A big thank you to the Town Fair committee - Teresa
Atchison, Helen Belenger, Penny Britt, Joan Burrows,
Helen Faulkner, Jane Hopkins and Claire Toole – an all
ladies committee! – with assistance from Roger Simmons
on the finance and Peter Mellor with the Beer Tent -
for organising another successful annual event. The
inclement weather meant that the fair was held inside
the church, probably for the first time. Although
there was not the same space for the stalls when it is
held in the churchyard, it was nevertheless a most
successful day. Some people remarked how nice the
church was as they had never been in St. Faith’s
before. As usual, many people helped in setting up
the fair, manning the stalls and then helping to clear
away so that the church was ready for the Sunday
services. The Town Fair committee would like to
acknowledge the very valuable support and involvement
of Waitrose, Havant. Over £3,300 was raised, with
more to come.
Archdeacon Kenneth Gibbons telephoned Roger Bryant to
say how touched his wife and he were by the article in
last month’s “Faith Matters” on Fr. David by
Roger. He also sent his good wishes to the
parishioners at St. Faith’s.
When Fr Charles left last year his mother Mrs Marcia
Willett gave a donation of £1,000 to be used at our
discretion to commemorate his period at St. Faith's
with a further £100 from a donor after a funeral. £269
has been spent on 4 Bibles and 10 Daily Prayer Common
Worship books, leaving £831 still to be used. Should
you have any suggestions as to the best use for this
money then please see the churchwardens when it will
be considered by the PCC. One suggestion is to put
the money towards an A-frame for the piano and a
heater, with a plaque.
Colin Carter
Havant Town Fair - 6 September 2008
Fairs have been held in the churchyard and streets
around the church since the 1400’s – the ancient
Fair’s were held on St. Barnabas Day, 22nd
June. Recently, the Fair was held on the last
Saturday in August – the Bank Holiday week-end – but
since last year it has been held on the first Saturday
in September – this year the 6th and was
opened by Cllr. Victor Pierce-Jones. Due to inclement
weather, the Fair was held inside St. Faith’s Church.
To put on a Fair annually requires a lot of planning,
organisation and people’s time. Month’s in advance
letters have to be written to the authorities, traders
approached for prizes for the Grand Draw and for
tickets to be printed, entertainment to be arranged,
people approached to organise stalls, food and drink
arranged, and much more.
The previous evening and on the day of the Fair,
everything has to be set up and ready for the opening
at 10am. After the event, everything has to be tidied
up ready for the church services on the Sunday, and
letters of thanks written.
Particular thanks this year go to Claire Toole who
co-ordinated it all, to Helen Faulkner who took on the
Grand Draw, to all the Town Fair Committee and to all
those who set up the Fair, manned the stalls, provided
the tools and who cleared away afterwards.
For next year’s Town Fair a committee needs to be
formed before Christmas and decide the long term
items, such as date and theme. After Christmas this
committee needs to meet monthly. It needs to be a
‘working committee’, with members’ allocated an
area of responsibility. Publicity should start 4-6
weeks prior to the event with fliers being produced
for door-to-door delivery and an item placed in the
Summer edition of ‘Serving You’ – HBC’s
magazine.
Would volunteers for the 2009 Town Fair Committee
please see the Churchwardens.
Click here for pictures of the Town Fair
Town Fair 2008 – Provisional Figures
The provisional figures for the Town Fair held on
Saturday 6 September are:
|
Grand Draw
Refreshments
Cakes
Barbecue
Beer Tent
Tombola
Handicrafts
Bottles
Books
Bric-a-Brac
Plants
Toys & Videos
Face Painting
Children’s Tombola
Children’s Stall & Jewellery
Human Fruit Machine
Guess the Weight of Innes
Guess the Teddy’s Name
Guess Number of Sweets
Waitrose Word Search
Lucky Number
Stalls Total
|
851.00
193.73
153.60
231.70
29.00
272.31
133.65
407.00 200.12 140.48
7.47
75.64
32.78
107.10
80.60
17.23
70.00
15.00
51.00
10.40
64.00
2,292.81 |
Sales
Sarah Butterfield Cards
Sarah Butterfield Print
St Faith Mugs
Recipe Book
Sales Total
Collections
Tower Visits
In Church
Collections Total
Donations
St Faith’s Art Group
Cllr. Ray Bolton
Jeanie Morgan – Cards
Other
Donations Total
Total Income
Grand Draw
Miscellaneous
Total Expenses
TOTAL |
42.00
30.00
20.00
3.00
95.00
37.50
5.00
42.50
67.00
50.00
29.00
55.00
201.00
3,490.09
-100.00
-42.18
-142.18
3,340.13 |
I expect the final total will be more. Barclays Bank
will hopefully give us £407.00 sponsorship for Sarah
Burton and we could be getting some more donations. I
am not expecting any more expense claims.
Roger Simmons
Innes weighed 6st 9lb or 42.1Kg
Air Chief Marshal Dowding
We read last month of all the preparations put in
place by Dowding to protect this country from the air
onslaught about to hit us. All this work was
recognized in January 1937 when he became Air Chief
Marshal. When the war started, Dowding was 58. A
widower for 19 years, he was a loner, affectionately
nicknamed “Stuffy”. In his four years in
Headquarters at Bentley Priory, Stanmore, Dowding
never once went in the Mess, preferring to take lunch
at his nearby home which he shared with his sister.
He worked a very punishing schedule starting at
9.00am, a short lunch at 1.00pm, then back at his desk
until 7.30pm, followed by a quick dinner at home, then
a return to Headquarters. He stayed there until all
his aircraft were back at base, generally returning
home in the early hours of the morning.
In July 1940, the Luftwaffe had 2,670 front line
aircraft, consisting of 1,015 bombers, 350
dive-bombers, 930 fighters augmented by 375 heavy
fighters. Against this vast air armada the RAF had
just 650 spitfires and hurricanes! Losses on both
sides were heavy. In the period from 24 August to 6
September, the RAF losses were 466 aircraft destroyed,
with 103 pilots killed and 128 badly wounded. Our
production of aircraft under the direction of Lord
Beaverbrook was outstanding and these losses were
quickly replaced. Not so pilots and so it was
necessary to halve their training before throwing them
into battle. In the same period, the Luftwaffe’s
losses were close to 1,000 aircraft and losses of
pilots were more than double our own because those
parachuting from damaged aircraft were of course
captured unless falling into the English Channel.
There was an astonishing chivalry between the two air
forces. Each had a rescue ship in the channel. They
were generally in sight of one another but neither
ship fired on the other. The German ship picked up
RAF aircrew along with their own and the British ship
picked up Luftwaffe aircrew along with their own!
By 15 September, the Luftwaffe had given up daylight
bombing in favour of indiscriminate night time
bombing. The Battle of Britain was won but Dowding
still had his enemies at senior level. Just two
months after his great victory, with indecent haste,
the new Chief of the Air Staff, Charles Portal,
removed Dowding from Fighter Command. In fairness, he
was beyond retirement age. He finally left the RAF in
July 1942 and the following year he fittingly received
a baronetcy, becoming Lord Dowding of Bentley Priory,
scene of his triumph. He died in 1970. Sir Frederick
Pile, the soldier who commanded Britain’s
Anti-Aircraft Defence, summed up Dowding superbly:
“A difficult man, a self-opinionated man, a most
determined man, and a man who knew more than anybody
about all aspects of aerial warfare.” Len
Deighton in his definitive “Battle of Britain”
book stated, “History has placed Dowding head and
shoulders above every other senior airman of the war,
with the possible exception of Tedder”. We, who
lived through that perilous period in our history, owe
Lord Dowding of Bentley Priory an enormous debt of
gratitude.
Roger Bryant
Portsdown Hill Shelters
We are always very grateful for the Magazine.
Although we receive several church magazines from
parishes where Keith has served, yours is the most
interesting and has far more content than the others.
I was particularly interested in the August Magazine
article by Roger Bryant. Having been born in
Portsmouth, I have found all his articles about the
city fascinating. This one really struck home, as I
experienced one of the Portsdown Hill Tunnel Shelters.
I’ve written the story of my wartime memories for our
grandchildren. I felt it would be useful for them as
WW2 comes into their History within the National
Curriculum.
When the bombing was becoming more serious in 1940, I
went with my mother – who was expecting a baby – to
live in one room in a house in Waterlooville. It was
my 4th birthday. The bombing in 1941
described by Roger would have been on 10th
January 10th. I continue with extracts from my story
for our grandchildren.
Jean Uphill
January 10th 1941 was the worst night of
bombing of the whole war in Portsmouth. Although we
were away from Portsmouth, in Waterlooville, we could
see in the dark sky the flickering orange glow of the
fires all over the city. This was very upsetting
because not only was our real home there but also
members of our family, which was very large at that
time. Later we found that all our relatives were safe
although it had been a terrible experience for them
that night. The damage to the city was immense.
After 2 years we returned to Portsmouth when the
bombing was not as bad. Soon things changed for our
family. Margaret, my youngest auntie, aged about
eleven then, used to have terrible trouble with her
ears and had had several operations. Because of this,
permission was given for her to go to a special
air-raid shelter where she would not hear the noise of
any bombs. Her parents would have to go with her.
This was impossible because her father, (my
grandfather) worked at night. It was decided that my
family would take her instead and spend the night with
her in this special shelter.
We had to make our way out of the city at the end of
each day. My parents, my sister Hazel aged two by
now, Margaret and I would catch a bus – if we were
lucky – and go to Cosham. Then we would walk up
Portsdown Hill and fairly near the top was a path
through some trees which led to an entrance to a
tunnel into the chalk hill.
The first time we went we were given a card which had
a map on it and some numbers. The tunnel widened out
and divided into a whole series of tunnels, almost
like a small town. These tunnels were lined with bunk
beds, three high, up against the chalk face. We had
to find our beds from the map and the numbers given.
Crowds of people were already in the shelter and it
was very noisy. Beds were being made up with the
blankets and pillows which had to be brought from home
every evening. Soon we found our bunks and our beds
were being made ready. Nowadays we would have had
sleeping bags. We found that there was a cafe, a sort
of hall where there could be concerts or films, and
there were toilets, of course. I think my mother used
to pack some food for us. There would have been a lot
to carry but I expect that having Hazel’s pushchair
helped.
Soon it was time for bed! Margaret and I slept
together on the middle bunk, with me next to the chalk
wall of the tunnel. The bunk was no more than two
feet wide, about 62 cm, so we had to squash up
together. My mother and Hazel slept on the bottom
bunk and my father on the top. People were quite
cheerful in their cramped conditions, glad to be right
away from having to go to shelters in the night and
hearing bombs dropping. One thing I remember well is
the condensation running down the chalk walls of the
tunnels from so many people breathing in such a
confined space. As I was sleeping close to the wall
my bedding must have become very damp in the night.
We had wardens – men whose job it was to walk round
and make sure things were all right. They often had a
joke with us. At a certain time, which I expect was
about 9 pm, most of the lights would go out and we
would have to be quiet until they went on again in the
morning, very early. Then the wardens would come
round, telling us all to get up and usually calling
out funny things. One morning I remember the warden
calling out, ‘Get up! The Dutch have invaded
Holland!’
We were up quickly, my father first. I expect he made
his way home to have a wash and shave before cycling
to work for 8 am. We had to dress, pack up the
bedding, make sure we had everything, as nothing could
be left behind, and then make the long walk down
Portsdown Hill to Cosham where we queued for a bus
outside the Red Lion pub! Margaret would be on a
separate bus to her home. Once we were home we had a
quick breakfast and I hurried to school.
We only bathed once a week! I was lucky as we had a
bathroom but most people – including all the rest of
my family – bathed in front of the fire in a metal
bath which hung up in the back yard the rest of the
week. During the war there wasn’t much time for
washing either and we didn’t change our clothes as
often as you do. Sometimes we caught fleas! This
happened very often in the tunnel shelter. We would
have lots of itchy spots on our bodies, and our
mothers would strip us off and look carefully in our
clothes and usually find the offending flea! Once
caught, the flea would be squashed between my mother’s
thumb-nails with a triumphant ‘crack’!
Going to the tunnel shelter was time consuming each
day but it became fun in the summer. Then my mother
would pack a picnic for us, if the weather was good,
and we would go onto the hill to play and eat our
sandwiches until it was time to go to our bunks. By
now I was 7, at school all day, and there was a lot of
activity going on in Portsmouth and all around,
including Portsdown Hill. It was 1944 and D-Day was
approaching! But that is another part of the
story.
Correspondence Column
Canon Derek Brown would like to thank everyone for
their good wishes, kindness and visits since his
illness and move from the Christchurch Bungalow into
the Springfield Nursing Home. At the moment he has
problems with his eyes and cannot read or write,
although he is hopeful that this may be fixed soon.
In view of the recent articles in “Faith Matters”
concerning death and destruction I thought readers
might like to read something more light hearted. It
is from the Mothers' Union Portsmouth Diocesan
magazine: “Contact”.
In the year 2008 the Lord came to Noah, who was now
living in England and said, "Once again, the earth
has become wicked and overpopulated, and I see the end
of all flesh before me. Build another Ark and save
two of every living thing along with a few good
humans."
He gave Noah the drawings saying "You have 6 months
to build the Ark before I will start the unending rain
for 40 days and 40 nights."
Six months later the Lord looked down and saw Noah
weeping in his yard - but no Ark. "Noah!" he
roared, "I'm about to start the rain! Where is the
Ark?"
"Forgive me Lord",
begged Noah, "But things have changed. I needed
Buildings Regulations Approval and I've been arguing
with the Fire Brigade about the need for a sprinkler
system. My neighbours claim that I should have
obtained planning permission for building the Ark in
my garden, because it is development on the site, even
though in my view it is a temporary structure. We
then had to go to appeal to the Secretary of State for
a decision."
"Then the Department of Transport demanded a bond be
posted for the future costs of moving the power lines
and other overhead obstructions to clear the passage
for the Ark's move to the sea. I told them that the
sea would be coming to us, but they would hear nothing
of it".
"Getting the wood was another problem. All the decent
trees have Tree Preservation Orders on them and we
live in a Site of Special Scientific Interest set up
to protect the Spotted Owls — but no go!"
"When I started gathering the animals the RSPCA sued
me. They insisted that I was confining animals
against their will. They argued the accommodation was
too restrictive, and it was cruel and inhumane to put
so many animals in a confined space".
"Then the County Council, the Environment Agency and
the Rivers Authority ruled that I couldn't build the
Ark until they'd conducted an environmental impact
study on your proposed flood".
"I'm still trying to resolve a complaint with the
Equal Opportunities Commission on how many disabled
carpenters I'm supposed to hire for my building team.
The trades unions say I can't use my sons. They
insist I have to hire only accredited workers with
Ark-building experience".
“To make matters worse Customs & Excise seized all my
assets, claiming I'm trying to leave the country
illegally with endangered species".
"So, forgive me. Lord, but it would take at least 10
years for me to finish this Ark”
Suddenly the skies cleared, the sun began to shine and
a rainbow stretched across the sky. Noah looked up in
wonder and asked "You mean you're not going to
destroy the world?"
"No"
said the Lord, "the British Government beat me to
it!"
Oh dear! Perhaps it is not so light-hearted after
all!
Sheilah Legg
Llandaff – Land of My Fathers
A small contingent from St Faith’s choir (myself, Amy,
Emily and Sybel) joined Westbourne Choir for a weekend
of singing for the services at Llandaff Cathedral in
Cardiff - the Cathedral choir takes a break in the
summer and other choirs are invited to sing during
this period. Westbourne Choir has been doing this
trip for the last thirteen years and because our choir
has collaborated with them on a number of occasions
recently, it invited us to join them at Llandaff. As
well as the St Faith’s contingent, four youngsters
from the choir of St Luke’s CofE School in Portsmouth
also joined the Westbourne choir.
Being half Welsh (my dad is from Swansea), it really
is The Land of My Fathers, so I guess it follows that
I should be a half-decent singer if the Welsh gene
pool lives up to its reputation! Equally, I should be
half-decent at rugby too, especially as my great
granddad was a famous Welsh international rugby player
(see “Billy Bancroft” on Wikipedia). Well, the
rugby gene definitely skipped me despite its pedigree
and as for the singing; I have to say that singing at
the cathedral was very challenging so I may have
missed the singing gene too!
On arrival at Llandaff on Friday afternoon, we went
straight into a practice and then a Eucharist
service. As well as the ‘normal’ sung Kyrie,
Gloria, Sanctus and Agnus Dei we also sang the Creed
and the Sursam Corda. The anthem was Rachmaninov’s
Ave Maria.
The cathedral is a mix of old; twelfth Century parts
of the cathedral remain, with 18th and 19th
century restoration following its decline after the
Reformation and post-war restoration following
significant bombing damage. Epstein’s Majestas
(c1960) dominates the nave of the cathedral but there
are other interesting features such as a stained glass
window by Geoffrey Webb in the Lady Chapel and a
lovely Sanctuary Norman arch. The organ suffered
irreparable damage following a lightening strike and
the Cathedral is currently served by an electronic
organ; they are fundraising for a new pipe organ to
the tune of £1.5m (sorry about the pun; couldn’t
resist). Initially, I thought that the electronic
organ sounded OK, but during choir rehearsals, where
fewer stops were used and the organist played quietly,
the quality of the sound was noticeably poor; it’s
definitely the right decision by the PCC of St Faith’s
to restore our organ rather than strip it out in
favour of an electronic one.
Following another practice on Saturday morning, we
were set free to explore Cardiff. Despite the rain,
Sybel, the girls and I took an open-top bus tour of
Cardiff city centre, ending up at Cardiff Bay where
the very striking Wales Millennium Centre is and the
entrance to ‘Torchwood’ headquarters is
located, although we couldn’t find the door!
The Bay was a dockyard and has been redeveloped in
recent years, much like our own Gunwharf Quays and to
me it had a very similar feel. After a spot of lunch
we split up and the girls and I went off to the Doctor
Who exhibition, which was small but interesting; Amy
and Emily were particularly keen on the fact that some
of the actual costumes from the series were being
exhibited. This visit was followed by a sustained
attack on the shops. The heart of the city is a mix
of new shops, old arcades and market halls; we had a
great time exploring.
In the late afternoon we headed back to the Cathedral
for another practice, followed by Choral Evensong.
Having missed a lot of the pre-trip rehearsals due to
holiday, I must say that the girls and I had to
‘wing it’ for most of the weekend, but the
Westbourne choir has some very good singers and I was
particularly lucky to be able to follow Bill their
bass singer!
Very exhausted, mostly due to the shopping spree it
must be said, we had take-away fish and chips and
headed off to a well-earned nights’ sleep.
The Sunday morning Eucharist was preceded by a
rehearsal as usual. The setting of the service was
pretty similar to the Friday Eucharist, except that
the anthem was Bogoroditsye Dyevo by Arvo Pârt; this
was fast and sung in Russian so was probably the
hardest thing we sang over the whole weekend!
Following a lovely lunch in a local Chinese
restaurant, we went for a leisurely stroll along the
river Taff and then headed back for our final service,
a Choral Evensong (strictly, a Choral Afternoonsong as
it was held at 3:30pm!).
It was a great experience and privilege to sing in the
Cathedral and with the help of some ‘old timers’
from Westbourne, I think we managed to make a good
stab at the choral work but perhaps we need to reserve
judgement on this and see if we’re invited back next
year!
Graham Frost
I would like to introduce our new Police Sergeant
Jamie Allen for the St Faith’s Ward. Allen joined the
team on the 1st September 2008 and has
taken over the position of PS Crouch who has sadly
moved on to Waterlooville.
Please be aware that several streets in the West Leigh
and Bedhampton area have been targeted with
distraction or attempted distraction burglaries.
In the West Leigh area an unknown female has been
knocking doors and requesting to use the toilet whilst
in Bedhampton it is known that 2 males have posed as
employees from the Water Company using the reason that
they have a water leak at the property to gain entry.
Please be extra vigilant and use door chains, check
Identification and with most utility companies you can
request that a password is put in place for when
employees attend your address.
In the next few weeks we will be setting up
initiatives to tackle cycling on the pavement in the
town centre and surrounding streets. If any person(s)
is caught cycling in a “no cycling” area we
will be issuing £30 fixed penalty notices.
Sadly for several months now we have been receiving
reports of criminal damage and theft from Warblington
Cemetery, though it has been brought to our attention
that a lot of incidents are not being reported. As
part of St Faith’s Safer Neighbourhood Team we
incorporate daily patrols of the cemetery particularly
PCSO Chapman who has regular contact with the
Environmental Team from HBC. If you happen to be
visiting the cemetery or are made aware of incidents
then please contact us.
As advised before, please be aware of individuals
posing as employees for utility companies. If you
could inform residents or neighbours of these
incidents we would be most grateful by:
1. By email addressed: stfaiths.snt @hampshire.pnn.police.uk
2. By telephone to 0845 045 45 45, asking for St
Faith’s Safer Neighbourhood Team.
3. Dialling 999 in an emergency. Examples being when
crime or disorder is in progress, when offenders are
nearby, life is at risk, injury/damage is being caused
or threatened.
4. Dialling 101 to report community safety issues
including crimes of a non-emergency nature such as
vandalism, fly-tipping, drunkenness, drug abuse and
anti-social behaviour.
5. By calling into Havant police station (023 9289
1725).
6. By reporting crime and concerns about potential
criminal activity, anonymously, to Crime stoppers on
0800 555 111.
Regards, PCSO Sarah Woodley
Hi,
Greetings from Illinois, USA, where the Gibbos are
settling into our new lives. The girls are finding
their feet at their schools - they have been back for
three weeks now, take a yellow bus each day there and
home, and are making friends at school as well as at
church.
Susan and I took our US driving test today (12
September), which was not as scary as I remember
the UK one to be - very thorough administratively, and
resulted in a driving license that has enormous value.
The driving license is the primary form of ID in the
US and essential for just about every transaction, so
now the world is my lobster (as they say).
The reason for this communication is to say hello, let
you know we are basically fine, missing home and
friends, but making some adjustments to this new
experience and enjoying things American.
This is also by way of updating you on our home
details, which turn out to be different from the ones
I gave you before, so if you wanted to contact us you
can. We are at:
335 Ridge Road, Barrington Hills, IL 60010. Tel: +847
304 5207
E-mail: david.gibbons335@comcast.net or susan.gibbons@comcast.net
and elise.gibbons@comcast.net and sophia.gibbons@comcast.net.
I will send further updates on the process of
adjustment, but for now take care, lots of love and
many, many thanks to those of you who sent cards, best
wishes, flowers and your love across the ocean - very
much appreciated,
David
From a Church Bulletin
At the evening service tonight, the sermon topic will
be "What Is Hell?"
Come early and listen to our choir practice.
Havant
Town
Fair 2008 - Grand Draw Winners
|
No |
Prize |
Ticket No. |
Winner |
|
1 |
Dinner, Bottle of Wine, B&B for 2 Brookfield
Hotel |
3142 |
Ian Munro |
|
2 |
£100 Cash |
3593 |
Paul Utting |
|
3 |
£70 Specsavers
Vouchers |
3413 |
Mrs Leppard |
|
4 |
Sunday Lunch for 4 Langstone Hotel |
2491 |
J Freeston |
|
5 |
2 Day Return Tickets SW Trains Trains |
1362 |
Colleen Carter-Smith |
|
6 |
£50 Meal Voucher Spencers Restaurant |
2473 |
Freeston |
|
7 |
£30 Voucher Rob Paul Studios |
1550 |
Rev Richard Acworth |
|
8 |
2 Panto Tickets Ferneham Hall |
2961 |
Geoff&Marion Porter |
|
9 |
2 Hovertravel Return Tickets
IoW |
1659 |
Garratt |
|
10 |
2 Tickets Rick Payne Blues Concert Havant Arts
Centre |
0698 |
Terry Creswell |
|
11 |
Family Ticket Staunton Country Park |
2756 |
D Marsh |
|
12 |
Horse Riding Lesson Peter Ashley Activity
Centre |
2089 |
Pam Bowley |
|
13 |
2 Tickets Blue Reef Aquarium |
1058 |
Mary Strugnell |
|
14 |
Family Ticket Uppark House |
3311 |
Tina Kanavan |
|
15 |
Family Ticket Stansted Park |
1845 |
M J Loat |
|
16 |
£20 Lunch Voucher Old House at Home |
2289 |
Poppy Davison |
|
17 |
Family Ticket Horizone Play Centre |
2159 |
Jules Shephard |
|
18 |
MP3 Player donated Currys |
2867 |
Trevor Hopkinson |
|
19 |
Family Ticket Royal Marines Museum |
1471 |
Mrs S Baker |
|
20 |
Flower Arrangement Lavender & Lace |
3752 |
E M Yalden |
|
21 |
Goody Bag of Cosmetics donated Boots |
2237 |
S Caunter |
|
22 |
Stagecoach
Family Explorer Ticket |
1986 |
Parker |
|
23 |
Voucher Browns Hair Studio |
2103 |
Peggy Bradey |
|
24 |
Bouquet from Joanne the Flower Lady |
0962 |
Nash |
|
25 |
Fruit Basket Havant Fruit & Flowers |
1090 |
Rita Rogers |
|
26 |
Kenwood
Smoothie Maker |
1539 |
Rev Richard Acworth |
|
27 |
Rucksack from Filarinskis |
0847 |
Dalai Baird |
Many thanks to everyone who supported the Fair by
buying or selling tickets and especially to the
sponsors for providing the prizes.
The names of the winners are as written on the
tickets!
From
the Registers
27th September – Marriage of Lloyd Edward
Jones and Laura Turner
We are nearing the end of our journey and after two
more stops in Brazil – Itajai and Santos – we find
ourselves in Uruguay. The city of Montevideo is
modern, elegant and full of history. We have the
usual city tour, on our arrival, and are shown the
very grand Parliament headquarters. The smart
uniformed guards ignored us as
we mounted the steps up to the imposing front entrance
- and hardly batted an eyelash as we posed for
photographs.
We were shown into a vast space of marble floors and
oil painting adorned walls. From here we were taken
to see the sculpture of the Stage Coach by José
Belloni. A reminder of the days of the pioneers,
etc. We linger to buy souvenirs – yes, another hat!
We circumnavigate the city, stop off for coffee/wine,
etc., and then drive along the promenade back to the
harbour. It was quieter than Rio de Janeiro and
several of us liked what we had seen very much. We
are moored here in Montevideo overnight as we have a
party ashore this evening and are looking forward to a
full day on a Gaucho Ranch tomorrow.
So, I’ll start with the party. We had been advised
that it was an add-on to our itinerary and wasn’t
scheduled so it was a ‘surprise party’! It was
to take place in a converted convert – that sounds
like a contradiction? However we could not have
anticipated what a fantastic evening we were to have.
It started off with our being collected at the harbour
by coaches and then driven into the countryside –
which, by the way, was very much like our own trees
and fields and flowers. We were shown the Church to
begin with. Our welcome by people in ‘costume’
set the scene. The Church had been restored and
decorated with modern art – rather Picasso-ish. We
were then led out to a courtyard where canapés and
drinks were being served and couples were dancing the
tango. We were told that the Uruguayan tango was not
the same as the Argentinean version – we had to take
their word for it but I daresay some of the dancers in
our congregation would spot the difference straight
away? Then our meal was served. As we ate we could
see a fire burning several metres away and we inquired
why? We were told they were warming the drums for
later and, as we were finishing our meal, we started
to hear the beat. Soon we were engulfed in music and
colour. Drums drummed and skirts swirled. Glitter
and glamour was all around us – we just had to join in
and we jumped and jived (don’t ask me how) like the
best of them. More tango and a chance to give that a
go too. Don did quite well actually – I think we
might go to classes on our return home! Well all good
things come to an end and soon we were back on the bus
and heading for the harbour lights.
Our final day was to be another highlight of this
trip. It dawned bright and sunny – just like an
English summer’s day! We sped along the roads
admiring the scenery with fields full of maize and
trees in full leaf. Mostly plane trees and palms
intermixed with eucalyptus. Suddenly we were aware of
a young horseman galloping along beside us with flag
held aloft and fluttering wildly. He was soon joined
by others of more mature years and the flags of course
were the blue and white stripes, with the sun in the
corner, of Uruguay. We pulled into the ranch entrance
and the riders were already lined up to greet us. We
were taken to our next mode of transport – bales of
straw on the backs of trailers! Climbing aboard we
donned our straw hats – available for all who hadn’t
brought their own – and set off on a tour of the
ranch. We sang as we jolted along – and as we passed
the fields of corn (sweet corn) we naturally chose
‘Oh what a beautiful morning’ from Oklahoma! Our
ride took us to the Rio de la Plata beach where we had
some refreshments. I walked on the sands. Then it
was back to base camp for a welcome from the owner of
the Ranch and lunch. Various skills were
demonstrated, i.e., sheep shearing, milking, etc. We
could try our hand at these and of course ride
horseback if we so desired. I must confess I declined
on all counts as the last time I managed to mount a
horse proved to be a bit embarrassing to say the
least!
Another thrill on offer was a ride being pulled along
on a cow hide – this too wasn’t quite my idea of fun -
it looked very uncomfortable in the extreme. Well by
this time the food was ready so we all piled into the
barn to eat. Once again we sat on bales of straw as
we sampled the delights of the enormous barbeque and a
delicious salad.
Strawberries and cream followed and wine,
 etc.,
was freely available. Local crafts were for sale made
of wood, vicuna wool, animal horn, all very unusual
and reasonably priced.
The day was brought to its conclusion with a display
of dancing, fire eating, music and singing – gaucho
style. Boots stamped and black skirts swirled, white
trousers or tights with black hats and white
cummerbunds were quite a contrast to the varied
colours of previous shows.
We reluctantly said farewell to our Gaucho hosts and
made our way back to the ship. We would be casting
off this evening for our journey along the River Plate
to Buenos Aires.
Hope to tell you more next time both about the river
and of course that lady for whom we are not to cry!
Shirley Caunter
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