Year 2019

The Community Magazine is published monthly (February to December, 2019) and the Across the Downs (ATD) is published weekly (collated into four quarters, 2019)

Extracted below are eleven monthly editorials from the Community Magazine and Parish records from the Benefice ATD, followed by links to PDF download files

Editorial by Andrew Keevil (December 2019)

Christmas is coming and another New Year is almost upon us. As usual there are Christmas services of every type and cornucopia of festive activities lined up in the villages over the next two months. Young people have pushed Climate change to the top of the public agenda and this month we feature an initiative for children and young people to make a difference and plant trees in the Test Valley. A very Happy Christmas and best wishes for 2020 from all at the magazine.

Editorial by Lucia Foster-Found (November 2019)

Fun fireworks flare and fade; we descend into darkness even as we career towards Christmas. November’s a mixed bag. Happily, there’s always something to occupy the short days and long evenings in the villages; watch a movie, play skittles, go to a quiz or three. It’s a time to reflect on the past, but also to look forward and put some dates in your diary for the festive season. Don’t forget to have your say about the Playing Fields too.

Editorial by Andrew Flanagan (October 2019)

A bumper 40-page magazine this month with a Beeching poem, articles about Elm trees, the Whitelands path, People on Plinths and part two of family life in Chilbolton in the 60s. Aside from the usual reports, there is focus on our environment with a Bincinerator update and ‘future proofing’ our villages. There are events galore; talks on Maps, Brewing, Life on a Smallholding, Writing a Novel, plus music, quizzes, Craft and Zumba invitations, etc. So, plenty to entertain in the run-up to 31st October!

Editorial by Tessa Youell (September 2019)

With many contributors on holiday, the magazine is a little slimmer this month.  However, the first part of a three-part story about a family who lived in Anstey in the late ‘50s and ‘60s, is well-worth a read. There is much to look forward to in September by way of music and films, as well as harvest festivals and various quiz evenings. ‘Women at war’ is a strong
theme – perhaps you can identify one of the women who helped produced Spitfire components at a Newbury factory during WWII (p.24).

Editorial by Tessa Youell (August 2019)

With the village fetes over, it is high summer and with the start of the school holidays, parents are faced with the perennial problem of how to occupy their children for the next few weeks. For those who enjoy exploring the natural world, walking, biking, paddling in the river, fishing for minnows, or simply basking in the sunshine, there’s no need to endure the stress of travelling. With temperatures in the high 20s, the beauty of
West Down, Cow Common, Harewood Forest, the River Test on our doorstep, not to mention excellent child-friendly pubs, who needs abroad!

Editorial by Andrew Flanagan (July 2019)

Welcome to your July magazine. This month, we publish a new set of adverts to cover the next 12 months; so please take a look. The Magazine team are very grateful to our advertisers past and present and to our superb Advertising Manager, Geoff Cockram, and his helpers. Advertising revenue is very important – it enables free delivery to all residents in Chilbolton and Wherwell and contributes £1000 to each PCC. As ever, a good spread of interesting articles and events; coffee mornings, films, Morris Dancing, music, BBQ, quiz, Auto Fest and the annual Ragwort Pull. Read on …….

Editorial by Lucia Foster-Found (June 2019)

There’s a magical quality to June’s long, light evenings and, for those of us with open bedroom windows, likewise the amazing early birdsong! And if there’s a rare, clear sunrise on the Summer Solstice, that’s quite special too for those who are ‘up for it’. But whatever your ‘bag’, pretty sure that June has something for you. There are films and fetes, quizzes and cauliflower cheese, picnics and prayers. As ever, plenty to inform and entertain in our glorious villages, plus the opportunity to contribute; donate a bottle, bake a cake, lend a hand. Go on, you know you want to…

Editorial by Andrew Keevil (May 2019)

As I write this Easter is upon us, the temperature is 23 degrees and our villages are bathed in sunshine. One month into spring and it feels like summer is here. If this weather continues there are plenty of opportunities to enjoy it, with three fetes, a sports fair and two open garden days – all by June! If the weather is not to so kind to us, then there are many indoor activities taking place including music, movies and more. Coming up is an important public consultation on the Chilbolton Neighbourhood Development Plan – the notice within explains how to respond.

Editorial by Tessa Youell (April 2019)

Spring has hit the ground running this year, with daffs in full bloom, leaf buds bursting, and birds twittering for all they’re worth. With Easter coming up, village life is similarly springing anew, filling almost two pages of ‘diary dates’ (a first to my knowledge) with cultural and physical opportunities. Thanks to a group of enterprising villagers, there is an informed explanation of the proposed installation of the controversial ‘Wheelabrator’ that is worth attention. Among the other gems in this organ of village life, is a beautiful poem, and a closely observed description of the funny little ways of some of our humble garden birds.

Editorial by Andrew Flanagan (March 2019)

Who remembers 2018, when the St David’s Day daffodils were covered in a blanket of snow? Probably won’t happen this year? This month, we will bid farewell to the plentiful snowdrops and journey through Lent (see the letter from Jax on pg. 4) and celebrate Shrove Tuesday and Mothering Sunday. There are invitations to try 30 minutes ‘Meditation’, take part in a Litter Pick, donate to the Jumble Sale, place bids in the Chilbolton Auction of Promises or prepare for Test Valley 2020. As usual, there are plenty of events within; films (I can highly recommend The Wife). talks, music, Bingo, Darts, Quiz and coffee mornings. Enjoy!

Editorial by Lucia Foster-Found (February 2019)

The shortest and, quite possibly, coldest month of February has arrived. Feasting at Yule a distant memory and “Dry January” behind us, it’s time to celebrate the coming of Spring at Imbolc; Love on St Valentine’s Day. Check out the diary dates: film, quiz, bingo – and a lovely fish and chip supper for the ladies, are on offer. If that’s not enough to tempt you away from your warm fireside, also interesting talks from the History Group, Horticultural Society and the WI. Hat, coat, gloves. Ready, steady, go..

Downs Benefice Register, published weekly in ‘Across the Downs’

The Community Magazine for January is published with the preceding December, as a double issue.

Year 2018