Chandler's Ford Today

storytelling

Cat in the Bag

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This is a true story. The illustrations are by my nephew Hari Gopinathan, a talented furniture designer and freelance illustrator Hari Gopinathan (Instagram handle).

Paul,

I owe an apology to your cat. On my evening walk yesterday, I saw him halfway to Tesco, looking lost and forlorn. An elderly couple was engaged in conversation with him. He was instantly recognisable: a mix of tabby and white with tortoise shell grey, playful kitten approaching full cathood, no collar, and slight to moderate belly. It was Sonny and he was lost.

Sonny
Sonny

Sliding my headphones off, I said to the couple,

“It’s my neighbour’s cat”. [Read more…] about Cat in the Bag

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Pandemics and Epidemics – I have been locked-down for 100 days

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By the time you read this, I will have been locked-down for 100 days, from March 9th in fact.

This is not the first epidemic or pandemic I have experienced. The first, in 1961, amounted to nothing very much but, without prompt action, it could have been even more serious than the present one.

I returned home to my student flat late one night to find the door locked and bolted. I rang and banged and shouted and eventually my flat-mate, Taffy, appeared on the balcony.

‘You can’t come in, mate.’

‘Stop messing around, Taffy and let me in.’

‘Can’t, it’s smallpox.’

‘There’s no smallpox here. Let me in.’

Lockdown for 100 days
Lockdown for 100 days

‘But there is in South Wales and in Bradford. We are possible contacts because we spent the weekend in South Wales. We are in quarantine for 10 days and must have no contact with anyone. Public Health sends someone around with food which they leave at the door.’ [Read more…] about Pandemics and Epidemics – I have been locked-down for 100 days

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Music in Chandler’s Ford during Lockdown: “Love thy neighbours is so true”

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Steve Allen has shared these videos, in which he captured some happy moments in the neighbourhood of Chandler’s Ford during the lockdown. These included music on Thursday evenings, and a piper playing for a neighbour’s birthday.

With Steve’s permission, we are sharing these on Chandler’s Ford Today.

1 – Malcolm the Piper was playing for a Scottish lady on her birthday.

Malcolm and lovely neighbours in Chandler's Ford - supporting key workers and sharing community spirit.
Malcolm and lovely neighbours in Chandler’s Ford – supporting key workers and sharing community spirit.

[Read more…] about Music in Chandler’s Ford during Lockdown: “Love thy neighbours is so true”

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VE Day 75 in Chandler’s Ford – Memories of the Original VE Day

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Lakewood Road decided to have a socially separated street party yesterday for VE75. I replied to the invitation and said I was at an original VE day party. Several people expressed an interest in the comments so I thought Chandler’s Ford Today might like to see them. As it turns out, I am not the only one who attended an original party.
[Read more…] about VE Day 75 in Chandler’s Ford – Memories of the Original VE Day

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Care in a Time of COVID

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We are beginning to think of ending the lock-down. How different will it be afterwards?

That little strand of RNA wrapped up as COVID-19 has altered our behaviour. It has shut our institutions; schools, universities, travel, industries, retail and the legal system. Health, policing, food and pharmacy remain active with some local travel.

Some of us have been able to work from home and found it satisfactory. A friend is wondering why he keeps a London office; a weekly meeting in an office hired for half a day may be sufficient. Others strive to work amid the domestic activities of children and housework. The fashion for open-plan living areas in houses has not helped.

Coronavirus image by Karolina Grabowska

[Read more…] about Care in a Time of COVID

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Graffiti

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Banksy has recently created another graffiti; the press goes wild about a competent painting on an ugly blank wall. It is graffiti and not graffito, the singular form is not in use. Banksy’s graffiti is hailed as Art. Why? Why, in a country with at least ten universities giving degrees in art and design, with independent art schools and with flourishing art groups throughout the land; why is a single piece of graffiti something of an event? [Read more…] about Graffiti

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How I Feel about the Pandemic

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As I walked briskly in keeping with the exercise requirements of my diet regime, listening to the intoxicating and incessant drumming in Get Ready by Rare Earth, I had an epiphany: I could be dead in a few weeks because of the pandemic.

Karolina Grabowska photo of stars - image via kaboompics

I didn’t panic, but looked up at the sky and everything appeared so very special – the stars, the golden pancake moon darting between clouds, and even the clouds themselves for their amorphous fluffiness. [Read more…] about How I Feel about the Pandemic

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Tell Me a Story

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At the back of a class of 5-year-olds, I watched a teacher telling a story. Thirty children sat silent and still with mouths agape and eyes fixed on the storyteller. The story, like most children’s stories, held a moral. It was Big Bell and Little Bell. Here was the power of storytelling.

story image by Tumisu via Pixabay

Most of us can remember being told stories. I remember a story about a man pulling a sword from a rock. Grandfather told stories of engineering feats that went wrong. There was a railway engine whose boiler burst as it tried to climb Lickey Incline near Birmingham and how bank engines were provided afterwards to help the climb. [Read more…] about Tell Me a Story

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What’s Your Poison?

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What’s yours? A question asked in bars around the country; whisky, gin, beer. In another context, the question is not asked, because most of us are not interested, but the answer is given at length. What’s your disease?

There is no one so proud as the, now recovered, person describing how baffling and serious their disease has been. ‘None of the doctors knew what it was; I even saw the professor and he did not know.’

bear having a cold image Myriams-Fotos via Pixabay

I eavesdropped on one such conversation at a drinks party. The man described his symptoms well and insisted that the disease was a mystery. I interrupted and asked, did he suffer from diarrhoea and vomiting about two weeks before the illness started? How did I know? He had not realised that this was the start of the illness. [Read more…] about What’s Your Poison?

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Snakes and the Supernatural in Sri Lanka

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Eclipse

Fifteen years to the day after the terrible Tsunami swept across Sri Lanka, another powerful natural phenomenon struck awe and even fear for some of the rural people. The morning sky turned dark.

We had travelled upcountry to a place called Naula, close to the line taken by the total eclipse of the sun. Our friends packed a welder’s visor in their overnight bag. I thought David, an engineer, was planning to do some welding when we reached our destination, but it was his wife who had the foresight. She follows events in the heavens and told us of the eclipse.

When the time came there was cloud cover which was fortunate for me as I managed to take photographs of the eclipse through the clouds. In between the clouds, we observed the eclipse through the visor.

Observing the eclipse from Sri Lanka
Observing the eclipse from Sri Lanka

The cook and some of the staff where we stayed thought it was an intervention of the gods and wanted to go to the temple. Many people did visit temples, churches, kovils and mosques but it was the schoolteachers who could tell them what was happening. We collected the staff and let them all have a look through the visor. One of our Sri Lankan friends explained what was happening, but I am not sure we convinced them all.

Eclipse viewed through cloud. For the techies - Exposure 1:2000th second, f8, 129mm, ISO 80 Camera - Lumix DMC-TZ80
Eclipse viewed through cloud. For the techies – Exposure 1:2000th second, f8, 129mm, ISO 80 Camera – Lumix DMC-TZ80

[Read more…] about Snakes and the Supernatural in Sri Lanka

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Hook Road Hutments and My Family by Peter Russell – Part 3

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Edited by Allison Symes
Image Credit: All images were supplied by Peter Russell

Hello again. I am Peter Brent Russell and I was a child of the Hook Road hutments from June 1950 to Summer 1955. This is Part 3 of my series on The Hutments and, this week, I will be looking at my recollections of hutment life. I will also share my recollections of the other families there.

Once again, if there are further memories/information people would like to share, I would love to hear from you via the comments section. It would be nice to fill in the gaps wherever possible.

Peter Russell
Peter Russell

[Read more…] about Hook Road Hutments and My Family by Peter Russell – Part 3

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Hook Road Hutments and My Family by Peter Russell – Part 2

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Edited by Allison Symes
Image Credit: All images were supplied by Peter Russell

Introduction

I am Peter Brent Russell and I was a child of the Hook Road Hutments for the first five years of my life – June 1950 to Summer 1955. This is Part 2 of my series on The Hutments and, this week, I will be looking at my family background and how we came to be at there at all.

It would be lovely if memories could be shared and if there is further information that people have, please do send in your comments. It would be nice to fill in the “gaps” especially on hutment numbers and family surnames.

Peter Russell
Peter Russell

[Read more…] about Hook Road Hutments and My Family by Peter Russell – Part 2

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Hook Road Hutments and My Family by Peter Russell – Part 1

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Edited by Allison Symes
Image Credit:   All images were supplied by Peter Russell

INTRODUCTION

My name is Peter Brent Russell and I was a child of the Hook Road hutments for the first five years of my life – June 1950 to Summer 1955. I’ve been following and contributing to the main discussion thread on this website since Spring 2016 and noticed the ‘related posts’ by John Rolfe and Liz Stothard/Dee, where photos have been uploaded.

(Editor’s Note: The links to all of the previous posts on The Hutments will follow at the end of this post and throughout the series).

I’ve arranged with Janet Williams to share my posts on The Hutments here, where I can present the results of my research from 2016 onwards and, more personally, upload my family’s recollections and photos for others to share.

Peter Russell
Peter Russell

Many of my findings are based directly on the clear recollections of my mother, Claudia Ruth Russell. I can no longer ask her any questions, as she sadly passed away, aged 97, in October 2018.

Jack, Peter, Ruth; Winchester, 1952-1
Jack, Peter, Ruth; Winchester, 1952

This web page is a tribute to her and my father. [Read more…] about Hook Road Hutments and My Family by Peter Russell – Part 1

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Mr Kipling – Exceedingly Good Memories

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Channel 5 has recently shown the “Secrets of the Mr Kipling Factory” programme. This has triggered many people’s memories, especially those who used to work at Manor Bakeries in Eastleigh.

Our reader Jill Mayes shared her memories of Mr Kipling with us:

Watching Mr Kipling cakes. Both my parents, myself and lots of friends worked for them at Manor Bakeries at some time or other in Eastleigh. I worked off of cupcake alley and they even made my wedding cake. The test bakery cakes were lovely. My mum got a free box of cakes every Christmas until she died. 🧁🍰 exceedingly good memories.

[Read more…] about Mr Kipling – Exceedingly Good Memories

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Meet Local Author Claire Gradidge at the Curious Café on 20th September

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On Friday 20th September, the Curious Café (at The Dovetail Centre, Chandler’s Ford Methodist Church) will be hosting Claire Gradidge, local author and winner of the Richard and Judy “Search for a Bestseller Competition 2019”. [Read more…] about Meet Local Author Claire Gradidge at the Curious Café on 20th September

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The Black and White Dog

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In case I had forgotten, I am reminded. I am back in Delhi, the city of my childhood. “Be careful”, cautions Maya, the caretaker who I had known as a young school girl and is now a mother of three daughters in their twenties. Two of Maya’s front teeth are missing, like absent milestones of time, marking the passage of some 40 years. “Be careful of the dogs, big brother”, she warns me.

I go to the balcony and look outside. Hordes of stray mongrels roam the streets. Some have colourful winter coats on. Occasionally, they settle some canine scores with sporadic fights, but are peaceful on the whole. [Read more…] about The Black and White Dog

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Stolen Murder

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Editor’s note: A new Saturday Story series by Gopi Chandroth

A short version of this story recently won the first prize in a competition held by the Society for Civil and Public Service Writers (SCPSW).

The SCPSW membership is open to civil and public servants, current or retired, including local government, NHS and the police. Contact Gopinath.chandroth@gmail.com for more information. [Read more…] about Stolen Murder

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A Two-Way Ticket for Goats

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Editor’s note: A new Saturday Story series by Gopi Chandroth

A short version of this story recently won the joint first prize in a competition held by the Society for Civil and Public Service Writers (SCPSW).

The SPCSW membership is open to civil and public servants, current or retired, including local government, NHS and the police. Contact Gopinath.chandroth@gmail.com for more information. [Read more…] about A Two-Way Ticket for Goats

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An Ordinary life – Iris’ Incredible Freezer Books

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About two weeks ago, I noticed this posting on a Facebook page called Chandler’s Ford Neighbours:

“Having a big clear out and I’ve found my Nan’s old freezer book! The first entry was July 1973 and the last was Feb 2006!

She kept her freezer so organised!

It’s fascinating looking at the prices of things over the years!” [Read more…] about An Ordinary life – Iris’ Incredible Freezer Books

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Sri Lankan Bombings

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I have visited Sri Lanka over 15 times now, living there for several months every year for the last 10 years. Early visits were during the civil war and there were inconveniences such as roadblocks, curfews and limitations on travel.

On one occasion my friends arranged an escort to the airport. There were no problems with me giving lectures at the University and to audiences containing Sinhala and Tamils. [Read more…] about Sri Lankan Bombings

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