Felt Hangings  Revealed

Bypass for the Bypass

In case anyone was wondering why there were no parking cones on Newbury Street and Winchester Street/Road today, It was because a wide/high load was using that route as a bypass for the A34 bypass where the bridges are not high enough. The removal of parking spaces on Winchester Road, coupled with half term, seemed to solve the Micheldever Road early morning congestion problem - maybe one of our councillors would care to suggest this as the solution to the problem!!!

Picture by Keith Watts

Folk Singing in Whitchurch

There's lots of folk singing happening in Whitchurch this weekend for the Pubs Festival and every week AND at Christmas.

Keith Bell who organises the fortnightly acoustic music sessions in the Railway Hotel every other Sunday, is getting together some of the musicians to run a "Mini-Whitstock"from 3pm on Saturday as part of the Whitchurch Pubs' Festival. For more folk singing this weekend, try the White Hart from 2.30pm on Sunday when musicians, including the Andover Museum Loft Singers, will be providing the entertainment.

At the fortnightly gatherings in the Railway Hotel it's totally acoustic with no amplification and the music, performed by locals and semi-locals, ranges from traditional folk to rock and all points in between. Singers and musicians perform short sets of two or three songs, depending on how many turn up on the night. The next music night will be on Sunday 3rd October.

Annually the folk singers in the area (anything up to 40 of them) turn the Town's pubs just before Christmas singing festive songs and collection for the Kingfisher Trust. This year's musical pub crawl starts in the BEll at 8pm on Monday 17th December.

Another annual event held on August bank holiday Saturday, is the Whitstock Festival, again at the Railway Hotel, an event which has grown considerably over the years.

Election Result

Eric Dunlop retained one of the 2 borough council seats on Thursday with a majority lower than that earlier in the year on a much lower turn out.

Pub Celebration

Landlord Andy Moss and Arkell's brewery played host to his regulars to celebrate the White Hart's second entry in CAMRA's Good Beer Guide 2008.

Andy thanked the brewery and his regulars for making his job possible. Two other pubs in the town are yet again in the guide. The Prince Regent and Longmeadow Sports and Social Centre.

Andy is currently on a sponsored slim raising money for Basingstoke and North Hampshire Hospital where his young daughter was recently treated. Sponsorship forms are on the bar!!

Not only are 3 of the Town's pubs in the Good Beer Guide but they are all taking part in the Whitchurch Pubs' Festival over the next weekend. There'll be local beer in all of them and those serving food have local menus. Support them or loose them!!!

Fire Severely Damages Thatched Cottage

In the early evening of Sunday the thatched roof of Ivy Cottage in Winchester Road caught Fire.

Up to 7 fire appliances attended the blaze which completely destroyed the thatched roof and some of the timbers of the rest of the building. On Monday morning the walls appear to be still standing and the upper floor in the previously thatched part of the cottage was in place.

Luckily no one was hurt in the fire.

Tanner Family Reunion

21 members of the Tanner family, from near and far, visited Whitchurch on Sunday and saw locations where their ancestors had lived and worked.

Starting at Mole Catcher's Cottage in Tufton, where their oldest known relative lived, they moved on to the Silk Mill where up to 20 of the family had worked. A tour of the town culminated in lunch at the Harvest Home.

Jim North, who organised the trip from France says they will be back next year and hope to find out more about their family.

High Level of Interest Shown in Campaign

Almost 100% of Saturday morning shoppers signed up to support the campaign to Save the Parish Hall.

Over 100 signatures were collected in 1½ hours on what was a quiet morning. The organisers were very pleased with the response and believe that it shows a high level of support in Whitchurch for the re-opening and retention of the Hall.

Gill Nethercott Community Centre has a Name

After a considerable wait, The Gill Nethercott Community Centre now has a name to its name!

On Friday afternoon the name was finally fixed to the building. Road signs to point to the centre, the library and the Winchester Road Car park are promised by Basingstoke and Deane Borough Council.

Macmillan Afternoon Tea Raises over £500

Shelley Gibb like to thank everyone that supported the Afternoon Tea held at The Gill Nethercott Centre on Friday 28th September. The event raised the fantastic sum of £524.01 for Macmillan Cancer Support, who do a great job supporting cancer sufferers and their families. Sadly there are not many people whose lives have not been touched by cancer in some way.

It was a really great afternoon, despite the horrible weather. Visitors made donations in exchange for tea and cake. Many tried their luck in the raffle to win a selection of great prizes all generously donated by the following local businesses: Red House Inn, Blue Ginger, Glass-Foolery, Lloyds Chemist, The White Hart, Gladstones, Hairs and Graces, Street Video, House and Home, Taylor Made Grooming, Dowlings, HSBC, Headquarters, Flower Power, The Beehive Farm Shop, The Silk Mill, Paynes Printers and Stationers, Focus on Hair, Clacys, Riverford Organic Produce, Samantha Lee Yoga, Phoenix Cards, Sorella Designs and Somerfield. Also 10% of the sales from the Phoenix cards stall and Sorella Designs were donated to Macmillan.

The event would not have been the success it was without the help and support of some very special people. Shelley would to thank particularly Jon, Emma, Carolyn, Alex and Jane, together with those who stepped in to help on the day, especially Sam and Julie Edwards, Area Fundraising Manager for Macmillan.

Shelley hopes to see even more of Whitchurch at next year’s event.

Re-open and Keep the Parish Hall

Following on from the high level of support at the Parish Hall AGM (report here), a campaign to re-open and retain the Parish Hall for the use of the folk of Whitchurch has been started by Bill Judge.

Names will be collected outside the Town Hall on Saturday morning from 9am, or if you can’t be there you can register your interest in Gladstone’s.

The Parish Hall is larger than the new Community Hall with a stage and would therefore be capable of hosting such activities as both the Youth Project's groups.

Gateways - Again

The Town Clerk Cathy Burt has received several complaints about the advertisements, t least some of which have now disappeared. The gateways, erected after long delays and at no small cost to community tax payers have been used by to advertise an event in Berkshire.

The plastic boards have been nailed to the woodwork which will create damage when they removed. Posters for the event have appeared all over the Town, in one case covering local posters on the Parish Hall notice board. An e-mail has been sent to the organisers asking for an explanation.

If you have any views on the matter you can use the contact page or the bulleting board to record your views.

Church Street Road Closure

The suggested route (by B&DBC Officers) to get round the blockage if travelling towards Andover is a 16 mile trip via the A34, A303 and then through Longparish to the B3400. A map is here - NOTE theWhitchurchWeb does NOT recommend this route, unless you drive a 38 tonne truck, try Wells Lane and Bell Street instead!!

The developers of the new homes behind the old station off Wells Lane are now predicting that the closure of Church Street on the bend by the Church will start on 15th October and last no longer than 2 weeks. This is to allow the connection of sewers from the development to the main sewers. Access to all properties on either side of the works will be possible from the Square or the junction of Wells Lane and Church Street.

Stagecoach have issued the following information on the way the closure will effect the 76 service. Buses from Andover will turn left just before the Church into Wells Lane and resume the normal route from the bottom of Evingar Road so stops opposite the Fire Station, outside Somerfield's and on Bell Street will not be served. Buses from Andover will use Bell Street (twice!) as, after completing the loop around Bere Hill, the bus will again travel down Bell Street and then left into Wells Lane to rejoin the normal route. The 86 service will be unaffected.

Lively Debate on the Bulletin Board

In addition to interest in this website growing at great rate (3 times the number of visitors each day compared with a year ago). In the last three months visitor rates have been up to 100 per day. Most visit the home page with the retail business page and events diary being second and third most popular. The pages are regularly scanned by the local press for information about what's happening in the Town, so if you have an event used the new events form or if you have any news just use the contact page or email [email protected]

There is now lively debate on the bulletin board. On-going discussions include the up-coming by-election, an innovative idea for the Town centre enhancement and rail transport. If you think something should be done in Whitchurch, post your views there and the appropriate organisations/people will be informed.

Whitchurch Reunion Weekend

The weekend of the 6th - 7th October will see two reunions in Whitchurch.

On Saturday at 7.30pm in the Longmeadow Sports and Social Centre Whitchurch County Secondary School's Class of '67 will meet up. For more contact Stuart 770018 or Sheila 780017 mobile 07778 767077.

On Sunday the Tanner family will be assembling at Tufton Church at 9.30am. There's more on this here. Contact Jim North for fuller details.