2nd April 2026 • The HERALD • Page 85 v INDEPENDENT, LOCAL AND PROUD v Poets Corner Waterside Boardgaming Waterside Boardgaming’s next monthly meet up is on Sunday 19th April 2pm–7pm, at St Andrew’s Church in Dibden Purlieu, with free parking at the front of the church or at the rear in Oak Road. Open to all ages, £3 per person (under 11’s free), a tuck shop will be available or bring your own drinks and snacks. (Alcohol permitted in moderation). Waterside Boardgaming operate a hosting service and help match attendees to the right games and groups along with game recommendations and can help teach you how to play, or choose from the free-to-play library, they have a great range of games suitable for all ages and preferences. For more information visit: www.facebook.com/ groups/watersideboardgaming Totton Repair Café Totton Repair Café is running on Saturday 19th April 10.30am to 1pm at Totton & Eling Community Centre. e aim of the Totton Repair Café is to try and prevent small household goods from going to land ll if they stop working. You can take along small electrical or other items too good for the tip, you can sit and help/ observe with any repair and refreshments are available while you wait for a small charge. It’s also an opportunity to nd out more about the Repair Café and Men’s Shed. A er your repair is completed all they ask for is a voluntary donation towards the cost of the hall and insurance. For further details please contact the Totton & Eling Community Centre by email: tottonrepaircafe@gmx.co.uk marchwood Veterans breakfast Club Are you a Service member of the Armed Forces, a Veteran or family member of someone Serving? If so, 17 Port & Maritime Regiment RLC would like to welcome you to their monthly Breakfast Club which is open to all current and ex-Military Services, all Ranks, all ages and families. e aim is to come together as an Armed Forces Family, catch up with friends, help social interaction and mental health, talk about current and past experiences, support towards housing (SFA’s and Social), Resettlement support for Civilian life, job networking and general wellbeing advice. Go along and enjoy a full English Breakfast at a very small cost of £7 with unlimited free brews at St Georges’ Restaurant, 17 Port & Maritime Regiment RLC, McMullen Barracks, Cracknore Hard Lane, Marchwood, SO40 4ZG, on the fourth Saturday of the Month between 10am and 12noon. All persons attending will need to book into the Guard Room on arrival and will require photographic ID. You will then be directed to St Georges. e next concert in Romsey Abbey will be Rite of Spring & Sibelius No. 2 with Southampton Concert Orchestra (SCO), on Saturday 25th April, 7.30pm. Join SCO on a journey through three powerful visions of musical transformation. Igor Stravinsky’s Dumbarton Oaks is a neoclassical gem whose elegance and wit conceal dazzling rhythmic invention. From there, plunge into the raw, elemental force of e Rite of Spring, the groundbreaking masterpiece that shook the musical world with its primal rhythms and ritualistic energy. To close, they will ascend toward triumph with Jean Sibelius’s Symphony No. 2, a sweeping work of yearning, resilience, and ultimate exultation. Tickets available from ticketsource.co.uk/ musicinromsey or from Oasis, Church Street (01794 512194). MUSIC IN ROMSEY EASTER by Dorothy Lockyer© A time to indulge, have lots of fun inking of all the goodies yet to come Chocolate eggs, lled with smarties perhaps And to help them down a glass of Schnapps. Simnel cakes; parades of Easter bonnets Hot cross buns; and words from Easter sonnets Bunny rabbits prancing and bounding around Flu y little Easter chicks peck at the ground. Exciting Easter egg hunts without a doubt. But, is this really what Easter is all about? Just like Christmas, the true meaning unseen So few people know what Easter doth mean. Easter’s a time of mixed emotions Of tears; unsealing precious lotions A trial based on false accusation Witness account; misrepresentation. Verdict, Death on a cross, no hope of reprieve For this innocent man, for whom we grieve. He was whipped, spat on, ridiculed for thee Carried his cross, that brought him to his knee Cruci ed, yet from this cruel cross, said Father, Forgive them, then accepted death But the amazing fact was, He rose from the grave All that horrendous su ering for us, for to save at was the penalty for our sin and shame God punished His Son in yours and my name. ere was no other good enough, He the only one He has paved the way, given hope for life to come. An Easter Thought by David K Wilson© e saddest day in history Jesus knew it would always be e lonely walk the cross the hill e baying crowd ‘till his heart was still Until at very rst Easter Sunday ‘morn In the rst light of a quiet dawn e heavy boulder rolled aside Christ crossed the life and death divide He shouldered blame for all our sins Yet willingly invites us in Winter summer spring or fall Christ is present and with us all Rows and rows of chocolate eggs Line the shelves these days A million miles from long ago When Christ died for us that day He died that sin might be forgiven That we all might find a way To climb those steps that golden stair At the end of our Earthly days The scriptures do not mention Chocolate eggs and Easter chicks But speak of the many problems We ourselves inflict By eating lots of Easter eggs We hurry things we each most dread Like dental drills and extraction pliers With sore mouths lasting many hours Yet it’s good to celebrate Easter day Dinner out or a break away Or perhaps it’s Easter in the sun Swimming skiing having fun But don’t indulge your time away With all those chocolates on display Pace yourself enjoy a treat But indulgence can create defeat Christ said “Father forgive them for they know not what they do” If you’re eating to indulgence His words could be aimed at you! Remember him on Easter day How he died for us that awful way Hesitate before you bite But your dentist hopes you’ll lose the fight Rows and rows of chocolate eggs Line the shelves these days Temptation on the path of life And fillings never far away! Easter Indulgence by David K Wilson© Letterboxes by Dave Martin© Come in many guises Come in different sizes Come coloured silver, gold or black All targets for the leaflets in my sack Some bring you to your knees Some make you turn through 180 degrees Some wait to snap upon a finger Should it dare to linger Some are tiny forcing a fold Some pretend to be very old Some are white PVC Symbol of modernity Some are wistful, embossed LETTERS, from an earlier age When folk corresponded via the written page Some caution, ‘No free newspapers please’ Some gape ajar, let in the breeze Accept deliveries with ease Some come fitted with a draught guard Guaranteed to make things hard Some burnished signal self-respect Some tarnished suggest neglect But no matter how they’re found Each one gets delivered by the end of my round. A LOSING BATTLE by Margaret Bell© I had a ght today, the rst in a very long time! Before it started I thought I’d be ne, I struggled a bit and hu ed and pu ed, I thought I had this ght completely sussed! I was starting to perspire so took my cardi o , And apart from being hot I had a hacking cough! ere was nobody around to help me out… If there was anyone about I’d give them a shout… No! It’s up to me to sort this myself, Even though it may damage my health, Featherweight they said, that’s hard to believe! Today, a ght with Kingsize Duvet is not what I need! The copyright of all poems that are published in The Herald belong to the author and must NOT be reproduced without their permission
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy MTIyNzI=