in his best ever time – 1min. 56.7 sec. This gives him next week at Uxbridge, undergoing training and running in matches – a very enjoyable way of spending one of his few remaining weeks in the Royal Air Force!
And the next day is recorded by Gran as “a very beautiful and enjoyable one!” She arises early because she is going to Eastbourne with the Fowler family, picking up Jane and spending much of the day with her. Many pages of detailed botanical observations follow, including from the downs above Eastbourne, where, Gran writes: [Read more…] about Forty Years in Chandler’s Ford – a Journal (Part 62)
The Chandler’s Ford Produce and Craft Market is back!
Saturday 8th September from 10am to 1pm, at the Age Concern Hall, on Brownhill Road.
[Read more…] about Chandler’s Ford Produce and Craft Market and Other Local Events
Gran records with pleasure an experience enjoyed by Jane, with Robin Eastwood, early in May 1954 when on a wet and windy day, which made travel in the open-topped Talbot uncomfortable, the couple end the day with dinner at the Grand Hotel. A good orchestra was playing, she tells us, and after Robin had asked the name of a piece just played, the leader asked if there was anything Jane would like to hear. She chose a selection from Tchaikovsky’s Swan Lake and this scenario reminded Gran of her very similar and wonderful experience as a seventeen-year old, when, she writes, “the leader of the Orchestra in the Carlo Felici Restoranti in Genoa used to ask me, with a low bow, “and what would the signorina like us to play now?”. [Read more…] about Forty Years in Chandler’s Ford – a Journal (Part 61)
On March 10th 1954, Gran records her first good views of Siskins, the little finch that in later years became a familiar visitor to garden bird feeders:
This afternoon I took Julian for a walk, going first into Cranbury to get some moss for a bowl which I wanted to arrange for Mary’s birthday today. I was sorry to see that much clearing was taking place in Cranbury Park and many birch trees have been felled.
[Read more…] about Forty Years in Chandler’s Ford – a Journal (Part 60)
On February 17th 1954 Gran is suffering from a bad cold but manages to attend a concert in Eastleigh with her friend Mary Harding: [Read more…] about Forty Years in Chandler’s Ford – a Journal (Part 59)
Late October 1953 and Gran’s thoughts are turning to Christmas. On the 23rd she gathers material for making presents:
I collected some twigs, acorns, seeds, bark, lichen and such, with which to make Christmas novelties and my invalid [probably her disabled friend in Southampton] assiduously stuck the acorns back into their cups for me… a little Seccotine ensuring that they would not fall out again. The next step will be to paint them.
And two days later, feeling ill, and the weather stormy, she writes: [Read more…] about Forty Years in Chandler’s Ford – a Journal (Part 58)
Gran has already mentioned that the blackberry crop is particularly poor this year, 1953, and the same appears to be true of the apple crop. She writes on September 16th, that she spends time in the Pinewood Gardens apple shed:
…clearing up and laying out the Green Blenheims, a poor crop, covering only half of one shelf with one layer, instead of being heaped right up. It is a bad apple year here, for there are no Bramley Seedlings or American Mothers, and only a few Russets and Newton Wonders. One tree of Lemon Pippins is fairly well covered but I have not seen the Christmas Pearmains or the Worcester Pearmains. There were no Beauty of Bath and no Gladstones. Three baskets comprised the bulk of the Grenadiers and there are only a few of the Early Victorias at the top of one tree. I have not searched but I can see no Lanes from the end of the greenhouse, and there is only one Maltster. I have never known a worse year since I have been working at Pinewood Gardens. There simply was not the blossom in spring – the frost in May had nothing to do with it. Plums were the same.
[Read more…] about Forty Years in Chandler’s Ford – a Journal (Part 57)
Are you or your elderly friends relying on local buses to travel between Eastleigh, Chandler’s Ford, and Hiltingbury?
What might happen to our elderly neighbours and those relying on the bus if the subsidies for public transport are reduced?
Hampshire County Council is asking for residents’ and stakeholders’ views in an eight-week consultation on options for applying budget reductions to subsidies for public transport and street lighting. [Read more…] about Your Help Needed: Fill in the Form to Save Bus Services in Chandler’s Ford and Hiltingbury
Yes Chandler’s Ford and Hiltingbury were basking in sunshine, until this morning.
Weeks and weeks of heatwave have changed the landscapes of Chandler’s Ford’s green and pleasant land.
Note: You can scroll down for a video: July 2018 – The Hilt looking a bit dehydrated in the hot sun. [Read more…] about Heatwave (and finally some rain) in Chandler’s Ford
It’s the last day of July 1953 – a wet one – and Gran is clearing peas in the Pinewood Gardens, and picking a few loganberries. She hears:
…familiar footsteps running up the road and knew that Barry was arriving. He is on leave for the Bank Holiday and was pleased to have done well in the R.A.F. Sports, winning the 440 and 880 yards and the third prize in the sack race! He ran the three-legged with the Squadron Leader but they were unplaced. His prizes consisted of three useful additions to the home – water jug and glasses, teaspoons and a leather wallet.
[Read more…] about Forty Years in Chandler’s Ford – a Journal (Part 56)
On July 7th 1953, Gran travels to Earley, near Reading where Adrian’s mother is staying with her sister at the house called “Anathoth”. On the 8th, they visit the neighbouring towns of Goring and Streatley, separated by the River Thames, travelling by bus, via Pangbourne, and Gran is amused, “at a small village whose name I could not see”, where:
…the driver of the ‘bus leant out in passing and accurately threw a parcel of newspapers right into the doorway of a shop. Obviously it was not the first time he had done this!
[Read more…] about Forty Years in Chandler’s Ford – a Journal (Part 55)
(Note: The learner driver is 17 years old.)
Since December I have started to learn to drive. On the whole I think I’m doing pretty great, and my driving lessons have helped me be aware of the road. Now when I’m a passenger, I’m very observant as to road behaviour and actions of other drivers. I am now aware of things that many experienced drivers have probably forgotten about or do not notice now. I hope to turn this into a recurring series, so let’s start with my biggest pet peeve about driving – [Read more…] about A Learner Driver’s Log (1): Parking on the Side of the Road
On May 28th 1953, Jane and Gran go to the Winchester County High School Open Day, and after the school has been inspected, the visitors are treated to a “delightful concert by members of the school”. This includes ballet by Kay Lardy, “who has recently won a scholarship to Sadlers Wells”; a pianoforte solo, “admirably executed by Mary Sales”, and a violin solo, “played with great sensitivity and from memory, by Janet Ashford. A trio of very talented children”, Gran writes. They are driven home by the Ashfords as the sun is setting.
There is another minor hint at provisions for a family dinner on May 31st, presumably a Sunday, when Gran is in a tizzy because:
Having lost a day somewhere this week I imagined today was Saturday and had quite forgotten to get any vegetables for dinner, so I had to dash round to Mr Woods in Park Road and see if he had anything. He had – cauliflowers, which were some of the nicest I have ever had. On the way to his nursery I heard a Whitethroat singing…
And she is unkind again to Eastleigh, where, that afternoon, she “unfortunately” had to play in a tennis match:
What a deadly, dismal, dirty place is Eastleigh – even the gay flags and bunting for Coronation Week could not disguise its squalor and ugliness. It never seems to be clean and impressions on emerging from the railway station – itself one of the dirtiest I know – are depressing in the extreme.
[Read more…] about Forty Years in Chandler’s Ford – a Journal (Part 54)
There is much activity at the Fowlers’ shop in Southampton, packing flowers for departing ships, at this time, and a strike by French seamen causes a degree of chaos because passengers for whom flowers had been ordered are transferred from the Ile de France, whose departure is delayed, to other ships the following day, and correctly uniting flowers with their recipients is difficult. Gran delivers some of the arrangements to the United States, sailing on April 30th, 1953, and writes: [Read more…] about Forty Years in Chandler’s Ford – a Journal (Part 53)
Gran writes, as usual during Eastertime, of the deep emotions engendered in her at this period in the Christian calendar, and on Good Friday, April 3rd 1953, she attends a service at Compton that is very much of its time:
I met Mrs Durst as I reached the Church gate and we went in together. As soon as I saw the visiting clergyman’s face I knew that the service would be a good one, for his faith shone on his countenance as a lamp in a dark world. He was the Reverend George Sanderson, from All Saints, Alton and the Service proved to be the most moving and beautiful I have ever attended.
[Read more…] about Forty Years in Chandler’s Ford – a Journal (Part 52)
The presence of her new grandson, Julian, gives Gran considerable and frequent pleasure during February 1953. He and his parents are regular visitors for meals, when Barry is home on leave from his RAF station at Rudloe Manor at Chippenham, and often Gran pushes Julian in his pram around the local roads and woodlands while Barry and Jock have a bit of time to themselves at Cranbury, along the Itchen or up at Farley Mount. [Read more…] about Forty Years in Chandler’s Ford – a Journal (Part 51)
