Thursday 26 May 2011

Southampton and the Slave Trade

I am delighted to confirm that a talk on 'Southampton and the Slave Trade' will be given to the Society on Mondy 13 June by Mr. Neil Anderson, MA.  Archaeologist.  Holder of a Masters degree from Southampton University.

A lot of interest has been shown in this talk and it seems that, like me, people tend to associate Liverpool with the slave trade, with no thought to Southampton having played a part in the wretched business.

Tuesday 24 May 2011

13 June Meeting

We may still have the talk on 'Southampton and the Slave Trade' on 13 June but await confirmation of that from the speaker, and may substitute 'Old Railways of Hampshire' delivered by a man who knew them.

As a youngster I too knew some of them and well recall when a trip to London was a real big deal:  Bus from Waltham  Chase to Wickham,  then the train chugging slowly along - next stop along the line was Farringdon Halt, and so to Alton, and change for the London train.   Then the haul across London from Waterloo - the London terminus where one could tell what day of the week it was from the type servicemen and women  either arriving at,  or departing from whatever platform.

Just to get to one's destination in London  took a large part of the day.. 

Now of course one can nip up to London on the motorway, do whatever one has to do and be home in time for tea, and if we are honest it is a lot more convenient, but of course the days of steam still hold their appeal for many - me included - who can happily forget the cold and dreary waiting rooms on the stations, the dirt and grime deposited on buildings by the smoke,  standing in the corridor on a long journey, and even the WW2 single blue light in a compartment at night,   and the cold hours spent waiting after being shunted off into a siding to awit an express troop train, or military supplies passing on the main line, not to mention the everlasting stops for no apparent reason..........which in retropspect was good training for those who get stuck for hours in modern trains because there are leaves on the line, or it is the wrong sort of snow.......come to think of it, perhaps the old steam train service was not so bad after all.

Friday 20 May 2011

It's 'Lords Hill' and not 'Lordshill'

Thank you Mike for bringing to my attention the correct spelling of our local parish, and producing supporting evidence.    Although commonly referred to as 'Lordshill'   it is officially 'Lords Hill' (two words, not one), and as a historical society it seems appropriate we go with the right one.

'Lords Hill and Lords Wood' is the name of the parish covered by our Chairman, the Rev. Robert Sanday, so we fall in line with that with the designation of our Society. 

Given enough time I hope I may yet be able to work out how to change the name of this blog to the double barrelled 'Lords Hill' and 'Lords Wood', but I fear we are probably stuck with it as it is.

Thursday 19 May 2011

Comments on blog

Sorry if you have had problems getting comments posted.   I think I have the problem sorted now, and amazed myself by being able to post a comment, monitor it and publish it, but will wait awhile before I put my brass plate up in case I cannot get it to work next time round.

John Gurney

Monday 16 May 2011

Extraordinary General Meeting

Members are asked to accept notice of an Extraordinary General Meeting of the Society which will precede the first meeting to be held at Manston Court at 1030 hrs on Monday 13 June 2011, the purpose of which will be the election of a committee to hold office until the first Annual General Meeting in May 2012.

To date the affairs of the Society have been managed by a Steering Committee comprised of the persons who founded the Society.  Of this steering committee the undernoted offer themselves for election on 13th June.

Chairman:                   The Rev. Robert Sanday
Secretary:                     Dr. John Gurney.
Committe Member:      Mr. John Sillence
Committee Member:     Mrs Marie Whiteford

The office of Treasurer will require filling, together with at least one, and preferrably two additional  committee members.

Members will also be asked to ratify the constitution of the Society, which has been approved by Southampton City Council, and  copies of which will be available in advance on request, and on 13th June.

The Extraordinary General Meeting will not take long, and will be followed by a normal meeting at which the public are welcome, but only registered members will be eligible to vote.

John Gurney,
Hon. Secretary

Friday 13 May 2011

We are moving

When I moved home last year a mate of mine sent me a card of an old Morris Minor car laden down with all sorts of household goods, and the family dog perched on a pile of bundles on the roof of the car.   I am sorry I cannot reproduce it here as I still have fond memories of the Morris Minor -  a great car, but we will have to do without it when we move our meetings from Kinloss Court to Manston Court, SO16 8HF as from the meeting to be held on 13 June.

 Southampton City Council have been very kind to us in offering us the change of location to a really superb meeting place whgich gives us a number of rooms to choose from according to the event, but in the main our meetings will be held in what is virtually a mini-theatre, but not with seats in a row - there are tables tastefully distributed round the room with elegant seating at them.  Real posh stuff,  and Manston Court is a credit  to a great City Council.

More about the programme for 13 June very soon, and more details of the move, meanwhile stay tuned in as lots of interesting things are brewing.

John Gurney,
Hon Sec. 

Sunday 8 May 2011

Shakespeare's Sonnets

I believe some of Shakespeare's first sonnets were written or addressed to the then Earl (or whatever he was) of Southampton, and it would be great  to get somebody along to one of the meetings where we could have a good old sort out of some of Shakespeare's stuff.    Fling all the members into a forelorn hope in 'Once More Unto the Breech Dear Friends',  or take the micky out of  'The Staff Officer',  gentle their condition wirh the 'Crispin Day Spech',  or just compare them to a summers day.   The possibilities are endless,

We could even argue that Shakespeare was a spin doctor in having the guys yell 'God for Harry, England and Saint  George'   when he had them make like 'greyhounds in the slips' - after all, what did he know about dog racing:  Neither Harringey or the White City held dog races in his day.  

Thursday 5 May 2011

Future Programme

A programme  has now been pencilled in.  It may have to be amended here and there if speakers find they are not available nearer the time, or for whatever other reason, but we will do our best to keep to it as near as possible.  Members will be notified of amendements,  which will also be posted to this blog site, and the usual flyers announcing meetings will be  displayed in Sainsbury's, the Church Hall, and other locations..

Monday 9 May.
The main theme will be a talk on 'The History of Lordshill',  and at the end of the meeting the Chairman will tell members of some new developments which will  benefit  the Society, and the calling of an Extraordinary General Meeting to ratify the Constitution of the Society and the election of committee members.

Monday 13 June
'Southampton and the slave Trade'.   Your scribe had always thought of Liverpool as being the centre of the slave trade, and is intrigued to learn Southampton played no small part in it.  

Friday 17 June
We will visit Hollybrook Cemetery and hear a lot of its history from a family who were responsible for looking after it for many years.    We will be photographing WW2 graves as part of a project we are getting involved in, of which more later.   The morning will end with a pub lunch.

Monday 11 July
There may be a short follow-up talk on the cemetery visit, but the main theme will be 'The Old Railways of Hampshire.

Monday 8 August :Talk on 'Minden Day'
The 1st August is  celebrated as 'Minden Day'  in a number of regiments of the British Army, including the Princecess of Wales's Royal Regiment, (into which the Royal Hampshire Regiment was absorbed) in remebrance of the Battle of Minden in 1759, when during their advance to the battle the soldiers picked wild roses from the hedgerows and puit them in their hats.

At a date in September, with the trees starting to turn into their autumn colours, we  plan to make a short guided tour of the New Forest and round it off with a pub lunch.   More details nearer the time

Monday 12 September,
'Where were you at 11 a.m. on the morning of 3 September 1939'  ????
We hope to hear some interesting stories and get them down on tape.

Monday 10 October
We are delighted to tell you Penny Legg, the prize winning author, will be back with us and will talk about her newest book "Voices of Southampton"

Friday 11 November.  
We will visit Hollybrook Cemetery to leave flowers on WW2 graves, and are currently exploring the possibility of joining forces with other organisations in this, which hopefully will include representatives from the Royal British Legion.   More details later in the year.

Monday 14 November
A talk on the ss Mendi which sanbk off the Isle of Wight in the early hours of 21 February 1917 with the loss of 649 men of the South African army on their way to the war in France.

Monday 12 December
Time to get into the christmas spiirit, and hear about the origins of Santa Claus.

For the New Year:
A talk on Southampton Football club
A talk on Roman Roads of Hampshire

 We plan to place a wreath at the memorial to the men of the South African army who died as a
  result of the sinking of the ss Mendi in February 1917, it having come to our notice
  that although other nationalities are remembered, these men have not been.

Some ambitious projects are in the pipe-line, aimed to get us out and about and circulating more.  It is early days yet, but we are getting there, with interesting times ahead.  We  will tell you about it as we go along.
            
Hon. Secretary,
 Lordshill and Lords Wood Historical society.

             

Tuesday 3 May 2011

Message to our members

A very constructive committee meeting was held this morning, 3 May, to discuss some great developments taking place within the Society, which we will tell you about at the meeting on Monday 9 May.  It is looking really good.

JohnG

Greetings Penny

Hi Penny,

Great to have you on this blog as a 'Follower.'.  The talk you gave the Society in April was terific and we look forward to your return in October to talk to us about your new book 'Voices of Southampton'

Best wishes,

JohnG