Silver
Surfers (September 4th 2002)
Big hearted Winchester Shop ‘Computer Solutions’ has come
to the rescue of the ‘silver surfers’ at General Johnson
Court in Stanmore by donating a much needed computer to their pioneering
internet project.
“I read that the senior citizens at the court needed a new
computer in the Winchester & Mid-Hampshire Observer last week”
said James Dickens of Computer Solutions “we were really impressed
with the work that they had done and wanted to help.”
Court Manager Dawn Chard said “We are really grateful to Computer
Solutions for their generous donation, now we can visit our site
and update it easily.” The computer project at General Johnson
Court is managed as an ‘Outreach’ scheme by the Adult
Continuing Education Department at Peter Symond’s College,
Winchester.
“We are very pleased with the way the residents have embraced
computer technology” said Elaine “this is the first scheme
of its kind and the award winning website is quite remarkable”.
Residents and guests gathered round the super new machine to view
the Court’s website at www.generaljohnsoncourt.org.
Tea and cakes were served while Harry and James downloaded a printer
driver.
The un-stoppable residents are continuing their computer education
but are now also working towards English qualifications too.
A recent survey revealed that Britain’ s senior citizens are
more active than teenagers. With coach trips, darts matches, card
schools, tea parties, aswell as the Computing and English lessons
the residents at G.J.C are the proof of the pudding.
Computer Solutions famously provided the computer that runs the
graphics on television’s ‘Who wants to be a Millionaire’.
“Whatever your computer requirements we can provide an affordable
solution” said James Dickens “phone us on 01962 870121
or visit us online at www.computersolutionsonline.co.uk
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Low Hitsville in the UK
(September 4th 2002)
A campaign has begun to enable those areas served by the Bishop's
Waltham telephone exchange (01489 89xxxx no's) to get high speed
internet access using broadband (ADSL) technology.
BT have stated that they will not upgrade any further exchanges
with this technology without evidence that it would be viable to
do so. They have, therefore, implemented a pre-registration scheme
and have set 'trigger' levels for most exchanges which have to be
met before they will proceed with any installation.
In the case of the Bishop's Waltham exchange, it has been given
a trigger level of just 200 pre-registrations which is one of the
lowest targets in the country.
Smaller towns and rural communities could be left in the slow lane
of the internet super-highway unless they are prepared to be pro-active.
Further information on how to help the Bishop's Waltham community
to meet its target can be found at www.Broadband4BW.co.uk
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Notting Hill Rumpus
(September 4th 2002)
What better way to spend a sunny bank holiday than swigging gallons
of Red Stripe, jiggling around foolishly and washing it all down
with a goat curry and a rum punch?
That’s right, I spent the weekend at the Notting Hill Carnival,
and it was awesome. On the bus on the way over there we realised
that several other people had the same idea, but on the Sunday,
children‘s day, the crowds were not too tragic.
This was despite the best efforts of the local constabulary. Some
of their crowd control systems defied all logic. For example, if
a street is incredibly busy, what better way to control the mass
of bodies than to put a fence at the end, with a very small gate
in it? Or, another good one is to close off all the pavements, forcing
everyone to walk in a bit of road three metres wide! Still, apart
from the bizzare tactics of ‘de babylon’ the weekend passed
without a hitch.
On Sunday we followed the floats, marvelling at the costumes which
take all year to create, and ‘winding our batties’ to
the steel drums. A ska sound system did the trick for a dance, and
then the frantic search for an after carnival party ensued, as they
shut down most of the systems at 7 o clock. We did quite well, managing
to end up at a party hosted by a Kiwi pornographic film star!
Unfortunately it was not very good, so we went to a night club,
then, tired but happy, returned back to my friend’s house.
Monday dawned grey with the prospect of rain, but we headed West
again, Monday being the day at carnival when people traditionally
have more of a party.
Sunday is floats, Monday more sound systems, and we found a blinder!
Not too crowded, and they were playing real old reggae. The DJ was
so cool that he was unafraid to play popular songs, such as Bob
Marley ‘Is This Love’ and Junior Mervin’s ‘Police
and Thieves’. Dancing in the sun to Marley, Red Stripe aloft,
was a carnival moment so good it was almost a cliche!
Walking back down Ladbroke Grove caused another great moment. As
the remnants of the floats trundled past, each one with a slipstream
of dancing bodies in its wake, one MC enquired as to whether anyone
was from Jamaica. The answer was a resounding yes, and so he put
on the Jamaican national anthem, which boomed down the Georgian
house lined road. To say it was received gleefully would be an understatement,
and, in my case at least, certainly confirmed the old adage that
white people can’t dance!
On that note we decided to call it quits, and strolled off into
the night clutching a fish fritter. However good the music, floats,
people and drinks are, there is no way to make goat curry, dumplings
and fish fritters nice!
Apart from some pushing and shoving, which is inevitable in thin
streets made thinner by the boys in blue, the carnival passed very
peacefully. This is quite a feat when you have a million hammered
people in one area. There were only a hundred arrests. At Reading,
a festival attended by less than 100 000 people, there were 64 arrests.
Yet, carnival is in continual jeopardy of being banned, and attracts
12 000 police. Why is that?
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On The Buses (September
11th 2002)
Winchester MP Mark Oaten spent a couple of hours ‘On the buses’
on Friday (6/9/02) as a guest of Stagecoach South East. Pete Harvey
got a ticket for the journey and brought back these words and pictures.
Climbing behind the wheel of a volvo double decker bus Mark pressed
the start button and the engine roared into life “why can’t
my car do that?” he joked.
The intrepid MP asked why everything made ‘hissing sounds’,
“It’s all air operated” explained Andrew Dyer Managing
Director of Stagecoach South East.
Taking the bus for a spin around the depot at Bar End Mark commented
that the bus had “really light steering”. Mark thought
that the key to driving a bus would be “learning the width
and size of it”, “amazing! I’ve just driven a bus!”
he added.
“The single deckers are longer than this” said Andrew
“the drivers on the school runs in country areas have to negotiate
narrow country lanes and overhanging trees.”
Mark asked about driver training; “we expect a new driver,
coming in with a car licence, to pass their Department of Transport
bus test in a fortnight” said Andrew. “The whole training
period lasts a month, with sections covering customer relations,
health and safety and ticket machine operation. There is also on
the road training and learning all the routes.”
“Are there any Women drivers?” asked Mark “Yes, but
not enough” replied Andrew. “At the moment we are fully
staffed here and turnover is relatively low, the bus driver’s
job in Winchester is more pleasant than in other areas. There are
very few assaults.” Stagecoach run 60 buses from Bar End, driven
by 105 drivers and serviced by 26 engineers.
A mature looking gentleman drove across the car-park in a green
training bus “we recruit all ages” said Phil Medlicott
the Operations Manager from Stagecoach South East in Chichester.
Mr. Oaten visited the workshops, paint shop and control room before
taking the Park & Ride service to the bus station in the High
Street. The Winchester MP took the opportunity to ask the Stagecoach
bosses questions that his constituents had raised with him.
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Pollen
Counts (September 11th 2002)
Winchester
City Council has been running its annual gardening competition
for tenants across the district, and the aptly named Parks &
Recreation Officer Nigel Trowell has had his work cut out judging
the competition staged by the Health & Housing department.
Best Front Garden winner was Bernie Sheppard of Mitford Road,
Alresford, whose small plot explodes with colour a water feature
and a bath chair filled with blooms. Bernie, who has lived in
Alresford for 42 years, thought the rubbish weather earlier in
the year had washed out his chances and didn’t bother telling
his missus ‘Helen’ that he’d gone in for the competition.
The Sheppard’s lawn is like a putting green. Now retired,
they have time for the daily dead heading that they say keeps
flowering displays going for weeks.
Ron Ruddle of Claylands Road, Bishops Waltham slam dunked the
Best Hanging Basket prize with a blaze of colour.
Ron’s huge basket bursts with surfina petunias, begonias,
fuchsias, verbena and lobelia. Generous Ron created some 25 baskets
this year, many of which he gave to family and friends, taking
some 300 cuttings. “You need to treat your plants like children
and not overfeed them” says Ron.
The Best Sheltered Scheme Prize went to Matilda Place in Gordon
Road, Winchester, where Scheme Manager Lynne Carr nurtures 15
baskets and 21 tubs with absolute dedication, helped by her deputies
Mary Lawrence and Sandie Russell. The residents love sitting outside
in their sheltered courtyard garden, just absorbing the perfume
and colour of the display, along with Jaycee a Siamese cat.
Doreen Feltham of Godson House was awarded a special Judges Prize
because of her wonderful balcony, which fills her living room
with perfume.
This tiny area was crammed with sweet peas, petunias, stocks,
lillies, carnations, nasturtiums, lobelia and snapdragons, giving
partially-sighted Mrs. Feltham immense pleasure.
Doreen paid tribute to her carer Kate who, in her own time, maintained
this sweet smelling bower. “I hope Mrs. Feltham will be able
to find some more smelly plants to enjoy,” said Nigel, as
all the winners received gardening vouchers.
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The
Soft Boys Return (September 11th 2002)
Seminal and highly influential post punk psychedelic storytellers
the Soft Boys release their new album "Nextdoorland"
on the Matador label on September 24th.
This follows their acclaimed sell-out reunion tour last spring.
The line-up is the classic one which recorded their breakthrough
US album "Underwater Moonlight": Robyn Hitchcock, Kimberley
Rew, Matthew Seligman and Morris Windsor.
When the Soft Boys split, Kimberley Rew formed Katrina & the
Waves and wrote them a big hit single ("Walking On Sunshine"),
along with the classic "Going Down to Liverpool" for
the Bangles. Seligman worked with David Bowie and Thomas Dolby,
performing with both at Live Aid. Windsor stuck around and played
drums with Robyn Hitchcock & the Egyptians. And of course
Hitchcock became a prolific singer, songwriter, visual artist
and movie star. His screen début "Storefront Hitchcock"
was directed by Jonathan Demme ('Silence Of The Lambs').
Robyn is also one of the few UK artists to sell substantial numbers
of records in the USA, where he has worked wth the Flaming Lips,
Grant Lee Phillips and, most notably, REM, who recorded Robyn's
song "Arms Of Love".
The band will tour extensively in the US this Autumn. Prior to
that, they play one London show at the Mean Fiddler, for which
they will perform an exclusive and intimate warm-up at Winchester's
Railway Inn on Wednesday October 16th.
The last time the Soft Boys played in Winchester was on February
24th 1978!
Support comes from Mark Andrews, colleague of Joe Jackson, who
coincidentally has also just re-formed his original band.
Tickets at £7.50 each are available on a first-come, first-served
basis by ringing 01962-714520.
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Listed
Firestarter (September 11th 2002)
The Mayor of Winchester Councillor John Steel visited Twyford
Water Works Trust to publicise this year’s Winchester Open
Weekend which will be held this weekend the 14th and 15th of September
2002.
Winchester Open Weekend throws open doors that are normally closed
to the public and provides a good opportunity to get out and about
in the district.
Mayor Steel stoked the Babcock and Wilcox boiler which powers
the Hawthorn and Davey steam pump which has helped to provide
one hundred years of uninterrupted water supply to rural areas.
Twyford Waterworks is a scheduled ancient monument and a new participant
in the Winchester Open Weekend along with Waltham Chase Mill at
Bishop’s Waltham and the Meadowside Centre at Whiteley. Firm
WOW favourites return from last year, including the Cathedral,
with a multitude of family activities, the fire station and the
Bishop’s residence at Wolvesey.
WOW is part of the national Heritage Open Days scheme co-ordinated
by the Civic Trust and supported by the Department of Culture,
Media and Sport. A full listing of national openings can be found
on the website www.heritageopendays.org.uk or call 020 7930 9294.
A free colour leaflet is available from tourist information centres.
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Blissfields
(September 18th 2002)
The Second Blissfields Festival held somewhere between Basingstoke
and Winchester on Saturday 31st August was a free event now in its
second year. The resourceful organisers rely heavily on what they
can scrounge and beg.
‘Blissfields 2’ managed a professionalism to rival larger
festivals. With performers not charging, donated staging, and the
sweetest sound system the founders were able to raise £500
for the local school music department.
Warm sun and a gentle breeze combined with the soulful jazz of London’s
‘West Quartet’ and ‘Legabio’ who began the music
and set the theme for the day ‘relax and enjoy’.
Next on were a last minute find ‘30,000 Days’, who treated
the crowd to their perfect blend of indie and pop. ‘Coldshot’
returned to jazz, but with a tinge of rock, giving them a full,
rich sound.
Then, interrupted by noisy tractor rides, filled with excited kids,
Andy Comley treated us to his special heart rending and compelling
acoustic set.
As the
light began to fade, and a golden sunset dappled the field of contented
festival goers ‘The Southampton Automatics’ seized the
stage to deliver their tight rock set, with more than a head-butt
in the direction of the late seventies.
The lighting came into its own as the sun sank and ‘Strange
Mutant Virus’ filled our senses with their twisted rock from
a parallel universe. Regular performers in London, this was their
second trip to Blissfields
‘Blazing Homesteads’ got the crowd to their feet and kept
them there, as their good time music transported us to a deep south
roadhouse where we danced ‘til midnight.
Later than planned, but what better time than midnight to bring
on the warped, brilliant sound of Bishop’s Waltham band ‘Skuba’?
With a peacock of a front man, they kept the remaining crowd entertained
until one thirty a.m. Sorry neighbours!
An old school festival run by and for music fans, Blissfields 2
entertained and inspired the crowd for twelve hours in a perfect
slice of Hampshire countryside.
Blissfields is a ticket only event, if you would like to enjoy next
year’s festival email blissfields@gaydog.co.uk
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Pray Silence (September
18th 2002)
Last Wednesday, as I am sure you realised, was the anniversary of
the attacks on America by Osama Bin Laden and his cronies.
A service was held in Winchester Cathedral to commemorate the tragic
events, in which more than 3000 innocent people died.
There were a great deal of people there, although it was not as
mobbed as I had envisaged. Mark Oaten, local MP, the Mayor, the
Bishop and other dignitaries of the city were there to, in the words
of the Dean, “remember those who died in the terrorist attacks,
and to pray for the bereaved and those who still carry injuries.”
After an introduction we were led through the Lord’s Prayer,
a hymn and then a reading by Mrs Mary Fagan, the Lord Lieutenant
of Hampshire. This seemed appropriate, as it was all about asking
God for strength and the like.
In one of the nicest cathedrals in the country it seemed prudent
to have someone extolling ‘be still and know that I am God.’
However, the poem that came afterwards seemed almost trite. Such
lines as ‘imagining what might have been, the phone call from
the blazing tower, a last farewell on the machine while someone
sleeps another hour,’ seemed out of place in an environment
so steeped in history and worthiness.
After this, though, came a recital of ‘yea though I walk through
the valley of death,’ which seemed somehow more fitting. Then
a few more prayers and hymns we were sung out by the choir, and
that was lovely.
The light shining through the stained glass and down the nave was
really quite effective. The Dean had tailor made some prayers for
the event, and one which stuck with me was when he prayed that the
world leaders be given the wisdom of God to guide them. As God is
ostensibly a ‘just God of mercy’, I like to think that
he was hoping that this wisdom will guide the madman across the
water and his lackey, our Tony, away from the course of Armageddon
that they seem to be intent on at the moment.
I bumped into Mark Oaten outside. “I was very impressed by
the ceremony,” he said. “It brings it all flooding back,
and it is good that everyone can pause to remember what happened.”
Mark was all the way over in Africa, in Burkinha Faso on a fact
finding mission when the planes hit the towers. “It truly was
a global event,” he said.
Mark was also keen to point out that the events of September 11,
while overwhelmingly tragic, should not be used to give carte blanche
to an attack on Iraq. These sentiments were echoed by a group of
Quakers out the front. This slightly bizarre looking bunch were
holding a banner saying ‘remember all the innocent victims.’
What they were on about was, whilst not belittling the tragedy of
September 11, is that there have been an awful lot of other conflicts
where innocent people have died. They even had a list of all the
wars they could think of, and the tally next to it of how many civilians
had died. These ranged from the Mexican revolution to the Greek
civil war, from Nigeria to the French colonies. While making me
realise how appalling my history is (I had never heard of the Greek
civil war) it hit home how many innocents die every year. Millions
went in China over a few years, and a good few were taken care of
in Rwanda, a genocide that barely made the six’o’clock
news here.
So, while obviously the 3000 who died in America deserve our grief,
we should not let it cloud our judgement. If it is allowed to give
Bush a reason to go and open a can of whoop ass on whoever he wants
then the final tally will be significantly higher than 3000.
By Max Jones
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Less Is More (September
18th 2002)
The Fine Art and Design MA Degree show has kicked off at the Winchester
School of Art (it is on display at the Winchester Campus until Friday
20th September) Pete Harvey was there for the Private View.
A year has been formed from temporal clay, baked in a kiln and dashed
against the wall of my existence since last year’s Degree Show.
While we at the Observer have laboured with words and pictures it
turns out that the Winchester MA students have been doing much the
same.
Video installations, are they a visual notepad, or just a load of
rubbish? I’ve seen loads of these things now and must say that
the standard of film-making is generally poor and I don’t want
to look up an artist’s nose for twenty minutes while they witter
on about their navels.
‘Imighrant’(sic) - Anya Moloney’s ‘I am not
speaking today’ on the other hand was great, she didn’t
speak for a day and wrote her diary in pencil on the wall. Anya
concealed a sign inside her coat that said ‘I am not speaking
today’ and flashed it at people if things were getting weird.
Anya had also made a complete inventory of her possessions with
annotations like ‘leather trousers - don’t fit anymore
gave away’. Anya’s exhibit felt brave and intimate, even
though there were lots of video pieces, this daughter of Ireland
(b.1977) deserves a gold star.
Painter Sandra Perry did her degree at Southampton Institute and
has painted ten startling canvasses for her MA show. I asked her
if there were images under the mysterious colour assaults. “They
are my dirty secrets” laughed Sandra. Sandra begins her pieces
by making the wooden frames and stretching the canvas. Then a doodle
becomes a shape and the shape gets thrashed with colour layers.
The paintings are really intriguing, I could see a blue woman rushing
across ‘Limax Maximus’ and another figure lurking noirishly
in the predominately red ‘Philomycus Carolialianus’. I
really liked these paintings. Sandra told me where she got the peculiar
titles for her pieces and then told me it was a secret. Secrets
eh?! I bet if you ask Trevor Codlin at the London Camera Exchange
he’d know.
Paul Ayres has come up with some arrestingly simple blue designs
on large canvasses. “Less is more is the great MA maxim”
said an ex-student “you end up providing a sperm sample on
a disk”. Mariona Giner had wrapped portable televisions up
in sweet wrappers and newspapers ‘We are all Junkies’
exclaims her title. “We are all junkies” I said to ‘Eclipse
set’ main-stay Paul outside the gallery. “Whoah! steady
on, hang about, mmm, I see what you mean, mmm” said Paul rubbing
his chin reflectively. There you go Mariona, the power of your work
is tangible.
Go and see this show for yourself. There is a mass of work on display
at the Art School encompassing Printmaking, Textile Art, Sculpture
and Fashion Design. You will need a few hours to get round it.
I ventured into the sculpture area. One artist had brought the outside
in. Stepping into his installation you are presented with a hill
of earth and grass and assorted tat, must have needed a dumper truck
and where did the earth come from?
Sculptor Katie Chambers has bashed and chiselled a whole room full
of wooden tables, chairs, bureaux and wardrobes to bits. “Chiselling
away removes the identity of furniture” said Katie “in
the same way that people can talk hurtfully to people and scar them,
point them in a direction, they’re metaphors carved with a
chisel. Domestic and violent, about my family, it has helped me
understand why something has happened. The MA course is about finding
out who you are, about trusting your instincts. Its about hurt,
violence..whatever..”
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Driving Miss Crazy (September
18th 2002)
A Winchester man is being tried for dangerous driving and assault
causing actual bodily harm.
23 year old John Wise steamed up the High Street late on a Saturday
night as he claimed that he found the one way system confusing!
He also had a late night reveller on his bonnet! John had left his
part time job as a doorman in Greens Wine Bar, and had then gone
on to enjoy a nice drink at the Guildhall Tavern, before heading
home at around 1 am.
As there were so many drunk people around, Mr Wise says that he
was more concerned about hitting them than following the road signs!
However, his driving up the street in an unauthorised fashion obviously
caused Ian Thompson vast amounts of umbridge.
Perhaps he is an ardent advocate of our road and transport system.
Anyway, Mr Thompson leapt on the bonnet of the car and started kicking
it, before he was thrown off, gaining a cut to his head that needed
seven stitches. Mr Wise did not stop immediatly, as he said "there
were large groups of passers by who I thought may attack me."
He did eventually give his keys to another passer by. Mr Wise says
that CCTV footage of the event, which has been shown to the jurors,
will totally vindicate him. The case continues.
3 Wheeler
Kenneth Bignell did not claim confusion caused him to be caught
burning down the M3 in a car with only three wheels. Shocked policemen
looked on as Mr Bignell, 32, drove the five miles between Eastleigh
and Winchester with sparks coming from where his front ledft wheel
should be.
“The whole chassis was glowing yellow,” said one onlooker.
Blood tests showed him to be three times over the legal drink drive
limit.
He was sentenced to 100 hours community service, a 2 year communtiy
rehabilitation order and to attend a drink drivers programme.
By
Max Jones
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Show Jumping (September
18th 2002)
The 160th Romsey Show took place at Broadlands on Saturday (14/09/02).
Approximately 30,000 people turned out in the sunshine to cheer
on the contestants and displays in the arenas. There was an astonishing
amount to see at the show, including; Scurry Driving, Dressage,
Falconry, Dancing Diggers, Coventry Corps of Drums, Heavy Horses,
Dog Handling, Country Crafts, the Clear-Round Competition and lots,
lots more.
The Parade of Cattle made a welcome return to the show for the first
time since the Foot & Mouth epidemic. The Winchester & Mid
Hampshire Observer sponsored the ‘Fur & Feather’ tent.
“Fur and Feather was an innovation in 2001 in response to Foot
& Mouth” said Annie Carder the new Show Secretary “it
proved so popular that we have kept it on.” “A fantastic
show, with fantastic weather, and a fantastic turnout provided a
great welcome for our new Secretary” said the Show’s Vice
Chairman Dave Coombs.
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City
Council must define reserve MDA Site (September 25th 2002)
Winchester City Council, is in the process of deciding which area
of land to the north of Winchester should be allocated for the 2000
new dwellings and associated facilities required by the Hampshire
County Structure Plan Review as a ‘reserve’ Major Development
Area (MDA).
The move comes after the Council has been told by the Strategic
Planning Authorities (Hampshire County Council, Southampton City
Council and Portsmouth City Council) that the revised District Local
Plan Review, due to be published early in 2003, should define the
boundary of the Major Development Area (MDA) north of Winchester.
The revised District Local Plan Review will contain requirements
for the reserve MDA’s master planning, and the Strategic Authorities
consider that failure to define the site of the proposed MDA would
mean that the Winchester City Council’s Local Plan would not
meet the requirements of the Structure Plan Review.
There will be a public inquiry into the Local Plan starting in late
2003 and the Major Development Area is expected to be one of the
main issues to be debated.
The Council is determined that if the development does have to go
ahead, it should be of the highest quality and that public concerns
about the impact on Winchester and local facilities should be addressed.
It believes this can only be done if the Council leads the process.
To do nothing at this stage runs the risk of the Council being merely
an onlooker at the Public Inquiry, as developers battle to persuade
the Inquiry Inspector that their sites should be developed, with
their proposals for how much infrastructure, affordable housing,
and local facilities they will offer.
The City Council’s Cabinet, meeting on 4 September 2002, has
accepted that an area must be identified and a start made on the
design principle of such an MDA.
Leader of the Council Sheila Campbell said, “we do not want
or expect the Strategic Authorities to release the reserve MDA site
for development, given the number of sites coming forward for development
in the District’s existing settlements. This planning exercise
does not make an MDA more likely to happen, but this is about who
leads the planning of the MDA if it should have to go ahead in the
future. If the Council does not have any clear proposals for how
and where such development should be carried out, developers will
take the lead. The work being done by Council officers at the moment
is the minimum required to protect the interests of the environment
and community of Winchester.”
Director of Development Services Steve Bee said, “this would
be the first major expansion of Winchester since Badger Farm, Harestock
and Abbots Barton were planned in the 1960s. We want to make sure
that, if development has to happen, it meets the needs of the Winchester
community, and is laid out in a way, which minimises its impact.
To do that we have to set out now what we want and where we think
it would best be located."
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Welly Vision Highlights (September
25th 2002)
Out of the approximately 400 000 people who descended on London
for the countryside rally on Sunday, it was reckoned at least 10
000 were from Hampshire.
Most of these seemed to be on the train with me in the morning,
as opposed to the popular image of them all heading up to the big
city by horse drawn cart and oxen! I sat opposite Alex Clarke, a
florid faced farm worker from Twyford. Alex was off to put in his
tuppenceworth at the march to protest about low wages on the farm.
“I have lived in Twyford all my life, my parents are from there
and yet I will never be able to buy a house in the village. My boss
does not make enough to pay me a living wage, and the houses are
so pricey because people from London come down and buy them. People
think farmers are all loaded, and maybe once upon a time they were,
but not any more” he said.
Alex agreed with me, though, that the people selling the houses
for so much are the country folk themselves. I can’t imagine
someone being approached by a stockbroker to sell their cottage
for half a million quid and saying “no I’m going to give
it to Jethro round the corner for a bag of spuds and his first born!”
There were some serious issues at stake though, and the protesters
gripes ranged from saying ‘leave hunting alone’ to the
demise of rural bus services, from house prices to the way the foot
and mouth epidemic was handled.
To my mind disappointingly, the pro hunt lobby were very much in
evidence, their banners eclipsing everything else. William Dodd
was on the train, going to town to defend his right to kill foxes.
“Foxes are vermin and need to be killed, my horse needs to
be run and I enjoy it,” said Wiliam pugnaciously. William,
who lives in Winchester, hunts all over Hampshire. I joined the
march in Trafalgar square, and it was awe inspiring to see such
a mob.
Whatever you may think of their opinions, there is no denying that
rural folk look cool. I have decided my new image will be country
gent, tweeds, brogues and a really nice shooting coat.
There were normal folk in amongst the gentry, although you would
not have thought it as we wended our way down through St James,
and the land of the ‘gentleman’s’ clubs. Champagne
swigging toffs seemingly leaned out of every window cheering on
their cronies in the street, unconcerned that they were perpetuating
every stereotype of themselves.
Undaunted, I managed to slip into the Reform club, where I enjoyed
a lovely glass of champagne before the doorman realised his mistake!
As I was lurking on a corner watching the two marches converge,
(the liberty march and the livelihood one) I realised that there
seemed to be a few insults flying in my direction. It dawned on
me that I was unwittingly standing with the anti hunt lobby!
The streams of vitriol coming in their direction was amazing, drunk
bumpkins spitting in their faces and informing them that “there
are 400,000 of us and we are going to have you.”
The anti hunt mob did not seem to care though. My favourite was
a drunk punk who had scrawled ‘all hunters are w*****s’
on the back of his jacket! The buildings round there are amazing,
and it was good to have the backdrop of Downing Street as we marched.
I got chatting to some diverting horsy fillies, jodphurs and flat
caps being a favourite look of mine. However, suddenly I had enough,
couldn't handle any more braying accents, bugles going off in my
ear and people carrying ‘hands off hunting’ signs.
So, I slipped off down a side street, went to a bar on a boat called
Tattershall Castle and had a few beers, which was lovely with the
Houses of Parliament as a backdrop, and the sun still shining.
Several country folk had got there before me, and a friend of mine
who was out and about in London told great stories of drunken, bemused
yokels stumbling around London until the early hours!
By Max Jones
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If You Go Down To The Woods
Today (September
25th 2002)
Abook about caring for Hampshire woodland was launched in the North
Plantation near Overton (18/9/02).
‘What Happened To Our Wood’ by Julian Evans comes as a
sequel to the critically acclaimed ‘A wood of our own,’
and is richly illustrated with 76 pen and ink sketches by artist
and forester John White, and by the author’s son, Stephen Evans.
“My wife came to me one day and said, I don’t think anyone
has ever written a book concerning the story of a wood. ‘A
Wood Of Our Own’ seemed very popular…..there was definitely
a gap in the market.”
The launch was attended by Mayor John Steel (the wood’s co
- owner), Gerry Trayner, (deputy Mayor of Basingstoke and Deane),
Mr Evan’s felling contractor Dougal, The Reverend Clive Anderson,
and various family members.
After a twenty minute formal address by members of the group Mr
Evans took the party on a short tour of his wood, stopping at significant
intervals to fill everyone in on the history of certain trees, and
pointing out areas that had sentimental value. Everyone was in high
sprits in response to Mr Evan’s enthusiasm and sense of humour.
“An article was once written by an Indian Forester, who argued
that if you make a noise next to a tree it will grow faster. They
used to hang bells at the top of trees” said Mr. Evans.
The inlay of the book promises not just information on the woods
natural and local history, but tales of ‘encounters with all
sorts of people from Policeman to Papua New Guineans.’
Alan Titchmarsh, a fellow woodland owner and personal friend of
Mr Evan’s, has written a foreword to the book; “Woodland
is not all that it seems, and this is the fun of Julian’s new
book.”
Mr Evans also writes regularly for ‘Country Smallholding’,
advises the Forestry and Timber Association on small woods.
He has also broadcast on national and local radio about woodlands,
and is the author of 10 other books and technical papers. ‘What
happened to our wood’ published by ‘Patula books,’
is priced at £19.95, is out now to buy.
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