FEBRUARY 2015

BENTWORTH, LASHAM, MEDSTEAD, AND SHALDEN PARISH MAGAZINESt. Mary’s Bentworth; St. Mary’s Lasham;

St. Andrew’s Medstead; St. Peter and St. Paul Shalden

LETTER from the RECTORYDear Friends

As Christian Festivals go, February has its fair share. Not only that, but in justa few days we leap from Candlemas which traditionally marks Jesus’presentation at the Temple, a custom celebrating the end of Mary’s time ofconfinement after Jesus’ birth, to Shrove Tuesday and Ash Wednesday, markingthe beginning of the period of Lent. Jesus as a baby to the weeks leading up tothe crucifixion. The innocence of youth coming up against the brutality of thoseunwilling to allow any opposition to their views.

When Mary and Joseph bring Jesus to the Temple they are met by an oldman, Simeon. He is thrilled by having the opportunity to welcome the littlefamily. However, he also has a warning for Mary. ‘this child marks both thefailure and the recovery of many in Israel, a figure misunderstood andcontradicted – the pain of a sword will cut through you – but the rejection willforce honesty, as God reveals who they really are.’ Even at this time of rejoicing,the future casts a shadow.

Events such as those in France certainly cast a shadow across values which weall hold dear – freedom, and democracy, to name but two. For those caught upin these atrocities the pain of a sword definitely cuts through them. Yet, in themidst of the horrors, we see people who refuse to allow those who seek torepress opposition by whatever means they see fit, standing together. Allcreeds, colours, faiths, ages united in proving that the actions of a few cannotquench the spirit of the many. The first edition of Charles Hebdo after theshooting of the cartoonist bore the words ‘All is forgiven.’

It can take a violent act to rouse others to positive action. The solidarityshown by the wearing of ‘Je Suis Charlie’ brought together people under a unitedbanner, a shared identity. The violent act of the crucifixion brings togetherpeople under a united banner, the cross.

It is when we come up against implacable opposition that we discover whowe really are and where our true allegiance lies. Simeon sees this when he saysthat God reveals who we truly are when faced with contradiction. Our sharedidentity under the banner of the cross reveals itself in Jesus’ words from thecross, ‘Father, forgive them, for they don’t know what they are doing.’ How werespond to violent opposition is key to how the future pans out.

Kathryn Flenley1

THE VILLAGER the editor

February is the month we change the “yellow pages” for the coming year.We have several new advertisers, and some of our regulars have changedtheir information, or contact details. Please do look at them. When youcontact someone please tell them where you found their names, as theywill only continue to advertise with us if they gain customers - and theypay for your free magazine! We give our good wishes to those who have

left us – usually to retire!Thank you to Pat Condon of Medstead for making sure I have the new Library information;and to Beryl Hearne of Bentworth for the updated Bus Timetable. Please remember I doneed to be kept informed about changes I may not pick up, so all information is veryhelpful.

Donations: Many thanks Nancy Gordon Clarke for her donation this month. If you arelooking for a work shop please see her advertisement on page 29.

CONTENTS page

Advertisements 29 - 30

Benefice 14 - 18Jane Moss (Bown) 15 - 18

Clubs 21 - 26

Events 29 - 21 & 30 - 34

Community Information 19 - 20

Regular Features: Alton Friday Market 27

Bus Timetable 28Farm News 27Farmers Markets 26Garden Notes 26

Library 28Wildlife 28

St Mary's Primary School, Bentworth 13 - 14Job Advertisement 30

Rotas 35

Services 36

VILLAGES: Bentworth 4Lasham 7Medstead 10Shalden 12

Please send copy for the March Magazine to the Editor or yourVillage Correspondent by 10am on Tuesday 10th February.

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DATES FOR YOUR DIARYJANUARY26 HSG: A Forest Scientist looks at Trees in the Bible Alresford 2pm 30 P2G Alton Baptist Church, Mount Pleasant 8pm31 LGS talk: Allan Melmore - Air Cadet gliding, past present and future 6pmFEBRUARY 1 Wildlife Survey deadline - for information see January Villager page 262 Bentworth Care Group meeting at Walnut Tree Barn 10.30am2 Lasham Coffee Morning at Wingfield 10.30 – 12noon3 Bentworth Parish Council Meeting in the Jubilee Hall at 7.30pm3 Medstead Players meeting – Quiz and auditions Wiltshire room 7.30pm 3 Medstead Gardeners' Club: Harvey Stephens from Savill Gardens 7.45pm3 St Lawrence Organ Recital by Katherine Dienes-Williams 8pm Page 314 St Mary's Bentworth Drop-in continues at The SUN weekly 11 - noon4 Roedowns WI:Kim Phillips How to paint & laugh Medstead Primary School 7.30pm5 Herriard, Lasham with Bentworth WI: The Story of ENSA RBL Hall 2.30pm7 Alton Farmers' Market High Street 10 - 2pm7 Flight Brigade Alton Maltings Centre 7.30pm Page 3210 Copy deadline for the March Villager by 10am10 ADFAS:Douglas Skeggs The Artists of Montmartre -The Pilgrims of Babylon 11 Shalden WI: Programme Planning Meeting12 Medstead WI: Bill Dawson - Wildlife in Far East Russia Village Hall 2pm13 Mobile Library – Medstead Greenstile 10.15 – 10.45am14 Messy Church Jubilee Hall, Bentworth 4-6pm14 LGS: Steve Grant will play classical guitar 6pm Page 2517 Shrove Tuesday, Pancake Evening 6 – 8pm Page 1518 Ash Wednesday for services see page 3620 U3A Lecture: Trevor Sapey talks about The Mary Rose Community Centre 2pm21 LGS talk: An evening with Derek Piggott. Page 2622 1/2Hour4Families St Mary's Bentworth 9.30am23 HSG: Joanna Scott-Lutyens, Nutritional Therapist Page 2124 Mobile Library - Shalden Village Hall 9.30 - 10am26 Allen Gallery:Luath Grant Fergus What Queen Victoria did for the Banjo 7.30pm27 P2G The Salvation Army, Amery Street 8pm28 Lent Service with lunch St Mary's Bentworth 12noon28 St Andrew's Medstead Quiz Night in the Church 7pm Page 11MARCH2 Lasham Coffee Morning 19 Mary Rose Mews 10.30 -12noon2 Bentworth Fête meeting The Star 8pm all welcome3 Medstead Players Beetle Drive Wiltshire Room 7.30pm4 Roedowns WI: Judith Needham Willow Weaving Medstead Primary School7 Bentworth Litter Pick meet on the Village Green at 10am7 Lent Service with lunch St Mary's Lasham 12noon7 LGS talk: Michael Bird Platypus' travels Page 268 St Andrew's Medstead Music Recital in the Church at 6pm Page 33

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BENTWORTH

www.bentworth.org.uk www.bentworth.info

Charity of the Month: Cardiac REHAB

BENTWORTH CARE GROUP 'Fred' MoirThe following drivers will be 'on duty' in February in order to take anyone from

Bentworth to a medical appointment during the month :

Rosemarie Bradley 562901; Jean Cornelius 562702; Liz Mulford 564390

NB The Care Group meeting will take place on Monday 2nd February at WALNUT TREEBARN at the usual time of 10.30.

CHURCH NEWS

HALF HOUR 4 FAMILIES Kathryn Flenley

is a chance for parents with young families to share time together on a Sunday Morning.So, please come along to St Mary’s Bentworth on the

4th Sunday of each month for

songs, stories and crafty things – and tasty treats!

Next HalfHour4Families:Sunday February 22nd at 9.30am

St Mary’s BENTWORTH DROP-IN at THE SUN INNThere were a goodly number at The Sun on Wednesday 14th January,

when we held the Drop-in at our new venue; and were warmly welcomedby Mary and her staff, not to mention the blazing fire on a cold morning.

We will continue to meet there throughout January and February from 11am to noon -do come and join us for cake and coffee or tea, for £4 each.

CHURCHYARD MOWING Charlie PhillipsI am about to produce this year’s churchyard mowing rota. If anyone would be willing to

join the mowing team then please can you contact me on either 561227 orcharlesphillips10@btinternet.com. A mower is provided so all you need is some time anda bit of petrol. The churchyard is divided into areas so you don’t have to mow it all!

Many thanks to those volunteers already on the rota for your continued support.

BENTWORTH LITTER PICK SATURDAY 7TH MARCH Parish CouncilThere will be a litter pick in Bentworth on 7th March.

Please come along to help. All are welcome.We will meet on the Village Green by the noticeboard at 10am. Bags will be provided, but do bring suitable gloves if you have them.

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FAREWELL TO THE WILLIAMS FAMILY David HawesOn Monday 29th December many villagers collected at the Star to say farewell to Karen,

Matt and Shanna – a presentation was made, and several speeches.“On behalf of the Council, Villagers and as a long standing neighbour I would like to

thank Matt and Karen for making the Star the focal point and hub of Bentworth.When we fist came to the village, some 30 years ago, the Star was only open a couple ofevenings a week. The landlords changed a number of times until Matt and Karen arrived inthe village. They have brought so much to the village since they arrived 16 years ago. Amongst many other things, which are too numerous to mention, Matt has done somuch for charity and theschool with the cyclingchallenges particularly fromLondon to Paris. Arrangingthe annual Bonfire party.The Spaghetti and JellyBaby Tower competition.Karen hosting the weeklymorning drop-ins. PuttingBentworth on the map withthe annual Blues Festival.Friday and Sunday musicevenings. Not forgetting theVillage Green. Matt hasmade it the place to be onsummer evenings.

Even if you are not a Star regular, or avillager, but just someone driving throughBentworth, Matt can always be seen, in hisshorts, in the summer strolling around andaround and around the Village Green. So Matt, Karen, Shanna and Dave. Yourfamily, your endeavour, your ability tobring people together and so much morewill be sorely missed by all. Make sure youvisit regularly. Wishing you every success in your nextChallenge please accept this smallmemento of your time in Bentworth.”

The Drop-in on December 10th 2014

NEW LANDLORD Barbara MacdonaldThe musical tradition of the Star Inn will continue as 35-year-old Barry Pethers takes

over as the new landlord. Barry, a bass guitarist, played at all 16 Bentworth Blues festivals run by his closefriends Matt and Karen, the former landlords. “I have a hard act to follow. The Star is known for its music and I want that to continuebut putting my own stamp on it.”

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He intends to have live music every Friday night and jam sessions on Sunday nightsinviting local musicians to come and take part. In time he is also hoping to organize his own one or two day music festival.“The Bentworth festival has a excellent reputation. Some years 700 people attended andthere was never any trouble.”

Barry takes on his first role as a pub landlord. “Knowing the Star and the village I wasvery happy to take over when the opportunity came.” He has been busy rejigging the bararea and the dining room has been re-decorated.

He intends to offer first rate “pub grub” with chef Laura Shearman in charge of thecatering. There is an extensive menu and she will also cater for special diets.

The dining room will be open weekdays from 12-2.30pm and 6 to 9pm and on Sundaysfrom noon to 6pm. There is a limited menu available on Mondays.Catering is available for functions.

Barry’s hometown is Camberley but he is now looking forward to living in the villageand becoming part of village life. His partner Clare runs a successful dress andaccessories shop in Alton.

Anyone wishing to know more about the Star menu or any further information can ringBarry at 561224.

REINDEER VISITS BENTWORTH Jill Hurley

Villagers cannot have failedto smile as we drove throughthe village at Christmas – hadFather Christmas left someonebehind?

Thank You Dom Brookingfor another example of yourimagination and skill – I amsure I speak for all in sayinghow much fun your sculpturewas, and how much we allenjoyed it.

!!!!! SUPERFAST BROADBAND IS COMING TO BENTWORTH !!!! Veronica Parker

The good news is that superfast broadband is definitely coming to Bentworth as part ofthe phase 2 roll out.

The bad news is that it is not going to get here very quickly and not everyone will getaccess. The initial planning will not be completed until September and currently there is noexpected date for the work to start.

To find out if you are in the group who will get access to superfast broadband go towww.hampshiresuperfastbroadband.com and enter your postcode.

Having done a preliminary postcode search I think that the cabinet on the Green willbe upgraded. Those of us who are too far from their cabinet to benefit even when it isupgraded are going to have to wait for “new infrastructure”. Currently I don’t know whatthat means. I have requested that we be re-parented to the box on the Green and beentold that due to the scale of their work Openreach can’t consider re-parenting requests.

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2015 BENTWORTH VILLAGE FETE Charlie PhilipsPlanning for the this year’s Fête is about to get under way. The first meeting

will be held at 8pm on Monday 2nd March at The Star. If you would like to join thecommittee or have an input into this popular and beneficial event then please docome along.

If you are unable to attend but have any ideas or suggestions then please donot hesitate to contact me on either 561227 or charlesphillips10@btinternet.com.

BENTWORTH PARISH COUNCIL APOLOGY Allison Spyer Clerk to the CouncilThe Parish Council wishes to apologise to Mrs Holmes, The Sun Inn, and Mr Philips, TheStar Inn: please accept the Councils apologise regarding the wording of the initial draftminutes of the December meeting. They have been modified, prior to ratification at theFebruary meeting, in line with the actual discussion during the meeting.

* * *LASHAM

www.lashamvillage.net

LASHAM COFFEE MORNING Millie ShaylorMany thanks to Maggie Shaylor for hosting our first coffee morning of 2015. Several of

our regulars were still on holiday but it was good to be joined by John and Molly Batten andEnid Young, villagers now living in Alton.

On Monday 2 February we are all looking forward to our eagerly awaited first visit toAntonia's new home. Everybody is welcome at Wingfield House anytime between 10.30and 12 noon.

Mary Bills has kindly invited us to take a trip to Alton and join her at 19 Mary Rose Mewson 2 March - more details next month.

CHANGE Charlie ShaylorSome say there are only two certainties in life, death and taxes. Not quite true, change

is certainly another certainty. Sometimes change is welcome, life enhancing. I've nevernoticed how attractive the brick work is in that wall until the windows were added, and whata difference the light must make to the lives ofthose that live there. Electricity bills should godown too, which means a reduction on the stresslevels on our generating systems so less likelyhood of black outs for all. Yes they will take a bitof getting used to but be positive, look the bright

side and,well, agreesomechanges arefor thebetter.

Some changes we may regret - Its so much furtherto go for a pint!

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Whoops! Some changesjust happenand need tohappen back.Worry not I'mtold the Squirehas it in handbut if only we knew who did it. Some

things needtweaking,changed forthe better,sharpenedup a bit.

Some things we wish we could change. If only those who use our lanes as ratruns would lift the foot off the pedal when passing throughand incidentally be aware of the fact that blokes or birds on

bikes have to avoid hugging the edge of the roads because the pot holes there arefearsome and the brambles reach out their branches to clutch with painful consequencesat anything they can get their thorns into. Yes they canscratch cars but boy bikers beware they can inflict muchworse damage than a scratch !

Some things badly need to change. We now have onlyone public building left in our village. Use it or lose it theysay. It needs to be used, it needs to change in order to beused. In conversation someone made a passing commentto me the other day to the effect that our Church was justthere to hatch, match and dispatch, all changes that some,and nowadays fewer people, use churches for, yes, but

they will hardly keepthe roof on. Formany people theChurch has lost itspurpose, it needs tofind new ways ofbeing relevant, andit needs to more adaptable as a building in order todo so. Those committed to its continued existenceare getting fewer by the year. That too is somethingthat badly needs to change if it is to survive. Thepowers that be in the Church of England arelooking for ways to effect that change and we andour Parochial Church Council is too.

For the sake of the future generations lets hopethey / we get it right.

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THANK YOU Amanda NashI would like to thank Peter and Jean Osgood for choosing the Williams Syndrome

Foundation (the WSF) as their 2014 Christmas charity atAvenue Nurseries. Also a big thank you to their family andstaff, and not forgetting Santa, for the great support, help andassistance that they all gave me whilst I attended the nurserynext to Father Christmas during the four weekends leading upto Christmas. The finaltotal of the charitycollection was £2,600and a cheque made tothe WSF was presentedby Jean Osgood on19th January.

Attending the nursery during this period enabledme to meet many people and to acquaint thoseinterested with details of this rare syndrome and bydoing so has raised more awareness of it. Theopening day of the event took place on 29thNovember and a mixture of babies, teenagersand adults with Williams Syndrome together withtheir families came to support the launch andattend a lunchtime buffet kindly produced by theOsgoods.

Once again, thank you all at the nursery and

also to all those people whogave so generously to thecharity collection.

A Happy New Year to you all.

LASHAM and SHALDEN MIDSUMMER FETE 2015 Caroline BrownSunday 21st June

Following the huge success of the joint fête in 2014, we’re going to do similaragain in 2015. We wanted to let you all know the date as soon as possible as weknow some lucky people will already be planning holiday dates for next summer.We are delighted to confirm the venue for 21st June as the grounds of LashamHouse.

The detail of the content for the day will come out in the Spring, so look out forfurther information. We will be looking for volunteers to assist from both villages,more detail of that will come out in future communications but if you want to putyour name down now please contact either myself or Peter Rankin of Shalden.

Caroline Brown: 01256 381458 Peter Rankin: 01256 381273

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WELCOME Charlie Shaylor A warm welcome to Julia Young who has joined the two other lovely J's at the AvenueFarm Cottage, Janette, and Jasmin. Dean must be addicted to Js it seems, and obviouslyhas good taste. Anyway Julia is a runner and a biker so we will probably see her stridinground the lanes. She is a brave lass but please motorists don't fly past and soak her withmuddy puddle water, and be aware of the bramble branches that reach out of the hedgerows. Sometimes runners and riders just can't hug the road verge.

* * * MEDSTEAD

Information taken from St Andrew’s Medstead Pewsheets, and the website: http://www.standrews.hampshire.org.uk

HAMPSHIRE FEDERATION OF WI - MEDSTEAD Gill SiddallMembers were very pleased to welcome one new member, one returning member and

three visitors to the January meeting and birthdays cards were given out to the birthdaygirls.

A card had been received from a member of another WI who had purchased a handknitted item from our stall at the fête in July and the item had given tremendous fun andhappiness to the family over Christmas proving that it doesn't have to be a high techpresent to give enjoyment and photos of the little knitted people were on show too.

As always there is plenty to look forward during the month with the craft group tryingpeg doll making, the walking group venturing to Alice Holt Forest with lunch afterwards andthe Single Ladies Sunday Lunch group will be trying the pub at Binsted. In addition theNFWI centenary baton will be coming to Medstead Village Hall on 14th January when acream tea will be provided by Medstead WI for members of Austen Group and guestsbefore the baton is handed on the Alton Group.

Medstead WI members like to have fun and there was certainly plenty of fun to be hadas the majority of the afternoon was given over to a Beetle Drive. The noise level in the hallwas very high as the frantic shaking of dice got under way with everyone determined to bethe first to get a complete beetle! The winner at the end of the drive was Pauline Church,the wooden spoon decorated with a beetle was given to Ginny Hayward and the prize forthe most artistic beetles was won by Jennifer Lines - everyone marvelled at how Jenniferhad managed to draw such perfect beetles! The afternoon was rounded off by a deliciousafternoon tea of sandwiches, savouries and cakes all provided by the committee. A reallyfun afternoon was enjoyed by all.

On Thursday February 12th Bill Dawson will be giving an illustrated talk on the 'Wildlifein Far East Russia', and as always visitors and new members are very welcome to themeeting at 2pm in Medstead Village Hall so put the date in your diary and come along andjoin in.

HAMPSHIRE FEDERATION OF WI – ROEDOWNS Diana ConstantineRoedowns WI meets at Medstead Primary School the first Wednesday of each month

at 7.30pm. Visitors and new members are always welcome.Guest speakers , quizzes, outings and good company. Contact Marion Slater on 01420564295.

Forthcoming meetings 4th Feb How to paint and laugh Kim Phillips 4th March Willow weaving Judith Needham 1st April Pottery painting

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At our January meeting we started the new year with some exercises with a difference.Sherron Gillard lead the group and taught us lots of moves, all while wearing welly boots.There was much laughter and stomping of wellies , leaving us all feeling as though we hadachieved a good workout. A new and fun experience for us all.

MEDSTEAD GARDENERS CLUB Linda Osborn 'Late lies the wintry sun a-bed

A frosty fiery sleepy-head' - Robert Louis Stevenson

The Gardeners' Club traditionally does not hold a meeting in January but there will be aspecial guest speaker to start the new 2015 programme in February. Harvey Stephens isHead Gardener for Savill Gardens and will be showing photos of the changing seasonsand landscape at these famous gardens. The Daily Mail recently documented 'Windsor'sWinter Wonderland' outlining their history in Windsor Great Park. The Royal familycontinue to be closely involved in the gardens with numerous trees etc. personallycommemorating to them. Eric Savill was the driving force behind the gardens which in spiteof their Royal heritage going back to George V and Queen Mary are informal and unstuffyand considered to be one of the most important gardens created in the 20th Century.

The evening with Harvey is on Tuesday 3rd February at 7.30 p.m. In MEDSTEADVillage Hall. New members are always welcome

MARGARET NORTHCOTE Ian JurdThe funeral of Margaret Northcote took place at St. Andrew’s Church on Wednesday

7th January At the request of the family all donations following Margaret’s funeral were given to

St. Andrew’s Church. There were 225 people attending the service and they verygenerously gave a total of £727. After speaking to Gordon and son Paul we have decidedthat Margaret, who gave so much of her time to local organisations, not least to our ownjumble sales, would be delighted to know that we will use this money to purchase a new allelectric range cooker for the church hall. Many thanks to all who donated.

QUIZ NIGHTThe Social Committee are holding a Quiz Night on Saturday 28th February in the

Church Hall. Please come at 6.45 for 7pm start. Ticket price £10 per head: includes fish and chip supper. Vegetarian option available

upon request. There will be a raffle. Any donations of prizes gratefully appreciated. Tickets available from Sharon. 01420 563937. seblackshaw@gmail.com

MUSIC RECITALThe musical recital in November that was unfortunately cancelled due to a personal

injury is now rescheduled for Sunday 8th March at 6:00pm in the Church. There is aposter on page

VOLUNTEERSWe are still looking for someone to continue the Church website.

Debby is seeking volunteers to join the Church Cleaning Rota. We are not amessy congregation, but need to ensure that the church is dusted andvacuumed prior to each Sunday and the more there are on the rota, the lessfrequently we need to do a turn. A few people have already volunteered and sincere thanks to them, but we still need more.

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SHALDEN

ST PETER AND ST PAUL Sarah FloydNow with all the festivities over it’s down to business as usual. Having said that, it was

lovely to see so many of you in church either at the Carols or on Christmas Day and bigthanks to our organist and church wardens for arranging it all so beautifully and to Michelefor organising the decorating team.

I am glad to report that after all the wind and rain, the church is nice and dry inside sothe builders have done a great job. This, of course, leaves us with a huge bill so pleaselook out for some fund raising ideas that are going to pop up during the year and come andsupport us. We need you! There is so much change going on in the Winchester diocesewhich your PCC are trying to fathom out and work with Bishop Tim’s ideas. If anyonewould be interested in joining the team, they would be more than welcome: it is going tobe an interesting journey into the future and very important for our church.

With the future in mind, Ben is going to do an evening session for the whole Beneficeduring Lent on the way ahead, so look out for that and details on Lent Lunches in all thevillages. Mary Hart will be in charge of the Shalden end and do please ring her if youwould either like to come or give her a hand, or both! Also the Palm Sunday service will beheld in Bentworth, as its the Benefice Service that day (fifth Sunday), and there may be adonkey in a procession.........?! That’s not till 29th March, but save the date in your diaries.

Meanwhile, watch out for the snowdrops in the churchyard when you next walkthrough, they are starting to pop up.

SHALDEN CHILDREN’S CHRISTMAS PARTY Cathy Boyes On Sunday 14th December, the children of Shalden came together for an afternoon ofparty games and Christmas crafts in the Village Hall. It was lovely to see them all havingfun, and in particular to welcome Isla, Elsie, Evie, Jessica and Oliver, all of whom movedinto the village during 2014. The afternoon was rounded off with party tea (complete withDebbie Orme’s beautiful Christmas cupcakes) and a visit from Father Christmas who hadpresents for everyone!

We aim to invite allpre-school and primary aged childrenliving in the parish ofShalden to the annualChristmas party, but itisn’t an exactscience! If you know ofsomeone we mighthave missed, do please get in touchwith Cathy Boyes atcathy@bluedodo.co.uk

Huge thanks to theShalden Village HallCommittee for fundingthis lovely, traditional get-together which was enjoyed by all.

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ST MARY’S SCHOOL, BENTWORTH

NEWS FROM ST MARY’S SCHOOL, BENTWORTH Our Christmas Celebrations

Children right across the school joined together to celebrate the Christmas story. We were so proud of our younger pupils in Oak and Ash class as they performed theirChristmas story with such enthusiasm:

Once upon a time there were 28 amazing little people. They spent their days in OakClass, learning their phonics, reading, writing, maths and many other exciting things. After October half-term, these amazing little people began to practise for the ChristmasNativity play, with the equally amazing (but slightly bigger) people in Ash Class. The day of the big performance arrived, and all of the amazing little people sang theirsocks off! They sat beautifully, spoke clearly and participated enthusiastically. Their teachers were really proud of them!

The amazinglittle peoplewereexhausted aftertheirperformance,but were stilldetermined tocarry on withtheir learning! Well done OakClass, you areall super stars!

The older children in Ash and Lime Class retold the Christmas story in a thoughtful Service of readings and beautifully sung carols. The church was packed with parents and village friends.

Afterwards the children treated us all to a stirring rendition of “We wish you a Merry Christmas” - those Santa hats gave us all asmile!

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Lime Class: On our first day back we had RE all day. This was great as it helped us to focus more

on the subject and develop our understanding. We were studying the Eucharist andlearning about the Last Supper. First of all Rev Ben explained what the Eucharist was andwhere the word came from. Everyone found it interesting and we decided to write notesdown on an A3 piece of sugar paper. We then all made posters to explain whatthe Eucharist was. It was lovely to see all of the new things we had learned by the end ofthe day! After lunch we linked the RE topic to our own lives and thought about symbols. We allreally enjoyed this because we got to make up our own symbol for someone special to us.This week has been so exciting. I hope we will do something like this again! By Kazzandra

Lime class have started a new topic, ‘The United Kingdom’. In our classroom by ourtopic board we have a huge map of the British Isles on canvas and a ginormous flag on ourwall. We are excited about learning about our country because it is an amazing place andthere is a lot to discover!

In English we have been learning more about the difference between metaphors andsimiles. We have all been working really hard to use the very best words to help paint abrilliant picture in the reader’s head. The class have come up with some amazingmetaphors and similes! We have done some great data collection in maths where we havebeen measuring each other and then interpreting the information. PE has also been abrilliant opportunity to improve our tag rugby skills. We are really looking forward to anotherweek of learning! By Simon and Ashanti

Jubilee Hall newsFollowing the upgrade to the hall’s facilities and its increasing popularity as a hired

venue the school are looking to appoint a Hall Hire Manager. Please see theadvertisement elsewhere in this Villager issue.

* * *The CHURCH – the BENEFICE

Kathryn FlenleyMessy Church is a way of being church for people of all agesbased on creativity, celebration and hospitality involving fun, butthere was certainly nothing messy about the careful planning andhard work that went into launching Messy Church in our Benefice on

Saturday January 10th. A team of twenty four people gathered with enthusiasm, and perhaps a little trepidation,

at three o’clock at the Jubilee Hall Bentworth to set up, with no idea how many peoplewould come . At three fifty all was in place - would anyone come? Oh ye of little faith, yesof course was the answer. They started to arrive at four and continued to come along forsome time after. That’s the joy of the informality of Messy Church, one can be relaxedabout a rolling start.

Soon the hall was crowded and buzzing as about 50 people ranging in age from two to,well, eighty two and rising; all there to have fun exploring the theme of the day: theparable of the Pharisee and the Tax collector.

Ten activities ranging from dressing up to burying ‘sins’ in gunge, all related to thetheme and supervised by the craft team, provided an hour of creativity. The hour seemedto pass in a flash and it was time for celebration. Songs, lively and energetic, lots ofactions, a reading, the story of the Pharisee and the tax collector, and then a contemporaryversion acted out with puppets followed by prayers. Meanwhile, the catering team hadcleared the craft tables and everyone sat down for tea. Sandwiches, wholesome and

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healthy, nibbles (very healthy) and cakes, oh delicious cakes, and of course tea, coffeeand juice together with lots of chat; a great way to end our first Messy Church.

A big thank you to everyone who came and a special ‘well done’ to the team. The teamis busy reviewing Messy One and planning Messy Two which is on Saturday Feb 14th.

We look forward to welcoming those who came for the first time and hope they arespreading the good news, Messy church is fun for everyone. Why not come and see foryourself?

BENEFICE LENT COURSE: Called to Contemplative Action Kathryn FlenleyHave you ever wandered round an abbey and

wondered what it was like when the monks were there,living out their days in collective worship, private studyand shared meals (as well as the daily chores of course.)

We are fortunate to have a Benedictine Abbey on ourdoorstep. Alton Abbey welcomes all to share theirworship and spend time in the peace of the grounds orguest house. St Benedict is a 6th century saint whoseRule of Life has influenced many religious communities.Its spirit of balance, moderation and reasonableness is

just as relevant today as it was when he wrote it.Last Lent we followed the Winchester Diocesan Lent course, which introduced the

Bishop’s vision of a Mission-shaped church. This was a broad-brush approach, which kick-started various action plans across the Diocese. This Lent the focus is on individual growthin faith and action. During the six weeks, we are invited to explore aspects of Benedict’srule in a variety of ways, reflecting on how to bring about balance in our lives.

Hospitality features prominently in St Benedict’s rule. In order to introduce the coursewe are beginning with hospitality in the form of a Pancake evening on Shrove Tuesday,17th February, 6.00-8.00. Stephen and Sharon Blackshaw have kindly agreed to host theevening. There will be sign-up sheets in all the churches so please add your name if youwould like to come and share in the hospitality and find out more about the Lent course.

We hope to run the course in all 4 parishes, including one during the day. More detailswill be available nearer the time.

LENT LUNCHES- There will be a service starting at 12 noon followed by lunch.February 28 BentworthMarch 7 LashamMarch 14 Shalden

March 21 BentworthMarch 28 LashamApril 4 Shalden

JANE MOSS 1925 – 2014 Charlie ShaylorJane Bown, or Mrs Tiggiwinkle as her Lasham friendswere want to call her died peacefully in her own homejust before Christmas. Her funeral took place on the13th of January at St. Mary's Church Bentworth. She isburied in the church yard there along with Martin herhusband. The church of course was packed, as was herhome in Lenten Street where the family Matthew,Louisa and Hugo made all those who had come to paytheir respects welcome in typically generousstyle. Jane was a truly remarkable lady, humble,unassuming and forever true to herself. She left us all

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with a remarkable legacy, wonderful pictures and a host of rich memories, but the legacythat meant the most to her, and the one she was most proud of was her family. Ourthoughts are with them, and all those close friends and colleagues who will miss hergreatly. For us villagers it was a privilege to meet and to know a very special lady, a ladywho mixed with the great and the good, royalty, celebrities, the rich and the famous, andwho herself came to be both great and famous, but yet remained the humble, unassumingMrs Tiggywinkle, the lady with a camera, the lady with the tea trolley or the wheel barrow,who expressed her love for humanity in a wealth of images that reveal truth, beauty andcharacter in a unique way. All of us no doubt have read the papers and what those whoknew Jane professionally have had to say, they leave us in no doubt Jane was an artistamong artists, but Hugo her son in his eulogy at the funeral left us with an indeliblememory of the lady we all loved.

Hugo MossOur Mum was born, on the other side of the fence, in a house next to Eastnor Castle in

Herefordshire to a lady who had been nursing a gentleman called Charles Wentworth Bell.He was a much loved character in the village, leader of the local hunt and very keenillustrator, cartoonist and a photographer. The birth was memorable, on the tiled kitchenfloor in a big old house. In those days being a single mother was not approved of and somy mother was initially sent to a foster family. She had a fine selection of Aunts all namedafter flowers, Daisy, Iris, Pyllis, Primrose, Lily, Rose, Violet and Ivy. Almost all representedhere in the bouquets. These sisters couldn’t stand the idea of little Jane going to anotherfamily so they agreed to share the fostership of this little girl between them.

She grew up pretty much as a single child in Dorset. She often told of tearing down thehills on a bike with no brakes. Apparently she also used to share a bike with another girl inthe village and when going on a trip to town they would take it in turns to cycle. One wouldcycle for half a mile, leave the bike in the hedge and start walking before the other wouldcatch up and cycle her leg of the trip. Brilliant! Local photographer Mr, Stride used to useMum as a model so, bizarrely, most photographs we have of her are from this era. Likemost photographers she became quite camera shy and elusive. She had obviously learntwhat a dangerous weapon a camera can be in the wrong hands.

When she was 12 she realised that one of the Aunts, Daisy, the one who doted on hermuch more than the others was her mother. She never really got over this discovery and Ithink a lot of her life was spent coming to terms with this before finally forgiving her motherin her later life.

She did spend a few years living in Herne Bay. During the Battle of Britain, she and herfriends would sit outside and watch the dogfights over the sea. Rather morbidly they wouldthen walk along the beaches looking for washed up wreckage as souvenirs.

Mum signed up as a chart corrector in the Wrens at the end of the war, updating chartsof ships that docked in Liverpool to make sure that all new mines were marked on theirmaps. She also worked on charts for the D-day landings. She remembered marching withthe other Wrens in Liverpool with the sailors on the docks whistling and singing “Herecome the lady sailors”

Following the war she went to live near Guildford where she was the nanny of Jill andJenny Acheson. Their father, Paddy, was at Guildford school of Art with Ifor Thomas whowas the first to spot her unique eye when she brought in a close up of a cow’s eye. Untilthis picture she had shown no aptitude whatsoever. It was the picture that MechthildNawiasky at the Observer saw and gave her the reason to employ Jane. In 1948 that wasquite a bold choice, lady photographers were non-existent on Fleet Street and Mum wasstraight out of college. Things were different then. David Astor would employ people hemet and liked and with that unique way of hiring created in the Observer an amazing teamof journalists, including Mum.

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In 1953 she married our Dad Martin in Mary-le-Strand in Fleet Street. David Astor stoodin to give her away. Then within a few years she had us three. Mum never really talked tous about her work. To be honest I think she really had no idea of her abilities. For her itwas just a process and a job. Two or three times a week, jump in a cab, photographsomebody and just bring back a picture that would fit the hole in the paper, 8 columns,landscape or a by-line picture, portrait. When we went to get her MBE, the first time shemet the Queen, all she could say when asked was “Oh I am just an old hack”. For us shewas just a mum. Often an absent one, which for kids is great as we could misbehave untilorder was restored when she got home. I really don’t think any of us knew how much of aname she was until the Gentle Eye exhibition.

Anyone who knew Mum well knew her not just for her photography but for her houses.She had a ten year itch and the uncanny ability to find beautiful properties. Combined withthat was her love of antiques. Many a pay cheque was instantly converted to somethingwalnut or mahogany. The proceeds of her first book, the Gentle Eye became a Florentinetiled kitchen floor in a house they were to sell just a year later.Unfortunately with the love of furniture came the continuousneed to move the furniture. We moved one Iron bed four timesin a weekend. Mum also bedroom hopped, never staying toolong in one place. Maybe that harked back to her childhood,never being in one house for too long.

She was also an animal lover. We had chickens, Sheep,Ducks, a pony, her beloved Donkeys, a menagerie of cats,mostly named after hats and a bunch of second handLabradors named after…hm. Tennis was her favourite sport.She was obsessed by Wimbledon, would out commentate thecommentators and incidentally the one person she regrettednever photographing was Andre Agassi, did she go on abouthim!

As kids our memories of the Observer was watching theLord Mayor’s Show when the Obs was on Queen VictoriaStreet. Matthew and Louisa maybe just remember swimming inDavid Astor’s swimming pool in Cliveden just after the Profumoaffair. David wanted a photograph of the pool looking “normal”to help disassociate himself from the scandal.

Sue Arnold told me a few days ago that whenphotographing for Pendennis, Mum would always try toengineer her jobs to be as near to Charing Cross as possibleso that she could escape early and catch the 3.25 toSevenoaks and get home to see us kids. Now I was going totry to not talk too much about her photography but Muminvested so much of her life into it I won’t be able to avoid it.Much has been written about her ability to disarm the sitter byplaying the little old lady. But “tenacity Jane” would always gether shot, always. In a press call her elbows were sharp and herheight an advantage. The picture editor would always choosethe picture that ended up in the paper, not always the most flattering shot on the roll, but inall her years she only had two complaints. One subject, Stalin’s daughter, wrote to her tosay Mum had made her look like a frog. For Mum it was always a battle with light and time,but looking for light was key.

When she photographed the Archbishop of Canterbury many years ago, the light justwasn’t good enough so with gentle persuasion she made Sue Arnold, who was writing thepiece, carry a table out onto the terrace of Lambeth Palace, with the Primate of England

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carrying the other end. The same with Prince Charles, who was politely ordered to walkinto the garden, very much against the protocol. He obliged gladly. When shephotographed the Dalai Lama, she just couldn’t get him to sit right in the window she hadfound so she manually moved his head into the ideal position. His assistants protested“nobody is allowed to touch his holiness” he immediately put them down by saying “let herdo her job”.

Mum also really didn’t know much about the people she had to photograph. She hardlyever prepared for a shoot, just had her bag with two or three camera bodies, a box of film,the end of a sleeve to clean the heavily dented lens and if there was any chance that thelight would be bad, a borrowed angle poise. She often would photograph people she hadnever heard of even if they were celebrities. Once she had to photograph PrincessMargaret, before her marriage to Tony Armstrong-Jones. On arriving at the house in St.James she was shown into a reception room by a housekeeper and then after a long anduncomfortable pause the housekeeper said “it’s me…Princess Margaret!”

We joked in the 70s about Mum working at the Observer for another 100 years andwhen seen pushing the Tea Trolley around the office people would say “who is that littleold lady with the trolley and the camera?” Well, we weren’t that far off the truth. Mumworked at the Observer for 67 years. In the last few years she would go the Observerevery Tuesday. Just to catch up with old friends, have a large brandy. Get her hairrebobbed before coming home. She lived for those Tuesdays.

About six years ago after a little Googling we finally made contact with her father’sfamily. This was momentous for Mum. It wastricky at first but Mum got to meet her nieceand whole branch of new relations, but for hermore importantly to see photographs of herfather and of where she was born. Wemanaged to visit the house, see the kitchenfloor and I think for her find the part of her lifeshe had so missed.

Mum was happy and resolved at the end.She loved the attention of all of her childrenand friends, but I think she knew where shewanted to go and passed away peacefully onthe 21st December, the shortest day, with all ofus around. We will miss her always but as shewould always say “Onwards and Upwards” God speed Mum.

PRAY-ERS TOGETHER All Christians who share an awareness of the value and power

of united, corporate prayer are very welcome at any of these meetings

Friday 30th January Alton Baptist Church, Mount Pleasant Friday 27th February The Salvation Army, Amery Street Friday 27th March The Harvest Church, Alton Maltings Centre

All meetings start at 8pm

JULIAN MEETINGS Jill Hurley Our Julian meetings are now held once a month, at 8pm. We alternate these betweenBentworth on a Tuesday, and Medstead on a Wednesday, and arrange the date that ismost convenient to all members. If you would like to join us you would be very welcome;please contact Gay Howard 565993, or email julian@howard.nildram.co.uk., or myself on01420 562126.

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COMMUNITY INFORMATIONCRIMESTOPPERS - PC Simon Wright Force Crimestoppers Co-ordinator and Most Wanted Manage

Upgraded powers to tackle underage drinking, including making it easier for police toconfiscate alcohol, move along groups of teenagers causing trouble and stop retailersselling to underage children, came into force recently.

Previously, Police needed to prove that youngsters were intending to consume alcoholin the street before confiscating it (I know, what else would you do with a bottle of cider?!).Now Officers are able to confiscate the booze simply because people under 18 years arein possession of it. There is also a power to tackle persistent underage drinkers whopossess alcohol in a public place.

A ‘Direction to Leave’ notice can be served on people aged 10 to 15 years, ensuringthat larger groups of youngsters move on when congregating on street corners, outsideshops etc.

The law has become more severe for shops who sell alcohol to under-18s – two strikesin three months will potentially lead to a loss of licence.

Your local Councillors have also been given new powers to tackle problem premises.They will be able to call for a review to restrict or remove an alcohol retailer’s licence.

The powers are not about spoiling anyone’s fun, or being heavy handed. However, weall know how a large group of youngsters hanging around outside the local shop, orplayground, is intimidating and stops residents from using the services of the localcommunity. Add to that a few bottles of cider, or cans of lager, and the problem becomesfar worse. We then have youngsters who are far ‘braver’ through their nice new ‘lagercoats’ and start becoming more rowdy, perhaps committing vandalism, public orderoffences and other crimes to impress their mates. It also is very time consuming for therest of us clearing up vomit, taking drunken teenagers home to their parents and repairingthe damage caused.

Of course, drunken youngsters can also become the victims of crime where they arevulnerable when incoherent through drink or drugs. Wallets, phones and other personalproperty can get taken, and more serious offences such as sexual assault can alsohappen.

The legislation is all about keeping our youngsters safe, and also allowing localresidents to feel safe in their communities. Do you know where your kids are tonight?If you have information about any crime, please call Crimestoppers on 0800 555111, or logon to www.crimestoppers-uk.org Your call is free, no one will know you called and youmay earn a cash reward. Please follow me on twitter @HantsCrimestopp for moreupdates.

TALKING HEALTH Gillian DuckworthWe are North Hampshire Clinical Commissioning Group and our job is to plan and buy

your local healthcare services. We work closely with GP practices, pharmacies and otherhealthcare professionals to give you the best possible service. Here is the first of our short hints, tips and ideas about how to better look after yourself,your family and your neighbours.

Feeling Under the Weather? Most of us feel a little under the weather from time to time, especially in the winter. Aches, pains, runny nose, sore throat, headaches – they happen to the best of us.What’s the best way to deal with feeling like this? Tell your local pharmacist all about it!

We’re fortunate to have a good network of pharmacies ready and willing to give soundadvice and help for minor ailments.

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A quick visit to your local pharmacy is easy and can be the cheapest way to obtainexactly the help you need. You can even have a private chat if you wish, so you don’thave to broadcast your aches and pains to the whole shop.So pop in and see your pharmacist when you feel under the weather. Look after yourselfthis winter.Hitting the Cold Spots Hampshire County Council is providing help for those who are having problemskeeping their homes warm this winter. They have a team of friendly advisers who givepractical help for all sorts of problems, from broken or no heating to the best energy plan tochoose for you and your family. So if you need assistance with keeping warm or you know someone who does, call0800 804 8601 or email staywarm@environmentcentre.com You and your family need tobe warm to stay healthy. This service is funded by Hampshire County Council Adult Services and Public HealthDepartments, working with local charity the Environment Centre. Carbon monoxidedetectors have been donated by Southern Gas Networks.

* * * * *SAFETY:- When walking in our villages on these dark, misty and low cloud mornings and evenings please wear light clothing, or better still a high viz jacket, and carry a torch, which will alert motorists – they don't expect to find people on foot, and there have been some near misses recently.

BRAS for AFRICA The EditorThe report last month was somewhat inaccurate, and should have said that of the totalcollected (8159) 200 were from the Alton Herald office, and of these 90% were donated toAnne Maltby, and taken to the Herald. My apologies for the misunderstanding.Do keep on giving them to Anne!

AN APPEAL :- Dog walkers exercise your dogs on the airfield by all means butshould they need to relieve themselves there please remove the evidence..

* * *EVENTS

THE CURTIS MUSEUM AND ALLEN GALLERY Jill LineThe opening hours are 10 to 5 for the Curtis, 10.30 to 4.30 for the Allen Gallery,

Tuesday to Saturday. Entry is free to both buildings. Enquiries to the Curtis Museum on 01420 82802, or visit the website www.hampshireculturaltrust.org.uk In the Museum 14-21th February – Walking through time - Journey back with our self-led trail. Free, just drop in. Donations welcome.In the Allen GalleryThurs 26th February Luath Grant Ferguson’s talk is What Queen Victoria did for the Banjo.

Thurs 26th March Mark Breedon, the Allen Family representative in the Curtis & Allen

Trust, will speak on WH Allen, the man and his family.

This talk will illuminate the exhibition of Allen’s works running in the Gallery from 7

February to 1 April, entitled The Olden Days of W H Allen.

The talks are £5 per head, to include light refreshments. Tickets available in advance oron the night; the talks start at 7.30pm. The exhibition is free. For younger visitors – 17 February 11am-1pm – Landscapes and Townscapes.

£3 per (accompanied) child.20

ROPLEY DRAMATIC SOCIETY Jan Bennett, for Ropley Dramatic SocietyInvite you to an evening of laughter and intrigue with

their Spring production

“FORGET-ME-KNOT”, the hilarious comedy by David Tristram.

Wednesday, Friday and Saturday, 18th, 20th and 21st March 2015 at 8.00pm

at Ropley Village Hall. Licensed bar available.

Tickets £8.00, on sale from 7th February - Telephone: 01962 773256.

This is a comedy with an intriguing plot: Robert Zeinfeld is found wandering the streetsof Leicester at 4am, without even the slightest clue how he got there. Total amnesia, andonly a bruised head and a suspicious policeman for company. But perhaps he hasn’t losthis memory at all; perhaps it’s all an elaborate cover-up. But the deeper the policemandigs; the more confused he gets. However, the truth always comes out in the end. Or does it ………?

* * * CLUBS within the BENEFICE & REGULAR MEETINGS

HAMPSHIRE FEDERATION OF W.I. - Jean Spottiswoode Clark HERRIARD & LASHAM with BENTWORTH W.I. Tea Party at the Royal British Legion Hall, Herriard Thursday 15th January 2015 After a very windy night it was a relief to see the sun shining in the morning. Despitewarnings about not traveling unless necessary making the front page of the newspaper,the weather remained kind for us during the afternoon as we made our way to Herriard. Itwas pleasing to find so many of our members gathered at the hall to enjoy a delicious arrayof sandwiches, biscuits and cakes, and catch up on all the local news and Christmas/Newyear happenings.

Time passed quickly as usual and the sun was still shining as we left, all of us lookingforward to our February meeting, which will be on Thursday 5th February. Our guest speaker will be Mr Alan Grace on the subject of “The Story of ENSA”. Venue: the Royal British Legion Hall, Herriard.Time: 2.30pmOur competition is for a memento/photograph that best reflects the 1940s.

HAMPSHIRE SCIENCE GROUPThe next meeting is on Monday February 23rd, when Joanna Scott-Lutyens BA(Hons),

Dip(ION), FdSc – Nutritional Therapist, will talk on Modern Life, Inflammation and theInterrelatedness of Food, Mind and Health

People often say that life is about balance. This applies to our bodies as well. We areprogrammed to stay in a physiological balance as part of survival. When we becomephysically or emotionally imbalanced we become ill. Food, what and how we eat, has ahuge influence on this.

The group meets at St Gregory's Parish Centre in Alresford at 2.00pm. All people withan interest in Science are welcome.

The cost (including refreshments) for members is £3.00, (£5.00 for non-members).The annual membership fee is £3.00.

For further information please contact Sheila Goater on 01420 472917, sheilagoater@oakhanger.org.uk

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MEDSTEAD BOWLS CLUB Wilf RobinsonNEW YEAR'S DAY

The weather for this year’s Ladies v Gentlemen match was seriously cold and damp.Nevertheless it was much better than we had last year when the green was flooded and weplayed skittles indoors instead. Seventeen members played but only five of them werewilling to face the elements outside. Ladies were slightly outnumbered by men so StanWhitcher and David Keen were elected honorary ladies for the day and played in grassskirts and wigs.

We were all expecting soup and rolls for lunch but were amazed by the abilities of thecatering team when sausage rolls, mince pies and cakes also appeared. We also enjoyedour usual hot mulled wine that for many years has been prepared by our president, TonyChivers, according to his own secret recipe. Unfortunately Tony was not well enough tocome this year but kindly provided the appropriate warming ingredients for which we offerhim our sincere thanks.

AN UPDATE ON THE GREENOur chairman, Peter Buckland, has been following up the decision to proceed with

renewing the carpet on the playing surface. He has been in touch with two clubs thatalready use the type of carpet we are considering and another that is in process ofobtaining one, all of them in the Waterlooville area just north of Portsmouth. Reports hehas had are very favourable and he intends to set up a visit to inspect them and discusshow they were funded. We are still hoping to obtain a contribution from the local authorityand/or Sport England.NEW SCOREBOARDS

We are in process of obtaining six new scoreboards. Their format will be horizontal soshould be less susceptible to disturbance by the wind than our current vertical ones. Whenwe get them, we can renovate the best two of the old ones and use them indoors on theshort mats. CLUB SHIRTS

As a result of a survey to which 22 members responded, the Committee has decided toprogress this matter further. A majority of responders elected for the white shirt withmaroon collar and cuff. The shirt will be polyester. Several people indicted they wouldprefer cotton or cotton mix but the suppliers, although they could offer them, said themajority of clubs went with polyester as it performed better and is quite a lot cheaper. Theexpectation was that cotton would absorb sweat better but the composition of modernpolyester for sports shirts is “breathable”. It has been suggested that the club should buy afew specimen shirts so that members can try them on to check the size before placing anorder. CAR BOOT SALE ON 12TH APRIL

We are planning to run a car boot sale at the club. It’s still at the early planning stageso I can’t give any more details. Obviously the objective is to earn some money for theclub so we need stall holders from outside the club to participate. Here is an opportunityfor other people in the village to do some de-cluttering while simultaneously supporting avillage club.

Our club is always seeking new players and would particularly like to attract a few morelady members. We play outside throughout the year on our all-weather surface and offeran invitation to anyone who would like to try the game to come along to our open sessionson Wednesday, Friday and Sunday afternoons. Don’t be put off by the weather; we playon short mats in the warm clubhouse if the weather is bad. There is plenty of clubequipment that newcomers can use, so just turn up a little before 2 pm, or ring for moreinformation on 01420 563495.

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THE MEDSTEAD PLAYERS Allan Coombs Happy New Year and HUGE thanks to our audience and friends whosupported Marion Roger’s production “Till the Boys Come Home” at theend of November, which raised a fantastic £350 EACH for BLESSMA &Royal British Legion. New Year – New YOU?

How about joining a friendly am/dram group – we need you!As well as Acting there are lots of Back Stage and Front of House roles or just join oursocial club evenings.

The next meeting, on Tuesday 3rd February, is a quiz evening as well as auditions forour next play – a comedy written and directed by Nita Simpson. Details for those interestedfrom Nita on 07703 297232 or email: nita@simpsonservices.co.uk

At January's meeting the members enjoyed a hilarious game of charades – Still notsure who won!

The March meeting, on Tuesday 3rd March will be one of Pam Kercher’s famous beetledrives. More information from Membership Secretary, Claire Fraser on 07944 373335 or emailmembership@medsteadplayers.co.uk

Monthly meetings are 7:30 held in the Wiltshire room at the Village Hall 1st Tuesday of themonth. – New members always welcome. Our website: www.medsteadplayers.co.uk

ALTON DECORATIVE AND FINE ARTS SOCIETY (ADFAS) Peter Wilson10th February Douglas Skeggs The Artists of Montmartre -The Pilgrims of Babylon 10th March Jonathan Hinden Mozart's Magic Flute - More than Meets the Eye Both to be held in The Forum Alton College 7pm for a glass of wine, Lecture starts at 8pm.

U3A Penelope Kennedy

February’s Monthly Lecture will take us back to Tudor Times and reveal the life, anddeath, of a sailor aboard the Mary Rose.

Trevor Sapey works for the Mary Rose Trust and was involved with the recovery of theship and the building of a museum. The lecture is on 20th February at 2-00pm at the Community Centre. All are welcome.

ALTON RUNNERS Philip ScraseThe third race of the Southern Cross Country League took place on Sunday 7th

December at Bourne Wood near Farnham. The day was overcast and not overlay cold. This was the second year of the new course which helped with the large amount of

runners, as the start is wider and flat compared to the old course which was a narrow hill.After going along this track there was a quick descent, which then levelled out before thefirst hill was upon you. This hill was quite steep and sandy but it did spread the runnerswhich helped for a while, until the runners had to go through a small gate, which meanteveryone bunched up again. The next mile and a half was relatively flat and fast as therewas not much mud to go through, before the next hill which was quite short. This wasfollowed by another flat and fast section, but after mile 3 the route became more undulatingwith the hills becoming harder as the surface was sandy. Luckily after mile 4 the route tooka long downhill section after which you entered the finishing straight along a road andfinishing in front of Farnham Runners Clubhouse.

The first Alton man home was James Vann who came 69th and was followed by

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Seadhna Wilson (Four Marks)121st, Alastair Morey 123rd,Philip Scrase (Beech) 131st,Diego Maldonado 157th, JimArmitage (Four Marks) 175th,Michael Pearce (Knaphill) 178thand Terry Newman 253rd.The first Alton lady home wasNaomi Shaylor who came 25thand was followed by Laura DeLisle 40th, Jane Scrase (Beech)106th, Caroline Freeman 134thand Jenny French (Bentworth)141st. The team were 16th outof 22 teams after this race.

The last race of 2014 for Alton Runners was the fourth round of the Southern CrossCountry which took place at Lord Wandsworth College on 28th December. A dry, frostyand sunny morning was a welcome sight for nearly 400 runners who took part, especiallyafter the rain which had occurred over the previous few days.

The course was a 2 lap circuit covering close to 5 miles in distance. The start tookplace on one of the rugby pitches where you ran the length of the pitch before turning leftonto a farm track, this part was quite tricky as there were so many runners trying to turndown the track at the same time.

After that there was a right-hand turn for the first incline up another track, before turningleft on to a bridleway through a wood. The two trees which had come down in 2013 werestill there, the first you needed to either jump over or go round and the next you wererequired to duck under if you were taller than 6ft. There were a lot of puddles and mudalong this part of the route and one or two runners had the misfortune to slip over.The route became a bit twisty before coming out on to a grass footpath at least that wasthe case for the first lap! This footpath was the start of the decent, but before coming to thebottom there was a left turn through the wood but descending all time which was quiteslippery. At the end of the descent you came onto another grass footpath which turnedright back towards the college, however the sting in the tail was about to hit the runnerswith a left hand turn back into the woods but this time it was up a very steep hill, wheresome runners managed to run all the way up, a lot decided to walk. At the top there was aright hand turn along a very muddy path and then another right hand turn downwardswhere it came out onto a field which you crossed and then turned left to do the second lap.After crossing the field for the second time there was another muddy field to cross back tothe finish on the rugby pitch.

The first man home for Alton was Adam Stonehill, in 41st place in the Men’s race andwas followed by James Vann in 45th place, and then came David Hayles (Shalden) 76th,Seandha Wilson (Four Marks) 97th, Alistair Morey 111th, Philip Scrase (Beech) 120th,Jonathan Read (Alresford) 144th, Michael Pearce (Knaphill) 159th, Jim Armitage FourMarks) 167th, Terry Newman 224th, Simon Pead 225th and Richard Scrase (Beech)239th.

The first Alton women home was Naomi Shaylor who came 25th in the Ladies race andwas followed by Diane Bryne (Oakhanger) who came 33rd and then came Susan Bryan(Four Marks) 69th, Jane Scrase (Beech) 99th and Caroline Freeman 131st.

The team which consists of the first 5 men and 3 ladies came 8th out of 21 teams and their position after 4 races is now 13th.

This year’s Alton 10 mile road race will take place on 10th May and entries are nowopen, more details can be found on www.altonrunners.co.uk.

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LASHAM GLIDING NEW YEAR'S CHARIRY RUN/WALK Marjorie HobbyDespite the weather we had a good turnout this year for our annual charity event on the

airfield, with 38 entrants and many more visitors to watch and cheer them on.

The winner was OlegFylypenko in 19.02 minutes -

he was quite disappointed that it was only one circuit!We raised £374.00 from entrants fees, donations and the tombola

for the Murray Parish TrustThe Trust is raising funds for the Paediatric Intensive Care Unit at

Southampton Hospital, for critically ill children across the whole of theSouth of England.

If anyone would like to send a donation to them I am sure theywould appreciate it - no matter how small.

They can be contacted at info@themurrayparishtrust.com

WINTER EVENTS AT LASHAM AIRFIELD Mike PhilpottWe do welcome non-members to these events and as ever, the on-site bar and

restaurant are always open to the public. The events will take place on Saturday eveningsand there will be waiter service in the restaurant. Those wishing to have dinner after thetalks, or just come to the club for dinner only will need to book beforehand withcateringmanager@lasham.org.uk.

Unless otherwise stated, the talks will take place in the 'Brown Elephant' briefing roomand will start at 6pm. They will typically last between and hour and an hour and a half withdinner available afterwards for those who wish to partake. At the end of each talk, there willbe an opportunity to make a small voluntary donation to the Lasham Trust or in somecases, to the subject of the talks.

7th February A return visit to the WW2 Battle of Britain bunker at Uxbridge. This is repeat of the visit that was organised a couple of years ago. It will be followed by acurry for those who wish to partake at a local restaurant in Uxbridge. Numbers are limitedto 50 and the list is now open in the office. Telephone number is 01256 384900. If youwant to go on this trip, please put your name on the list in the office. If numbers exceed 50,as they did last time, we may have to split the group into two and have an early visit and alater one. At present the time set for this visit is 7pm and it will last around an hour to anhour and a half. There is no charge made by the bunker people but voluntary donationstowards upkeep of the bunker will be invited. The optional curry afterwards will be 'anadventure in curry'. The restaurant will just bring dish after dish to the table. Cost for thecurry is fixed at £13.50 per head plus drinks. The reports from two years ago were verypositive.

14th February Steve Grant will play a classical guitar recital for us. Steve is a non-gliding friend who lives locally in Mortimer.

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21st February An evening with ............ Derek Piggott. A chance for you to ask Derek about his exploits in his long and distinguished flying career.Please have your questions ready and any submitted beforehand will be especiallywelcome. I already know what I want to ask him about!

28th February To be confirmed. Work in progress.

7th March Michael Bird - better known as Platypus - will tell about Platypus' travels. Mike has flown in very many different parts of the world. He is an engaging speaker and itwill be very interesting to hear of his experiences. The talk will be entitled "Travels ofPlatypus: gliding across USA, Australia, New Zealand, France, Germany, Austria, Polandand Spain – with glancing blows at Mexico, Belgium, Luxembourg and Italy"

* * *REGULAR FEATURES

GARDEN NOTES - OFF WITH ITS HEAD Stella Strachan I have decided to tackle some overgrown shrub borders which have been there for overtwenty years with the occasional prune. For Christmas I was given a battery poweredgarden saw by Bosch. It is amazing, so powerful, with a very thin blade which is ideal forgetting into the centre of a shrub. Once the lithium battery is charged it keeps its charge,unlike the older style of battery. The Berberis I have just trimmed to a sensible height but the golden Elder has been cutto the ground. The golden Physocarpus was also cut to the ground but if there had beenany young shoots I would have left them. The Purple Hazel has had all the thick shootscut out and some young ones left. I could have stooled it, cutting all the shoots down but Idid not want it to look too bare. Useful bean poles there! The Forsythia has a reprieveuntil it has flowered, then the flowered shoots will be cut out. The Acer Negundo‘Flamingo’ has been cut back to about three feet to let it make its very pretty new pinkgrowth. I do not favour trimming all shrubs to a similar shape. They all have theirindividual habit. If you do go over them with the hedge trimmer you just get lots of growthswhere you cut and no new growth from the bottom. Most shrubs, but not Ceanothus, can be cut hard back if they have got out of hand, it isamazing how they recover. The ideal way to get them back in shape is to cut out the oldergrowths and leave the young ones, but sometimes drastic measures are called for. Thereis still time before the sap starts rising in spring to get on with these jobs. There is no doubtthat as you get older a shrub border makes gardening a doddle. Once you haveconquered the initial flush of weeds and are handy with either a mulch or a quick weedkiller, there is not much to do but enjoy them. I am still in two minds about edging withground cover, and will report back when I have made up my mind. Do be adventurous andlook up the newer varieties that are available. Many have been bred for smaller gardens.

HAMPSHIRE FARMERS MARKETSThe vast range of beautiful foodstuff are available throughout the County in

Alton Saturday 7th

Sunday 1st Petersfield / Romsey Sunday 8th WinchesterSaturday 14th Emsworth Sunday 15th SouthseaSaturday 21st Ringwood (The Furlong) Sunday 22nd Winchester

Markets open 10am until 2pm except Winchester which opens at 9am.

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FARM NEWS Julian LewisThe ewes have been scanned to see if they are in lamb and how many lambs they

have. When the flock size was much larger this made a lot of sense but in recent years thecost outweighed the benefits because the operator travelled from a long way away.However we now have someone who works locally and has purchased the equipment so itmakes sense again. The results are as follows - 4 barren (including Cyclops the one eyedewe), 14 with singles and 30 with 2 or more lambs. The ewes are sprayed with differentcolour marks so that we know which category each falls into. Knowing the number of lambsin each ewe is a great help at lambing time because if a lamb needs to be orphaned onto aewe, because it is one of three or mum has little milk, then a single marked ewe that startslambing can usually be persuaded that she has had 2 lambs not 1.

The empty ewes will be sold although Cyclops may remain as she is the flock leaderand when we want to move them all she will come running to eat out of a bucket and therest follow – it saves a lot of running around having a tame ewe! The single marked eweswill receive less concentrate feed to save money and also to stop them getting too fat orthe lambs too large which can cause birthing problems. The ewes that are predicted tohave 2 or more lambs will have extra rations so that the lambs are a good size and strongand the mum has plenty of condition to produce lots of milk. Lambing is scheduled to startin early March so I hope that we have an early start to spring to encourage grass growth.

The arable crops are looking good with all of last autumn’s work completed in goodtime. My current workload is focused upon office work whilst Rob is hedge cutting andservicing the machinery ready for next season. When I need fresh air we have estate workto do repairing fences, gates and trimming overhanging tree branches from the fieldboundaries.

Arable farmers are very concerned at present about proposals from Brussels to greatlyreduce the number of pesticide products that can be used on crops. These are plantmedicines that stop fungal diseases affecting the growing plant ie applied mostly to thegreen leaf and not the harvested grain or fruit. All plants get diseases and if not controlledthese reduce the quality and quantity of the harvest and push up prices because there isless good quality food available. There are all sorts of training, protocols and safety checksto ensure that the products are applied correctly and that there will be no harm to theconsumer. If the ban on these pesticides is implemented in the EU it will of course notaffect their use in the rest of the world so good healthy grains produced using the sameproducts may well be imported to replace the diseased product from the EU.

These plant medicines have been used for many years without causing any problemsand the same active ingredients are used by the population to cure human ailmentseg triazoles are used in creams to control athletes foot. Why the change?

The European Commission has decided to change how these products are assessedfrom a “risk” based system to a “hazard” based system. Risk looks at whether harm willresult whilst hazard assumes harm will be done. A car, my razor, the family dog, dancing ata party all pose a risk but none could be called a hazard (OK maybe me dancing). Thisnew hazard system would ban driving, shaving, family pets and even dancing if applied toeveryday life. ALTON FRIDAY MARKET: www.altonfridaymarket.co.uk

Our Friday Markets are held in the foyer of Alton Methodist Church every workingFriday from 9:00 am to 11:30 am.

We will take orders for celebration cakes and can supply cakes and savouries for asmall private function. If you would like to place an order, or have any queries, pleasecontact: Liz Trotter 01256 862603 or Dawn Padwick 01252 329396

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HAMPSHIRE COUNTY COUNCIL - The Mobile Library The latest information is that Medstead's stop has been moved back to Greenstile,

which is very good news for those in the centre of Medstead who use it. This will happenon Fridays, every 4 weeks from 16th January.

Medstead – Greenstile Friday 13th February 10.15 – 10.45amThe Shalden service will be at the Village Hall on Tuesdays four weekly from 27th January

Shalden – Village Hall Tuesday 24th February 9.30 - 10am BUS TIMETABLE run by Cresta Coaches of Alresford (01962 773236) only on

Tuesdays and Fridays (NOT Saturdays) - SERVICE 208This timetable has altered again, as Lasham folk were not using it.

Alton High Street 9.35 11.35 13.35 Beech Well House Road 9.43 11.43 13.43 Medstead War Memorial 9.49 11.49 13.49 Bentworth The Star 9.55 11.55 13.55 Alton High Street 10.09 12.09

Jeff Soul, who runs Cresta Coaches, would be prepared to look at options foroccasional buses to Basingstoke if enough people are interested. These could be once amonth, during the middle of the day – e.g. 10.30 to 1.30, and would be pre-booked. Thecost would be set, so depend on how many people shared the trip. Do talk about it, andsee if this is something villagers would welcome.

WILDLIFE

WILDLIFE SUPPORT & CONSERVATION Diana Tennyson

Butterfly Colouring Competition: A pupil from Medstead Junior School won the prize for

the 7 - 12 year old age group. The winner was 9-year old,Georgie Ellis. She received a copy, first edition of a'Comprehensive Guide to Insects of Britain and Ireland',signed by the author, Paul D. Brock.

We received almost one hundred entries in total, socongratulations to all the children who took part and wantedto become involved with the Neighbourhood Plan forMedstead and Four Marks.

Highway tree: Mature Beech to be felled: A beautiful, mature Beech tree has to befelled due to problems with fungal decay. The tree is one of the oldest in Telegraph Lane, Four Marks, and recorded on our Tree Survey in 2009. It is located within the footway,adjacent to No. 3.

Sadly this tree is suffering from extensive fungal decay, porcelain fungus on one limband decay of the base stem from another fungus, associated with honey fungus, accordingto the aboricultural department at HCC. The tree will be felled at the end of January andthe stump will need to be removed. Afterwards the footway will then be made good.

We hope that the Beech will be replaced with another healthy tree as this will be thesecond mature tree to be felled within two years, and will affect the appearance of thelane. We note that another Beech tree in Blackberry Lane is also suffering from problemswith fungal decay.

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We are not aware of any problems affecting trees in Medstead, but if anyone isconcerned, please let us know.

The loss of mature trees is also very worrying. The uppermost branches are importanthabitat for our wild birds, especially finches, tits and the Song and Mistle Thrush (the latteris now on the Amber list), etc.

Where have 421 million wild birds gone? While on the subject of wild birds, a study at the University of Exeter and the RSPB

ask, 'Where have 421 Million birds gone?' The European bird population has seen a hugedecline since the 1980s. Modern farming methods are noted to be one of the reasons forthe decline in Sparrows, Starlings, Grey Partridges and Skylarks, and researchers believethat the plummeting population of birds throughout Europe, could be linked to our farmingmethods, as well as loss of habitats.

Decline of the most common species: 'It is very worrying that the most common species of bird are declining rapidly because

it is this group of birds that people benefit from the most', says Dr. Richard Inger, aresearcher at the University of Exeter. He says, 'it is becoming increasingly clear thatinteraction with the natural world and wildlife is central to human well-being, and significantloss of common birds could be quite detrimental to human society'.

Some good news! However, there is some good news, as not all common, garden birds are in decline.

The study found an increase in Great Tits, Blue Tits, Robins and Blackbirds. It alsoappears that numbers of Marsh Harriers, Ravens, Buzzards, Storks and Stone Curlewshave increased recently, probably due to efforts in wildlife conservation.

The rarer birds in this study have benefited from protection across Europe, but there isstill much work to be done. Although White Storks and Marsh Harriers receive the highestlevel of protection in EU countries, the RSPB say that the, 'conservation and protection ofall birds and their habitats in tandem are essential to reverse declines'. This is also awarning for birds throughout Europe. 'It is clear that the way we are managing theenvironment is unsustainable for many of our most familiar species'. Scientists looked atdata for 144 species of European birds, collected from a large number of studies in 25different countries, before publishing their findings.

ADVERTISEMENT

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Light industrial/office unit available in Lasham.

30 sq m. £350 pcm. Unsuitable for motor repairs.

01962 843750.

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HALL HIRE MANAGER We are looking to utilise our excellent hall facilities further by appointing an organised, flexible and proactive manager with a cheerful disposition to manage our hall hires and ensure it provides a high standard of service to all its users. The post holder will play a key role in promoting our hall, together with running an effective and efficient booking service. If you are interested in marketing and dealing with all coordination/ administration duties linked to the hiring of a hall, then this is the job for you. Person specification

• Experience of marketing• Good customer service/communication skills• Good co-ordination/administration skills• Ability to work independently and flexibly, with home working and

some unsocial hours• Ability to work in close partnership with the school to optimise

productivity

In return you will get a share of the revenue that is generated from the hire of our hall.

In the first instance please apply in writing enclosing relevant information to: Mrs. Jo Ayres

Headteacher St. Mary’s Bentworth CE Primary School Church Street Bentworth GU34 5RE

Friends of Alton Abbey: Registered Charity No 284876

Prof June Boyce-Tillman with soloists & King Alfred Consort choir

to perform in The Abbey Church of Our Lady & St John

Friday 21st March 2015

6.30pm for refreshments with wine 7.30pm Concert

Tickets £15.00 “Tickets” FOAA, Alton Abbey, Alton, GU34 4AP Cheques payable to “Friends of Alton Abbey”. Please include a SAE, a , & an email address

EVENTS continued

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PATRONS: DAVID HILL & DAME GILLIAN WEIR

ORGAN CONCERT

Tuesday

3 FEB 2015 at 8.00 p.m.

KATHERINE DIENES-WILLIAMS GUILDFORD CATHEDRAL

at St Lawrence Church, ALTON, GU34 2BW

Admission: £10.00 at the door, season membership @£60 for all 8 concerts Oct-May

Contact for further details: tony.willman@btopenworld.com

01420 543628 or visit the Websites:

www.altonorgansociety.co.uk www.organrecitals.com

Registered Charity Number: 294257

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Saturday 14th February

33

34

CHURCH ROTAS FEBRUARY 2015 BENTWORTH LASHAM MEDSTEAD SHALDEN

GUILD OF MARTHAFebruary1st Mr & Mrs Young F Parris Mrs. Jacob

Mrs. Shirvell8th Mrs Bolsover

Mrs Stockdale A Clarke Mrs. Buchanan

Mrs. Rankin15th Mrs Constant

Mrs Gore Brown J Osgood Mrs. Miller

Mrs. Wilson22ndMrs Beaumont

Mrs Wait A Goor Mrs. Ennever

Mrs. FloydMarch1st Mrs Burnett

Miss Green M J Shaylor Mrs. Jacob

Mrs. Shirvell8th Mrs Yonge A Del Mar Mrs. Buchanan

Mrs. Rankin

SIDESPERSONSFebruary1st 0800 R Burnett 0930 M Shaylor 1100 0930 M Ommanney8th 1100 E Preece 0930 S Jamieson 0800..

11001800 J Trapaud

15th 0800 R Burnett 0930 M Goor 1100 1800 D Lacey 22nd0930 T Wood 1800 S Clarke 0800

1100 0930 S Floyd

March1st 0800 R Burnett 0930 M Shaylor 1100 0930 A Buchanan 8th 1100 J Cottrell 0930 K Milnes Gaskell 0800.. 1800 S Floyd

READERSFebruary1st 0800 S Burnett

A Chivers0930 TBA 1100 0930 J Shirvell

M Ommanney 8th 1100 F Reavley

J Cottrell 0930 A Goor S Jamieson

0800..

11001800 J Trapaud T Hartley

15th 0800 C Ferrier M Johnson

0930 F Parris S Clarke

1100 1800 D Lacey P Rankin

22nd 1100 TBA 0930 C Baynton M Shaylor

0800..

11000930 T Floyd S Floyd

March1st 0800 C Dumelow

W Ives 0930 TBA 1100 0930 A Buchanan

H Wilson 8th 1100 G Whitley

C Hawes 0930 K Milnes Gaskell J Osgood

0800..

11001800 T Floyd S Floyd

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SERVICES FOR FEBRUARY 2015

BENTWORTH LASHAM MEDSTEAD SHALDEN

1st February – THE PRESENTATION OF CHRIST (CANDLEMAS) (white)Holy Communion (BCP)Family ServiceParish Communion (CW)Parish Communion (CW)

8th February – SECOND SUNDAY BEFORE LENT (Proper 1) (green)Holy Communion (BCP)Parish Communion (CW)Parish Communion (CW)Family ServiceEvensong (BCP)

14th February – SATURDAYMessy Church Jubilee Hall

15th February– SUNDAY NEXT BEFORE LENT (Septuagesima) (Proper 2) (green)

Holy Communion (BPC) Parish Communion (CW) Sunday SchoolParish Communion (CW)Evensong (BCP)

18th February – ASH WEDNESDAY (purple)Holy Communion (CW)* Holy Communion (CW)* Benefice Communion (CW)* *with Imposition of Ash

22nd February – THE FIRST SUNDAY OF LENT (Sexagesima) (green)Holy Communion (BPC) Half Hour 4 FamiliesParish Communion (CW) Morning Prayer (CW) Evensong (BCP)

1st March – THE SUNDAY BEFORE LENT (Quinquagesima) (green)Holy Communion (BCP) Family Service Parish Communion (CW) Parish Communion (CW)

Weekday Services and ASH Wednesday - above Tuesday 9.15 a.m. Holy Communion (BCP) Medstead Tuesday 6.00 p.m. Evensong (CW) Lasham Wednesday 9.15 a.m. Holy Communion (CW) Bentworth

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8.00a.m. 9.30a.m

11.00a.m

9.30a.m

9.30a.m

6.00p.m.

8.00a.m.

11.00a.m.

9.30a.m.

8.00a.m. 9.30a.m. 10.00a.m.

11.00a.m.

6.00p.m.

8.00a.m. 9.30a.m

11.00a.m

9.30a.m

11.00a.m.

9.30a.m.

8.00a.m.

11.00a.m.

6.00p.m.

9.15a.m.

7.30 p.m

11.15a.m.

4.00p.m.