About 60 people gathered today in Lee-on-the-Solent to remember Rosemary Hampton (10 May 1930 – 16 June 2020). There were reminiscences from her sister Jen and three daughters Fiona, Judy and Nicki. We then raised a glass to her, as she had for her ninetieth birthday last year, and had tea.
The club would normally have hosted a large tea party in August for the local groups from Re-engage (previously Contact the Elderly). This was not possible this year, particularly at the scale we used to host at the Wheelhouse at Hill Head. However, club member Carolyne held a small tea party at her home with 2 other club members, Rosemary and Alison. There were 5 guests who came along, to the first tea party in 18 months.
The club has had 3 cherry trees planted in Lee-on-the-Solent Recreation Ground. These were arranged for us by Dave Stubington, the Gosport Borough Council arborist. He got in touch again, to say that the plaque we had ordered for them was ready. So, there was a small installation ceremony held on Wednesday 28 July at 3pm. About 8 members of the club were available, to witness the event.
Some members of the club gather on a Wednesday afternoon for a walk somewhere local. One example of this from back in May or June was round a part of Lee-on-the-Solent. They walked to the Elmore pond to see ducks and moorhens. The return had to be through the centre of Lee as the Browndown range gate was closed and the red flag flying. Once back in the middle of Lee, the group of 6 took the opportunity to stop for a drink.
Our club meeting in July was always a walk followed by a pub supper. This year we decided to go ahead with the same format, after the COVID restrictions were lifted. And so it was that members of the club, and a few partners, gathered at The Ship Inn at Langstone for a short walk to the mill and back before supper. The meal was technically outside, but thankfully under cover in a marquee. It was good to see everybody!
At the club meeting in June, on Zoom, we heard from Sophie Lombard, the owner of Confiserie Verdonk in Wickham Square. She and her mother (now retired) have run the chocolate shop there for the last 20 years. The original Belgian owner, who gave the place its name, started the business some years earlier. Mr Verdonk and all subsequent owners have been purveyors of top quality Belgian chocolates. There have been hard times, when trying to expand to another shop in Southsea, and through the 2008 recession, Brexit and COVID-19. Friends in the Square helped out during the pandemic, allowing Click and Collect while the shop was shut, when Sophie set up a website. She has seen profits eroded by increased costs due to currency fluctuations and Brexit paperwork, but has stuck to a quality product with a continental style of packaging. See the box
At the club meeting in May, on Zoom, we heard from Dave Stubington, the Gosport Borough Council arborist who arranged for our 3 cherry trees to be planted in Lee-on-the-Solent Recreation Ground. They will need some tending over the next few years, but Dave and his team will be there to make sure they get established.He had started work with no particular interest in trees, but ended up responsible for over 70,000 of them! The storm of 1987 had seen him called out at 2am to collect a chain saw and deal with all the fallen and hung-up trees. He went on to study at Sparsholt College, and after he qualified, he took the new role of Tree Officer for the council.
In lieu of presenting at our speaker meeting in May, Paul Strong has shared with us the chapter he wrote for a book on Women in War. It describes the ‘Night Witches’ and Soviet snipers he would have mentioned in his talk to the club. Here are some extracts from his chapter, and a picture of Lyudmila Pavlichenko, the most successful female sniper in history. The ‘night witches’ was the German nickname for a Russian female flying unit, formed in June 1942 by Colonel Marina Raskova as the 588th Night Bomber Regiment, and re-designated in February 1943 as the 46th Taman Guards Night Bomber Regiment. The ‘night witches’ flew night harassment missions, often making their final approach with the engines in idle to ensure surprise. Their main task was to damage or disrupt key German installations. The Germans soon learned to respect these women and
A group of thirteen club members visited the historic Whitchurch Silk Mill. Located on the River Test it’s the oldest silk mill still operating in the country. The mill was built in 1813 originally as a saw mill but then converted to a silk mill in 1817. It has had various owners over the years but was famous around the turn of the twentieth century when they made the silk lining for the Burberry jackets and coats worn by the military. At its peak it had nearly 100 workers but that shrunk to eight by 1901. 1985 saw the Building Preservation Trust buy the property which is now a working museum open to the public. Our visit started with a nice buffet lunch followed by a tour with a very knowledgeable guide around the property inside and out. Everyone enjoyed the experience along with seeing
Roxanne Martin joined us at our speaker meeting to talk about Red Box, a nationwide project to provide free menstrual products within schools. As their website says, the Red Box Project quietly ensures that no young person misses school because they have their period. Having started in Portsmouth, it is now a growing project nationwide, with supermarkets, and other venues, providing collection points for sanitary products, wipes, knickers and tights. These are then distributed by the coordinators to red plastic boxes in schools. Signs on the back of toilet doors say where to ask for the red box and put what you need in a paper bag to walk away with – it is designed for those having accidents, so they can sort themselves out and go back into class, or to supply sanitary protection for the length of their period if they have nothing
