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July 2001 — Headley's Old Rectory
With picnic packed, wine chilled, folding chairs in the boot of the car, we were ready to go to the Old Rectory for the summer meeting of the Headley Society. Then the heavens opened – what a cruel twist of fate that, after all the wonderful weather over the past few weeks it should rain on this very special evening.
Fortunately, as the members arrived, the rain stopped and Phyllida and Robin Smeeton, who had generously invited us, were able to show us round their beautiful walled garden. We marvelled at the stupendous Kiftsgate rose tree, which had climbed at least 40 feet into the adjoining trees and was covered in creamy white flowers.
We sat under a huge Japanese cedar (Cryptomeria japonica) while Robin and Phyllida gave us a short history of the house, which dates from 1704. Parts of the house however were built very much earlier; for instance, some of the guttering dates to the time of the Fire of London. One of the chimneys is Tudor, with pegs driven into the inside walls to enable poor little urchin boys to climb up to clean it. Many rectors of Headley had lived in the house over the centuries, making alterations and building extensions to suit their needs; in fact at one time the dining room had been used as a school, but the latest refurbishment was made in 1965.
We then adjourned to the house to eat our supper in the most elegant surroundings, imagining we were characters in a Jane Austen novel and some of us secretly hoping Mr Darcy would stride in from the garden.
August 2001 — Secrets of 'The Village' on TV
"Why do we do it?" Captain AE Thomson both asked the question and gave the answer to a packed audience at the August meeting of The Headley Society.
His face is familiar to any who watch 'The Village' on TV, but he was a late-comer to the series, brainchild of Nigel Farrell, which started life as a radio programme eleven years ago. It was not until the Bentley bypass opened in March 1995 that he was seized upon to re-enact the scene where he and his wife danced down the route of the old A31, which passes directly in front of their house.
Amusingly, he told us, the re-enactment was not filmed until some three months later - and the celebrations shown on the screen rather exceeded those which had happened in real life. In fact, he warned us, only about a quarter of what we see in the programmes is true, about a half partly true, and a good quarter is complete fiction.
He gave us an example where he had to get 'lost' while driving to an appointment in Caterham, and drove up and down a local stretch of the A31 while the camera recorded him and his wife pretending to argue over the route, so that the programme could end on a 'cliff-hanger' - "will the Captain get to his parade on time? - watch next week ..."
There is no script, and the 'actors' are not paid for their work. In fact they are not referred to as actors - they are always 'interviewees' - and they have no control over what appears in the final programme, or the sequence in which the episodes are shown.
So, why do they do it? "Because it's fun!" says Captain Thomson. And the publicity can also be used to good effect in the village: for example, to air particular issues such as planning proposals for housing, or to attract money for worthy causes.
The next TV series of 'The Village' begins on Thursday 16th August.
September 2001 — Local Rambling
Mr Ian Baker - a member of the Liphook & District Rambling Club for about 17 years - presented a most interesting and informative talk giving information on do's and don'ts while "out" in the countryside, and stressed the importance of suitable boots, wet weather wear, etc. He also emphasised the fact that walking/rambling is a totally relaxing exercise, far removed from zig-zagging round a golf course carrying a load of golf clubs!
In relation to golf, and many other recreational pastimes, rambling is very
inexpensive.
Ian illustrated his talk very effectively with a wonderful selection of excellent
colour slides from many locations, showing what very special countryside we
have within just a few miles of Headley.
His talent in photography was emphasised by the variety - for example: ice on a puddle, close ups of orchids and dragonflies, comparisons in the view along an avenue of trees through the four seasons, sunsets, autumn colours, reflections in lakes such as Waggoner's Wells and Forest Mere, etc.
At question time, Ian was asked what camera he used and his answer, "an old Pentax," caused some surprise, but he explained that "no automatics" gave him much greater flexibility.
It was pointed out at the meeting that questions raised in the Headley Appraisal - published last April - indicated that Headley residents enjoyed walking and would like to see a rambling club set up in the parish. Ian noted that their Club's full title included the words Liphook 'and District', and that several ramblers from Headley were already members, including their secretary Caroline who can be contacted on (01428) 713727.
Evidently from Ian's talk, the Club is a very active and happy one, and the writer and others in Headley are grateful that we are able to be members.
October 2001 — Antique Jewellery
We enjoyed an interesting evening when Mr Stephen Thurlow, formerly of Sotherbeys and currently with Bellmans, showed wonderful slides of jewellery through the ages from the 17th century and possibly earlier.
Mr Thurlow's slides included some Georgian, Scandinavian, Masonic, Bohemian
and Limoges enamel
work pieces, together with some Oriental – altogether a fantastic collection
of the most beautiful jewels.
He then explained the possible origin of several pieces which had been brought by members to show him. These included an Edwardian pendant, a dainty Swiss gold fob watch on a stand, a most interesting late-Victorian shell cameo and a sweetheart pin believed to be in the shape of a torpedo from about 1906. There was another cameo said to be made of volcanic lava from the 19th century, and an interesting gypsy ring thought to be about 1915.
A fascinating insight into the life of badgers was enjoyed at the November
meeting.
Commander Norris illustrated his talk with excellent slides and gave pointers
to tracking down these illusive creatures.
Badgers are to be found throughout Eurasia, as far north as Siberia and south to Iran and Iraq. In the UK they are common on the North and South Downs; in Hampshire, Dorset and Gloucestershire.
Badgers prefer deciduous woodland, living on a staple diet of earthworms, insects, young rabbits, birds, cereals and fruit. They dig their setts into the side of hills up to 5 or 6 feet deep, with entrances at least 10" wide and 8" high. Only the dominant boar and sow breed, with gestation taking anything from 2 to 10 months. A male boar can weigh between 25 and 28 pounds. The front paws have long sharp claws for digging and it is not advisable to handle even the cubs, as they can cause injury. In September badgers take bedding such as leaves, grass, etc. into the sett for winter warmth. Cattle may pick up bovine TB from badgers, who grub for worms amongst the cow pats, but this is not found in Hampshire. They can be very destructive animals, but can be kept away with the use of electric fences where necessary.
December 2001 — St Nicholas' Evening
We are most grateful to Mr & Mrs Dumas for allowing us once again to use their superb barn for our December meeting. It was warm and cosy from the roaring log fire, ablaze with light from the candles, and redolent with the aroma of spices from the mulled wine, when over 60 people sat down to a delicious supper. Entertainment on the theme of a traditional St Nicholas evening was organised by Wendy Bennett.
At the first meeting of the New Year the Chairman, Betty White, welcomed Professor Mike Withers to address the subject of radar. In a wide ranging presentation, Prof. Withers traced the evolution of radar and its application to industry, commerce and war. During the later part of the 19th century Heinrich Hertz became the first person to generate radio waves. The earliest radar patent was taken out in 1904. In 1935 Robert Watson Watt demonstrated that aircradt could be detected.
World War 2 brought about constant and increasing scientific reearch, with the establishment of a radar defence system for the UK. The first detection occurred at Alexandra Palace when enemy aircraft were recorded within a radius of 100 miles. Kept secret from German intelligence, the invention of the Magnetron in 1939 was a major development. This was a small complex instrument carried by aircraft, capable of detecting the tip of a submarine's periscope in darkness. In more recent times, the deployment of short pulse radar was used to clear plastic mines which dotted the Falkland Islands.
February 2002 — Edward Barnsley Furniture Workshop
Mr John Barnsley gave an entertaining talk on the Furniture Workshop established by his father, Edward Barnsley, in 1923.
An ex-Bedales pupil, Edward had always wanted to design and make fine hand-crafted furniture so his father, Sidney, helped him financially to buy a workshop in Froxfield. At that time there was no electricity and lighting was by paraffin lanterns. As the wood shavings were knee-high most of the time, they were very lucky there wasn't a fire.
The business was hit by the Depression in the 30s and nearly had to close in the Second World War when the men went into the services, but Edward managed to get a job at Loughborough Training College and was able to keep things ticking over.
After the war the Workshop started making cabinets for Books of Remembrance, and in fact both the desk for the Memorial Book and the font cover in All Saints Church were made there. By this time electricity and machinery had taken over some of the work, but the finishing was, and still is, done by hand.
In the 1970s Edward created a Trust to ensure that apprentices could be taught the craft. The Workshop is now self-sufficient and furniture has been made for the Palace of Westminster, several Cambridge Colleges, numerous cathedrals, as well as many commissions for private clients.
The Workshop will be open on Saturday and Sunday in the second week of October 2002 when visitors can be shown round. It is in Cockshott Lane, Froxfield near Petersfield.
March 2002 — A Quick Leaf through Book Selling — Antiquarian Books
Antiquarian Books was the absorbing topic for the March meeting. The Illustrated talk by Julian Wilson was a fascinating insight into the world of rare antique books. The company which employs him, Maggs Bros., is the largest and oldest booksellers of its kind in the world. It was founded 150 years ago by Uriah Maggs and is situated at present in Berkeley Square, London in an 18th Century house with Adam fireplaces and beautiful ceilings. Maggs Bros. have held a Royal Warrant since the 1930s for supplying antiquarian books to the Royal Family.
The introduction of dust wrappers in 1832, originally for purely practical purposes, have now become more a work of art and integral to the value of a book. We were told of some jaw-dropping prices being paid for rare items such as 9 million pounds for an Audubon illustrated book of birds.
Mr Wilson's talk followed our AGM at which the Chairman, Betty White stepped down after 3 years in the post, and serving on the Committee since the inception of the Society in 1985. She was presented with a bouquet and a garden token with warm thanks.
Jo Smith was elected Chairman, with Mike Withers, as Vice-Chairman, Carole Lishman as Secretary and Ken Blatch the Treasurer. The rest of the Committee are Leslie Barnes, Brian Nicholson, Ann Viney, Sue Allden, Roddy Warry and Nicky Wilson.
April 2002 — A Peep into some National Trust gardens
Mrs Pauline Turner gave a very interesting talk on 'A Peep into some National
Trust Gardens' with excellent slides which she had taken herself. These and
her knowledge of the gardens made it a fascinating evening.
She explained the features of the gardens, many of which were within easy reach
of Headley.
Polesden Lacey, Surrey, where King George VI and the late Queen Elizabeth spent part of their honeymoon, has a walled garden and a rock garden. Claremont, Surrey, has a turf amphitheatre and a Belvedere tower where the gentlemen used to gamble - special summer evening events are held by the lake. Clandon, Surrey, has a Maori house. Nymans, West Sussex, has glorious flower borders. Sheffield Park, East Sussex, has five lakes, many azaleas and rhododendrons and brilliant autumn colours. Hinton Ampner, near Alresford, has gardens of all-year-round interest. Scotney Castle, Kent, has wisteria and roses rambling over the ruins of the 14th Century castle. Anglesey Abbey, near Cambridge, has a snowdrop collection and many sculptures which are wrapped in bubble-wrap during the winter to prevent frost damage. Biddulph Grange, near Stoke on Trent, has Egyptian and Chinese gardens.
May 2002 — Selborne & Headley Workhouse Riots of 1830
In a late change to the published programme, John Owen Smith gave a talk on the Selborne & Headley Workhouse Riots of 1830.
Details of this talk can be found here.
Following the successful Golden Jubilee celebrations in the village the previous weekend, what better subject for Headley Society's June meeting than a talk about the Royal Yacht 'Britannia'?
A packed house at Headley Church Centre heard Rear Admiral Brian Perowne give a fascinating illustrated talk about the ship, its role and its occupants, both royal and not-so-royal.
'Britannia' was launched in 1953, its hull based on a design used by North Sea ferries, but its interior planned somewhat more luxuriously by Sir Hugh Casson.
With a crew of 230, the ship could accommodate 50 passengers aft, and we were shown photographs of some of the staterooms and their contents.
We were also shown pictures of the gleaming engine room - and told the tale of the 'golden rivet' now found in the bowels of her hull.
She was decommissioned in 1997, and made her last trip to dock at Leith near Edinburgh, where she may now be visited.
Brian Perowne had spent nearly two years on the 'Britannia in the early 1980s, holding the post of Communications Officer among other roles, and he gave us some interesting insights into the Royals who had travelled with him during his time there, which included the honeymoon cruise of Charles and Diana.
He left the Navy last year, and is now Chief Executive of The Home Farm Trust, a charity helping adults who have learning disabilities, to which funds from his speaking engagements are donated.
July 2002 — Summer visit to the Rural Life Centre, Tilford
For their July meeting, members of the Headley Society gathered at The Rural Life Centre, Tilford.
Chris Shepheard, Curator, gave an introductory talk, outlining how the owners of the Centre had been searching for a plough for their garden and ended up with the 40,000 artefacts now on display at the Centre!
Members enjoyed looking at all the interesting buildings; from a pre-fab home to a chapel taking in a pavilion, various workshops and a shepherd's hut on the way. There were many items to appreciate including old dolls, carpentry tools, lawn-mowers and many more fascinating articles.
After picnicking, Mr Shepheard kindly answered questions, giving a brief history of some of the buildings.
August 2002 — Gemstones - Fact & Fiction
"Gemstones - Fact & Fiction" was the subject of the talk and display given to the Headley Society on the 1st August by Colin Winter from Isis Jewellers, Dorking. Colin has been teaching about gemstones and buying around the world for the past 30 years. He is also the chairman of the Members Council of the Gemological Society of Great Britain.
Colin explained that diamonds and semi-precious stones have been created over millions of years by volcanic activity. They are the result of crystals solidifying after extremely high temperatures and pressures have been acting on simple chemicals such as carbon for diamonds to exotic chemical combinations for sapphires. Gemstones are found all round the world but are generally more abundant in geological fault regions such as Thailand, Burma, Laos, Sri Lanka, Sierra Leone and Angola. South Africa is particularly well known for extremely high quality diamonds and the extraction methods are highly mechanized. Whereas in other places in the world extraction is very labour intensive employing very low paid workers and sometimes children.
Naturally occurring gemstones, especially diamonds and sapphires, can have a wide range of colour tints depending upon where they come from in the world. In fact sapphires can range from clear through pink to deep red, when they are known as rubies. This colour change depends on how much chromium is present in the crystal and the colour change can lead to confusion because one dealer may call a stone a pink sapphire while another might describe it as a pale ruby. It all depends which description would give the best market price!
Synthetic gemstones are popular for lower cost jewellery and a synthetic ruby can be grown in a couple of hours.
Colin Winter showed slides highlighting some of the characteristics that allow natural and synthetic gemstones to be identified. He also talked about jade, coral, pearls, cultured pearls and freshwater pearls. The evening concluded with an opportunity to view an extensive collection of gemstones from around the world.
September 2002 — Old Houses in Hampshire
At the September meeting of the Headley Society, Mrs Linda Hall gave a very interesting talk on old houses in Hampshire, with excellent slides showing the fixtures and fittings.
She began with the Mediaeval Hall of St Cross near Winchester, showing a panelled minstrel gallery with leather buckets hanging from it.
There would have been a fire in the middle of the floor, with the smoke rising
to the roof. At the end of the hall opposite the high table would have been
the screen with two doors leading to the buttery and the pantry.
A few of the buildings shown were pubs, but many were private houses, including
a local Headley one of the 15th century. All would have been timber framed,
but later a brick face sometimes disguised this.
Very large roof timbers inside were still black from the original central fire, but these Hall houses now have an upper floor inserted for bedrooms. Tree ring dating is used to determine the age of the timber.
The lodging house at Bishops Waltham Palace still has many old features. In other houses, old staircases were shown with different banisters and finials, also window fittings. Mullioned windows with diamond leading were used until the late 17th century. Some old doors remained, some being the entrance to the screen passage.
Mrs Hall displayed photographs of many of the items she had mentioned.
October 2002 — When did we start eating that?
Sarah Edington, Blue Badge Guide of London, winner of English literature degree prize, cook and food writer, gave the Headley Society a fascinating insight into food throughout history at the Society's October meeting.
From 3550BC to the 20th century, Mrs Edington detailed the progression of food and eating implements. Small mammals, fish, wild berries were superseded by gruel, mead, beer, swans and snails. By 1066 skewers were in use and spit roasting was the means of cooking. Food was prepared and cooked in a kitchen which was a building separate from the main house. By 1485 the kitchens had a roof and trivets were made which enabled cooking to be better regulated by sitting the pot higher off the flames of the fire. Now herbs were being grown in the gardens and were used both for cooking and medicinal purposes. Feasts became popular consisting of many courses. Amongst other items, pigeon and carp stews, white bread and marchpane (the forerunner of today's marzipan) were eaten. Members of the Society were able to sample some delicious marchpane which Mrs Edington had made.
In the 16th century the East India Company was founded and different foods were introduced to the country. The turkey, sweet potatoes, artichokes, sugar cane all became popular. By Charles II's reign, dining rooms were used to eat in instead of the great halls. By the 18th century, women were working in the kitchens and serving food whereas previously it had been the preserve of men. Around this time, roast beef became very popular. In the 19th century the Victorians invented many gadgets and kitchen ranges took over from open fires; these in turn were replaced by the gas cooker in 1890.
Mrs Edington contests that English home cooking today is as good as anywhere in the world. She illustrated her talk with excellent slides and displayed recipe books which she has written for the National Trust.
November 2002 — History of Post Boxes
At the Headley Society Meeting on the 7th of November, Mrs V Willis gave a talk to a large audience on The History of Post Boxes, excellently illustrated with slides.
Mrs Willis is a member of The Letter Box Study Group and is also a Primary School Teacher.
It was explained that 'carrying' letters started with Charles the First, who
had riders solely to carry Royal correspondence, but it was Henry the Eighth
who saw the potential to make money by charging postage.
Horses had to be changed, mainly at inns, and these became Staging Posts - Post
Offices - where one could pay and leave letters for delivery. These were often
remote and out of reach for most people.
In 1840 the Penny Post was introduced, and then mainly under the influence of Anthony Trollope the first Letter Boxes were produced in 1852, making the Postal Service 150 years old. Two 1854 & three 1855 boxes survive today.
Letter boxes have taken various forms to try to keep rain out, some also have spikes inside to deter robbers and others have bristles to prevent slugs & snails, which apparently like the glue on envelopes, and also to deter birds from nesting inside.
Letter boxes are round, square, oval, free standing, built into walls, etc, and most are dated by the Royal Crest or other means.
Mrs Willis's interest started some 15 years ago, quite by chance, and her ability and determination was evident when she gave her audience an observation quiz, issuing forms showing eight slides of boxes within a 2 mile radius of Headley — nobody located all of them!
When it was stated that our box in Headley High Street is to be removed, we were advised that they are very valuable and we should ensure that it is not discarded or damaged.
One further point arose — on some boxes the Royal Cypher has been highlighted in gold paint, which is apparently not done by the Post Office. Mrs Willis is interested to learn if this is done by someone privately, or whether a company is doing it.
January 2003 — 'Local Mysteries'
Chris Shepheard of the Rural Life Centre, Tilford, author of "Peeps from the Past" in the Herald newspapers and industrial archaeologist, gave a fascinating talk to the Headley Society entitled "Local Mysteries".
Mr Shepheard showed numerous, excellent slides depicting oddities, mainly in Surrey. They ranged from a liquorice factory in an old cottage in Westfield, Woking to a railway station which was built in the expectation that the railway would come to Chobham, but which in fact never materialised and has been a public house for many years. An egg machine, a lighthouse, a horse pond in Epsom used by elephants, the very first crematorium (which was built in Woking but was not used for ten years until a law permitting its use was passed), banana ripening sheds, the World War II 'sea-wall' on Hankley Common, remains of roads which were started and never finished, were also amongst many other very surprising and interesting items.
February 2003 — 'Queen Elizabeth Country Park'
Since the end of the last Ice Age, some nine thousand years ago, parts of the Hampshire countryside have changed drastically while others are much the same. Rod Green, the Assistant Manager of the Butser Hill National Nature Reserve, gave an enjoyable and informative talk to the Headley Society about the highest point on the South Downs.
Butser Hill is the main feature of the Queen Elizabeth Country Park and is located adjacent to the A3 road about 10 miles north of Portsmouth. There are indications of human civilisation for thousands of years with finds of stone-axes, bronze-age items, Anglo-Saxon burial mounds and Roman artefacts.
There is also evidence of various types of farming over this extended period. It is thought that the very earliest example of growing crops arose because there would have been numerous small clearings amongst the scrub, due to the height of the hill. These areas were suitable for cultivation whereas lower levels would have been heavily forested and impossible to clear with simple implements. Farming has steadily developed to produce the landscape we are familiar with today allowing the abundance of flowers and insects found in this short-turf grassland in a chalk region. An area known as "Old Man's Bottom" has remained virtually unchanged for 9,000 years and is populated with tundra plants. Many unusual and rare species of plants, birds, butterflies, moths and bees exist in the Park and Rod Green showed superb colour slides of many of them. Conducted tours of the Park are available throughout most of the year.
March 2003 — AGM & Display of Headley Archive Material
Chairman's Report:
I'll start with a question: Are you all happy with the way we are running the
Headley Society?
I ask, because we seem to have got into a bit of a routine — I won't call
it a rut — in the way in which we run things, and I think it's always worthwhile
to take a step back from time to time and take a critical look at ourselves.
I believe that a society such as the Headley Society works on two fronts: what I might loosely call a social front and an issues front.
At the social front, we organise speakers to come once a month, rain or snow — we listen and learn — the committee takes the opportunity to keep you up to date with some of the things which are going on in their world — and we look forward to tea and biscuits at the end, and having a good old natter to our friends before going home for another month. And I actually think we do this rather well.
We also organise other social events — this year there was the trip on the River Wey in a horse-drawn narrow boat, and we got a team together for the Twinning Association's skittles evening, and we ran a stall at the Jubilee Weekend in June. These are events at which we can get together and enjoy ourselves, and we'll hope to do more of this kind of thing in future years.
At the issues front, we keep our eye on such things as current planning matters, and we also try to play our role as a historical society. And I'd like to spend a little time talking about this, because it tends to take place away from the glare of publicity, and some of you may not even realise what's going on in your name.
One of the many excellent ideas which Betty came up with in her time as Chairman was to start the Headley Miscellany magazines. These have given us a vehicle to publish short articles on the history of the parish which would otherwise have gone in somebody's drawer, or worse still their dustbin, and never seen the light of day. This year we published our 4th volume, and we're now working on the fifth.
But the information needs to come from somewhere, and that's where you come in. In this room are more stories and memories of Headley than you can shake a stick at — some of them even publishable! And even if you think they're mundane and boring, they won't seem like that to people in the future. Or you may know someone whose history you think should be recorded. Get it down on paper — go round for a cup of tea and take a tape recorder with you. Bring us the information, and we'll add it to a future Miscellany — or it might even merit a book on its own like Joyce's 'Parcel of Gold for Edith'.
We also have a website. If you're wired up, you can have a look at it — but more to the point, so can the rest of the world. And our chickens are coming home to roost. Last year, over 60 people contacted us to ask about the history of Headley or information on their ancestors here — about a third of them were from America, Australia or New Zealand. We're probably taking on average two or three message a week, and it's growing.
And it is two-way traffic. Not only do we give them information on their great-great-greats, but we also try to get them to add information to our records and contribute to the Miscellany with their stories — and you'll have seen some of those in previous issues.
But in order to help them, we need to have the information to hand that they're looking for — and that you'll be looking for too if you're researching local history here. Some of this you'll see around you today, and I think you'll agree that we have an interesting and varied coverage.
However, there are gaps in what we have, and your committee has decided to use some of the Society's funds from time to time to purchase information to fill them. We now have for example all the parish registers from 1539 to the 1960s on microfiche — these are fundamental to doing any local historical research. We also have a rent roll for the parish from 1552. In the future we would like to buy the 1901 census for the parish, and also fill some gaps in the range of old maps which you'll see there in the other room, which will then be available in our local archives for local researchers.
I hope you approve of our aspirations in this direction. Of course, if you are sitting on any historical information yourselves, we'd be glad to know of it — it might save us from having to fork out to get it from other sources. Or indeed it may be unique, and not available from anywhere else.
But enough of history. Back to the present. This is the end of my first year as your chairman — largely an absentee chairman, it has to be said, as far as the monthly meetings have been concerned — and I must say a big 'thank you' to my committee who have striven magnificently on your behalf, and my behalf, over the last twelve months. To pick out names would be invidious — it's been a team effort — and you see the results in the programme of speakers, the organisation of social events, the behind-the-scenes activity in setting up the evening at Curtis Barn, the efficiency with which your subs are collected, and indeed the monthly ritual of setting up and clearing away in this hall.
Carole is stepping down as Secretary, as you know, but the rest of us have offered ourselves up to you for reselection for another year.
And of course it's not just committee members who look after you. For example, where would we be without Lee and Fran? And we are always eternally grateful to the lady whose inspired notion started it all back in 1985, our President Joyce Stevens, and also to Betty White who is now our vice-President and together with Joyce nursed the Society through from its formative years.
My thanks to them — and indeed my thanks to you, the members, for continuing to support us in such numbers. I feel we must be doing something right!
Jo Smith, Chairman
At our AGM, Jo Smith was re-elected Chairman, with Mike Withers, as Vice-Chairman, and Ken Blatch the Treasurer. The post of Secretary was unfilled. The rest of the Committee are Sue Allden, Leslie Barnes, Pat Hargreaves, Caroline Lemka, Brian Nicholson, Ann Viney, Roddy Warry and Nicky Wilson.
The AGM was followed by a display of material from the Headley Archives.
April 2003 — 'Shades of History'
Michael Pierce, the prominent silhouette miniaturist gave a very illuminating and informative talk to The Headley Society on Thursday April 3rd. He is one of a small number of artists dedicated to the preservation of this two hundred year old craft and is now one of the few artists practising this skill. He explained that in about 1760, artists specialising in silhouettes (or shades as they were then called) offered their services. A person could have his or her features reproduced in profile as either a black paper cut-out or as an ink painting. This was often undertaken at a person's home by first obtaining a profile of his or her face and upper body from the shadow cast by candlelight, the subject having to remain immobile for a minute or so. Later the profiler could reduce the profile to a miniature by means of a pantograph.
He described how, in the 18th century, before photography was invented, silhouettes had become the cheapest, quickest and most accurate method of preserving one's likeness and was a popular form of keepsake for the population in general. Sometimes soldiers and dignitaries were profiled in uniform. Many silhouettes were simple; others showed finer details that were painted on to enhance the profile such as streaks of hair, military medals. He emphasised that, in its simplest form it provided an inexpensive memento of husbands, wives, children and parents. Any alternative would have involved a series of expensive sittings at the studio of a portrait artist. From Royalty downwards people sat for silhouettes much as we do for photographs today.
Throughout the talk, members were shown slides of delightful work ranging from simple black profiles, painted or pasted on paper to beautiful and intricate black, or bronzed masterpieces, painted on to fine ivory, plaster, card or glass and sometimes framed in precious metals. These were included in pendants, brooches, rings and cravat pins. Some of the finest examples of the art could be traced to profilists of high calibre such as John Miers who produced detailed work.
The speaker pointed out that in Bath in about 1800 there were at least 23 full-time practising profile artists but that with the development of cameras around 1850, the silhouette artist finally gave way to the photographer. However he explained that nowadays many people, including our own Royal family request silhouettes to be made for special gifts and for important occasions. He gave examples of silhouettes on letter headings, promotional materials, gift cards, and in one instance described how he was asked produce a silhouette of an eagle on an aircraft tailplane.
Members were also intrigued by his anecdotes about projects including one in 1977 when he was invited to produce silhouette profiles of The Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh for the Silver Jubilee. He also described his contribution to a literary project when, in 1990, together with a select group of authors and photographers, he produced the Limited Edition Fine Art Folio entitled So Few, This book was dedicated to all who fought with the RAF in the Battle of Britain. In this he included numerous silhouettes including profiles of pilots in aircraft. The book was hand crafted to high standards and the sale of the 401 copies generated over one third of a million pounds for the Royal Air Force Benevolent Fund. He told how, in 1992, the Prime Minister John Major presented a copy to the US President. There are also several copies at museums in the UK. Michael Pierce and his team also helped to produce a companion volume to the So Few volume entitled So Many - similarly with many silhouettes included. This book is dedicated to all those who served with RAF Bomber Command in World War II. One of the authors of these volumes was Bill Gunston OBE who lives near Haslemere.
The speaker concluded by giving a practical demonstration of profiling using shadow cast on paper, with a volunteer member as a subject. He emphasised that nowadays very accurate silhouettes can be made not only from shadow-induced, freehand profiles but also from appropriate photos of a subject. It would be difficult to imagine a more delightful gift.
For more information on Michael Pierce and his work see his website
May 2003 — Roman coins of Frensham Common, and other recent finds
At the Headley Society meeting on 1st May, the speaker was David Graham, FSA, a well-known archaeologist.
His photographic slides taken from a light aircraft showed the value of aerial photography in identifying archaeological sites which are not visible from ground level; crop marks seen from above indicate barrows, ditches, dew ponds, marl (chalk) pits, etc.
He spoke of the cultural periods in Britain with particular reference to our area, and showed Paleolithic axes (Stone Age, 50,000 BC) from when early man was a hunter-gatherer.
In 20,000 BC, arctic tundra covered this land and evidence of the permafrost is still visible from the air showing as a formation of cracks. In one picture there was also the outline of a Roman villa superimposed on it, near Basingstoke. Wooly mammoths roamed this area at the time – their tusks have been found under the site of the Natwest bank in Farnham.
In the Neolithic period (New Stone Age, 4,000 BC) there were long barrows, and in the Bronze Age (2,000 BC) round barrows, which are found locally particularly in the Bordon area. An archaeological excavation of a barrow on Thursley Common revealed in the turf core that the area had been covered in oak and lime trees.
Large linear field systems of the Bronze Age can be seen from the air, particularly near Winchester. These would have covered much of the country at the time.
There were numerous Iron Age (700 BC to AD43) farms locally, similar to the reconstruction at Butser, and in the Roman period (AD 43–410) there were many villas close by, some of them very large.
However, the most fascinating part of the talk related to a man with a metal detector who had found 50 Roman coins on Frensham Common some years ago. Recently, David carried out an excavation there and found 468 further coins. He also found 60 tiny Roman earthenware pots, five of which had contained cannabis! These pots are a unique find in Britain. It is thought that it is a religious site, and that the coins and pots were votive offerings to the gods.
At the end of his talk, David answered members' questions, and was thanked for a most interesting and informative talk.
June 2003 — A Butler at an Edwardian Country House
A large audience enjoyed a talk by Hugh Edgar, the butler in the Channel 4 series "The Edwardian House." Attired in the uniform of the day (1905) he outlined the important aims of a butler in his position as head of the servants, with only the valet above him. In this particular TV series, he also carried out the duties of the valet including a scene where he shaved his master, having been sent to "Trumpers" to learn the skill with a cut-throat razor.
Discipline is the key to a butler's success. Teaching a 21st century non-professional staff, the expectancy one took for granted in the Edwardian era was indeed a task in itself. He gave us instances of a French temperamental chef, and a hall boy who was expected to sleep on a mat in the hall of the house with no privileges whatsoever and who took orders from the second footman and not the butler himself. A scullery maid, often a child of 13+ years, would wash pots and pans from 6.30am to late at night with a break from the sink to wash floors. With free time at the butler's discretion, when all work was completed, were it ever finished!
We were told that the series was such a success that further episodes are being filmed at present, entitled "The Regency House 1810-1820". Something to look forward to.
After refreshments, Dick Smith the Chairman of STOAT (Save the Old A3), plus two committee members, enlightened us with regard to the difficulties which could arise if the present A3 is closed when the two tunnels are built at Hindhead. However, local residents on either side of the A3 will face "rat-runs" plus terrific congestion at the complex of Hazel Grove Junction, and with motorists losing patience, accidents will occur. The Emergency Services are worried too. Both tunnels will need regular maintenance which means only one tunnel in use when the work is being carried out. If we want to protest we are asked to write personally in the hope that our plea will override the Contractors, National Trust, etc.
July 2003 — A Visit to Moor House Farm and the River Wey watermeadows
The weather was kind to us for once as we disported ourselves in the evening sunshine on the lawns at Moor House Farm for our annual 'summer visit' to a local property.
Our thanks to Nicky and Bob Wilson for permission to go round and through their premises, and for their historical introduction to the house; to Adran Bird of the River Wey Trust for taking our more hardy members on a foraging trip beyond the water meadows and along the (rather overgrown!) river bank; and to David Hadfield for allowing us access to his farm fields while doing this. A good time was had by all.
August 2003 — Space for Everyone
Professor Sir Martin Sweeting, Managing Director of Surrey Space Technology Ltd, explained to an audience of over fifty members of the Headley Society that there was 'Space for Everyone'. He was describing the use of small, low-cost, vehicles that have been designed and built in Guildford and launched into space to orbit around the Earth. This novel approach to space communication technology, pioneered at Surrey University over the past 15 years, allows small countries to participate in space programmes previously only available to the major powers in the world, such as the USA and Russia.
The University spin-off company now employs 150 staff and has subsidiary offices in Toulouse and Beijing with a Washington office to open soon. The Company overseas business represents 98 per cent of its income. All this has been achieved with virtually no financial help from the British Government, who in Mrs Thatcher's term of office decided to withdraw all direct support for space research and instead contribute to the European Space Programme.
The small satellites are classed as mini, micro and nano range in size from about the size of a refrigerator down to credit-card size. They vary in weight from 100kg down to less than one kilogram and are launched by being fitted around major satellites being launched on large rockets by the USA, Russia or Eurosat. These small satellites will do most of the tasks of their large, expensive brothers, such as radio communication, weather observation, and photography, but use electronic and mechanical components made for home computers, digital cameras and video recorders. They perform very reliably despite not being especially for space use, at a fraction of the cost! The talk was illustrated by very striking space pictures taken of Earth over rain-forests, cities, deserts and snow-covered areas.
Surrey Satellite Technology are working on the next challenge; a low-cost space vehicle to orbit the Moon.
September 2003 — Photography for the Enthusiastic Amateur
The Headley Society were fortunate when Major Jeremy Whitaker gave us an illustrated talk on the art of good photography.
A professional himself, he learned his art the hard way by observing and learning as he mastered the pitfalls of this subject.
He began the talk with illustrations of his home, the Land of Nod, and of National Trust gardens, architecture at its best both in England and various parts of the world, children taken when least expected, either a back view or with the camera focussed from the hip: all excellent shots. To obtain good results it often requires taking several pictures of the subject.
If one had a Digital camera it was suggested one try macro photography whereby an insect of the minutest dimensions is enlarged on a leaf or an orchid, portraying its beauty which the human eye cannot appreciate in normal viewing.
When photographing a border of flowers, he suggested one took the picture standing amongst the blooms, not from afar, and using a tripod was highly recommended. Great care was needed not to trample flowers and foliage!
Finally the audience was invited to browse through various portfolios of famous people, including the late Queen Mother, and inside cathedrals portraying natural sunlight balanced with an electric light here and there.
October 2003 — Finding of Longitude
Ken Atherton of the British Cartographic Society gave an interesting and informative talk to The Headley Society showing a range of papers, books and maps. He described the problems facing early seafarers when trying to establish their positions at sea.
Then, the science of navigation was based on knowledge of the stars, the direction of winds and currents and the use of a simple compass. Whereas it was a relatively simple matter to obtain the latitude of a ship, using a quadrant, the mariner's astrolabe and the cross-staff, calculating the longitude was a different matter. Sailors relied on dead reckoning and calculated estimates of the position of the ship in relation to the land. The cost of ignorance was high. Sometimes it resulted in a prolonged voyage with outbreaks of diseases that claimed the lives of seamen.
All too often the voyage ended in disaster, when a ship was swept upon the rocks of an unexpected landfall. The speaker described how, in 1707, the loss of the Association and three other warships on the Isles of Scilly with the death of almost 1700 men, including Admiral Sir Clowdisley Shovell, precipitated the Longitude Act of 1714, in which Parliament offered a prize of £20,000 to the inventor of a workable method of determining a ship's longitude.
Although Ptolemy and Galileo had proposed methods to determine longitude, it
was the Lunar Distance method that became the astronomers' real candidate. Unfortunately
neither the positions of the moon or stars were known accurately. In order to
overcome this problem the Greenwich Observatory was built in 1675 and the first
Astronomer Royal, spent the next 50 years making over 50,000 observations of
the stars. By 1738 the
second Astronomer Royal had completed his observations of the moon. Now the
set of accurate observations required for the Lunar Distance method was available.
A means of accurately positioning the moon amongst the stars was solved with
the invention of the quadrant in 1731.
Another approach to the problem was to carry time on board ship, however no existing chronometer was suitable for use at sea or was accurate enough. However, John Harrison, the son of a carpenter, decided to construct a chronometer that would meet the requirements of the Longitude Act. The speaker concluded his talk by giving details of the development of Harrison's chronometers. He described how, between 1735 and 1772, Harrison constructed at least four different chronometers and told of the opposition he faced from those who supported the Lunar Distance method. Finally, after the intervention of George III and three years before his death, Harrison received the full prize. Harrison's invention signalled the end of the pre-scientific era of navigation. Sailors now had the means of "Finding The Longitude"
November 2003 — The Royal Woolmer Way
Members of Headley Society took a virtual walk along the Royal Woolmer Way led by the Deadwater Valley Trust Ranger, Mike Wearing.
The 13-mile walk started in Liss, along the Riverside Railway Walk. Initially, the members followed the old Military Line, which connected Bordon to Liss. On Sundays returning soldiers using this station, could number 4,000! Before long we came to a meeting of the waters where the peaty waters of the River Blackwater meets the clear waters of the River Rother, and took a detour to see a memorial to a WWII airman who "gave his life so that others might live". Shortly there was a break in the thick Rhododendrons giving a wonderful glimpse of a heron on a private lake looking for his supper. Further along we passed a beautiful iron stone cottage with the ironstone coming from Weavers Down. Next came Wolfmere Lane, Wolfmere being the ancient name for Woolmer and meaning Mere where the Wolves lived. The next high spot was the Victorian church at Greatham with its shingle spire and a detour to see the original 13th Century church, which is now in ruins.
We have now reached Woolmer Forest and Woolmer Pond, the largest Ephemeral lake in Europe. If you are lucky you may see Natterjack Toads, crested Newts, dragon and damselflies. The "wasp spider" which is normally a coastal habitant, has been seen here and hoards of Roman coins have been found in the area too. This brings us to Deadwater Valley, dead meaning dark as the stream is fed by the Woolmer peat bogs. At the right time of the year, walkers should be able to see the Southern Marsh Orchid, not to mention a flourishing bird life including the song thrush and bullfinch.
Onward to the Bordon Enclosure and Alexandra Park, where we saw the most amazing of oak trees. With the sun shining through, it was a spectacle from any angle. Next Broxhead Common where sand lizards have been re-introduced. Watch out for the vivid green male. And again, at the Sand Pit Pool, dragonflies and damselflies abound. Beyond we entered Headley Park and Rabbitfield Hill, reclaimed sandpits with countless rabbits. The Sand Martin nests on one side of the old sand pits were very noticeable. Before long we have crossed the county boundary from Hampshire to Surrey and find ourselves passing the impressive Edwardian church in Dockenfield. The end is in sight and what an end. First we come to Frensham Mill and its pond, where Grey Wagtails may be seen and then, via the final stretch of footpath passing Moor Pond and its mute swans, on to Frensham Pond. Here Julian Huxley did his early studies of the Great Crested Grebe. What a scene, the sun is setting on the pond and, with lowering temperatures, ice is forming, or so ended our virtual walk. "Nature is never far away".
December 2003 — Bletchley Park Code Breakers
The Church Centre was filled to capacity on the 4th December when some ninety Society Members and visitors listened to John Davis talk about the TOP SECRET work undertaken in World War II.
Bletchley Park is world-famous for the work of Alan Turing and his team in breaking the encoded messages sent by German and other enemy forces. All military messages were coded by a special typewriter, called 'Enigma', which would be set up to type a different letter from the key pressed, according to the encoding being used on that day. The encoded message was then sent by the radio operator using Morse Code. On receiving the message it was decoded using another Enigma machine set to the code-of-the-day.
In Britain, radio operators intercepted the Morse code short-wave wireless signals, which had been sent as a series of five-letter grouped words. Dispatch Riders then rushed the messages to Bletchley Park where the deciphering, translation and military assessment took place. By the year 1942 over 4,000 high-grade messages were being processed each day. This was a 24 hour a day task and first involved the very difficult process of breaking the code being used that day. This involved searching for patterns in the messages, such as the frequency of use of alphabet letters in the German language, the style of the military message, and any other military intelligence available. The process was aided to a great extent by code-books that had been acquired from the Germans by clandestine methods. Even so, tremendous dedication and attention to detail was needed by the Bletchley Park staff, 80% of whom were female, to ensure that the messages were decoded very rapidly due to their significant military importance. To aid the work the very first special computers were developed by Alan Turing and his team.
Two members of the audience, Mrs Jarman and Mrs Potter, worked at the Park during the War. At the end of the meeting Mrs Jarman related her experiences. It was only recently, when she visited the exhibition at Bletchley Park, that she realized that many of the messages she handled were sent from Hitler to his Field Commanders. She also discovered, during the visit, that her husband had worked in intelligence in Burma, when he admitted he recognised an Enigma machine!
The speaker at Headley Society's meeting on 5th February 2004 was Professor Julian Evans, OBE, who told us of the trials, tribulations and joys of owning his own wood in Hampshire.
Nestling next to the London to Southampton railway line in Micheldever Forest is a plot of land of some 22 acres known as Northdown Plantation. In 1985 Professor Julian Evans decided to buy it, or more accurately to buy the remaining 967 years of its lease from the Forestry Commission.
As Chief Research Officer with the Forestry Commission at Alice Holt, he had some knowledge of trees and woodland, but nevertheless the prospect of managing his very own wood with only family and friends to help him was a daunting one.
The plot had been planted in the 1950s with rows of fir and beech. At the time he bought it one in three of the fir rows had already been felled, and over the next few years he set about clearing the rest leaving a more open aspect for the beech rows to mature further.
Ironically, the fir (sold for firewood) fetched a far higher price than the beech did when he sold some later. As it was not large enough to be of interest to furniture-makers, it was sold to be pulped and used as an ingredient in low-grade cardboard.
The main enemy of the broad-leaved tree is the grey squirrel. A pair of these can strip a ring of bark from bottom of a tree in minutes, and if the ring is complete the tree will die. Even if the tree survives, the core wood will be ruined for decorative purposes when cut later.
Another, perhaps surprising, enemy in Northdown Plantation is wild clematis ('old man's beard') which can smother trees if unchecked.
As well as learning about the wildlife and biodiversity of his property, and meeting his family on film, we were also introduced to some snippets of 'trivial pursuit' information such as: Britain is the fifth windiest country in the world; the sale of wood is not subject to income tax; there are three legal ways of killing a grey squirrel; the plastic planting tube for trees was invented at Alice Holt; and a 'Hoppus foot' is used for measuring the useful bulk of round timber.
Professor Evans's talk was well illustrated with slides, and his delivery held the audience's attention to the end. He also mentioned that his story will complement (and compliment) that of our November speaker, Ben Law, who will expand on different aspects of woodland management.
Professor Julian Evans, OBE, formerly the Forestry Commission's chief Research Officer and an expert in managing broad-leaved woodlands, has written several books including "A Wood of our Own" (now out of print) and "What happened to our Wood" published in Sept 2002.
March 2004 — Annual General Meeting
The President and Founder, Joyce Stevens, welcomed the 52 members present (out of a total membership of 145) and noted with pleasure the continued health of the Society since its inception in 1985. She recalled being told at the time not to attempt monthly meetings throughout the year - precisely the format which we are now pursuing so successfully. In fact we had failed only once in all that time to put on a month's meeting, due to snow.
John Owen Smith took the chair, thanked Mrs Stevens, and proceeded with the night's agenda.
Apologies for Absence
Apologies were received from Leslie Barnes, Pat Hargreaves (secretary), Brian & Yvonne Nicholson, Cliff White and Meg Wilkins.
Minutes
In the absence of the Secretary, Mr Smith read the minutes of the 2003 AGM. Approval of the minutes was proposed by Betty White, seconded by Wendy Bennett and carried unanimously.
Chairman's Report
Mr Smith thanked retiring members of the committee, Ken Blatch and Roddy Warry, and also Lee Clark and Fran Borra for their work in providing refreshments each month. A small gift was presented to each. Mr Smith then gave a brief account of some of the Society's activities over the preceding year.
As promised, we had purchased the Headley section of the 1901 census from Hampshire Record Office and a team of six had taken several merry months to transcribe it. The result was on the Headley website, and copies of the originals sheets were available for inspection at the meeting.
Nicky Wilson had had prints made from Norman Wilson's engraved blocks which Sue Allden had brought to us, and these had been on sale during the year, and indeed remained on sale today. A fifth 'Headley Miscellany' had been published in October, and an updated version of Joyce's 'To the Ar and Back' was now available.
We had secured the safety of the old post box from the High Street. It had spent many weeks flat on its face in Roddy Warry's garden, but now we had successfully removed the front and Mike Withers was busy designing a frame to display it in the foyer of the Village Hall. We knew it was a genuine George V box because on dismantling it we found a George V penny-red stamp attached to the corner of a postcard still inside it!
And last but not least, we had once again organised a speaker throughout each of the twelve months of the year and had already planned the next twelve. This was down to a sub-committee of Leslie Barnes, Yvonne Nicholson and Nicky Wilson, whom he thanked particularly for performing this unsung role with such success.
He ended by repeating the old adage - if you have any complaints, tell us; if you like it, tell others.
Treasurer's Report
Mr Blatch presented the 2003 accounts to the meeting, audited by David Lishman. The Society funds were still in a healthy state and the committee proposed to keep the Annual Subscription at £5 per member for the following year. However they were aware that speakers' charges in particular were generally increasing and would review the situation again next year.
There were no questions raised on the accounts. Christine Leonard proposed they should be accepted, seconded by Caroline Lemka. The vote was carried unanimously.
The chairman noted that Phil Peddy had agreed to audit our accounts next year.
Programme for 2004/2005
Nicky Wilson read out the speaker programme for 2004/2005 including 13 meetings up to April 2005. A number of programme cards were available at the meeting.
Caroline Lemka told us of the series of walks which she was organising along portions of the Royal Woolmer Way.
Election of Officers and committee members
Nominations had been received for John Owen Smith (chairman), Mike Withers (vice-chairman), Pat Hargreaves (secretary), Sue Allden, Leslie Barnes, Caroline Lemka, Brian Nicholson, Ann Viney and Nicky Wilson, and for two new members David Lishman (treasurer) and Joan Thorne. The meeting duly appointed the committee.
Any Other Business
There was no other business and the chairman closed the AGM at 8.25pm.
Following the official business of the evening, two members gave short illustrated talks about their interests. Marguerite Withers showed us a history of Machine Embroidery including some of her own work, and Sue Allden talked on the links between Alice Holt Forest and Roman pottery.
April 2004 — A
Musical Evening
On 1st April, the Audience in a full Church Centre was given a rare musical treat by our neighbours the Dolmetsch Sisters, Jeanne and Marguerite. They introduced us to some of their collection of reproduced early musical instruments and played to us selections of early music from the XVIth to XVIIIth centuries interspersed with interesting and often amusing family anecdotes from the years since Grandfather Arnold settled in England and continued to make and play replicas of early instruments long before the contemporary enthusiasm for baroque and renaissance music had developed (an enthusiasm he probably did much to initiate and foster). Arnold had started to give concerts of early music in London in 1890.
Jeanne played, as example, a series of variations on Greensleeves, accompanied
by a ground bass played by Marguerite on the bass viol.
Jeanne read an excerpt from a letter dated 10 May 1899 from George Bernard Shaw
inviting Arnold to visit and consider giving a concert in the area. He offered
to have him collected from Haslemere Station in the dogcart or, if accompanied,
in a larger conveyance. So began the family association with the Haslemere area
although it was to be many years before the first festival.
The Sisters then played music associated with Shakespearean plays on the various sizes of recorder. The pieces included the sad tune "fortune my foe" and two Italian dance measures favoured by Queen Elizabeth I, the corrente and Lavolta. They also demonstrated the bass recorder and the small high sopranino recorder.
1917 found the Dolmetsch family and their workshop still in Hampstead. The threat of the Zeppelin raids led a friend in Thursley to invite them down to Surrey to find a safer property in the country. They quickly found a house in Haslemere and Grandmother prophesied that once they were settled therein, the family would never move away - 87 years later this seems to have been true. It is a reminder of a past era that when the family moved, with all their furniture, instruments and tools loaded on horse-drawn carriages, because of a snowfall the horses could not get up the hill. They stopped at the blacksmiths at the foot of the hill. He suggested re-shoeing the horses leaving the nails slightly proud, a tactic that was apparently successful. The house was frozen up and they were without water, but settled in happily. The workshop was at first in the library but a studio was built on to create more workshop space. All the family were involved in instrument making and it was commonplace to see viols drying on the washing line.
The artist Byrne-Jones introduced William Morris, of Arts and Crafts fame, to one of the early music recitals. The latter said that he had not previously been able to understand music, but this early music was a revelation to him of a lost art and he requested such music be played to him when he was on his death bed. The promise was eventually fulfilled, but not before he had encouraged Arnold Dolmetsch to try his hand at building harpsichords. One of the instruments on display on this evening was a small harpsichord of the spinet type designed to be so compact that it could be transported in a London taxi cab. On this delightfully-toned instrument Jeanne played Byrde's divisions (variations) on the once popular melody known as the carman's whistle.
Life was not without setbacks. On returning from a London concert in 1917 a bag containing the tools and the rare and precious Bresson recorder was inadvertently left at Waterloo station. Arnold despaired, trying to recall the accurate dimensions of this model instrument. On August Bank Holiday, 1919, with a shout of "Eureka" he got the bore right. It was to be five years later before a friend saw this historic recorder in a pawnshop near Waterloo and was able to redeem it for five pounds and give it back to its owner.
During the second World War the family factory turned to the manufacture of aircraft components using fibre and pastes and produced some two and a half million parts. This experience had two sequels. One was occasional bombing raids because the Luftwaffe were evidently aware of this war work, but did not realise they were looking for a country house, with the result that several buildings in the area, including the hospital, were damaged but their target was unharmed. This was probably the explanation for the recent discovery of an unexploded bomb nearby, which caused considerable temporary disruption for local residents. A second spin-off from this work was use of the experience to make plastic recorders, which promised a plentiful and cheap supply. Bakelite apparently has excellent tonal qualities, but the less brittle more modern plastics cannot reproduce the tone of bakelite, according to Marguerite whose main task is the voicing and tuning of the recorders.
The hurricane of 1987, so disastrous in many ways, did provides a plentiful supply of excellent wood. Satinwood and Rosewood are valuable raw materials but boxwood is very special by virtue of its grain. Ivory for mouthpieces and ornamentation is unfortunately now banned, a fact particularly regretted by keyboard players, though not presumably by elephants.
Apart from joining in the manufacture of these famous instruments, Jeanne recalled the gruelling musical training of their childhood. Music practice and performance took the place of bedtime stories. She recalled their special delight and pride when they mastered a Telemann duo for recorders; the Sisters played this elegant work to us. She also recalled her Father's account of having hastily to learn the recorder part for Bach's fourth Brandenburg Concerto at the age of 15 to play alongside brother Rudolph for the second Haslemere Festival, duly recorded by the BBC.
These insights into the life of this pioneering musical family given by two such charming ladies and interspersed with beautiful musical illustrations enthralled and delighted us all and finished the evening on a happy note.
Brian Robinson
May 2004 — The Hobby of Metal Detecting
For the month of May, the Society were treated to a talk on the Hobby of Metal Detecting and our Speaker, John Forster, told the audience of his great love for this pastime over the last 26 years.
We were handed round three articles to identify and display units were available showing the various finds from Bronze Age to the present day. Buttons of every shape and size are by far the largest find. In medieval times old clothes were thrown on the fields to rot down with buttons left intact and in recent years army buttons of all kinds have been found around areas of the World War II camps.
It is important to read up the locations which may surrender treasure beforehand, mostly on farm sites or river banks, and seek permission from landowners beforehand. It is advisable to be a member of the Federation of Independent Detectorists who will issue you with an identity card and photo of the holder and supply free Public Liability Insurance up to £2,000,000 all for a membership fee of £3.00. There is a code for responsible metal detecting that is observed.
At the end of the talk we were shown slides of historic finds and samples of detectors from a basic instrument to the most sophisticated.
It should be noted that one can ask a detectorist to survey their own land free but a reward would be expected if successful and the money is generally given to charity.
Yvonne Nicholson
On 3rd June we had a treat with Robin Maddy a former Brigadier in the Army Catering Corps who trained in the hotel trade, joined the army, liked it so much that he stayed for 35 years, and has been a member of the Magic Circle for 50 years.
The talk: a history of army catering from 1660, when the Duke of Wellington said that the British soldier requires, no demands, to be fed.
In the Peninsula Wars studies on feeding armies were carried out.
1854 Aldershot, and Wellington Lines barracks introduced the first Army Catering, bacon and beef twice a week but pay stopped to cover costs. Kettles boiled everything, meat, potatoes, etc. and by Crimea the army were reasonably prepared but still poorly fed.
Alex Soyer chef at the Reform Club went to the Crimea at his own expense to improve things, produced the first manual for army catering and invented the Soyer Stove which boiled or stewed and burned any fuel, in service from 1885 until 1992 it stood the test of time.
The Army School of Cookery was formed in 1883, its motto Skim, Simmer and Scour. By 1900, rations of ¾ lb of meat per day including bone and gristle were in place.
In the 1914 Great War the British troops were well fed but cooks were the lowest form of life.
1937 Isadore Salmon of J. Lyons & Co studied army catering and by 1939 the Army School of Cookery was training at St Omer Barracks Aldershot.
Cooks have become Chefs at the Defence School of Cookery, all trained as soldiers first and chefs second.
Interspersed in the talk were magic and tricks and the Magic Circle formed in 1905 has obtained Lottery funding and now has premises in London, open to the public twice a week.
An entertaining and informative evening, enjoyed by around 50 members.
Laura Ponsonby kept the Headley Society entertained at their July meeting with stories about her home, Shulbrede Priory, intertwined with the history of the house. The Priory, constructed in the 11th century from local sandstone, was home to Canons of the Augustinian order founded by Augustine, Bishop of Hippo. Although the surrounding land suffers from flooding from time to time, the land on which the Priory was built is at a higher level so does not get flooded. It was eventually closed on the instruction of Thomas Cromwell and the Priory and its extensive estate became part of the Cowdray estate.
The Ponsonby family moved to Shulbrede in the late 1800s when Laura Ponsonby's grandfather decided he had had enough of London. He travelled to Midhurst from where he took to the countryside on his bicycle to view suitable properties. By this time, little of the Priory remained other than what is now their home.
Several generations of the Ponsonby family have lived at Shulbrede Priory since then and have carried out much restoration and extensive excavations on this historic property. From these excavations they were able to establish the layout of the Priory and the Church. Today there is nothing left of the Church, all the stone has been removed and used elsewhere in other properties. There were many slides a few of which showed the crypt, the attractive tiles, the magnificent oak beams, mullioned windows and 16th century wall paintings.
The Priory is open to the public twice a year in May and August, and I for one know that I shall be there in August.
Caroline Lemka
September 2004 — A Future for Whales?
Vic Machin, a member of 'Campaign Whale' and former campaigner for Greenpeace gave a very informative talk to The Headley Society entitled 'A Future for Whales?'
He is one of a number of campaigners dedicated to the worldwide conservation of whales, porpoises and dolphins and emphasised that whales would have a bleak future without the support of conservationists. He explained that in 1946 the International Whaling Commission (IWC) was set up to promote the orderly development of the whaling industry throughout the world. It protects certain species and designates areas as whale sanctuaries. In addition, the IWC promotes studies in matters such as the humaneness of the killing operations.
The speaker explained that membership of the IWC is open to any country in the world but, although many were happy to conform to a recent ban on commercial whaling, several, including Japan, are calling for a relaxation of regulations so that they would be allowed to hunt whales. He emphasised that, for conservation to continue, the public should remain aware of the pressures on the IWC by some countries to relax the rules.
The audience were intrigued by Mr Machin's anecdotes about his numerous and sometimes unpleasant experiences as a campaigner for the protection of whales. He showed some film of the barbaric killing methods used for hunting and killing whales and dolphins. Later he impressed the audience with a collection of Scrimshaw, the name given to a variety of objects made and decorated by people involved with the whaling industry .The speaker concluded by emphasising the need for peaceful protests to protect whales.
October 2004 — Jane Austen's Alton
Jane Hurst, a local historian and member of the Jane Austen Society and a former teacher, talked on Jane Austen's Alton during the Georgian period, late 1700s and early 1800s. We were told that photos give a clue but were not available at that time, and while maps do exist they are often inaccurate.
We took a conceptual trip from Chawton, where Jane's brother Edward lived at Chawton house, into and through Alton and back. Much information is gleaned from Jane's letters to her family and friends many of which are preserved.
When walking to Alton from Chawton we first come to the Butts, in those days with no trees, where the Alton Westbrook fair was held in April. Just beyond this was the tollgate, Alton was on the Farnham to Winchester section of the turnpike, the North gate being at Willey Mill, the first buildings were at the Duke's Head and Jane's brother lived opposite.
We travelled on to the main road and Westbrook House, then a private Asylum and later the council offices, left into Cross and Pillory Lane and into the Market Square. The Town Hall opened in 1813 and Jane would have seen it built. Into Lentern Street and on to Wyards to friends of the family. Back past Flood Meadows to The Olde House, her brothers, and Weybourne House, the Digweeds. Down Market Street to the High Street to see the Swan Hotel and up Crown Hill past No.10 her brother Henry's Bank. Next to the Crown lived Dr. Curtis her doctor, who was a keen early photographer. On to St Lawrence's Church where many family were baptised and brother Henry became Curate.
Opposite the Crown were friends at 1, High Street, and then Crown Close open in those days and the site of Alton Eastbrook fair at Michaelmas, now the Assembly Rooms and Museum. The High Street was much as today but with coaches leaving the Swan for London and Portsmouth.
An entertaining and informative evening, enjoyed by around 50 members.
November 2004 — The House that Ben Built
There was not a spare seat to be had at the Church Centre in Headley to hear Ben Law speak at the Headley Society's November meeting on the subject of his self-built house in the Sussex woods.
He began by explaining how his thoughts on self-sufficient lifestyles had developed during visits to the rain forests of South America and in the East Indies, and how he had determined to try out some of the same philosophies back in this country.
He owns a few acres of largely chestnut coppice woodland near Lodsworth in Sussex and manages a hundred acres in total. Here he began to develop a trade in woodland crafts, quickly learning the lesson of going for 'added-value' products such as ready-made furniture rather than for standard items such as fencing posts.
Every item taken from his woods has its use - larger poles for construction purposes, 'brash' bundled into faggots for river-bank reclamation, smaller poles for making Mongolian-style yurt tents (for which there is a surprisingly good market in the UK), oddly-shaped pieces for using in individual garden furniture - and anything left over goes into the charcoal kiln to make either barbecue or artists' charcoal.
He also uses his land to grow food crops among the trees in order to be as self-sufficient as possible. Certain varieties of soft fruit do well in a woodland environment, and he has created raised beds in the clearings for vegetables. He keeps bees ('one of the easiest animals to look after') for their honey and for their pollination of the various blossoms which appear throughout the season. He has an ingenious way of farming fungi by injecting spores into lumps of wood and then throwing them into his pond to start the growth when required. He taps birch trees for their sap to make wine, and makes a range of potent brews from the various fruits and leaves found on his property.
Ben has lived in his wood for many years, first in a 'bender', then in a caravan, and then a yurt. But he had always wanted to build a 'proper' house there - one which would fit into the woodland surroundings and be constructed from the materials to be found there. However he discovered that planning regulations in the UK were somewhat more severe than in the remote East Indies, and so began a long battle with the authorities for the right to build on his own land.
In the end he won, and the resulting construction project was shown to the nation on Channel 4's Grand Designs programme.
January 2005 — The English Civil War
A glimpse of life in England at time of the English Civil War.
Dennis Wraight, dressed in black as a lieutenant in the Parliamentarian Army and his wife, dressed as a wench (peasant of the day), described the history, the techniques of warfare and the food of the period. In support of their outstanding presentation they showed replicas of clothing, helmets, guns, swords, pikes, lead-shot and cannon balls, cutlery, cups and plates, and food recipes of the day.
The Parliamentarians were supported mainly by merchants and were financially reasonably well-off and dressed accordingly, whereas the Royalists, who supported King Charles were from the landed gentry, dressed much more flamboyantly and enjoyed a rather better standard of food in their army.
The population of England was about 5 million at the time King Charles came to the throne in 1625; Parliament and the Church were stable. However the King's arrogant attitude that he could do as he pleased soon created problems. It culminated in the dissolution of Parliament by the King in 1629. It remained closed for 11 years and as the problems became ever more severe the Parliamentarians took action. There was no standing army in England at the time and both sides operated bands of volunteers, fighting mainly in the summertime. Eventually the Parliamentarians formed the New Model Army and gained control of the situation. This was the start of the British Army that we have today. Battles raged from Scotland, through the Midlands and into Wales.
Several well known skirmishes took place around Headley; at Farnham Castle, the battle at Cheriton and the defeat of Royalists at Alton Church, where the musket damage to the Church can be still be seen today. Eventually the Royalists accepted defeat in 1647 after a series of battles in Wales. However the second Civil War started in 1648 and was won by the New Army. Finally in 1651, Cromwell ended the third Civil War at Worcester.
February 2005 — Flora Thompson, Beyond Candleford Green
At their February meeting, the Headley Society had a speaker who needed no introduction. Instead of sitting in the audience, the Chairman of Headley Society, Jo Smith, stood at the front and gave a fascinating insight into the writings of Flora Thompson.
Originally from Oxfordshire, Flora came to live and work in Grayshott as a post office assistant in 1898. However it was not until very much later when she was in her 60s that she wrote about her childhood in a book called Lark Rise. There were two other books about her childhood and youth called Over to Candleford and Candleford Green, before she wrote Heatherley about her time in Grayshott. She always referred to herself in the third person, as a young lady called 'Laura'.
Throughout her writing she gave people and places pseudonyms and what was so fascinating about this lecture was not just the interesting insights she gives into life at the end of the 1800s, and great descriptions of the people with whom she came into contact, but the work that had been done by Jo Smith to identify the different people and places and corroborate the facts. Although it would have been relatively easy to learn the identify of 'Mr Hertford', the Post Master during her time at Grayshott post office, and to be able to put the name George Bernard Shaw to a writer she described as "a tall man on a crutch with a forked red beard", learning who the real "Richard Brownlow" was took a little luck and a lot of hard detective work and cooperation of others.
Following the talk I bought a copy of Heatherley – and alongside On the Trail of Flora Thompson, in which Jo Smith describes how he separated fact from fiction, it is compelling reading.
March 2005 — AGM and Members' Evening
The President and Founder, Joyce Stevens, welcomed the 42 members present (out of a total membership of 138) and noted that it was excellent of members to make the effort to come on such a cold night. She said that she was proud of the Society and its work, particularly with regard to its ability to provide such interesting speakers on a range of topics.
John Owen Smith took the chair, thanked the President, and proceeded with the agenda.
He reminded members that the Society was twenty years old this year and that
a celebration was being organised for later in the year by the Committee. He
went on to talk about some of the projects completed during the past year: the
installation and display of the George V post-box (originally from the High
Street Post Office site) in the foyer of the Village Hall; the new digital voice
recorder (a demonstration of this was given later during the evening); and Headley
Miscellany volume 6, which contained an index to all previous issues.
David Lishman presented the 2004 accounts and said that the Society funds were
still in a healthy state - however it was agreed by the floor to increase the
annual subscription from £5 to £6 next year to cover general rises
in speakers fees.
Nicky Wilson announced the new speaker programme for the period up to April 2006.
The existing committee members were voted in for another year, with the exception of Pat Hargreaves who stood down due to pressure of work.
Following the official business of the evening, there were four short talks by members about their various interests:—
Joan Finney gave told us of the avenues she had used for delving into her family history, providing examples of the search for her great-grandfather who had served for much of his life at sea.
Joan Thorne and Nicky Wilson demonstrated the digital voice recorder – Ann Viney volunteered to be an interviewee and her voice was recorded and played back. Other excerpts played back included Joyce Stevens' memories of her childhood in Headley.
Marilyn Metcalfe told us about her ironstone cottage in Hollywater which, though careful exploration of the building and local documentation, she had found to be at least 300 years old. She spoke about her efforts to get the building listed and of her eventual success.
Finally, Mr Smith spoke about the time that can be needed to transcribe family records, providing an amusing example of his four-hour effort to transcribe a marriage of two local people in the early 1800s from registers.
April 2005 — "What's Your Best on This?"
The Headley Society, now in its 20th year, maintained its reputation for varied,
interesting speakers when Mrs Gillian Rawcliffe gave her
presentation "What's your best on this" at the society's April meeting.
Gillian grew up in Bath and became fascinated by Junk shops at an early age. She was encouraged by her Grandmother and saved her weekly pocket money to buy anything that took her fancy.
After her marriage, she and her husband owned the two shops in Crossways Road,
Grayshott, 'Columbine' and 'Harlequin' – the latter was a
gentlemen's outfitters while Gillian turned 'Columbine' into an Aladdin's Cave
containing items of craft and antiques.
At the meeting Gillian, helped by her long-time friend Dorothy who had been
with her in 'Columbine', brought along an assortment of interesting
objects which she laid out on a couple of tables. The audience were asked to
guess the function of a number of the objects which were passed
around the room.
She gave several useful tips and warned of present-day reproductions – she had been fooled on one occasion.
After years of collecting, from fans to dolls, miniature cake decorations to cutlery, the painful time has now arrived when she is trying to offload her treasures, but she will never cease to spot an intriguing bargain.
Gillian has a wealth of knowledge which she willingly passed on to her audience, who showed their appreciation at the end of the meeting.
May 2005 — With Love from the Trenches
On the evening of Thursday 5th May, despite the date being chosen for Election Day, a large audience of members and guests came to the Headley Society meeting to listen to Geoff Salter give a talk on embroidered postcards of the First World War entitled 'With Love from the Trenches'.
Mr Salter, a retired librarian, and his librarian wife decided some years ago to collect a theme. His wife chose picture postcards, embroidered by French and German widows to help supplement their income. After a long day's work the embroidery would be carried out by candle-light or gas lamps.
These cards were presented to us in a Japanese lacquered album with silk pages. Because of their fragility the 'book' was opened by Mr Salter personally but many of the cards were projected on screen, some in minute detail, to show the intricacies of such fine work.
They were divided into categories: Emotional Cards, Symbols of Love (pansies, roses and forget-me-nots), Patriotic Cards and Flag & Seasonal Cards (Christmas and birthdays). Some cards, more expensive, were perfumed but over the years the scent has vanished, some had silk handkerchiefs enclosed with bobbin lace around the edge. The cards were originally placed in transparent envelopes and not many of these survive today though we were shown a few examples. Once the cards were embroidered they were starched and sent to a local factory to be placed on linen and mounted on paper with various patterned surrounds.
Soldiers would write their cards home amid the mud of the trenches or wherever they could shelter from the battle raging around them - yet the cards were received in perfect condition. The soldiers were instructed to write just a few words which were censored before reaching our shores. No mention could be made of their whereabouts, weather conditions or health. In 1917, when America joined the war their troops would buy cards which were a little more elaborate as their wages were higher than their British fellows. The American flag, for example, was often portrayed in different patterns which boosted sales.
Embroidered cards were first made in Austria in 1903 but didn't take off in popularity until 1914. During the Second World War the idea was revived but never really caught on.
These cards today are valued from £20 each for the flower variety to £40 or more for the Flag & Patriotic type. We were shown one with an aeroplane among forget-me-nots, a much rarer variety and worth substantially more in today's market.
June 2005 — From Feast to Famine: Food from Elizabeth to Victoria
Margaret Henderson introduced the audience to Food & Famine from Elizabethan to Victorian times. Illustrating her talk with slides, she spoke of the importance of hunting and wheat to the Elizabethan diet and of the huge quantities of meat that were consumed. Food was washed down with beer produced by the monasteries, rather than water which most likely was contaminated. This was the diet of the rich. The poor had to survive on bread and water.
Tudor knives and spoons were circulated around the audience for a closer look. The knives are amazingly sharp and when you went to dinner you would take your own knife with you.
Meat was often rotten and salt, sugar and spices were used to hide the smell. It was considered extremely rude to sniff meat on your fork before you ate it.
From the Stuart to Georgian times, drunkenness was a major problem. Tea had been introduced but could only be afforded by the wealthy as there was 129% duty on it; small wonder that tea smuggling increased. Chocolate was also drunk. When cocoa beans were first introduced, some sailors finding them, thinking they were sheep's droppings, threw them overboard! The Quakers took on the manufacture of chocolate when they were unable to attend universities as they would not swear an oath of allegiance to the Crown.
Although icehouses were around in Stuart times, the 18th C saw them flourish. The audience saw a slide of one, which took 13 people 8 days to fill with ice from a nearby lake. During Victorian times, ice cream was available to ordinary people. "Glass licks" in which it was sold were passed around the audience. In Victorian times these were returned to the seller when finished, wiped clean and re-used!
July 2005 — William Lee, Surgeon-Apothecary
William Lee, Surgeon-Apothecary, conjures an image of a knowledgeable and professional medical expert. He was born at Headley Wood Farm in 1723 and buried in All Saints churchyard, Headley, in 1780.
Daphne Reggler gave an intriguing talk on medical matters, William Lee and his patients, who lived in an area up to 15 miles from Odiham where he practised for over 30 years. The Lee family were yeoman farmers and William was well educated, with an excellent ability in Latin. He was apprenticed to a local surgeon for seven years and the initial fee would have been about £100. He established his practice some time between 1740-1750 after obtaining a license from the Bishop of Winchester. He would have had a number of sponsors, including the surgeon he trained under, as well as prominent patients he had treated. He also performed dentistry and veterinary work.
At the time there were physicians, university trained, who only provided consultancy
but did not physically examine patients; Surgeon-Apothecaries who performed
surgery and dispensed medicines; and Apothecaries who only dispensed medicines.
Blood letting was a popular
treatment and was often provided by the barber-surgeons who undertook haircutting
and minor surgery.
William Lee's records show that he regularly made house visits and one patient
he visited 13 times in one week. Another he made 85 daily
visits, some 10 miles distant by horseback, following major surgery to her upper
arm after being run over by a farm cart. No record exists of
the success but her employer, a local farmer, must have been satisfied as he
paid the medical expenses of £21, a sizeable sum since William
Lee's income for that year was £250. Often employers paid the medical
expenses of their employees. The poor were treated and the local
authorities paid the bills the charges being related to the distance travelled.
Although smallpox was a problem at the time there is no record of William Lee performing any inoculations; neither did he attend any childbirths.
When he died his estate was £1,000 and the Headley Wood Farm, which he left to his brother.
August 2005 — 20th Anniverary evening
At their August meeting, one hundred members and visitors of The Headley Society enjoyed a Hog Roast at Headley Church Centre to celebrate the Society's 20th year.
Chairman, John Owen Smith, introduced the evening saying that 'In 1985, Joyce Stevens had a good idea. She decided to start an organisation "for the public benefit and interest in the area comprising the civil Parish of Headley and the neighbourhood". And so the Headley Society was born. Now 20 years on, she can be reassured that her baby is healthy and doing well.'
Joyce Stevens, the life President, replied by saying how people had tried to dissuade the first committee from holding monthly meetings as this would be impossible to sustain. Now twenty years on we had proved them wrong, and the Society was going from strength to strength.
A magnificent celebratory cake had been made by Christine Leonard showing the Society logo on top and scenes from the village traced in icing around the sides. This was cut by the president and served to all present at the end of the evening.
The mild weather allowed tables to be placed on the grass outside the Centre as well as within the building, which added to a pleasant and relaxed atmosphere.
A number of exhibits were on show inside the Centre, including a panel display of Headley history (which will be mounted in Bordon Library later this year), an off-line version of the Headley website, wood engravings & lithographs of Headley by the late Norman Wilson, and an original painting by member Wendy Bennett which was raffled for Society funds. There was also a 20-question quiz on the History of Headley devised by the Chairman.
September 2005 — Sound and Movies from the Past
Sound recordings and films from the past are always fascinating. David Lee from the Wessex Sound and Film Archives, based in Winchester, gave an entertaining and informative presentation at the Headley Society September meeting. Being part of Hampshire Record Office, David explained that sound and film are an important addition to the written word from a sociological history viewpoint. To see and hear the experiences of people actually involved at events, often as they were occurring, was an important aspect of history.
The Wessex Sound and Film Archives are a public service with over 26,000 items of interest; copies of many of them can be borrowed through our local libraries and 27 specially made videos compilations are available. Some of the earliest records include an 1890 wax-cylinder sound recording of Florence Nightingale giving her experience of Balaclava; an 1899 Royal Navy film of a torpedo trial; and a 1905 film of the centenary re-enactment of the death of Nelson aboard the ship "Victory". Other items in the Archive are a collection of 7,700 videos donated by Meridian Television and 5,000 sound tapes donated by BBC Radio Solent in 1970. Details of all these items are available on the Archives' Web Site.
There are many other sources of archived film and sound recordings, including the National Film Library and the National War Museum, who have an extensive collection of World-War II material.
David Lee said that Headley did not have any entries in the Archive but there was a sound record from Radio Victory in which David Shepherd was being interviewed about his 15-foot high picture of Christ after its dedication in the Army Garrison Church of St. George at Bordon Camp. This was played to the Headley Society members. This was followed by a 1944 black-and-white film made for Children's Cinema about life for children being treated at the Treloar Hospital in Alton. Then a half-hour colour film made in 1957, which won a BAFTA Award, was shown, entitled "Journey into Spring". This was made in Selborne and reflected on the observations of nature by Rector Gilbert White, some 200 years earlier. The scenes and colour were outstanding.
October 2005 — Secrets of the Georgian Bedchamber
Alan Green gave a large audience a slide show and talk on "Secrets of the Georgian Bedchamber".
Born and bred in Chichester, Alan Green is a member of the Georgian Society and members were shown slides of many different four-poster beds now in National Trust properties and private Stately Homes.
A Georgian bedroom was furnished with the essentials for the bedchamber and also as a social meeting place for friends to be welcomed after the occupants had risen but during the time of preparation including a very quick wash! The ladies' make-up was reckoned to take up to 2 hours and the hair-dressing even longer, as in those days the fashion was to have highly brushed hair at the top of the head, stuffed with sheep's wool and, as depicted in a cartoon of the period, a servant was shown standing on the top of a step-ladder in order to arrange the current hairstyle.
Today an average good night's sleep would be 8 hours but in Georgian times the average was 10 hours. After a sumptuous meal the ladies would retire to the drawing room to chat, whilst the men drank their port, many over-indulging. The men would then join the ladies for a game of cards and afterwards the ladies would retire first, taking a candle and holder to light their way. This was usually made of porcelain with a feminine design, whereas the gentlemen took a brass candlestick to light their way when they were ready for bed, often in a drunken state. The lady's maid was called upon to remove her Mistress's make-up and undress her, which often took up to an hour. Her nightwear consisted of a nightie and a lace cap whereas the men wore a night-shirt and a cotton hat to keep them warm as their heads had been shaved in order to make the wearing of a wig more comfortable during daylight hours.
We were shown various Georgian silverware, some very rare today but in general use at the time. For example a small box which would be filled with a sweet smelling herb or pot pourri which could be opened on arrival in a bedroom during the social hours, or in a sick room as the smells would be beyond belief in this day and age. The silverware was made in Birmingham and was a vast industry at that period. We were shown a 'spot' box where ladies would place black 'spots' on their faces, in strategic positions. They had meanings on social occasions, i.e. "I am free" and likewise the men! A box of spares would be taken to a party, as when she became hot the spots would fall off and needed replacing.
The chamber pot was usually kept in a cabinet, at eye level to the bed, and a maid's first task each morning would be to empty it, often out of a window, and clean a spittoon with her hands as the bowl was designed in such a fashion that there was no other option. A shaving bowl for the men was shaped to fit under the chin and a barber reckoned on his task taking a quarter of an hour.
A Georgian bedroom wall was usually papered whereas reception rooms had silk paper. One room was generally set aside as a Chinese room with silk hand-painted paper on the walls which took two or three years to paint and deliver, at a terrific price to the owner. Most Georgian houses were built with 5 storeys allowing three floors for bedrooms to house the family and guests, who when visiting would always stay overnight, and the servants of the Master and Mistress as well as visiting servants of their guests. Nowadays the Georgian properties of Bath and alike have been converted into flats.
To conclude, Mr Green pointed out that life began and ended in bed.
November 2005 — Lines in the Landscape
At the Headley Society meeting in November the speaker was Chris Webb, who is the National Trust warden for Selborne, Ludshott, Conford and Passfield Commons, Bramshott Chase and Waggoners Wells.
Chris has an MA in Field Archaeology and his talk was entitled 'Lines in the Landscape'. He spoke about the Selborne area where his family has lived for generations.
The medieval Selborne Priory was closed in 1486 (some 50 years before Henry VIII's dissolution of the monasteries). Documents relating to it can be studied at Magdalene College, Oxford.
There is evidence of medieval ridge and furrow ploughing around Selborne, which is rarely seen in Hampshire now. Common rights existed for centuries and cattle are still grazing on Selborne Common (up the Zig-Zag and through the trees). Some of the trees have been pollarded at various intervals.
Boundary banks are still visible which would have enclosed Selborne Park, and there is evidence of strip lynchets which are horizontal terraces on a hillside.
A particularly interesting discovery of his is evidence of a Roman field system, as the boundaries of the ancient landscape have not been damaged by recent land management.
Chris showed excellent slides, especially of the orchids on Noar Hill. He was warmly thanked.
January 2006 — Nanotechnology - A new 'ology'!
Members heard a talk on Nanotechnology on 5th January 2006 by the Vice Chairman, Prof. M. J. Withers. Whilst the title may have sounded stuffy and scientific, the discussions were witty and based on observations of normal life.
Nanotechnology is about making small things down to atom size, in the 0.1 to 100 nanometre size range; 1 nm being one thousand millionth of a metre. The USA and Russia consider this will be a 3 trillion dollar industry by 2010, so it will be big business.
Man has made things since the stone-age, stone tools, bows and arrows, leather and fur goods. In the bronze-age, using fire, he made metals from tin, copper and zinc to form bronze; and pottery from clay. The advent of better furnaces led to the iron-age and then, many centuries later, to making steel and stainless steel plus other alloys. Plastics came in 100 years ago and about 75 years ago the atomic age arrived with splitting the atom and then the atomic bomb. Valves and the Cathode-Ray Tube date from1900: 1950 semiconductors: 1953 DNA was discovered: 1960 printed circuits: 1970 integrated circuits: 1980 Micro-miniaturization (The Chip): 1984 DNA fingerprinting: 1990 Genetics and the test tube baby: 2000 Genome decoded, all the genetic information on how to build a human!
At each stage man has manipulated a shrinking world, either making things smaller or making smaller things using atoms as the basic building block. Prof. Feynman, a Nobel Prize Winner, first lectured on this idea in 1959. Headley Society Members were shown video exerts from his famous 1984 talk that he gave at the California Institute of Technology.
Carbon fibre is an example of building from atoms; it is a material that is lighter but stronger than steel. IBM Research Laboratories in Switzerland have shown recently that it is possible to write by positioning single atoms. Silver nanoparticles can kill bacteria and are being used in wound dressings. Other applications are found in: sport products (golf clubs, tennis racquets, etc); paint finishes; TV screens; lighting; electronic paper; computers; food packaging and all manner of interactive foods; bio electronics and medicine, etc. Self-cleaning glass, stay-clean clothes and fabrics, filtration, etc. are already with us. Many other amazing applications are being investigated.
See update 3 years on …
February 2006 — 'Voices of Petersfield and District'
Headley Society members were encouraged to get out and record their own local history by Pamela Payne, the speaker at their February meeting.
Author of "Voices of Petersfield and District", Pamela entertained a packed meeting with tales of her career as a journalist and writer. She told of the time when she went to report on an aerobatics display in Buckinghamshire, and found herself in the cockpit flying the plane. Locally, it was when she was writing in Petersfield for the Herald group that they decided to start the Petersfield Herald title.
Her husband's career in the Forces took her abroad, and she organised multi-national creative writing groups in English, finding it interesting to try to get them to retain the lilt of their mother tongue in their work. One such group in Naples decided to publish a book of their work – and nearly ran foul of the 'family' printers when it looked like the bill for printing might not be paid on time!
Back in Petersfield she was approached by Tempus, a publisher of local history books, to write the first of a series of titles they were planning. These, the Oral History 'Voices of' series, would be based on interviews with local people giving their oral memories of times past. At the time there was no other general history book covering Petersfield, and after some deliberation she decided to accept the commission.
She began a fascinating round of interviews with local people, some of whom she already knew but many of whom replied to requests for information in the media, and she had many hints for her Headley audience from her own learning experience on how best to do this, and which pitfalls to avoid.
At the end of the meeting the chairman John Owen Smith, himself a writer and publisher of local history, thanked Pamela for a stimulating talk and added his own encouragement for members to get out there themselves and start recording vanishing history.
March 2006 — The Changing Headley Parish
John Owen Smith, chairman of Headley Society, gave an illustrated talk on the Headley parish and how the boundaries had changed over the past several centuries.
Up till 1991 the Frensham Pond Hotel and part of Frensham Pond were in the northern boundary of the parish. Until 1929 the town of Bordon was in the western area of the parish, and until 1902 the parish also included Grayshott in the east. Jo showed sketches and photographs of buildings through the ages on the borders of the parish. It was most surprising how many corn, paper and iron mills there were; all relying on water power for their motive force. Several buildings have suffered form fire; All Saints Church had a wooden spire until 1836 and the old Headley Park house was destroyed later in the century.
Some houses have changed name, Benifold in Headley Hill was once Pinehurst. For four years it was owned by "Fleetwood Mac", the pop-group. The Grange, in Liphook Road, has had many changes of use; once the workhouse for the poor at the time of the Headley riots; it was a sound studio where Led Zeppelin recorded "Stairway to Heaven" and now is a private house. Many shops have also become private houses as the pattern of retailing has changed. Grayshott Hall has reversed this trend, changing from a residence to a health spa.
Mr Smith's talk was based on the public exhibition he organised last year for the Bordon Library.
April 2006 — Life in the 1930s through advertisements
Jane Hurst, Alton's local historian and genealogist, took the members of Headley Society on a nostalgic and amusing tour through the Alton Gazette of 1935, at their March meeting.
Jane showed many fascinating pictures of advertisements covering every conceivable feature of day-to-day life in the Alton area in 1935. She tempted members with J H Knight's ice creams, White's of Aldershot skunk fur chokers at 25/9d and the very latest design in prams. Some members recognised from their childhood the art deco styles in dining room furniture, three piece suites in moquette and bedroom suites- many of which were burnt as firewood in the 1960s.
We were tempted to take a Southern Railway trip to Margate or Worthing, to visit the Palace Film House, or, to celebrate the Silver Jubilee, to try our hand at the Gymkhana or the Humorous Fancy dress competition for Gentlemen. There were opportunities to visit the Tidworth Tattoo or swim in the "Mauritania" swimming pool at the Alton House Hotel and we were exhorted to try for a free air flight with Sir Alan Cobham's Flying Circus. One elder statesman of the Society recalled that he had done just that!
The ladies were urged by the International Stores to spring clean with soap flakes at 1/-; they were pressed to buy corsetry or hats at White's, where they could enjoy coffee with friends while watching a mannequin parade of the latest fashions.
The men were transported back to the days of the Popular Ford motor car at a cost of £115 for a "single entrance saloon", a Bantam Singer at £120 or an Austin Seven with synchromesh on third and second gears at £120–£172.
Names like Timothy Whites & Taylor, Valor, Alton Autos, Bradley Trimmer, Kerridge's and Webber's all brought the past flooding back.
May 2006 — Spies in Petticoats
Carol Brown of the Guildford Museum kept over 50 members and visitors of the Headley Society enthralled with her stories and anecdotes about the brave women of the Special Operations Executive (SOE). 39 women had travelled to France during the WWII to support the French resistance in their fight and to help "set Europe ablaze" as instructed by Churchill.
Supported by slides, Carol Brown talked about a number of the women. Recruits were either French or had a good French background. Initial training took place locally in Warnborough and included being encouraged to drink and being woken in the middle of the night to see how they kept their cover. They were taught how to use guns and explosives, sabotage, even the technique of silent killing. All training was very secret – not even the locals had any idea what was going on. As it was so secret, recruits not deemed suitable for undercover work were sent to Scotland to work for the duration of the war.
Churchill had agreed to women being used as agents as they were less conspicuous than men as they were expected to be out and about on the streets. Also women worked better on their own.
New recruits were the responsibility of Vera Atkins, ensuring that they had good cover stories and would blend in well. This included dressing like a French woman. Entering France by many means including parachute, the women were used as radio operators and couriers. The radios used by agents weighed 30lbs and fitted into a small suitcase. One slide showed a cyclist with a big bundle of sticks on his back, which was used to hide a radio transmitter. The women agents although highly trained were still women. After being arrested, a group of them shared a lipstick.
Of the 39 women sent to France, 15 were arrested and 13 executed. They were tortured and raped yet never betrayed their country. They were sent to various concentration camps. At one, Natzweiler, four women were given a lethal injection and put in the crematorium furnace. Others were taken to Dachau and shot.
After the war, Vera Atkins interrogated German officials and guards to discover what had happened to all the agents that had not returned to England. As the SOE was not considered a military organisation, no military honours were given in England, although a couple of the women were posthumously awarded the George Cross.
June 2006 — Farnborough: The early years of British aviation
Gordon Knowles of Surrey Archaeological and Surrey Industrial History Societies kept the members of the Headley Society interested with his account of the early days of flight at Farnborough. Supported by photographs and anecdotes, Gordon Knowles spoke of Col. Samuel Cody and his association with aviation and Farnborough.
The members quickly learnt that Col. Sam Cody was neither a Colonel nor a military man. Neither was his real name Cody, but Cowdery. He was an American from Iowa, a sharp shooter who modelled himself on Buffalo Bill Cody. Photographs quickly showed the similarity.
Initially Cody worked on man-lifting kites, which he offered to the War Office. The Navy, rather than the Army, put his ideas to use. Col. Capper, Head of Ballooning at Farnborough, took a keen interest in his kiting activities. As a result of this collaboration, in 1907 the airship Nulli Secundus (second to none) took to the air. With both Cody and Capper on board it reached a height of 800 ft and did a couple of circuits of Farnborough Common to the applause of a large crowd. It is said the sappers anchoring the airship, ran along on the ground underneath as no one had told them to let go.
Cody's greatest achievement was the first manned aircraft in the UK, "Army Aircraft No 1" which took to the air in October 1908. Amazingly, photographs of this aircraft show wires all over the place and very visible chains which connected the engine to the propellers. However, the Union Jack was in a prominent position! The first flight, with Cody at the controls and Col. Capper as a passenger, covered 496 ft. Later in the day, Mrs Cody took the passenger seat becoming the first woman to fly from British soil.
This era in aviation history and Farnborough came to an end in August 1913 when Cody was killed as a result of crashing whilst testing his new "water plane". He was attempting to land on the Basingstoke Canal.
At the July meeting members heard a very interesting talk by Commander Bruce Nichols, OBE on the Cunard line.
The first ship was launched at the end of the sailing era. The Cunard and White Star line, as it was for several years, gradually acquired bigger ships. The larger liners of Cunard competed with America to win the Blue Riband for the fastest Crossing of the Atlantic.
During World War II the Queen Mary carried thousands of American servicemen in very cramped conditions taking a northerly route to avoid the German submarines. In 1959 the Queen Elizabeth was the world's largest liner at 83,673 tons.
With the advent of air travel crossing the Atlantic by sea became less popular. The Queen Mary was sold to America where she lies at Long Beach, California. The Queen Elizabeth was acquired by a Hong Kong business man, but his business rival, possibly Triad, set fire to this beautiful ship.
Now cruising is popular again, and the QE2 and QM2 are enjoyed. Before too long they will be joined by the Queen Victoria.
September 2006 — Butterflies - how to save them
The September meeting of The Headley Society was introduced by Mike Withers pointing out the partial eclipse of the moon, which was happening at that very moment. As it was a wonderfully clear evening, members had a good view of the eclipse through the large windows of the Church Centre.
The subject for the evening was Butterflies and the work being done to protect them and their habitat by Butterfly Conservation. The speaker, Lyn Fomison, Reserves Officer for the Hampshire branch of Butterfly Conservation, outlined the problems facing butterflies and moths, and their habitat.
There are 56 species of butterfly in this country and 7 out of 10 are in decline, many because of changes to their habitat. Some such as the Comma, have managed to change with it, but others have not been so fortunate. The Comma used to lay its eggs on hops but changes to hop growing practices had a great impact on the Comma and it declined significantly until it managed to change its egg laying to nettles. The same cannot unfortunately be said for the White-letter Hairstreak, which used the elm tree which is of course almost non existent in our countryside.
Supported by many beautiful slides of butterflies, Lyn Fomison outlined the work being done at the three Hampshire Conservation Sites in Magdalen Hill Down and Yew Hill near Winchester, and Bentley Station Meadow to control scrub and keep the flower rich grassland in good condition and to monitor the butterfly population. In addition she gave advice on creating a butterfly haven in our own gardens. However the pièce de résistance were the slides of the Swallowtail Butterfly now sadly only found in the wild in Fenland in Norfolk. That definitely brought out the ooohs and aaahs in the audience.
October 2006 — The History of Whitehill & Bordon
Dig around enough, either literally or metaphorically, and you find that everywhere has an interesting history. Certainly Adam Carew and Chris Wain were able to convince an audience at The Headley Society of this fact when giving us the sometimes surprising history of Whitehill and Bordon.
We were taken from the stone age through to modern times in an evening, and several of those in the audience who assumed they 'knew it all' were admitting by the end that they had learnt many new things.
Broadly, if I may be so bold as to summarise, the history of the area can be grouped into three main categories of interest: the pre-historical human occupation from the stone age through to the Romans; the current military occupation starting in the 1860s; and the exceptional natural history of Woolmer Forest. In each of these Bordon & Whitehill has something unique to offer.
The area is the site of a great number of barrows, and the 'finds' within some of them indicate burials of high-status people. The enigma of the Walldown earthwork still puzzles us as to its purpose and original extent. Discoveries of Roman coin hoards lead us to wonder if here was the scene of a battle between dissident Roman armies. Woolmer Pond is the 'largest ephemeral lake in Europe' and the land around it is the only place in Britain where all 12 species of native amphibians and reptiles can be found in one place. The army found unconventional ways to move large huts around, and built a railway loop to instruct servicemen on how to drive trains and repair damaged tracks. And much more…
The Woolmer Forest Heritage Society exists to investigate and record the history of the area and intends to add further facilities to augment its current display area in Bordon Library. For further information see their website.
November 2006 — Ropes
& Lines, Knots in Twines
How do you tie together two pieces of rope of the same thickness? Not with a Reef Knot apparently - use a Fisherman's Knot instead. This was just one piece of information given to members of The Headley Society at their November meeting by Gordon Perry of the Guild of Knot Tyers.
In a meeting of three parts entitled "Ropes & Lines, Knots in Twines", the speaker first gave an illustrated talk on the types of material used to make ropes, both in the past (with natural materials) and currently (with composite man-made materials), and passed round samples of each for the audience to handle.
Then, during a break for refreshments, he set up a small rope-making machine and used it to demonstrate in miniature how a 'rope walk' worked.
Finally he gave us a demonstration of knot-tying, concentrating on four 'useful' knots which we could use around the house and garden. Each member of the audience was given a piece of string to try their hand at it, with varying degrees of success.
Mr Perry had brought along a table full of examples of knots and artefacts made with rope, and these along with the talk and demonstrations contributed to an entertaining and informative evening. For further information on the Guild, see their website.
December 2006 — The Magic Lantern & Victorian Humour
Christmas Tree, paper hats and mince pies were all in evidence for The Headley Society Christmas supper party which took place in the very atmospheric surroundings of Curtis Barn in Headley. The Vice Chairman, Mike Withers, welcomed over 70 members for the occasion. They were served a choice of Chicken & Leek Bake or Beef in Ale Cobbler, both provided by the Grayshott Village Kitchen caterers.
Alan Brindle who gave a wonderful insight into the Victorian world of the Magic Lantern provided the entertainment. He showed many slides, some over 150 years old. Although by the standards of today, the Magic Lantern show may have seemed very simplistic, to the audiences of the early 1800s, they were literally Magic, being the earliest form of moving image on screen. One slide of a tiger opening and closing his mouth had frightened the early audiences. Other, later slides, depicted comic strips while others projected a very beautiful kaleidoscope image.
Following the Victorian Magic Lantern show and to end the evening, home-made mince pies and coffee were served. And finally, before everyone left, the Vice Chairman, thanked our hosts for allowing us to use their barn and Christine Leonard who had made the mince pies.
January 2007 — Film and TV Props
ENTERTAINMENT AND ENTERTAINING. Just two words which describe the talk given by Louise Lusby to the Headley Society in January.
Louise, a designer of props for TV and film based at Shepperton Studios, started by showing the audience a selection of props which her company had made. Within seconds building bricks were hurtling towards the audience and although they were made of a very lightweight resin, they were so realistic looking, one's initial reaction was to duck – fast. Also on show was a skeleton arm and hand that had been used in "Silent Witness". This was made with latex, but the nails attached to it were ordinary cosmetic nails that can be bought in any branch of that well-known chemist chain. There was a large thumb which had belonged to Benny Hill, a resin Staffordshire figure from Lovejoy, and a "gotcha Oscar" from Noel's House Party.
Louise gave a brief history on how she got started in the business. Her first job was with the BBC as a Holiday Relief Design Assistant – fortunately her time with the BEEB was a little longer than it takes to say it. She worked on many interesting and well-known programmes, starting with children's programmes such as Play Away and Jackanory. She did the first colour Jackanory design and using psychedelic pink and orange (this was in the 70s!) – they were going to know that this was in colour, even if only a dozen people watching had colour TV! She went on to do designs for Parkinson including one of his interviews with Mohammed Ali.
She started her own film and TV prop-making company based at Shepperton Studios, with her husband Keir, in 1970. From here they worked on many films as well as TV shows, designing and producing the coffin used by Madonna in Evita. However, where the original coffin had glass, they used perspex as even their huge indemnity insurance wouldn't cover any damage to Madonna's face should the glass break. Other credits include "the watch" for Only Fools & Horses, the 1st Pudsey Bear, glasses for Dane Edna Everage, the galleon which formed part of the wig worn by Elton John for his 50th birthday party (and he said he didn't want to look ridiculous!) and many artefacts used in Lovejoy. For Lovejoy one set of the artefacts was a real icon and a copy. However, as her company had made both of them, they were identical! The evening had to come to an end, but this is one speaker that Headley Society members would love to see again.
February 2007 — All Tanked Up: the Candians in Headley during WW2
Sixty-three members of the Headley Society were treated to a talk on the Canadians in Headley in WW2 by their chairman John Owen Smith.
Jo wrote a book, All Tanked Up, on the subject in the early 1990s whilst still able to talk to many who were there at the time; some veterans still live locally.
A lively discussion ensued as some members were in Headley during WW2 and can offer their memories.
The British had tanks locally first but the Canadians were here most, with three regiments forming a brigade training at any one time.
The camps were planted in every available space with Brussels Sprouts, and graffiti in houses gives names of troops, etc.
Strangely the locals took few pictures but the Canadians took a lot.
Many walls were knocked over and roads widened by the tanks which were all named. The last vehicle through was the Quartermaster who noted damage etc for compensation or repair later. The Mounties had a presence to keep law and order.
All in all, a very entertaining and lively evening.
April 2007 — "A Parcel of Gold for Edith"
At the April meeting of The Headley Society members listened avidly to Jo Smith telling the tale of Ellen Suter, the Great Great Aunt of Joyce Stevens.
The tale started 30 years ago when Joyce found seven letters written between 1853 and 1875 by Ellen after she had emigrated to the gold fields of Australia and ended, after 30 years of research, in a book called "A Parcel of Gold for Edith". It was a delight not only to have the author, Joyce Stevens, in the audience but also to hear the very interesting anecdotes she could add.
Ellen had grown up in Portsea where her father, William Suter, was a shipwright. However, following the Napoleonic Wars, prospects were very poor for the navel shipyards and their workers. Conditions were so bad in one area they lived that there was only one privy shared by all the houses on the road.
Small wonder that in 1841 at the age of 19, Ellen left Plymouth on the good ship Westminster destined for Australia.
By the time the first of these preserved letters was written, she had been in Australia for 12 years and married to John Read, a man many years her senior and living in "Bendigo Gold Diggins" in Victoria.
From these letters we learn about life in the Victoria gold fields, her children – she had fourteen children of which five survived – and of the relatives she left behind in England, particularly her niece Edith.
We must presume that the family were prospering as in the first letter she writes about sending £300 to her mother, sister and brother to help them out – about £5,000 in today's money. In her letters she writes of her children, their schooling, the price of vegetables, the extreme weather conditions and the various illnesses, major and minor, which afflicted the family.
In one letter she remonstrates her brother for sending a letter via the Panama route as these go to Sydney and are charged to the inhabitants of Victoria at double the postage.
In the fourth letter she mentions the visit of Prince Albert, second son of Queen Victoria, and his subsequent shooting by an Irishman. At first in 1868 she is delighted to write about drinking champagne at a reception attended by the Prince. However by his second visit in 1869, she is very critical of him acquiring nuggets of gold from every mine he visited. Throughout she refers to him as "your prince" giving the impression that she no longer considers herself English.
In the fifth letter Ellen's youngest daughter Rosa sent a "small parcle of gold for Edith" but there is no mention that it ever arrived.
However, we were told that in January 2004 a granddaughter of Rosa, seeing the book advertised on the internet, contacted Joyce and was able to come to England with her husband to be present at Joyce's 90th birthday in Headley. A satisfying ending to a fascinating tale.
May 2007 — Lost Wey to the Sea
In 1810, Britain was at war with France and privateers in the channel were disrupting trade along the coast. In order to convey gold bullion and other valuable commodities safely from Portsmouth to London, it was decided to build a canal to link the Wey and Arun rivers. However by the time this link was completed in 1816, the war was over and the main purpose of the canal had disappeared. It struggled on uneconomically until 1871 when it was officially abandoned, and over the years since then became derelict.
In 1970, the Wey & Arun Trust was formed with the aim of restoring the waterway to full navigation, and Tony Pratt of the Trust gave sixty members of the Headley Society at their May meeting a stimulating audio-visual presentation of progress to date.
Highlights of their work include restoration of a number of locks and bridges using original materials where possible, the construction of a new aqueduct and, most recently, the lowering of the canal bed at Loxwood by 6 feet to allow boats eventually to pass under the existing road.
Interestingly, Tony told us that funding is not available from Heritage sources
for this as they are not restoring the canal to its original state.
He would not be drawn as to a likely date for complete restoration of the waterway
– there are particular problems with land ownership at the northern end
– but progress since the Trust's foundation has been impressive.
June 2007 — The Flag Man and hs Flags
In 2006 Cdr Bruce Nicholls visited The Headley Society to talk about "The Queens at War", the story behind the Cunard Line. In June 2007, he returned by popular demand, to talk about his life long passion, flags and flag making.
He started by showing slides of his first flag which he made as teenager, an illegal white ensign, illegal because you cannot make a flag which resembles an existing one. This was hoisted on a broomstick attached to a very high branch on a very high tree in his family garden which he had climbed in order to erect it. Later when he was a crew member on a mine sweeper based at Hyde, there was a group of sailors who had quite a lot of time on their hands, spent inevitably in the local pubs, who prided themselves in being the "Hampshire Boozeliers". When the young Cdr Nicholls and his fellow sailors were stationed in the Mediterranean, they formed the "2nd battalion of the Hampshire Boozeliers" and he designed and made a flag showing the many battle honours acquired as members of this battalion!
Cdr Nicholls talked of the time he was serving in the Bahamas when they were celebrating their independence. Throughout the islands, including the joint US/UK naval base, all US flags and the Union Jack were replaced with the new Bahamian flag. However Cdr Nicholls pointed out that the base was still US/UK territory and therefore it was right to fly the both flags. In the end, all three flags flew from adjacent flag poles.
Not many daughters get the gift of a flag on the occasion of their marriage. However Cdr Nicholls' daughter did! On a blue background, the Greek letter Sigma embracing Pi. Pi represented his daughter as she was "a small number which went on and on" and Sigma his son-in-law as he was a man who was good at many things and therefore "added up to a lot".
Cdr Nicholls seems to be able to design a flag for every occasion. He helped
design a new flag for the island of Guernsey as they used the St George's cross
which caused confusion particularly when their teams were competing in sports
events. They opted for the St George's cross overlaid with the gold cross of
William the Conqueror.
This was a two part evening, and after a break for coffee, Flo Woods and Terry
Davies took a few minutes to talk about the Headley Village Design Statement
and to seek the views of the residence of Headley. Questionnaires were distributed
to those present to be completed and returned to the Parish Office or, indeed,
to the next meeting of The Headley Society.
At their July meeting, 55 members of the Headley Society were treated to a talk by Laura Ponsonby entitled 'A Taste of India' about her travels to the sub-continent, which she has visited many times with a friend who was born in India.
Her special interest is in plants and vegetation and the work of Victorian artist Marianne North.
India is a land of wealth and poverty. We were taken through many places, from Madras, Delhi, Bombay and Calcutta into the Himalayan mountain region and many places off the beaten tourist track. Wonderful slides of plants, trees dripping with Orchids, rocks from the oldest to the youngest and tribal people very friendly, some still hunting with bows and arrows, houses built of coconut palms and bamboo. Markets with spices and flowers, palaces made into hotels, their religion, travelling by train, car, rickshaw, river trips the Taj Mahal – this only gives a small insight into her talk and the country which was fascinating to listen to.
The last slide was of sunrise over the Himalayan mountains. As Laura Ponsonby said, India didn't disappoint. All in all, a very informative and entertaining evening.
September 2007 — Grayshott Archives and Society
For its September meeting, The Headley Society welcomed representatives from its sister organisations in Grayshott to hear what they do, what they plan to do, and how they do it.
At the moment there are two separate organisations, the Grayshott Archives and the Grayshott Society, and although they work closely together we were given individual presentations: first from David Barrett on the Archives and then from Amanda Haddon-Cave on the Society.
David told us the idea of forming the Archives had germinated from a series of recent centenary celebrations in the village. Although the original idea was simply for them to maintain an index of artefacts stored elsewhere, it was soon discovered that they needed to find storage space themselves for material given to them. They started as 'lodgers' in the parish council office, but subsequently received grants and have been able to move out into a room behind the stage in their village hall. Here they have plans to facilitate public access both to the physical material and also to information which they are scanning for storage on computers.
David amused us with a number of stories from the archive, and encouraged us to view their website at www.grayshott-archive.org.uk in order to keep up to date with its current contents.
He then handed over to Amanda who gave us the background to the Grayshott Society, which is less than a year old but has achieved much in that time.
It aims to "protect and enhance Grayshott and the surrounding countryside, by encouraging the interest and support of residents," and started life following publication of the village design statement when it was discovered that this document alone did not seem sufficient to give the public a proper voice at planning applications. They now have about 140 members, have already made significant inputs into three major planning projects in the village, and have started to put up a series of 'blue plaques' on historically significant buildings in Grayshott.
Before the meeting started, chairman John Owen Smith informed Headley Society members of the sad death of its founder, Joyce Stevens, at the age of 93. A memorial service was held in All Saints' church the following day, and donations are requested to be given to the Macmillan Cancer Trust in her memory.
October 2007 — Weather Permitting
"Weather Permitting" was the title of the slide show presented by the outstanding amateur photographer, Philip George, at the Headley Society October meeting. He showed many landscapes in the south of Hampshire where the effects of weather conditions produced almost unbelievably dramatic images. When wind, thunderstorms, snow and general poor weather make most photographers stay at home, Philip is out chasing the effects that the unusual lighting provides. Clouds are a special attraction and the United Kingdom is an ideal location to obtain some of the best images in the world. By day Philip is a driving instructor, based in Southampton, but it gives him the opportunity to travel around the local countryside and it is not unknown for him to suspend driving instruction for a few minutes to capture another most amazing scene: with the agreement of the pupil he hastens to add!
East Meon, The Meon Valley, the Dorset to Southampton Coast and the New Forest have been Philip's favourite and most photographically productive areas. He is a member of the Winchester Photographic Society and has won many awards for his work. His photographs are in great demand and many have been published in magazines and used for front-covers. Some locations he has photographed in Spring, Summer, Autumn and Winter and the variations are so dramatic that it was difficult to recognise that it was the same place: it was just a single bush or tree that acted as the continuity link but even then the change in foliage, or lack of it, added to the transformation. Philip was somewhat concerned that many of the building, structures and other objects that he has photographed over the past twenty-five years have been demolished or restyled. He worries that perhaps he is putting a curse on them through photographing them! However his work is ensuring that their images are preserved.
November 2007 — By Butchering, Baking and Candlestick Making – Working for a living in Britain
On 1st November the Headley Society were privileged to welcome back Alan Green who, on this occasion, entitled his talk "By Butchering, Baking and Candlestick Making – Working for a living in Britain."
He illustrated his very interesting talk by showing slides throughout the Georgian period (18th century), paintings by famous artists of that time and sometimes cartoon pictures.
It was mentioned that when a customer went to buy meat from the butcher, the smell surrounding the area, be it from the hanging birds in the shop, or the gutters outside, made the idea of ordering the meat and having it brought to the door become ever more popular, amongst the upper classes in particular.
King George III was popular with the people and often known as "Farmer George". After a succession of wet summers and poor harvests, he suggested that the richer people ate more meat and allowed bread to be kept for the poor.
Some of the finest brass was manufactured in Bristol during the Georgian period but later moved to Manchester. Georgian silver candlesticks, if found today, can command a high price as they are of the finest quality.
Canals were being dug to transport coal and clay to new industries and the labourers were known as "Navvies", short for Navigators, many from Ireland. Once the canal systems were complete these employees – those that had survived, as there were many accidents, fatal and otherwise – joined the staff of the railway companies which were building a network throughout Britain.
January 2008 — Wetlands & Waterways
Some 40 plus members of the Headley Society were treated to a slide show and talk on Wetlands and Waterways by Nigel Choat a local photographer. This was at short notice due to illness of the booked speaker.
Mr Choat specialises in insect photography and showed some spectacular slides of insects, also ducks and birds of prey. However some of the river and landscape scenes were also very good and the running commentary on what, when, where and camera settings etc, added to the interest.
Almost all are taken on slide film with a Ricoh camera and no digital enhancement. All in all a captivating evening and I am sure Nigel Choat will return to show us other subjects.
February 2008 — BFBS
- Broadcasting to the Troops
A large audience turned out to hear Alan Grace of the British Forces Broadcasting
Service (BFBS) talk to the Headley Society.
Supported by slides and artefacts, he spoke of the early days in North Africa when the only broadcasting available to the British troops was from the Americans or Radio Belgrade. But the troops wanted to hear news from home, particularly the football results! The British War Office eventually agreed. However, there was no money or equipment and, unless medically unfit to fight, there were no men available under the age of 30. The equipment and the people were found and the 1st programme was broadcast from an Algerian harem in 1944. Rule Britannia was chosen for the signature tune in preference to Lili Marlene which was not considered 'appropriate'. There were many restrictions on what could and could not be played or said on air: no Germanic music, no mention of products other than blanco and presenters couldn't say "see you tomorrow" as they might be broadcasting to some who might be dead tomorrow.
British Forces Broadcasting soon moved to other areas. For India and the Far East, Lord Louis Mountbatten had a transmitter set up in Ceylon, and in Iceland, Icelandic Radio gave over a hour/day for broadcasts to troops in the north Atlantic. Many familiar names were involved in presenting programmes for these stations, including David Jacobs, Desmond Carrington, Tito Berns, Sam Costa and a bored photographer/writer who jumped at the opportunity to write comedy, Frank Muir.
Broadcasting for the 2nd front was the responsibility of a certain colonel David Niven. Four mobile broadcasting teams were shipped to Northern Europe; three active with one as a backup. They would broadcast until late in the evening, de-rig, move on to the next encampment, re-rig and be ready to broadcast by 6 am.
At the end of the war, a permanent base was set up in the Musikhalle in Hamburg, where they found the last recording made by a rather drunken Lord Haw Haw. The SIB confiscated it and when it was returned some years later, it was 1½ minutes longer! At the end of the evening Alan Grace played a number of recordings including this one. In it Lord Haw Haw is advocating that the Germans and British should join forces and fight the Russians! Many famous names were involved in working from the Musikhalle. Cliff Michelmore, a sportsman with a knee injury, did commentaries instead. One day he stood in for the presenter of "Family Favourites" and as they say 'the rest is history'. He introduced himself to Jean Metcalfe using his air force rank; she very politely told him that "we don't do rank here". Other familiar names include Raymond Baxter and Nigel Davenport. BFBS at that time had little difficulty in attracting big orchestras to play for them for very little money. When the Berlin Philharmonic were playing one evening they started with the main piece and finished with the overture, so that all their strength could be put into the principle piece.
One of the artefacts shown by Alan Grace was a 16" disks which was used to record broadcasts. Why so large? So that they wouldn't be stolen as they were too big to play on normal equipment.
BFBS is currently in Iraq and Afghanistan and life in these areas isn't easy for presenters. Amongst the many photographs on display was one of a reinforced bunk bed in a studio - reinforced to protect the occupant from shrapnel! At the end of the talk, members were able to peruse early photographs and copies of the BFBS Radio Times, many printed on the battlefield.
April 2008 — Smuggling
in Hampshire
The Church Centre at Headley was packed to hear Dolina Clark talk about Smuggling
in Hampshire. She started by telling the audience that she was a descendent
of a family of Isle of Wight smugglers!
The Isle of Wight was well placed to play a very active part in this trade. And trade it was too, providing employment for many people. Although smuggling had been around for centuries, it took off in the 17th and 18th centuries when the Government of the day imposed large taxes on many items – over 2,000 at one stage, and curtailed in the mid 18th century when such taxes were either removed or reduced. A bit like fuel today, the taxes were greatly in excess of the cost, eg the duty on 1lb of tea was 4/9 and it sold for 5/- and brandy, which cost about 10/- a gallon was selling for 32/-. Although it is impossible to know how much was smuggled, in one year the customs officers picked up over 12m gallons of brandy, 21m lbs tea and 313,000 lbs of coffee.
Smuggling involved a whole raft of people from the venturer who financed the exploit, agents who organised and recruited, captains and seamen who transported the goods down, and then the people on land who moved the goods about. It was not unknown for the financier to be the local squire. At Medsted, the son of the Squire became involved in smuggling, and even received assistance from his sisters. At Ropley, the church tower was used to hide contraband goods so the Vicar would have been getting his cut too.
The goods to be smuggled were stored in large warehouses in France, many the same places we visit today to buy cheaper goods, eg Calais, Cherbourg, Dieppe and Boulogne and shipped across the channel. Much of the contraband in Hampshire came ashore in the Gosport area – Portsmouth was less popular due to the presence of the navy.
If caught, the sentences passed by the courts varied. Sometimes £100 fine, or six months imprisonment often with hard labour. However, if violence had been used, the punishments could be deportation or even hanging. And some smugglers could be very violent. On one occasion the customs officer was thrown down a well and stoned to death, on another, he was buried alive!
Of course smuggling is still going on today, except today it is people and drugs.
May 2008 — History of Aldershot & District Traction Co
Peter Trevaskis took members of The Headley Society back to a time when the green livery of the Aldershot & District Traction Company (the 'Tracco') was a regular sight on our local roads.
He used a combination of slides, audio recordings and his own spoken memories of life and times on the buses, with many an amusing anecdote, some of which would not perhaps seem so amusing to the health & safety-conscious culture of today.
Background information was supplied comprehensively by a packet containing timetables, maps and service details for the buses relating to Headley and the immediately surrounding area which was given to each member of the audience at the start of the talk.
He would be grateful to receive any photographs of 'Tracco' buses which members might have, and gave us details of the Aldershot & District Bus Interest Group – website at www.adbig.co.uk.
June 2008 — The Bridger Diaries of Dockenfield
On Thursday the 5th June, two sisters, Maureen Stone and Sheila Haytree gave a talk to the Headley Society entitled The Bridger Diaries of Dockenfield 1896 to 1943.
A very large audience listened with great interest to the day to day happenings of Bill Bridger, a farm worker who began these diaries at the age of 29 years, when he met his wife to be. Over the years they had first a girl, then two boys, another girl and then another son.
One of the farmer's favourite pastimes was to collect moleskins (catching the moles first) and for each skin the employer would award 1d, and on one occasion Bill collected 200. A nice addition to his wages!
He mentions the hop fields that were all around the area at the time, and cattle, sheep, wheat and potato crops. From time to time he mentions the wet seasons. He went to church twice a day on a Sunday, not necessarily the same church. When it was necessary to buy new clothes the family would shop in the Bentall Departmental store in Farnham. He would visit the cattle market held in Farnham once a week, and on historic occasions like the Golden Jubilee of Queen Victoria a day of celebration was declared and fireworks would be part of the day's events. He mentions the day King Edward VII came to Frensham Common with Queen Alexandria to inspect the troops.
When the Boer War in 1902 came to an end men were needed to build Bordon Army Camp and Bill worked there as a carpenter's labourer, building huts and eventually the garrison church. Each day he would walk from Dockenfield to Bordon, 6 miles each way. When all the building work was completed, he found himself redundant and returned to Frensham to work as a gardener, the duties of which he carried out until his death at the age of 76 years.
His three sons became fighting men during the First World War and each one survived. Alas the girls were not so lucky. Una, the elder, had been in service in Frensham for some years before telling the family she wanted to work in a London household. Within two years she suffered appendicitis and was rushed to hospital where she died, aged 20 years. Her younger sister, the apple of her father's eye, died during childbirth.
To improve their living standards, Bill and his wife Jane would grow vegetables on their own plot of land behind their cottage, and sometimes after a long hard day Bill would take a lantern out into the garden to tend the crop or pick the produce.
Soft dolls were displayed with the names of each member of the family, old photos were shown relating to the diaries, and a photocopy of Bill Bridger's death certificate.
We all learned a great deal of history from these thoughtful diaries found
in the loft of the younger son, although unfortunately two are missing.
We gave our Speakers a heartfelt vote of thanks, and much applause.
July 2008 — The work of the National Trust on Ludshott Common and other local areas
To mark the centenary of the acquisition of Ludshott Common by the National Trust, head warden Chris Webb came to talk to The Headley Society about the work of the Trust on this and other local open spaces.
He began by explaining how the underlying geology of the land created the different types of landscape on the surface. In particular, hungry acid soil gives rise to the heathland we see on Ludshott Common. He also showed maps illustrating how the areas of such heathland have diminished drastically over the last couple of centuries, making those which remain all the more precious.
The term 'common' implies an area on which certain people ('commoners') had rights to graze animals. For centuries, while these rights were exercised, the animals cropped the vegetation and maintained open spaces in a natural manner. Now that grazing has virtually ceased, the Trust has to find other means if the spaces are to be conserved. This can be done by using mechanical devices, or by volunteer labour, or by organising ways of returning animals to the land.
Management of the spaces is needed if the diversity of plant and animal life is to be maintained. Left to themselves, the areas would become overgrown and support only a limited number of species. Some of the larger trees also need attention if they are to survive. Starting life as pollards for supplying timber to commoners, some of the magnificent beeches are now 300 years old – but they need help if they are not to become top-heavy and fall in gales.
Asked if the Trust would take over MoD land if the Army were to pull out of Bordon, Chris explained that there is a so-called Chorley Formula used to decide whether the Trust can afford to take over property. This takes into account the on-going cost of owning and maintaining the land.
Members thanked Mr Webb for a stimulating and entertaining evening, and felt they had learned a great deal about the workings of the countryside on their doorstep.
September 2008 — Fifty five years of Recording Surburban Life
On Thursday 4th September, the Headley Society were privileged to watch archive film, presented by Mr David Piggott, of Acorn Films, to an audience of approximately 60, relating to the town of Chingford, originally in the county of Essex, from 1950 to the year 2000.
We saw annual events, over the years, including a football match between a team of players versus celebrities, the judging of the town's beauty queen and her runners up, a camel race performed in a local school field with Arab costumes accompanying the animals and their riders, two men under a cloth in the guise a camel, who paraded around the town, tramping down the High Street and actually into shops like Woolworth's store which proved hilarious both to the bystanders at the time and the audience here in Headley. We were shown the opening of the new open air swimming baths in 1936 with lawn banks surrounding it and hundreds using it. The new hospital, filming all the different departments, opened in 1958 and the busy telephone exchange once known as Silverthorne before it was changed to automatic.
The highlight of the evening was the first funeral procession to the local cemetery of Charlie Kray, one of the three ruthless Kray brothers, whose parents' grave is there. The countless funeral cars laden with wreaths and the many, many onlookers the funeral attracted. Ronnie Kray was already buried in a grave alongside his parents, and Reginald Kray was brought out of prison for the day, handcuffed to a police woman, and many security men with red arm bands were present everywhere. Within six months, Reginald joined the rest of his family and another large funeral procession took place. Thugs were there in plenty to mourn their ruthless associates and again the security men were there. Some of the wreaths were 'amusing' i.e. "Free at last" and a dog made up of flowers with handcuffs on his two front paws!
We also saw part of the parish church service to mark the 60th anniversary of the Battle of Britain with the descent and raising of the flags and the singing of the choir and congregation.
The film company was set up originally by a group of young men with an interest in photography and cine film and they gave up their free time to capture history in the making. They gave film shows to local audiences, initially, but as time went by these records became precious and film companies approached them for snippets of various scenes. Countries in Europe began to enquire for the archives and the idea of selling the productions was established. First a mere few but demand grew from audiences and companies alike.
Perhaps a similar enthusiastic film crew exists in this area - does anyone know of such a group?
The audience showed their appreciation with a hearty round of applause for a most interesting evening down memory lane.
October 2008 — Tales of the Unexpected
Nearly 60 members of the Headley Society attended the October meeting to listen to Alan Copeland's illustrated talk about "Tales of the Unexpected" and he wasn't telling ghostly tales either. An accomplished photographer, his amusing talk was about curiosities which he said was anything which does not quite fit with its surroundings.
He started with the early days of motoring, showing a relatively local slide of a very decorative garage in Stockbridge, painted white with white and red balcony and displaying old oil cans. Alas the garage closed quite recently. Next came a beautiful bridge in Sturminster Newton displaying a plaque alerting anyone who might wilfully damage the bridge that they would be punished with transportation for life.
It would appear that the inhabitants of Horsebridge in East Sussex did not want to litter their village with milestones. However when ordered to do so by people in high places, they opted for very decorative ones. Instead of writing London, the place name was depicted by a bow on top of three bells ie Bow Bells, the centre of London. In Harrow, there is another plaque commemorating the death in the first fatal car accident, when a car rolled backwards down a steep hill, overturning at the bottom and crushing the driver. The amazing thing is that the name of that driver is unknown.
The next set of slides feature the dark days of war and heroes. On Shooters Hill, London, there is a WWI milestone showing it is 130 miles to Ypres, and in Meriden, West Midlands, a memorial to cyclists lost in both wars. Another heroes memorial is the Heroes Cloisters in Postman's Park, London where there are many decorative tiles commemorating ordinary people who gave their lives to save others.
Buildings and places also featured as curiosities. In Clayton, West Sussex, a house has been built right over a railway tunnel. Alright for the railway enthusiast but what about the re-sale value? After this things got a bit crooked – in Canterbury, we saw a very quaint old shop with a strong lean, followed by the leaning wall of Bridgnorth which looked as though it would topple over at any second.
The true pièce de résistance was Gold Hill in Shaftesbury – the location of the cobbled streets of the Hovis ads. As a result of this, tourism has increased considerably and the wear and tear on the cobbles is substantial – so Hovis are contributing to restoration efforts and as part of this, they have provided a very large collection box in the shape of a Hovis loaf where visitors can deposit sums large and small.
November 2008 — The Greening Campaign
There was a full house at November meeting of the Headley Society when Richard Weavis Co-director of the Greening Campaign was there to explain how the Campaign started, what it is trying to achieve and where it has got to so far.
The purpose of the campaign is to bring together local communities and help them to reduce their carbon footprint.
It all started when Terena Plowright of the Sustainability Centre, nr Petersfield, received a phone call from a lady called Tash. Tash had seen the Al Gore film on Climate Change and wanted to know what she could do to reduce her carbon footprint. Terena was able to list a number of things she could do but afterwards realised that other than that one phone call, Tash was on her own. And from that came the idea of starting 'Greening Petersfield'.
The Campaign starts by engaging the community, so that they feel included and achieving. Actions need to be simple, affordable and cheap and should start to address sustainable living. Small actions by one individual make little difference but when taken as part of a community wide effort, they make a much bigger difference. Initial actions proposed include replacing 3 light bulbs, turning off unnecessary lights and not leaving the tap running when brushing your teeth.
Greening in the community doesn't mean putting a wind turbine on the nearest hill, at least not initially, but solar panels could be a source of renewable energy. Buying locally produced produce and looking at travel options would also be helpful. He pointed out that a new mindset for living a more sustainable life would be needed probably sooner than we think.
The Greening Campaign is now established in many communities in the South East and will probably go national in a year's time. And when is the Greening Campaign coming to Headley? Well, plans are already under way and Linda Farley at the Parish Office is the contact.
January 2009 — An Update on Nanotechnology – Where size matters!
Nanotechnology is the skill of making items, measured in thousand-millionths of a metre, by machining or manipulating individual molecules and atoms. It covers applications in medicine, cancer treatment, DNA investigations, crime investigations, computers, food modification, cosmetics and many other everyday areas. Genetically Modified Crops, the human genome and DNA " fingerprinting" are the headline-grabbing topics which we are all familiar but few understand their importance and even less have heard about the thousands of other applications in our everyday lives.
The Vice Chairman of Headley Society, Prof. M. J. Withers FREng, at the January meeting, explored the subject in a talk, "Update on Nanotechnology". It highlighted the amazing developments that have taken place through advances and the convergence of the technologies involved in medicine, biology, nuclear physics, chemistry, engineering, electronics, computing and others since the last lecture he gave to the Society three years ago.
The Universe and especially the World, with life as we know it, are just one enormous nanotechnology factory; Darwin and his observation of the development of species is based on genetic modification, although he was not aware of the details of the process. Prof. Withers explained that our understanding of matter started to come about with the discovery of atoms and electrons just over 100 years ago. Quantum theory was developed around 1930 allowing a better understanding of atoms and led to the atomic bomb. Then the transistor was devised in 1947, DNA as the code for life was decoded in 1953, which in 1984 started the science of DNA "fingerprinting" for forensic use. Today we are able to determine the DNA of bacteria, viruses, cancer cells, and search humagenetic disorders. Advances in making electronic and mechanical devices smaller and smaller, now to the level of being able to move atoms in molecular chains, allows interaction with the biological chains of life and medicines.
The most recent developments are making it possible for babies to be born without hereditary defects, cancer treatments specific to the patient, extremely powerful computers, disease resistant crops, micro-miniature TV cameras and screens for use for entertainment as well as in medicine and endless applications in protecting the environment.
February 2009 — The Bordon eco-town: how would it affect Headley?
The Headley Society held an Open Meeting this month to discuss the proposed Eco-town for Bordon and Whitehill and how it would affect Headley.
Marilyn Metcalfe gave a presentation of her views on the plan, which she opposes on the grounds of the unsustainability of so many houses, following which the meeting was open to questions from the floor.
Mrs Metcalfe said that when it was announced that the departure of some Army units might leave an area which could be used for development, a Green Town Vision was suggested by the District Council. At the time there was no mention of an Eco-town which was a later Government idea where the community live in a planned local community, work close to home and use primarily public transport.
The number of houses now suggested to be built on the vacated MOD land could be about 5,500 putting an urban development in the middle of one of the most sensitive ecological areas of Hampshire, much of the surrounding area being protected by European Law.
Habitat Regulations for such land require that there should be "no building at all within 400 metres, and only that which is absolutely necessary and can be shown to have no adverse impacts within 5 kilometres." Bordon is all within the 5km of protected land and in several places the proposed development site adjoins protected land.
Mrs Metcalfe felt that Bordon also does not comply with the Eco-town specification as they must be new settlements separate and distinct from existing towns but well linked to them, but it is proposed that the Bordon Eco-town should encompass the whole of the existing town as well as the proposed new development.
She also noted that the area is now proposed as a Strategic Development Area, one of the conditions set out in the proposals being that there should be room for further growth. As Bordon is surrounded to the south, west and north by protected land, there would appear to be only one direction in which it could grow – to the east – that is, towards Headley.
Ian Dowdle, a District Councillor for Whitehill and Bordon, explained that rather than leaving the decision solely to commercial developers, the council wanted to have an early say in the nature of development of this potential brown field site. They felt that a green town vision would protect green spaces and yield more facilities for the town.
Jack Warshaw, an architect and professional planner who lives in Standford, made a number of points suggesting that in this case the planning process was being driven from the wrong perspective, and that we needed to take a more measured view about an Eco-town vision which comes from the Government and which nobody had asked for.
Other speakers from the floor contributed to a lively discussion which went
on for nearly two hours and was both good-natured and informative.
Residents of Headley were promised that on the next round of consultation the
surrounding Parish Councils will be invited by the District to give their views.
On the basis of this meeting, members of the audience will await the opportunity
for further discussion with great interest.
March 2009 — They
lived at Hatch Farm
At their AGM, members of The Headley Society were treated to a talk by Marion Warren on the characters who had lived in the past at her house, Hatch Farm in Standford.
The oldest part of the current house has been dated from around 1550, but there has probably been a dwelling in that location by the ford since Saxon times.
William Warren, a papermaker, first arrived from Devon around 1810 and took over the house from Eli Smith, a farmer. (See article on local paper industry by Alan Crocker.) Marion has a copy of the fascinating diary of Eli's grandson Anthony, who emigrated to Australia in 1846 but came back again briefly to settle his grandfather's affairs.
There followed several generations of Warrens at Hatch Farm, working the paper mills at Passfield and Standford until they sold the business in 1907. The Warrens were staunch supporters of the Methodist Church, and were instrumental in getting a chapel in Standford, much to the distress of the rector of Headley! They were also hoarders of documents, and Marion holds a great deal of information on the papermaking business which went on there, as well as much else to do with the history of Standford at that time.
Marion's husband John had made notes on how to farm at Hatch Farm while he was interned as a PoW in Germany during WW2, and on returning tried to make a go of farming there. At one time they had a herd of 100 pedigree Jerseys and supplied milk to two local dairies until EU quotas were introduced.
April 2009 — Food from the Middle Ages to Mrs Beeton
Bread, bread and more bread was the staple diet of the middle ages according to Anne Jones curator of the Museum of Farnham. Talking to the Headley Society about "Food from the Middle Ages to Mrs Beeton" she covered several hundred years in an hour! In addition, she had brought along Medieval Ginger Bread (made in recent days rather than the middle ages), Tudor biscuits and Victorian "Petite Bouche" to be sampled by the audience.
In medieval times cooking was simple and basic. Lots of bread and whatever could be cooked in a pot over a fire. The type of bread you ate was dictated by your social standing. The Lord of the Manor would eat white bread whilst those at the lower end of the social strata would have the most basic of brown breads. Meat was available to the landed gentry but would not be eaten often. The time of the year also influenced eating habits and not just the seasons. No meat was eaten in Lent or Advent. Dairy products were also banned. Wednesdays, Fridays and Saturdays were non-meat days. Bread was used for everything; it was used to thicken sauces, biscuits were slices of bread baked a second time and trenchers, specially baked hard brown squares of bread cut in half, were used as plates. The trenchers were never eaten but given out to the poor.
Bread and potage were still very important in Tudor times. Sweet fruit and sugar was also introduced. Sweet oranges came from Portugal, along with quinces, pomegranates and red currents. Tomatoes and potatoes arrived from the new world. Turkeys were introduced into Norfolk where they are still farmed today! Sugar was first refined in London in 1540. As it was very expensive it was only available to the very wealthy. It is said that Elizabeth I used plates and glasses made from sugar. Though the sugar consumption averaged at 1lb of sugar per person, it was only eaten by a very few who could have afforded it and they would have consumed copious amounts. Nitric acid would then be utilised to whiten teeth which had been blackened by the use of sugar.
By the 18th Century, the diet of the middle classes and above was wholly meat-based – no vegetables or fruit. The only exception to this was puddings. Lots of butter and rich sauces were used and people suffered from gout and apoplexy. With the introduction of the railways, the transfer of food around the country improved vastly. A glut in one part of the country could now be used to offset a famine elsewhere. Not all new technology was good. A new milling technique meant that wheat germ could be sieved from flour allowing it a longer 'shelf life'. However, much of the food value was removed and malnutrition followed.
May 2009 — Dormice, Wagtails and the A3 Tunnel
Ian Whyte, Community Relations Manager for Balfour Beatty, spoke to a packed house at the May Meeting of the Headley Society. Supported by slides, he gave an amusing and interesting update on the A3 tunnel and associated works, covering environmental issues as well as the practical aspects of the work.
The total cost of the A3 improvement scheme is £341 million with the cost of the tunnel running at £186 million. At 1.2 miles long, it is the longest non-estuarial tunnel in the UK (the longest one is under the River Mersey) and the biggest road project in Surrey since the M25. On a daily basis, 30,000 vehicles pass through Hindhead on the A3 which had to be taken into account when managing traffic flow.
He explained the plight of the hibernating dormice sleeping the winter away in the tree roots. When felling the trees, roots had to be left in the ground so that come spring they could "move home" along 'dormice bridges' which had been built for them. In addition to the dormice, 20 adders, 6 grass snakes, 115 slow worms and 38 common lizards had to be moved. One of the slides showed a nearly completed underpass, bar one section as a wagtail had built its nest in the structure.
Very much an environmental success, nothing has been removed from the site other than wood from the trees, some of which was used to make furniture or taken to Germany to be made into ships masts – all the soil from within the tunnel is being re-used in landscaping the site.
The whole project has generated considerable interest in the local community. To prevent people from wandering onto the site, viewing platforms had to be built at the Northern and Southern portals. A visitor's centre near the site office has since been opened. The interest in the project has been so great that when the A3 was closed for a weekend in March this year so that the Hazelgrove roundabout could be tied in, 100s of people walked down the A3 to view the work.
The Vice President of the Hampshire Industrial Archaeology Society, John Silman, described the intricacies and variety of windmills and watermills in an illustrated talk to over fifty Headley Society members and visitors. He explained that crushing and grinding seeds by hand to make flour for baking was first recorded on drawings found in the pyramids in Egypt, dating back over 5,000 years. The use of mills to mechanise the task, operated by slaves, started in Roman times, but the use of water and wind power started only some 500 years ago.
John explored the wide range of designs found around the world and explained the different approaches adopted to suit the local conditions. If a convenient and reliable water supply was readily available then this was the solution of choice; relatively flat countryside demanded the use of a wheel fed at the bottom, while in hilly terrain the wheel could be conveniently overfed at the top. This was a more efficient design and could be made even more effective by incorporating buckets into the wheel rather than just using paddles. The French, at the time of Napoleon, introduced further efficiency improvements for the bottom-fed wheel.
Every windmill in Britain was built to a different design and so no parts are interchangeable, making restoration much more difficult, whereas the water pumping "windmills" in Holland are mainly of one design and parts can be interchanged. The variety of windmill designs in Hampshire and across the south of England is very extensive and examples existed of two, three, four and even a five-bladed version; sadly many have been destroyed by fire following lightning strikes.
There are various designs of millstones and different types of stone used in their construction. The grooves cut in their surface are arranged so that they act like scissors and chop the grains. The millstones have to be "dressed" regularly, that is re-cut, to maintain the cutting edges.
Until recently the watermill in Headley was the last commercially operating mill in Hampshire but now its future is uncertain. It will be unfortunate if we lose the last link to a bygone technology.
July 2009 — Lutyens
Grand Designs
"They say he was better than Wren, I think he was certainly as good as". These were the opening words by Michael Edwards when he talked to the Headley Society about Edwin Lutyens. Supported by slides he outlined Lutyens career from the early days when he lived in Thursley to the end, when at the age of 75, he died 'at the drawing board'.
In 1895/96 he worked on Munstead House for Herbert Jekyll, Munstead Wood for his sister, Gertrude Jekyll, and on various cottages for Jekyll retainers. Mr Edwards showed a number of slides of this property which included views of the beautiful and geometric design of the garden.
Gertrude Jekyll being well connected was the source of many commissions for Lutyens. He went on to design country houses including Fulbrook in Elstead, Berrydown at Ashe in Hampshire and Orchards at Munstead in Surrey. The very tall, decorative chimneys can distinguish many of his buildings –- a design feature which would not be passed by today's planning authorities.
Lutyens was a very prolific designer, working on up to 6 designs at a time. His designs were not restricted to England or even the British Isles – in 1916 he received a very considerable commission from the Viceroy of India to build the Viceroy's palace and other legislative buildings in New Delhi.
Following the Great War, when there was a decline in the building of country houses, he received commissions for commercial properties, one of the most notable being the Midland Bank in Piccadilly. Another post war commission was the Cenotaph in Whitehall.
September 2009 — The Meon Valley Railway
Our Speaker for the evening was Ray Stone, a most likeable gentleman, who gave us an interesting lecture on the Meon Valley Railway.
Navvies were employed to cut through the chalk from Farringdon (just south of Alton) to Fareham. School children aged 12 to 14 years were allowed to leave school to become labourers on the new railway. This railway line had no level crossings. The contours of the line rose gradually to Privett Station which was 590 ft above sea level. A viaduct was constructed at West Meon (demolished 1954) followed by a straight tunnel 600 yards long. In order to give the workers light and air – bearing in mind only candles were used at that time – a shaft was constructed half way along to allow materials also to be dropped down on ropes and chalk waste to be brought up to the top by the same method. A serious accident occurred when a large lump of chalk was being hoisted within a 'basket' to be hauled upwards. The basket overturned, crushing one man and a second managed after 3 days, to be rescued by means of climbing the ropes and hacking his way up the shaft by means of a small knife he had with him at the time. Rescuers worked from the top of the shaft and met the victim half way. Once at the top of the shaft in the open air, filthy dirty and in a very weak state, his family welcomed him and he walked 3 miles to his home! A second accident was recorded when a worker fell onto the buffers of a train and his legs were severed.
Referring to the 1901 census the navvies working on this railway came from Bristol. They were housed in wooden huts along the line with tin roofs. Their families shared this accommodation.
The line was opened on Whit Monday 1st June 1903 at a cost of four hundred and ninety four thousand pounds two shillings and three pence half penny! There was no official opening, as one would expect but blame was laid on the local fairs that day as the main distraction. On that first day all passengers were offered a free single ride along the line but it would cost four pence half penny to return. Two original railway tickets from that first day's travel were shown to the audience, offered to our Speaker, by an old lady who had kept them when she purchased them as a young girl. She mentioned at the time of handing them over that she had been told the tickets were worth £100 each but we were told emphatically that those tickets were not for sale!
On day trips to the sea-side an extra coach was standing by at West Meon station to cope with passengers.
During World War I troops were taken from Alton to Fareham and possibly they changed trains for Portsmouth, en route to France. On the return trip, however, the severely wounded were brought up the Southampton Water by boat and landed at Netley Military Hospital but others were taken by train to Alton and transferred to Alton hospital.
The Speaker's grandfather was a goods carrier for the railway, meeting the train mid-way along the line, loading his horse and cart with whatever goods needed to be delivered to local customers. One day, in 1916, whilst having a lunchtime drink in a local pub, two men approached him with the idea of him loading coal from the train to deliver locally. There were two different traders employed in this work in the area but they were not reliable. The men in question knew of the reliability of the Speaker's grandfather and suggested they supply him with utensils and enough coal for 20 sacks which, once sold, the grandfather could give the contractors their money. He eventually agreed and a new business was born. The Speaker's father took over the business in future years, followed by the Speaker himself until he sold the business in 1992 when he retired.
In World War II troops were transported down the line to the coast on numerous occasions, especially for the D-Day landings in 1944 .Before that date however Sir Winston Churchill was known to visit the secret location of Southwark House near Droxford. He arrived by car but insisted on walking across Droxford station where his chauffeur met him in order to take a shorter route to the house, Plans were made for the D-Day landings there. The local milkman had to have an armed military escort to deliver milk to the house.
One day during the Second War years, a train was passing by a chicken farm. A German aircraft saw the West Meon tunnel and aimed a bomb at the target. The bomb missed the tunnel but landed on the chicken houses, ejecting the bodies of the chickens to the sky as the train passed by. Another incident occurred when a German plane crash landed near Horndean in a field. Three crew escaped the wreckage and were hastily met by the Home Guard. Asked to surrender their revolvers, on handing over the gun one crew member commented, in English, that he had been a pupil at Winchester College and he didn't think the Home Guard would take him back there to visit!
October 2009 — The History of Alice Holt Forest
Helen Wallace, Education Manager of Alice Holt, gave an illustrated talk on the History of Alice Holt Forest.
She started by displaying a slide of the geology of the area. Although surrounded by greensands, the geology of the forest is mainly gault clay which is used for pottery.
The forest has been occupied for 400,000 years and tusks from woolly mammoth have been found. There is evidence that hunter gathers inhabited the area and that the woodland was used by Neolithic farmers. Bronze-age jewellery from around 2300 BC has been found in nearby Woolmer Forest.
The name Alice Holt is thought to be a corruption of Aelfsige's Holt – Aelfsige was a Bishop of Winchester with rights over the woodland.
The Romans inhabited the forest using the gault clay for pottery. Whereas much of the Roman pottery had a reddish colour, gault pottery is grey. As a result 60-70% of the Roman pottery found in London has been identified as coming from Alice Holt. Wood from the forest was used to fuel the kilns and in the 1970s, a replica kiln was used to fire 'Roman' pottery made by students at the Farnham College of Art. Helen showed a number of slides of dignitaries visiting the kiln which included a very young, but easily recognisable, Michael Mates.
After the Romans, the forest would have reverted to dense oak. Timber from the forest was used for St Stephen's chapel, Westminster and during Tudor and Stuart times, for shipbuilding including the 'Sovereign of the Seas' which cost the astonishing sum of £40,000.
October 23rd, 2009 —
Arts & Crafts Houses & Gardens by Paul Atterbury
Paul Atterbury, of Antiques Roadshow fame, gave the first Joyce Stevens Memorial Lecture to a packed audience in Headley Village Hall.
He was a fitting choice since he had visited Joyce Stevens some years ago to look at the Book of Remembrance in All Saints' Church. As he said, that was 'with a different hat on,' concerning his interest in memorials. His subject for today's visit was Arts & Crafts Houses & Gardens, which he talked on with great fluidity, passion and knowledge.
Starting with August Pugin (1812-1852), he traced the course of the Arts & Crafts movement in Britain though to the First World War, illustrating his talk seamlessly with slides.
The movement, he said, arose as a reaction against the 'foreign' style of 18th century. He regarded The Grange at Ramsgate as the prototype of the movement's architecture, designed by Pugin in 1843 for himself to live in. It was planned 'from the inside out' with a 'fitness for purpose' and using local materials.
Paul then traced the movement's course in such designs as 'garden suburbs' where country-like living was brought to town-dwellers. The British seemed to like this kind of style, and it is with us still.
He described it as the 'head, heart and hand working together,' with particular reference to designers and architects such as William Morris (1834-1896), Rennie Mackintosh (1868-1928) a 'totalitarian', Charles Voysey (1857-1941) whose methods are still followed today, and Edwin Lutyens (1869-1944) who had his roots nearby in Surrey.
Moving on from architecture to garden design, he described how this had also changed from the old 'classical' style to more informal designs which were nevertheless still strictly planned, by such people as Gertrude Jekyll (1843-1932) who worked closely with Lutyens. Her house at Munstead Wood is a fine example.
The Victorian era, he said, above all gave us colour: in plants, in materials and in print. It also gave us the concept of conservation, with the creation of such bodies as the Society for the Protection of Ancient Buildings founded by William Morris in 1877, and the National Trust founded in 1895.
Paul Atterbury ended his talk by showing examples of Lutyens' work relating to the First World War, including the Cenotaph in Whitehall and the Thiepval Memorial to the Missing of the Somme in France, both of which exhibited in their design his debt to the Arts & Crafts movement.
November 2009 — The
Marine World around the British Isles
Len Deeley gave a talk on the underwater life around the British Isles illustrated with his superb photographs taken while diving.
Although the waters are generally murkier than in more tropical areas, some of the colours to be seen were surprisingly bright.
Wrecks are a haven for marine life, and there are plenty of these along the British coasts.
Len ended by showing an audio-visual, then took questions from the floor. Altogether an entertaining evening.
Nigel Choat, a Guildford Photographer, gave a very fine slide show on "Wild Britain".
His splendid photographs included very clear close ups of many butterflies, including the rare "glanville fritillary" and "duke of burgundy".
Also there were slides of red kites, pintail ducks, grey squirrels, seals, damsel flies, daffodils and frosted leaves.
He showed how different the same scene can look when taken portrait mode against landscape mode and demonstrated the dramatic effect of storm clouds.
March 2010 — Mountaineer's Eye view of South East England
From the title you might expect to see photographs taken from mountain tops. Although a mountaineer, on this occasion, Chris Hutchinson was very much at ground level.
Chris started by pointing out that most people might think that there are no mountains in the South East. However if you take the train from London to Brighton you will go through 12 or more tunnels!
His illustrated talk was really a wonderful walk through South East England, covering many very unusual sights. His talk/walk started by the canal basin near Paddington and took him through Little Venice following the towpath, passing the mosque at Regents Park. A little further on he came to a derelict building – the sort of building most people would just pass by expecting it to be demolished the next time they passed. The sign over the door said 'Hotel' with another word in the Russian Cyrillic alphabet with no indication of the meaning. I am sure the building soon disappeared, the sign certainly will, but it will live on in photographic form.
Next we visited Highgate cemetery, well worth a visit, to see the memorial stone on the grave of Karl Marx. As everyone knows, there are many foreigners in London. So next came a slide of a large group of Daleks marching along by the Thames (although I am sure the inventors of these 'foreigners' would maintain they were conceived in Britain, so technically are not really foreigners!).
Many of the slides included memorials to people and events. When he reached the Naval College near Greenwich, he found a memorial to Bellot, not someone many people are familiar with. Joseph René Bellot was a Frenchman who led several (unsuccessful) expeditions to find Sir John Franklin who had disappeared in his attempt to discover the Northwest Passage.
Walking around the Greenwich peninsula, he came across another memorial, this time to the cattle who had died not of the foot & mouth disease but to cure it.
Before long, he came across a memorial to Dick Whittington's cat and a little later, or so it seemed, he found a cross-section of a ship standing as a memorial in the Thames.
His slides included other areas such as the fascinating stone structures at Lulworth, the Royal Mineral Water Hospital at Bath and Georgian houses which were once occupied by the gentry of Brighton but are now home to students.
The last of the slides were humorous ones – a pub sign outside the 'Queen's Head' depicting Freddy Mercury, a bicycle chained to a fence but missing its wheels and handle bars and a sign outside a shop saying 'These shops are guarded by a bulldog with toothache'.
April 2010 — Illustrated Tour of Headley Parish
In a change to the originally published schedule, the Society's chairman Jo Smith took us on a photographic tour around the old boundary of Headley parish, starting at the Royal Oak in Hollywater and progressing in an anticlockwise direction via Standford, Ludshott Common, Grayshott, Whitmore Vale, Barford, Frensham Great Pond, the Rivers Wey and Slea, Oxney Pond, Bordon and Whitehill then back to Hollywater.
He also gave a quick 'tour' of the water mills past and present, and finally showed some of the significant buildings in the parish.
May 2010 — Book Collecting for Profit & Pleasure
Paul Robinson gave a humorous and interesting talk on 'Books, collecting for Profit & Pleasure'. He began by saying he was a biblioholic. When an individual is being interviewed on television in front of a shelf of books, a biblioholic is someone who takes more interest in the books than the interview! Although as a youngster he was not exposed to books, his interest now borders on an obsession. When he left school he went to work at W H Smith. This was the start of the slippery slope and soon he was collecting books.
There is talk that books will eventually disappear with the introduction of e-books. However book sales are currently increasing – by 3% last year. E-books are not for him. With a physical book, you can see at a glance the size of the book, and how much you have read. Recently someone demonstrating an e-book clicked on a button and instantly the page corner is turned down! This is an absolute no-no with the real thing.
For a lot of people collecting is an absolute obsession. They buy a 1st edition and put it in a plastic bag, never reading it. 18 months later, they buy the paperback and read that. He suggested if you are interested in collecting books, buy what you get pleasure from reading and then if it is worth more one day all the better. Never buy BBC publications as they are printed in huge volumes and will never be worth more than you pay for them. In most cases, only the first three titles of a writer will be worth anything. A 1st Edition of the first Harry Potter novel recently sold for £20,000. The publishers only printed 400 copies as they intended it as a paperback. Proof copies are even rarer with only 15–20 copies being printed!
Book selling on the internet is second only to genealogy. However when looking for a book on the internet, you only ever get the book you are looking for. Whereas browsing in a second hand book shop can turn up all sorts of books.
He pointed out that books don't like heat or damp. They do like smoke and will hold onto the smell forever. He advised that books should not be left in sunlight as the dust covers will fade, page corners should not be bent and the price should not be snipped off the dust covers. Market is tolerant of inscriptions if written around the time of publication. Do not remove dust wrappers. Do not lend books. Someone famous once said the only books I have in my library are books other people have lent me!
Paul Robinson finished the evening by commenting on and giving valuations on books members had brought in.
June 2010 — The Trees at Alice Holt
Dr Richard Jinks gave members of the Headley Society a fascinating visual and verbal tour of the north-east quadrant of Alice Holt Forest, describing the many varied and rare specimens of trees growing there as well as giving us an insight into the history of the area.
Alice Holt ranks third in the list of national arboreta (after Westonbirt arboretum and Bedgebury pinetum) and boasts 31 'champion' trees (ie the largest of their type in the country). It is also home to the national poplar collection.
Walkers in Headley will have noticed their 'Headley Nursery' near Headley Park where they experiment on coppice cuttings.
In describing the many different tree types, Dr Jinks produced from his bag samples of leaves and cones some of which he had picked that morning, and we were invited to distinguish between fir species by the smell of their crushed needles.
He said that while we may think of conifers as 'boring' they were relatively rare in terms of the number of species – there are only around 600 species of conifer worldwide compared with nearly 600 species of oak alone.
Much reference was made to the effect of global warming on tree species, and in particular how some which at the moment are only just sustainable in our climate may flourish in years to come.
July 2010 — Local EarlySaxon Landscapes
Ethnobotantist, Chris Howkins talked on the subject of Local Early Saxon Landscapes.
Chris started by pointing out that archaeologists say they have no idea what Surrey looked like in the 5th and 6th Centuries. However, with the wonders of technology, many of the old preconceptions have been thrown out and it has been possible to get an idea of what the land was used for, what the people ate and what clothing they wore.
Rather than a violent arrival in Britain, it is now thought that the Saxon arrival was a gentle influx. There are no signs of violent battle sites in Surrey, nor habitation sites, ie where homes were burnt.
"What does a Saxon look like?" asked Chris. Not the smelly, dirty, unkempt peasant we might imagine. To begin with they were tall; the men were around 5'8"–5'10". Men wore their hair about jaw length and it was clean – they bathed regularly. They were also healthy – skeletons show they were not riddled with disease.
Amongst the items found in graves were fine combs. As they believed life on earth was a reflection of life on the other side, a comb was included so that they arrived clean and tidy. Men wore linen tunic and trousers in summer and wool in winter and women wore very finely woven dresses stitched with bone needles and finished off with brooches on each shoulder – in Surrey/Hampshire these brooches were circular.
Women always wore a headdress. They didn't wear wedding rings and nothing is known about how to identify if a young lady is available, engaged or married. Most clothing was either blue or green, with a small amount of red, the latter being the domain of the privileged.
Much of the land would be heathand with sheep grazing. Before the Romans, the sheep in Britain would have been black, or brown and white. Romans introduced white sheep as it was important to them to be able to dye the wool and coloured wool could not be dyed. The Saxons kept the white sheep although the rest of mainland Europe reverted to mixed coloured sheep. They would also have grown crops not dissimilar to those grown today, ie wheat, barley and rye – the local rye market was at Guildford.
August 2010 — The Headley Society celebrates 25 years
Members of The Headley Society along with friends and family, celebrated the Silver Jubilee of the Society, in the church centre. A beautifully warm evening allowed visitors to sit in the grounds as well as in the hall itself. Outside, caterers were ready with a sumptuous Hog Roast, a choice of salads all followed by chocolate fudge cake, citrus meringue or fruit salad. Jo Smith, chairman, welcomed everyone and the President of the Society, Betty White proposed the toast. Jim Grevatt, Parish Councillor and founder member talked about the early days of the Society. A celebration cake, made by Christine Leonard, was cut and enjoyed by everyone.
Outside a number of vintage cars were on display: a 1926 Rolls Royce, a 1930 Peugeot and a 1932 Riley, along with a very 21st Century motor home. On show inside on the stage were photographs of various events which the Society had organised or taken part in over the 25 years, including floats entered in the Headley Camival in the early 90s. There were scrapbooks of news cuttings, a video about Headley and postcard albums. A number of articles from the Headley Archives were also on display. Particularly of interest were the old parish maps.
— This web site maintained by John Owen Smith —