local interest

A guided walk; the Church of St Matthew, Otterbourne; the baby comes home, and he has a new bath; Snowdrops gathered for the 15th year; a talk on trees and shrubs; an uncomfortable dinner-dance; Italian nostalgia and sympathy for the flood victims.

On January 17th 1953 Gran leads a group of British Empire Naturalists’ Association members on a walk between Compton and Winchester along the Itchen Valley.  They see a range of common wildlife but the most important thing, from Gran’s point of view, is that it boosts her confidence, and she writes:

It had been an enjoyable afternoon and the members thanked me for conducting them, as they said, so ably along a very beautiful and interesting stretch of English countryside.  I need not have felt so nervous about undertaking the venture and I now contemplate the trip to Avington Park next month with less trepidation. I am too used to being a lone wolf to relish taking a party on my excursions but today’s number was not overwhelming and they were all very nice and friendly people.

[Read more…] about Forty Years in Chandler’s Ford – a Journal (Part 50)

Brandy for a Bullfinch; much to be thankful for; looking forward to 1953; Sandy Cunningham; “shortenin’ bread”; mis-identification of a woodecker; a boy is born, and tears and joy fight for supremacy.

On December 10th 1952, Gran is brought a male Bullfinch that has been “knocked down”, she thinks, on the road. She has little hope of its recovery as it seems to be in a bad way but she gives it a drop of brandy, holds it in her warm hand, and then places it in a basket by the kitchen window, and it begins to recover. After more than an hour it flies off, and Gran says, “He was a beautiful bird and I was so pleased that he recovered”.

The use of brandy in such a situation is new to me, and I expect is not to be recommended!  I remember another member of the family many years later giving apple pieces soaked in brandy to a budgerigar, and it became so relaxed that it fell off its perch!

December 13th:

I had little time for outside observations today since Barry was coming on leave early this evening and bringing with him his new friend, John Sandy Cunningham, known to all as Sandy, and his fiancée Jill, whose second name I never discovered and which Sandy told me was relatively unimportant as she would be changing it on January 7th, when they are getting married.

Sandy and Jill spend the night at The Ridge, Gran noting that they were:

…already quite at home and the easiest young people with whom to get on that I have ever known, in spite of the fact that Sandy is extremely clever and an Oxford B.A. Also, he is one of the handsomest young men I know and his manners are punctilious.   His voice is well modulated and he is most gentle and courteous towards Jill.

[Read more…] about Forty Years in Chandler’s Ford – a Journal (Part 49)

A mis-use of Farley Mount; Tom Jenkins retires and a Robin dies; the kindness of friends; the glory of Joan Hammond and Geoffrey Parsons; speech day and chrysanthemums for a new home.

Book 32

On October 12th 1952, Gran is pleased to see her old friend and confidant, Mr Utterton, briefly returned to Compton Church:

I was delighted to reach the Church gate at the same time as Mr Utterton, who was taking today’s services, and I was able to speak to him for a few moments. Except that he appeared a little older, he was his own kind self and it was good to see him again.

Later, she writes, “This afternoon Jane and I went up to Farley Mount. I wanted her to see it before all its Autumn beauty had faded”, but she is disturbed by what they encounter there:

We returned to Hursley past the Mount itself but all pleasure was spoilt by a motor-cycle rally which was in progress opposite the Monument. I grieve for Farley Mount these days, for the peace and serenity which I used to find there, and, if such as motor rallies are to become frequent, I am afraid much of its wild life will be lost as well. A Lark was singing but much of its melody was lost in the constant roar of passing motor-cycles.

[Read more…] about Forty Years in Chandler’s Ford – a Journal (Part 48)

A little bit of nostalgia; early signs of the future schoolmaster; a fast car to Eastbourne; tennis with pigs; the Otterbourne Monkey Puzzle; a new bird for Britain; Last night of the Proms and 200 Swallows in a bedroom.

Gran is in pensive mood. She writes:

I heard religion described today by a clergyman as “what we do with our loneliness”, and I thought back over the last five years and wondered if he would think I had used mine to advantage. Quite apart from my writing, which may or may not benefit somebody someday, I think it has deepened my capacity for compassion and sympathetic understanding and I have tried to give myself wholeheartedly to those who need me, and I know that my friendship has helped several people at least. But it has also humbled me, for I have felt so desperately bewildered and ignorant of so much that I want to understand and believe implicitly…

[Read more…] about Fort Years in Chandler’s Ford – a Journal (Part 47)

More flowers for the great ocean liners; a couple of celebrities; National Service; a cycle-ride to Avington Park; a visit to Stratford upon Avon; an uncomfortable situation, and a baby is on its way.

Gran is again boxing-up flowers at the Fowler’s shop in Southampton on July 30th 1952, for delivery to ocean liners shortly to leave port – this time, the SS United States again and also the RMS Queen Elizabeth. She ends a detailed description of the contents of one box thus:

…Asparagus fern completed the gift box which I think should have delighted the heart of any woman lucky enough to receive it. I did not visit either of the ships today as I had to leave by mid-day in order to cycle back here in time for lunch and to Pinewood Gardens by two o’clock.

[Read more…] about Forty Years in Chandler’s Ford – a Journal (Part 46)