Page 26 • The HERALD • 3rd August 2023 v SAY YOU SAW IT IN THE HERALD v Wet clean or Dry clean • Carpets • Rugs • Upholstery • Cushions • Mattresses • Caravans & Motor Homes Contact Chris for a free estimate and advice. We have full liability insurance 023 8104 0185 07770 792361 clean-u-up@hotmail.com We provide one of the best professional Carpet & Fabric cleaning Systems ALL ASPECTS OF ELECTRICAL WORK UNDERTAKEN • Full Rewires • New Circuits • Consumer Unit Replacements • Electric Vehicle Charging Points • Landlord Certification • Smart Homes • Central Heating Controls 023 8089 0932 or 07534 343631 www.alnelectrical.co.uk info@alnelectrical.co.uk FLAT ROOFING SPECIALISTS All Roof Repairs Tel: 023 8184 5632 Mobile: 07880 508415 Email: steve@braithwaiteroo ng.co.uk THE FLAT ROOF SPECIALIST Creatures of the Night, and Other Curiosities by Robin Somes, Fawley and Blackfield Memories Many of my childhood memories concern Badminston Common and the areas around it, and most o en the wildlife there. I don’t recall exactly when the common between Badminston Drove and Mopley Pond was dug up for gravel, but it was around the late 1970’s. Prior to that, I recall cycling across to Mopley, on the bleached-white sand and int tracks through the tall gorse, its furry, twisty seed pods popping in the hot summer sun. I remember too visiting a spring on the southern end of the common close to Dingley Dell, with my mother one evening at dusk, to collect spring water. I’m conjecturing, but I suspect it was formerly used by the inhabitants of the cottages close by. I also suspect my mother knew it would disappear when the gravel extraction started, and wanted me to retain some memory of it. At the end of the 70’s, I dragged my mother out there with her car (in those days one could drive all the way across the common from Badminston to Mopley, if one had the nerve) to collect yellow clay, which had been dug up when some pipeline or cable had been laid across the common. My bright idea was that she could use the clay for her pottery – although I don’t believe anything ever came of that plan. At other times, I heard nightjars and nightingales, on the warm sweet nights of late May and June, and saw glow-worms on the track between Badminston Drove and Sprat’s Down. Before Dutch Elm disease struck, Calshot Road and Badminston Drove were long avenues of elm trees. In the summer of 1976, barn owls nested in the rotted, hollow trunk of an elm in Badminston Drove, and from our house we could hear the unearthly screeching the young owlets made. e tree was due to be felled, but we begged Cadland Estate to leave it until the owls nished nesting, and I spent many summer evenings watching the nest through a telescope from my bedroom window, thrilled to see the u y owlets as they grew and eventually took their rst attempts at ight. I chased adders on the common, and grass snakes, slow worms, frogs and toads around our garden, and I recorded in my nature diary where all the birds’ nests were. e gravel extraction, over the decades, has le only a skeleton of the original land behind. Nonetheless, 40 or 50 years later I still hear nightjars and nightingales on summer nights; the new Badminston Lake is teeming with insect life, and just a few days ago, I found a little colony of glow-worms along the footpath. Somehow nature carries on its endless renewal, come what may. Badminston Common, before the gravel extraction HPHA Heritage Day 2023 Hythe Pier Heritage Association’s Heritage Day is taking place on Saturday 16th September. e event will be centred around Hythe Pier and the Shed (at the Pier) on Hythe Quay between 10am and 3pm. Designed to celebrate the history of Hythe Pier and its train, the day will include video and static displays, a slide show presentation, Hythe history walks and talks, model railways, music, merchandising and food stalls. More detailed information will follow on local social media platforms and in the next Herald. As well as being a social and informative occasion, it is hoped funds can be raised on the day for the project Wild Wonders to restore the pier and train for the bene t of the community in Hythe and along the Waterside. Go and join the Lepe team and a whole host of other wildlife loving organisations at Lepe’s Wildlife celebration event on 8th and 9th August, 10am-3pm. A two day wildlife themed festival for the whole family. Explore the wildlife at Lepe through fun cra s, activities and games. With exhibitions from Hampshire & IOW WildlifeTrust, Bird Aware Solent and many more. is is a free event to attend, but the usual parking charges apply. To nd out more, check out Lepe Country Park on social media or contact the Visitor Services desk on: 023 8089 9108. Hythe Armed Forces & Veterans Breakfast Club takes place on the second Saturday of every month at e Lord Nelson, High Street, Hythe. Go along on Saturday 12th August to enjoy the social interaction and banter with fellow veterans which will help improve your mental health and is good for PTSD. For more details text Graham on 07526 507053 or nd them on Facebook (Hythe Armed Forces & Veterans Breakfast Club). Doreen Hosey will be holding fundraising sales at Jubilee Hall in Fawley on Saturday 9th September and Saturday 4th November. e sales raise funds for the Hampshire and Isle of Wight Air Ambulance. Veterans Breakfast Club e ever-popular FB Pocket Jazz Orchestra makes a welcome return visit a er four years to Music at Beaulieu on Saturday 12th August. is Trio present their individualistic take on Hot Jazz, Blues and Ragtime, a performance which has thrilled near sellout audiences on their previous visits. Doors open at 6.30pm and the concert will start at 7pm. Tickets are £15 and may be obtained in advance from: www.ticketsource.co.uk/musicatbeaulieu or at the door, through their box o ce, telephone 07770 859900 or by post at PO Box 84, Lymington, Hants, SO41 3ZA where cheques will be accepted. Fundraising Sales Music at Beaulieu
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy MTIyNzI=