storytelling

The Main Road Through Chandler’s Ford: Historical Snapshots (Part 2)

October 19, 2021 By Christine Clark 4 Comments

Part Two: 1913

Chandler's Ford War Memorial. At that time it stood at the end of Hursley Road on railway company land, only moving to its present site (outside St Boniface Church )in 1973 being re-dedicated on 4th August 1974. Image via Eastleigh and District Local History Society. — Chandler’s Ford War Memorial. At that time it stood at the end of Hursley Road on railway company land, only moving to its present site (outside St Boniface Church ) in 1973 being re-dedicated on 4th August 1974. Image via Eastleigh and District Local History Society.

If we now time-travel twenty years or so to the eve of the First World War, let’s see what has changed on our route. Once again, we come up from Southampton to the Asda roundabout and up Bournemouth Road. Chandler’s Ford now has a police constable who lives at the police house at 5 York Villas, Bournemouth Road. We pass the home of one R. E. Burke, a lounge steward on HMS Titanic who sadly perished when the ship foundered last year. As we pass the Hut Hotel (see image below, forgiving the cars!), we may see Chandler’s Ford United FC training in a field behind, using the hotel as their changing room. The big brickfield on our left is still busy.

Hut Hotel, image by Christine Clark — Hut Hotel

Tags: Chandler's Ford, community, culture, Eastleigh, education, history, Hursley Road, local history, local interest, memory, St. Boniface Church, storytelling, war memorial, World War One, writing

Forgotten Letters of John Masefield

October 15, 2021 By Mike Sedgwick 2 Comments

Like most schools, mine had inter-house competitions. One year, it fell to me to be House Captain of Music because I was the oldest boy who could play the clarinet. The Housemaster chose the Captain on age, not on ability. Every boy had to sing in the choir, and the performance piece chosen was John Ireland’s setting of Sea Fever by the poet laureate at the time, John Masefield.

Everyone had to sing, from the few with treble voices to the tuneless late-teen tough-guy growlers. We learned about melding music and words, how to enunciate ‘whetted knife’ as if you were cut by a cold wind; how to sound the sibilants to suggest gale and spray and how to prolong the final word – over. The poem was ended, but the feeling and atmosphere lingered on. [Read more…] about Forgotten Letters of John Masefield

Tags: history, literature, memories, storytelling, writers

The Main Road Through Chandler’s Ford: Historical Snapshots (Part 1)

October 12, 2021 By Christine Clark 8 Comments

Part One: 1895

You probably know that most of Chandler’s Ford has developed in the last hundred years or so and that prior to the twentieth century, there wasn’t a lot here, apart from a few cottages, the brickfields, farm land and woods. I’ve been looking at the history of one important feature of our town: the main road – Bournemouth Road and Winchester Road – stretching from Asda to the Nuffield Hospital. I wonder what you know of its history?

Stone train, Chandler's Ford, pre-Millers Dale, April 1976 (for rail enthusiasts, the loco is D1058 Western Nobleman). Image via Eastleigh and District Local History Society. — Stone train, Chandler’s Ford, pre-Millers Dale, April 1976 (for rail enthusiasts, the loco is D1058 Western Nobleman). Image via Eastleigh and District Local History Society.

Let me take you back to 1895. Let’s say you want to travel from Southampton to Winchester and for some reason you don’t take the train, preferring to ride your horse / travel in your carriage or cart by road. The road that goes through our town was the most direct route, a turnpike with an improved surface since the early nineteenth century, unlike other local roads.

Before the railway came in 1847, this road would have been heavily used by the stage coaches that plied between Southampton and London. The horses were changed every six miles and being this distance from both Southampton and Winchester, Chandler’s Ford was the obvious place for the changeover. The coaching stage in our town was where the Fryern Arcade is now, but by 1895 the stables had been redeveloped as a house. [Read more…] about The Main Road Through Chandler’s Ford: Historical Snapshots (Part 1)

Tags: Chandler's Ford, community, culture, Eastleigh, education, history, Hursley Road, local history, local interest, memory, storytelling, writing

Chandler’s Ford Races

September 21, 2021 By Christine Clark 3 Comments

Many people love a day at the races. But can you imagine the roar of the crowd, the thunder of hooves, the cries of the punters here in Chandler’s Ford? Yet indeed, Chandler’s Ford used to have a racecourse. Complete with grandstand and a course length of 2.25 miles, it was located on fields near the railway station (now Valley Park) and was described in the newspaper as ‘presenting a lovely appearance to those who come to drink a draught of nature.’

But why here at Chandler’s Ford?

Andy’s Story – Part 2 – Stories from Beechcroft

August 23, 2021 By Andy Vining 5 Comments

Hello again, thank you for all the lovely compliments I received for my first Chapter.

This is not Chapter 2 as promised but more Part 1: Andy’s Story – Part 1: Early Years, Hiltonbury Farm, and… My Old Morris as I have just returned from a visit to Devon where my older sisters Jennifer and Janet live and in conversations with them I have more to add to part 1.

My sisters’ memories about our Grandparents

My Father’s Mother died quite young. Jennifer thinks she died in the Sanatorium, a TB hospital in Chandler’s Ford just off Cuckoo Bushes Lane. It has been knocked down and the area is all houses now.

My Father’s Father was the gardener at Hiltonbury and my Father’s mother married him and it was terrible to marry beneath her. It seems that all the family except her Brother George Beattie disowned her but Uncle George was very kind to her.

Uncle George was the Farmer at Hiltonbury, who took my Father in after both my Father’s parents died and brought him up as his own son, sending him to Peter Symonds School in Winchester.

What an achievement! Cycling 15 miles a day for school.

Father used to ride there every day on his bike all the way from Chandler’s Ford to school, and that’s about seven and a half miles. I agreed there was no traffic in those days but all the same fifteen miles a day and the roads were not up to much either.

I presume he would cycle up Hursley Road to The Pound, go right through Hursley, past his Cousin’s Norman Coopers place – North End Farm, and along through Standon to Winchester, then Chilbolton Avenue to Bereweeke Road and so to College.

What an achievement, rain and shine, hot and cold, along, not roads as we know them today but probably tracks some of the way. Amazing. You would not get the youth of today doing that. It’s even a long way to go in a car, probably take as long today with all the traffic as well!

Now back to Cantley in Wokingham where I was born, there are a couple of fuzzy photographs of me in a pram and sitting on the lawn having something to eat, also a photograph of Mr Watson who was the owner of the farm where my Father was the bailiff / manager.

Me aged 2 - Andy Vining — Me aged 2 – Andy Vining

Tags: Chandler’s Ford community, community, culture, education, family, Hiltonbury Farmhouse, history, local businesses, local interest, memory, storytelling, writing

Paperback Writers

August 13, 2021 By Robbie Sprague 11 Comments

Did you know that the Beatles have 229 songs to their name? The Fab Four have each contributed brilliant songs to this total but Lennon and McCartney were the most prolific.

The Beatles Image by Maxpinsoo from Pixabay

Yesterday, we heard from our neighbours, who were visiting Liverpool, that they were drinking in the Cavern Club, birth place of the Beatles. It gave me the idea of writing a short story using the titles of some of those famous hits. It took fifteen minutes and I had a little help from my friend, my wife Jill. It’s not going to be a Booker Prizewinner but it contains 29 Beatles song titles (plus one repeat) and it goes like this: [Read more…] about Paperback Writers

Tags: creative writing, culture, humour, music, storytelling, writing

Andy’s Story – Part 1: Early Years, Hiltonbury Farm, and… My Old Morris

August 6, 2021 By Andy Vining 10 Comments

Having been asked to write some articles for Chandler’s Ford Today I thought for ages where to start and what to tell.

My Mother and Father had got married in around 1938 and my sister Jennifer was born on the 6th of Feb 1939, followed in 1941 by Janet, then the son that they craved (or so I was informed) dutifully arrived on 6th April 1943. I am told there were air raids while in the nursing home and I was shoved under the bed in a basket a number of times it seems.

Mum and Dad's wedding Circa 1938 (Photo by Andy Vining) — Mum and Dad’s wedding Circa 1938 (Photo by Andy Vining)

Not that I am into the stars but it reports that people who are born on the 6th of April in 1943 have an astrological sign of Aries ♈. Aries’ life pursuit is the thrill of the moment and a secret desire to lead the way for others. People of this zodiac sign like taking on leadership roles, physical challenges, individual sports and dislike inactivity, delays, and work that does not use one’s talents. The strengths of this sign are: courageous, determined, confident, enthusiastic, optimistic, honest, passionate. OK on most of that but not so sure about the physical challenges bit!! [Read more…] about Andy’s Story – Part 1: Early Years, Hiltonbury Farm, and… My Old Morris

Tags: Chandler’s Ford community, community, culture, education, family, Hiltonbury Farmhouse, history, local businesses, local interest, memory, storytelling, writing

Cancer Ward – My Story

July 3, 2021 By Mike Sedgwick 8 Comments

Half of us will have cancer at some time in our lives. By far the most common is prostate cancer for men and breast cancer for women. These exceed lung, bowel, ovary and testicular cancers by a factor of 2 or more.

I never asked for a PSA (Prostate-Specific Antigen) test, but I got one anyway when my GP checked me over one day. The result was high, so did I mind if he did a rectal examination. I said it would be OK if he promised not to enjoy it any more than I would.

‘You’ve got cancer there. It’s a decent-sized lump but still in the prostate, hasn’t spread. We’ll zap it with radiotherapy; surgery is not a sensible option. It’s 99% curable for five years, and you might die of something else in the meantime.’ My doctor is a straight-talking man, I was pleased not to be offered surgery. When I was a junior doctor, I assisted in prostatectomy operations and looked after the patients afterwards. I was called up most nights to deal with blocked catheters or excessive bleeding. Later on, many of the men suffered urinary infections and other complications. [Read more…] about Cancer Ward – My Story

Tags: awareness, cancer, education, family, health, hospital, science, storytelling

It’s All Greek to Me

February 27, 2021 By Mike Sedgwick 4 Comments

In my head, and probably in yours too, there is a jumble of memories of ancient Greeks — old men, bald and with beards, who did stupid but essential things. There is one who overflowed his bath and ran naked down the street. One drank hemlock, and another lived in a barrel; one married his mother. They fought a lot, invented gods and wrote unreadable books. And they were good at geometry.

I resurrected one of these weirdos from my memory; they all look the same, dressed in chitons or togas and sandals. I first made the acquaintance of this one when I was 12 years old, Pythagoras by name. He died about 500 years BCE, but he was clever with triangles.

‘Pythagoras, please help me. I need a length of rope to hang from a high branch on a tree to make a swing. How long should it be? I can’t get up there to measure the height.’

St Valentine – Who, Why and How?

February 11, 2021 By Christine Clark Leave a Comment

We all know that 14 February is St Valentine’s Day – accompanied these days with its commercialised retail opportunity to buy cards and gifts for loved ones. But do you know how it all began?

It all started as a third-century Christian feast to commemorate some early martyrs, all called Valentine, which must have been a popular name in those days. There was Valentine of Rome, a priest martyred in 269 (he ministered to Christians persecuted under the Roman Empire) and Valentine of Terni, a bishop martyred in 273. There also seem to have been another saint called Valentine who was martyred in Africa with other companions, although not much more is known about him.

I love you lollipop - via kaboompics — I love you lollipop – via kaboompics

The Mighty Oak

January 30, 2021 By Mike Sedgwick 2 Comments

The mighty oak (Quercus rubor), the one in the centre of our garden is due for a haircut, we decided. Visitors comment on our lovely garden – but such a shame about the oak tree – all that shade. If they lived here, they would chop it down, except that it is subject to a tree preservation order.

If the tree was chopped, there would be an open space. The summer sun would beat relentlessly down, and an umbrella would be needed. I would miss the sturdy black limbs etched against a grey winter sky with the playful skitter of squirrels among the branches. I would miss the birds, there are two magpies in the branches as I write, and hundreds of others birds visit to feed on the myriad of insects living in the nooks and crannies of the bark. Blue tits nest in the attached birdbox and tree creepers and the nuthatch hang, head down, to feed.

Tree clipping - Paul climbed 20 M or so into the topmost branches with his chainsaw swinging from his belt. — Tree clipping – Paul climbed 20 M or so into the topmost branches with his chainsaw swinging from his belt.

[Read more…] about The Mighty Oak

Tags: Chandler's Ford, family, Hiltingbury, local businesses, nature, storytelling

A Daily Visit by Royalty – and a Sumptuous Meal for a King

January 9, 2021 By Robbie Sprague 10 Comments

When I built the new Wykeham House in Hiltingbury I got the digger driver to dig out a large pond in the back garden, piling the spoil at one end in readiness to make a waterfall. This was the basis for our landscaping, planting and stocking once the lining and filtration system were in place. The day at last came when we flicked the switch and the water gushed and eddied down the waterfall. This comforting sound has stayed with us for the past fifteen years and it is a joy. When the water had cleared and the balance was right we stocked our pond with twenty golden rudd, some green tench, three black comets and three shubunkin – and the odd goldfish contributed by neighbours.

Over the years, and thanks to the early morning visits from a hungry heron, we lost some fish – usually speared and left on the grass – so we had to find an ingenious way of heron-proofing the pond. At first, we didn’t mind the heron’s visits; seeing that majestic bird landing and taking off was exciting but he was greedy and cruel and had to be deterred. We strung fishing line across the pond and installed a water sprayer triggered by a motion sensor. So far, so effective………..

Every early summer there are a few days of frantic activity when the water froths like a cauldron and a month or so later a large shoal of small fry of mixed variety can be spotted and, over the years the fish population has multiplied alarmingly. [Read more…] about A Daily Visit by Royalty – and a Sumptuous Meal for a King

Tags: Chandler's Ford, Covid-19, family, Hiltingbury, lockdown, nature, storytelling

The Christmas Jigsaw Tradition

January 2, 2021 By chippy minton 11 Comments

One of my childhood family’s traditional Christmas holiday pastimes was to complete a jigsaw puzzle (or two). Christmas presents generally included at least one puzzle. This year’s Covid-19 restrictions on travel and socialising made it a good time to resurrect the tradition with my adult family.

There is something incredibly relaxing and therapeutic about tacking a jigsaw puzzle. You can’t rush a jigsaw; it takes as long as it takes. They are addictive too – once you’ve started you have to keep going. One evening, Mrs Chippy and I had to remind ourselves that it was 11.30 pm and we really should be going to bed. I have been known to stay up into the early hours in order to finish a puzzle. [Read more…] about The Christmas Jigsaw Tradition

Tags: board games, Christmas, Christmas traditions, coronavirus, Covid-19, Eastleigh, family memories, lockdown, pastimes, puzzles, storytelling, tradition

Keeping us Cheerful – the Windmills of my Mind

January 2, 2021 By Robbie Sprague 7 Comments

On April Fools’ Day 2019, I had the following letter published in the Daily Telegraph:

Sir,

Every lawn in my road has been devastated by crows frantically digging for chafer grubs. The day they started on my lawn I ordered two hundred and fifty children’s windmills and placed them over the entire grassed area of my front garden. That was five months ago and not one crow has ventured into our garden and our grass has flourished. These colourful windmills are a great source of entertainment for families walking up and down the street – one or two have even spread into neighbouring gardens.

Having had success, I decided to harness the potential of each windmill by modifying them to become miniature wind turbines, interconnecting them and linking them to the National Grid. The power that is generated reduces the cost of my electricity bill by approximately 25%.

In these challenging Brexit times when we all have to become more self- sufficient, I offer this simple, yet effective scheme to save your readers money – and to fend off crows.

Sincerely,

We have given away literally hundreds of windmills to little – and not so little – children. — “I ordered two hundred and fifty children’s windmills and placed them over the entire grassed area of my front garden.”

Tags: Chandler's Ford, coronavirus, Covid-19, family memories, good neighbours, Hiltingbury, humour, lockdown, publication, science, storytelling, writing

What to do in Lockdown

December 31, 2020 By Mike Sedgwick 6 Comments

A Happy New Year to all Chandler’s Ford Today readers. Is there anything to be happy about? The only good news is that I have had the first of my vaccination jabs against COVID-19 (the Pfizer-BioN Tech for the techies, I can even tell you the Batch number if you like). The next one is due on Jan 9th. Then, at the end of January, I shall be free, protected, like a modern-day knight in armour. The vaccine is 95% effective. Does that mean that, if I get COVID, it will only be 5% as bad as expected? Or does it mean one in 20 of us might get COVID? More important is, although I am protected, could I spread the virus to others?

More important still is that the AstraZenaca vaccine is now approved and is more robust in that it is easier to store and distribute.

Party Outdoors

Tags: Chandler's Ford, coronavirus, Covid-19, family memories, Hiltingbury, lockdown, publication, science, storytelling, writing

Memorials to our War Dead: the Cenotaph and the Tomb of the Unknown Warrior

November 7, 2020 By Christine Clark 1 Comment

I wonder how many people know the history of these two significant and impressive memorials to those who fell in war.

The Cenotaph.

Cenotaph London, Armistice Day 2018. Image via UK Government's Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (CC BY-NC-ND 2.0) — Cenotaph London, Armistice Day 2018. Image via UK Government’s Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport. (CC BY-NC-ND 2.0)

Designed by Edwin Lutyens, the Cenotaph (meaning ‘empty tomb’) was first erected in 1919 as a temporary wood and plaster structure for a victory parade at the end of the First World War. It was to be temporary as it was thought that this parade would be a one-off. But the Cenotaph quickly captured the public imagination. Repatriation of the dead had been forbidden since the early days of the war, so the Cenotaph came to represent the absent dead and served as a substitute for a grave. Beginning almost immediately after the parade and continuing for days afterwards, members of the public began laying flowers and wreaths around the Cenotaph’s base: people needed to mourn their sons, fathers and brothers. So clear was this need for a visible monument, that in 1920 it was replaced by a permanent Portland stone structure, to the same Lutyens design, and designated the United Kingdom’s official national war memorial. [Read more…] about Memorials to our War Dead: the Cenotaph and the Tomb of the Unknown Warrior

Tags: culture, history, memory, Remembrance Sunday, storytelling, war memorial, World War One

Life in a Pandemic: Who am I?

October 31, 2020 By Mike Sedgwick 6 Comments

There is a story of a pompous man pushing into the front of and airport check-in queue. The check-in girl tells him to go to the back of the queue. ‘Do you know who I am?’ asks the man. The check-in girl asks the queue, ’can anyone help? This man does not know who he is.’

I sympathise with this man, not because of pushing into a queue, but because I am not known by my name any longer. The days when I heard people say, ‘Hello, Mike, nice to see you,’ have gone because, in COVID protection mode, no one sees me.

kaboompics - man working on a computer — Image via Kabookpics

Reduced to a Binary Digit

I am known to my computer but only as a string of digits. The screen wants to know my ID number, password, authentication code, admin password, username, wireless key, PIN, account number or registration key. Then there are numbers and codes sent to my phone which last only an hour or so. If I go to a bar or restaurant, my phone communicates with a QR code. I can text my order and someone brings drinks. [Read more…] about Life in a Pandemic: Who am I?

Tags: Chandler’s Ford community, community, Covid-19, Eastleigh, news, reflection, science, storytelling, technology

A Romantic Romp through the NATO Phonetic Alphabet

September 20, 2020 By Christine Clark 7 Comments

In this bit of nonsense, I have included each of the NATO Phonetic Alphabet codewords …

Last November, alpha male Mike and his Zulu boyfriend Charlie took a holiday at the famous golf hotel in Lima. Wanting a break from the game, they took a drive through the delta, up into the sierra, where they heard the famous echo. In the evening they were joined by their yankee soldier friend Victor (who was in uniform) and his Papa.

They all went to the theatre where they saw Romeo and Juliet (it was an Oscar-winning performance – ‘Bravo’, they cried) and then went dancing, first the foxtrot then the tango. [Read more…] about A Romantic Romp through the NATO Phonetic Alphabet

Tags: creative writing, humour, storytelling

The Grand Houses of Chandler’s Ford

August 31, 2020 By Robbie Sprague 30 Comments

It’s an afternoon in August and, after the morning’s continuous rain, my wife and I have been out for a brisk walk around the wooded roads of Brownhill, Merdon, Lake and Lakewood. It’s warm and the overpowering sweet smell of Scots pine and Douglas fir pervades the landscape. There are still large numbers of conifers among the mature oak trees where they were once a dominant species.

I first moved into Lakewood Road in 1955 when the woodlands prevailed; the area to the west of the Lake was a pine forest through which I regularly went horse-riding. It is now, tragically, an inaccessible tangle of overgrown species – but that’s another story!

At that time, in the rectangle of land formed by Hiltingbury, Hocombe, Lakewood and Hursley Roads, there was little development, the oldest house being our neighbours’ house,The White House, the land for which had been acquired in 1908. The area was woodland and heathland. I galloped across this land frequently and, like many other boys, rode my bike aerobatically over ‘the bumps’ behind the present Ashdown Road.

As a young boy, I had that wonderful sense of freedom, space and adventure. The land was ripe to be plundered and developed and, from the 1890s, the land from Ford to Brownhill, and Hiltingbury to Hocombe was destined to fall under the woodman’s axe to make way, initially, for exclusive houses.

Kings Court - Imagine a sweeping gravel driveway and gardens where there is now a car park! — Kings Court – Imagine a sweeping gravel driveway and gardens where there is now a car park!

Tags: architecture, Chandler's Ford, Chandler’s Ford community, local history, local interest, memory, storytelling

Peter Hammerton: My Family, My Life Living in Chandler’s Ford – Part 3

August 23, 2020 By Peter Hammerton 5 Comments

In 1963 I met Mandy Fry, a girl who lived with her parents and sisters in their family farm in Bramdean. Mandy was lodging during the week with my Aunt while she was attending Eastleigh College and that’s how we met when visiting one day.

Peter Hammerton: in 1963, I met Mandy Fry.

Malcolm Road

In October 1966 Mandy and I bought a plot of land in Malcolm Road. We had plans for a house drawn up. Although passed by the local authority, we still had to take the drawings to Scammel & Smith, the local estate agents, to have the drawings approved by them for the Hiltingbury Estates before we could start building. [Read more…] about Peter Hammerton: My Family, My Life Living in Chandler’s Ford – Part 3

Tags: Chandler’s Ford community, community, culture, family, history, local history, memory, storytelling

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My sisters’ memories about our Grandparents

What an achievement! Cycling 15 miles a day for school.

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Party Outdoors

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The Cenotaph.

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Reduced to a Binary Digit

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Malcolm Road

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