The London and Southampton Railway was first proposed in 1831 and the bill approved by Parliament in 1834 at a cost of £900,000. The section between Basingstoke and Winchester opened on 11 May 1840 – and was the final part of the London and Southampton Railway to be completed. Prior to its construction, all of the traffic between London and Southampton was carried by eight stage coaches, four wagons per week, and one barge weekly on the Basingstoke Canal!
The London and Southampton Railway was first proposed in 1831 and the bill approved by Parliament in 1834 at a cost of £900,000. The section between Basingstoke and Winchester opened on 11 May 1840 – and was the final part of the London and Southampton Railway to be completed. Prior to its construction, all of the traffic between London and Southampton was carried by eight stage coaches, four wagons per week, and one barge weekly on the Basingstoke Canal!
The London and Southampton Railway was first proposed in 1831 and the bill approved by Parliament in 1834 at a cost of £900,000. The section between Basingstoke and Winchester opened on 11 May 1840 – and was the final part of the London and Southampton Railway to be completed. Prior to its construction, all of the traffic between London and Southampton was carried by eight stage coaches, four wagons per week, and one barge weekly on the Basingstoke Canal!
Micheldever Church Fete
The Village Fete 25th September 2021
Saturday, 25th September dawned as a warm, slightly overcast late summer day which was just ideal for a long awaited Hampshire village fete. After piping hot summer fetes held previously in June and July it was a blessing to enjoy these balmy conditions. It was neither too hot nor cold, and no rain!!
The weather, excellent publicity (thanks to Chloe P. and others on the fete committee) and a fabulous village spirit drew a great turnout to the fete, local families, young and old, relative newcomers to the village and our Winchester neighbours. It was thanks to this mix of willing and generous people that the fete was such a success. The fete raised £5,000 for St Mary’s church which is sorely needed after 18 months of lockdown.
Children of all ages enjoyed playing hook-a-duck with the pre-school team (thanks to Phil and Sam), winning toys on the toy tombola organised by the village school (thanks to Mr Johnson), having their face painted by the youth group (thanks to Fiona), and entering their family dog in the dog show organised with panache by Katie Burnell. We mustn’t forget the coconut shy run by Charlotte C. which provided competitive entertainment for young and old alike. Many thanks go to The Dever Stores who donated 3 massive sacks of coconuts when the country had run dry of them.
Adults and families enjoyed the brass band, flocked to the tea tent for a cuppa keeping Janis and her team on their toes and had the choice of a delicious cake from Anita’s homemade cake stall, many good reads were found at Richard’s eclectic book stall, and bargains at the David and Suzy’s bric-a-brac stall, not forgetting a plant from the plant stall ably managed by several volunteers old and new. Most importantly there was a bouncy castle for small children and ice cream and burgers for all!
Fête-goers enthusiastically attempted to win bottles of vintage champagne from the peripatetic champagne tombola organised by Jacqui and draw winning numbers on the colourful bottle stall (thank you Chloe and Sam) and the traditional tombola (thank you the Smart family).
The Grand Draw raised an amazing amount of money (£810) with enticing prizes provided by numerous local businesses and sponsors. Thank you also to Torq and “Carte du Vin” for running the bar, Graham M. for ensuring Rvd. Rob R. had a working microphone for all his announcements and Charles H. for introducing a fancy new ATM system for those people who hadn’t brought any cash with them to the fete.
None of this would have happened if Russell and his team of strong volunteers hadn’t helped transport tables and chairs and cleared up again afterwards. We must not forget to thank the fete committee who spent several hours on zoom organising the finer details of the event. Thank you again to all our sponsors and volunteers.
Roll on the 2022 Micheldever fete! If you would like to be involved in 2022’s event please contact me on louisekeys7@gmail.com.