- St. Michael’s Hospice Farleigh Wallop Woodland Walk
- Basingstoke Discovery Centre – March Events
- Probus Hears About Thornycoft in Basingstoke
- Basingstoke Civil Service Retirement Fellowship
- Thousands of Pounds Raised for Local Charities by Southern Co-op
- Basingstoke And District Railway Society
St. Michael’s Hospice Farleigh Wallop Woodland Walk
With spring on its way, it’s the perfect time to plan a wonderful day out at the St. Michael’s Hospice Woodland Walk taking place around the beautiful Portsmouth Estate, Farleigh Wallop on Sunday 7th April.
With stunning views across the rolling Hampshire countryside, blooming bluebells and the opportunity to walk your dog whilst spending quality time with friends and family, there is no better way to start the new season.
Starting from 9.30am, there are two routes, 5 or 10 miles which both guarantee to give you a superb day out, followed by a delicious cream tea in the impressive setting of Home Barn.
Laura Hughes, Events Manager at St. Michael’s Hospice said “As our first Hospice event of the year, we can’t wait to welcome our walkers to the Portsmouth Estate to enjoy a wonderful day out in the Hampshire countryside. We are extremely privileged to have access to the prestigious estate and we can’t wait for our supporters to explore the estate in full bloom. As with all our Hospice events, the funds raised are essential to our work at the Hospice where this year we will need to raise £3.1 million to keep our vital services running.”
For further information about the Woodland Walk and all Hospice events, please visit: www.stmichaelshospice.org.uk/events. You can also contact the Events team at events@stmichaelshospice.org.uk or call 01256 848 848.
Follow St. Michael’s Hospice on Twitter @smhbasingstoke and look out for #WoodlandWalk
Basingstoke Discovery Centre – March Events
Main Events
Hampshire Folklore Talk –Tuesday 5 March, 2pm / £4
Join author Penny Legg for a peep at the wonderful world of Hampshire’s folklore. This talk showcases traditions, customs and legends that may seem strange to us in the twenty-first century but were very real to the Hampshire folk of yesteryear.
Flying the Canberra – a personal perspective – Tuesday 26 March, 2pm/ £4
Squadron Leader Joe Marsden’s presentation will concentrate on flying the RAF’s first jet bomber – the Canberra. His talk will be illustrated by photos and film clips to show its capability, briefly covering the history but mainly talking about the personal aspects of flying this famous aircraft. Come and discover a wealth of facts and anecdotes about this record-breaking aircraft.
Gardening for Butterflies – Thursday 28th March, 5pm / £8
This talk will tell the story of Butterflies and their fascinating lifecycles and reveal the problems that many species face within their habitats. The talk will also look at what species can be found in Britain and how we can attract these wonderful creatures to our gardens.
Willow Basket Workshop for Families – Saturday 30 March: 9.30-11am and 11.30am – 1pm/ £6. For ages 5+ (parent/carer free with a ticketed child).
Join Judith Needham for a fun 90-minute workshop to create a simple plaited basket for your Easter eggs.
**British Science Night**
Thursday 14th March
From 6:30pm.
Talks are £5 each, or £8 to attend two talk of you choosing.
Born to Sum – Why I love Maths … and why you should too – 6:30pm
A musical performance by singing maths-comedian Kyle D Evans. Kyle will take you on a comedic musical tour through some unexpected parallels between maths and pop. Come prepared for a fun night for maths enthusiasts and novices alike.
Brain Glue – Sticking it to Dementia. A talk with neuroscientist Dr Mark Dallas (Reading University) – 7:30pm
Neuroscientists Dr Mark Dallas tells us how understanding ‘brain glue’ could hold the secret to detecting dementia decades before the first symptoms appear. He will take you on a neuroscience journey to explore the ‘hoovers’ and ‘police officers’ in your head and how dementia affects them.
The Electric Universe – a unique and controversial talk on astronomy by Paul Malone – 7pm
Artist Paul Malone takes the audience on a unique and controversial tour of the Universe. Originally devised to introduce artists and designers to the wide range of forms we see in modern astronomy, the talk is ‘image rich’; being assembled using the latest photographs from Space and explanatory clips for YouTube.
The Theory of Relativity – a talk be Emma Osbourne – 8:30pm
In this interactive talk, Emma will take you on a journey through the cosmos using Einstein’s theory of relativity, where you will discover the weird and wonderful events that take place in the universe, enabling you to explore the boundaries where science meets science fiction. Emma has worked with the London Science Museum, The Royal Society and the BBC, as well as regularly creating content for her popular YouTube channel ‘The Extraordinary Universe’, Instagram and Twitter.
Children’s Events
Children’s Craft – Saturday 16th March: 10am to 12pm
Creative fun for Mother’s Day. Make a little something for Mother’s Day.
Learning in Libraries at Basingstoke Discovery Centre
Mixed Media & Metal Embossing Workshop – ‘Fantastic-Scape’ Saturday 2nd March: 10am to 4pm/ £30, plus an additional £2 for materials.
This course is designed to introduce learners to creating exciting and innovative mixed media and metal embossed artwork based on the theme ‘Fantastic-Scapes’.
Simple Business Website – Saturday 9th (12:30pm – 4pm) & 23th March (11:30am – 4pm) 2-week course £40
This course is designed for anyone who needs to create a simple website in a cost-effective way and manage it themselves. It is suitable for anyone who would like to improve their skills and create a business website.
Probus Hears About Thornycoft in Basingstoke
Today Morrison’s supermarket sits on part of the site Thornycroft established their works when moving from Chiswick to Basingstoke in 1898. The Thornycroft roundabout is close by.
Garry Bone, a director of the Thornycroft Society, gave an insight of the changing fortunes of Thornycroft in a presentation to the Probus Club of Basingstoke.
Thornycroft steam powered lorries were supplied to the British Army from the Boer War onwards, with commercial versions sold to many retail customers. Introducing petrol engines in the early 1900s saw Thornycroft making cars until 1913 henceforth concentrating on lorry and bus production.
During WW1 over 5,000 J Type lorries were produced with many adaptions. They also made marine engines, trench mortars, depth charge throwers and munitions.
Post war saw surplus military vehicles depressing new orders but by the mid 1920s the company was rising again. Many orders for lorries came from railway companies with about half of the output exported.
By the 1930s eleven models of lorries were reduced to turn round the loss making Thornycroft. In 1930 they had 1800 employees reducing to 731 by 1936 returning to profitability.
WW2 saw Thornycroft working 24 hours a day with 2,500 employees, over 800 being women. Specialist military vehicles were made, two pounder and 17pounder guns, torpedo parts and many engine parts. 2,000 Nippy and Sturdy lorries were made for civilian work.
1948 saw the subsidiary company Transport Equipment (Thornycroft) Ltd formed. The introduction of the Mighty Antar heavy duty tractor unit was very successful with the UK military using this vehicle in many guises as its main heavy transporter.
Associated Commercial Vehicles (ACV) bought TET in 1961. Basingstoke would concentrate on the Mighty Antar, Big Ben and Nubian heavy duty vehicles. Leyland Group bought AVC in 1962, whose subsidiary, Scammell, also produced specialised lorries which led to reducing orders for Basingstoke.
In 1972 British Leyland sold the Basingstoke works to the Eaton Corporation of Ohio. Employees reduced from 1,100 to 738 with the pledge to keep them in its transmission business. This did not last long as the last lorry was built in 1972 and the works sold in January 1973.
(Bob Clarke is acknowledged as providing many of the above statistics)
See www.probusbasingstoke.wordpress.com
Basingstoke Civil Service Retirement Fellowship
There were 53 members at the meeting held on 6th February who enjoyed the usual tea, coffee and biscuits before David Cowling, the Chairman, welcomed everyone and gave apologies from those unable to attend. Christine Broadbent, the Welfare Officer, gave her report after which Tony Brazier, the Secretary, reminded everyone about the trip to the Theatre Royal at Winchester on Wednesday 20th March to see “The Verdict” when the coach would leave Oakley at 10.45 and the Leisure Park at 11.00
Bookings were now being taken for the trips to the Bombay Sapphire Distillery and Hinton Ampner on Thursday 18th April and to Kew Palace and Garden on Wednesday 8th May.
The speaker this month was Brian Graham from Rowhill Candles who gave a demonstration of candle making. He first explained that there are different types of wax which can be used and that they all have different properties mainly in their different melting points. For instance for gel wax it is 110°C, bees wax 62°C, paraffin wax 46°C and soya wax 45°C. As the soya wax has the lowest melting point, and is also more environmentally friendly, this is the one mainly used by those wanting to make candles at home. He went on to demonstrate the process by firstly melting the wax in a double boiler along with the required fragrance and colouring. He then inserted the wick of a suitable length into a container and secured it in a vertical position before pouring the wax around the wick leaving about 1cm showing. He then went on to show how different effects in the colouring could be obtained and explained the way that candles of different sizes would burn. He had brought with him a selection of products to buy along with some kits for people to make their own at home.
The next meeting is on 6th March which is the AGM followed by lunch at the Conservative Club. The speaker at the meeting will be from Co-op Insurance to give a talk on “Tax, Care and Toy Boys”. The group meets on the first Wednesday of each month at Brookvale Village Hall from 10 am to 12 noon and all retired Civil Servants and their partners are welcome. Details can be obtained from the Secretary Tony Brazier on 07715 640171 and for information about our trips please contact Kate Lambeth on 01256 328791.
Thousands of Pounds Raised for Local Charities by Southern Co-op
A total of 50 charities are set to benefit from money raised by co-operative retail colleagues in Hampshire thanks to the support of their local customers.
More than £43,000 will be donated to Southern Co-op’s retail charity partners in the county.
The local causes were chosen last year by store colleagues to become their charity partner for a year – many of the stores are now inviting new applications for 2019-20.
Jessica Hughes, Community Investment Manager at Southern Co-op, said: “This is a really exciting time of year as we look back at all the amazing things our colleagues have done in the last year. We also look forward to all the interesting new opportunities and partnerships in the year to come.
“Across all our retail stores in the south east, their fundraising activities have meant more than £105,000 will be donated to a wide range of local causes.
“But it is not just about the money. Our colleagues often get really passionate about their local charity partner and can end up doing more than just fundraising so I would encourage anyone thinking about applying to pop into their local store and speak to the manager.”
The deadline for applications is fast approaching and causes should meet one of Southern Co-op’s ‘Love Your Neighbourhood’ themes – creating greener, safer, healthier or more inclusive neighbourhoods.
The Southern Co-op retail stores looking for a new partner include Aldershot’s Lower Farnham Road, Alresford’s West Street, Andover’s East Anton Farm Road, Beggarwood’s Broadmere Road, Bishop’s Waltham’s High Street, Bridgemary’s Gregson Avenue, Chandlers Ford’s Falkland Court and Hursley Road, Church Crookham’s Aldershot Road, Cowplain’s London Road, Denmead’s Hambledon Road, Drayton’s Havant Road, Eastleigh’s Leigh Road, Fairoak’s Sandy Lane, Havant’s Middle Park Way (Park Lane), Hayling Island’s Elm Grove, Holbury’s Long Lane, Lee on Solent’s High Street, Lyndhurst’s High Street, Milford on Sea’s High Street, Portsmouth’s Devonshire Square, Eastney Road, Great Southsea Street, New Road, Northern Parade, Tangier Road, The Hard, Tregaron Avenue and Winter Road, Purbrook’s London Road, Southampton’s High Street, Southbourne’s Main Road, Titchfield’s The Square, West End’s High Street, Westbourne’s The Square and Whiteley’s Yew Tree Drive.
Lisa Congdon, Corporate Fundraiser at Naomi House & Jacksplace – a charity partner in 2018/19, said: “Working with Southern Co-op has been an absolute dream. The team totally bought into the work of Naomi House & Jacksplace and approached the partnership with bags of enthusiasm, ingenuity and innovation”.
“Collectively, the team at Southern Co-op’s Western Road store have raised enough money to make a significant difference in the life of a seriously ill child or young adult.”
Causes are encouraged to visit their local store as soon as possible to request an application form. Or to find out more about Southern Co-op’s charity partners, visit:
www.thesouthernco-operative.co.uk/makingadifference/local-partnerships.
Basingstoke And District Railway Society
Something more unusual at our meetings in April. At 7.45pm on Wednesday 10 April our speaker will take a look at The National Rail Passenger Survey and Research. David Greeno, Senior Insight Advisor at Transport Focus, will present findings from the survey and other research, including passenger satisfaction results for our local stations and the Waterloo upgrade works of 2017.
At our second meeting at 7.45pm on Wednesday 24 April we take to the road. Telling us how I Moved It My Way, Andrew Goodman, Managing Director of Moveright International who are frequent hauliers of railway locomotives and other vehicles by road, will illustrate a collection of stories and anecdotes of moving large loads over the last 30 years.
Our meetings are held at The Wote Street Club in New Road in Basingstoke town centre. We welcome new members to the Society and are always pleased to see non-members at our meetings at a cost of just £3. For more information about the Society, membership and our programme of meetings in 2019 take a look at our website at www.bdrs70d.com or telephone 01256 331002.