COMMUNITY NEWS Badger Farm Oliver's Battery - Badger Farm ...

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COMMUNITY NEWS Badger Farm Oliver's Battery - Badger Farm ...
Badger Farm � Oliver’s Battery

                               COMMUNITY NEWS
                                                                               Autumn 2019

     Chat-Tea Café                          Community News is brought to you by the Badger Farm & Oliver’s Battery
                     The Chat-Tea Café      Residents’ Community Association (BFOBRCA). A registered charity, the
                     at Badger Farm
                     Community Centre
                                            Association runs Badger Farm Community Centre for the benefit of all
                     goes from strength     members of our local community. It is managed by a committee of Trus-
                     to strength. Started   tees, all of whom are local residents and volunteers. Every summer, the
                     back in January to     Joint Chairpersons of the Trustees are pleased to share their Annual Re-
offer a warm welcome to those in the        port with our readers.
community feeling isolated or lonely, the
café offers free cake and tea and
conversation. The bakes, provided by the
generosity of the café’s amazing
                                                     Joint Chairpersons’
volunteers, are always ridiculously good.
                                                       Annual Report
                                            This year we have altered the month    Earlier in the year we were delighted
                                            of the AGM from June to July as we     to launch the Chat-Tea Café, a
                                            realised holding the AGM in late July  monthly event where people can
                                            might mean some people are on          drop in to have a chat, a cup of tea
                                            holiday.                               and a cake or two. This was
                                                                                   instigated by one of our trustees,
                                            In the last year we have updated the
                                                                                   Debbie Deeney, and we would like to
                                            heating system in the Community
                                                                                   thank her for all her hard work. We
                                            Centre and installed a new boiler.
                                                                                   are also grateful to the Parish
                                            Despite some teething problems
                                                                                   Council for a donation to support
In an exciting development, we have a       with temperature control the system
                                                                                   this initiative and to Sainsbury’s for
range of guest speakers and choirs          now seems to be working efficiently.
                                                                                   donating cakes. Finally we thank all
planned for future cafés.                   We have also replaced the gates at
                                                                                   the volunteers who help out every
                                            the rear of the building and have
That’s TV Hampshire reported on our                                                month.
                                            reorganised the office, adding new
July café. You can see their interview      cupboards. In August we are doing      We were delighted to welcome Ann
with ‘Honoured member’ Simon Lever
                                            some remedial work in the toilets so Jury as our new Editor of Community
on bfobrca.org/activities/chat-tea-cafe.
                                            we would ask that hirers be patient News and are very pleased with the
Please spread the word about the café       with us and we apologise for any       changes she has made to the
amongst those it aims to support. Carers    inconvenience this may cause. In       magazine. We received donations
and friends are very welcome so bring       the next year we are hoping to         towards the cost of the Community
someone you know and enjoy the vibrant      update the kitchen as we realise       News from both Parish Councils.
atmosphere.                                 that this is a part of the Centre that
                                                                                   This year we also welcomed Ali
                                            needs improvement.
Our next café is at our new time of 2pm                                            Cochrane to the Centre who has
– 4pm on Monday 23 September 2019.          Room bookings continue to be good started working with Jan in the
                                            and while we have lost some long       office. Last but not least we would
      Autumn/Winter 2019 Dates
                                            term bookings we are happy to have like to thank Merv, Jan and Barbara
       ● Monday 23 September
                                            welcomed new hirers.                   for their commitment to the Centre.
         ● Monday 28 October
       ● Monday 25 November                                         Brian Laming, Rachel Skinner, Anne Young
       ● Monday 23 December                                                     Joint Chairpersons, BFOBRCA
COMMUNITY NEWS Badger Farm Oliver's Battery - Badger Farm ...
News from the
          Community Centre
Job share
Starting on 2 September, Jan Dawkins and Ali Cochrane will
be sharing the role of Centre Administrator. Each will work
two and a half days a week. Their schedule will vary from
week to week, but there will always be someone in the office
                                  during our normal office
                                  hours to deal with your
                                  queries.

                                  You will be able to contact
                                  both Jan and Ali via email
                                  at enquiries@bfobrca.org
                                  or on our usual number:
                                  01962 868630.

Hirers’ news
We are sorry to report that, due to circumstances beyond
their control, the Freestyle Combat Karate classes will not
be returning in September. Collin and his students have
been with us for many years and we will miss them.
In May, Home Instead started a Dementia Activity Group on
Friday mornings at the Community Centre. This is a very
friendly and welcoming get-together for those suffering with
dementia and also their families and carers.

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COMMUNITY NEWS Badger Farm Oliver's Battery - Badger Farm ...
JUST SOME OF THE COMMUNITY CENTRE ACTIVITIES
 ACTIVITY                 DAY                     TIME                        CONTACT                      COST                 DESCRIPTION
Badger Farm ACOL          Friday             7.15pm – 10.30pm                 Roland Richardson           £1 visitors       Bridge Club.
      Club                                                                      023 8025 1277             £15 annual
 Badger Farm Art         Thursday             1.30pm – 4.00pm                   Sarah Zimmer               £7.50 per        A friendly drop-in art group
     Group                                                                snippycards@hotmail.co.uk         session         providing a space to paint in a
                                                                                                                            relaxed setting. All abilities
                                                                                                                            welcome.
Badger Farm Bridge       Tuesday             7.15pm – 10.30pm                     Fred Hotchen           Enquire Direct     Friendly and relaxed local bridge
       Club                                                              01794 301185 - 07771 854 347                       club. New members and visitors
                                                                         fred.hotchen@btinternet.com                        very welcome.
 Badger Farm Pre-       Monday to             Mon. Tues. Wed.                  Denise Tosdevine            3/4 years        For children from 3 years to
 School Playgroup        Friday               9.15am – 3.00pm                    07771 798 474             £4.50ph          school age. Great OFSTED
                                                  Thurs. Fri.                                               2 years         results. Afternoons also
                                             9.15am – 12.15pm                                              £4.70ph          available. Enquiries to Denise.
Badger Farm Social      Monday to               Various – see                    Jan Dawkins                                A social club run for the
      Club               Sunday         bfobrca.org/activities/badger-          01962 868630                                Community by the Community.
                                              farm-social-club/             enquiries@bfobrca.org
    Badminton            Thursday             8.00pm – 9.00pm                    Wendy King                                 Fun and friendly for any age and
                                                                                01962 861525                                ability. All welcome.
  Chat-Tea Café          Monday               2.00pm – 4.00pm                info@chat-tea.co.uk              Free          A free monthly café set up to
                                                                                                                            bring people together.
     Eucharist           Tuesday             10.00am – 11.00am                Rev. Mike Gardner                             Church of England Service
(Holy Communion)                                                                01962 865240                                All welcome.
Gentle Therapeutic       Tuesday              1.30pm – 3.00pm                   Christine Giles          Enrol online or    Improve mobility, strength &
 Yoga (PSC AHED)                                                            www.psc.ac.uk/ahed            call Registry     stamina using yoga and correct
                                                                                01962 886166             01962 886166       breathing.
    Hampshire          2nd Friday of          6.00pm – 8.00pm                   Nichola Beare                  Free         A support group for Ostomates.
Ostomates Support       the month                                         Nichola0405@yahoo.co.uk                           Please contact Nicki Beare for
      Group                                                                                                                 further information.
Hampshire Wildlife          2nd              7.30pm –10.00pm                    Loraine Martin          £4 per meeting      Illustrated talks on wildlife for all.
      Trust            Wednesday of                                             01962 861182                                Contact Loraine for details.
                        the month
  Home Instead            Friday             10.30am – 12.00pm            hants@homeinstead.co.uk       Small donation      Activity group for people with
 Dementia Activity                                                             01962 736681              to cover costs     dementia and their carers
       Group
Legs, Bums & Tums        Monday              9.30am – 10.30am                  Catherine Jones            £5 per class      A fun and friendly class to help
                         Tuesday             6.45pm – 7.45pm                   07990 513 434                                keep you fit and toned. Discounts
                                                                                                                            available for multiple classes.
Parents & Toddlers       Thursday             1.30pm – 3.00pm                 Catherine Thomas          £2 per family per   All parents, guardians and child
                                                                               07990 037 467                session         minders with children aged new
                                                                                                                            born to 5 years welcome.
      Pilates             Various                  Various                   bfobrca.org/activities         Various         Several Pilates classes are held at
                                                                                                                            the Community Centre. See our
                                                                                                                            website for details.
Royal British Legion   1st Thursday           7.30pm – 8.30pm                    Stanley Judd                               A warm welcome awaits you at
                         monthly                                                01962 841402                                your local Royal British Legion
                                                                                                                            group meeting.
  Shall We Dance        Wednesday             2.00pm – 2.45pm                  Sergiy Bondarenko          £8 upfront,       A fun and friendly class designed
                                                                         shallwedance2018@gmail.com        £10 PAYG         to help keep you fit and toned.
 Slimming World          Saturday            9.30am – 11.00am                   Steve Coombes                               A warm welcome awaits you in
                                                                                 07788 683 077                              your local group. New members
                                                                                                                            always welcome.
 Weight Watchers         Thursday            9.30am – 10.30am                   Thomas Taylor           Weekly meeting      Your lifestyle, your choice. With
                                             6.00pm – 7.00pm                    0845 073 0460            fee of £6.25       Weight Watchers you choose the
                                                                              twtaylor@weight-                              weight loss approach that works
                                                                               watchers.co.uk                               best for you.
Wessex Wargames          Tuesday             7.00pm – 11.00pm                  Alan McFarlane           £5 per session      Miniature wargames and role-
      Club                                                                      01962 864210            (first session is   playing games of all periods and
                                                                                                              free)         genres played.
  Winchester Tae         Monday               6.30pm – 9.00pm                    Lucy Scott             Membership by       6.30pm-7.45pm
    Kwon-Do             Wednesday                                          info@winchestertkd.co.uk       subscription      beginners/intermediates
                                                                                                                            7.00pm-8.00pm seniors (black
                                                                                                                            belts to 9.00pm)
Winchester Young          Contact               10am – 3pm                      Karen Brooking                £10           For children aged 8 upwards.
 Embroiderers          organisers for                                     brooking.karen@gmail.com                          Discover stitching and crafting;
                           dates                                                                                            make fun projects. Must book.
       Yoga               Monday             9.30am – 11.00am                    Chris Wyeth            £45 per 5-week      Vanda Scaravelli inspired Yoga
                           Friday            1.30pm – 3.00pm                    01962 868346                session         classes for those that wish to
                                                                                                                            refine and deepen their practice.
                                                                                                                            Not for beginners.
         Here are just a few of the events that take place regularly at Badger Farm Community Centre. For more details see
   bfobrca.org/activities. If you can’t find what you are looking for or want to enquire about setting up a new group, please email
                                    enquiries@bfobrca.org or telephone Jan or Ali on 01962 868630.
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COMMUNITY NEWS Badger Farm Oliver's Battery - Badger Farm ...
together with all previously submitted evidence, has been
             Oliver’s Battery                                       sent to the First Tier Tribunal who will now consider all sub-
                                                                    missions by the landowner, WCC and the PC. The case will
             Parish Council                                         be decided without a hearing but parties will not be given
                                                                    advance notice of the date the case is to be decided. No de-
Recreation ground                                                   cision had been made by the Tribunal at the time of writing.
The 4 pieces of adult fitness equipment, referred to in the
last report, have now been installed. The PC would welcome          Footpaths
feedback from residents concerning their use of this equip-         Residents will be aware that the parish includes several Pub-
ment. If they prove to be well used, then additional items will     lic Rights of Way (PROW). PROW 6 and 7 run along the
be considered. New benches and bins were also installed.            boundary of the large open field (see map on the PC website
                                                                    oliversbattery.info). These routes have not been maintained
The repainting of the tennis court and also the lines on the
                                                                    due to vegetation overgrowing into the field and new desire
Multi-Use Games Area (MUGA) has now been completed.
                                                                    lines have been established over many years within the field
The tennis court net cord broke recently and big thanks go to
                                                                    running roughly parallel to the PROW. Recently, PROW 7 has
Winchester Racquets and Fitness for the installation of a
                                                                    been re-established by HCC. Some sections are close to the
second-hand tennis net – just in time for Wimbledon.
                                                                    boundary and others are about half-way to the boundary
To reduce the level of anti-social behaviour at night, the gate     from the existing desire lines (due to overgrown vegetation).
to the car park is now locked at 8:00pm or dusk (if earlier). If    HCC have written to the landowner to remind him of his
residents notice any anti-social behaviour anywhere in the          responsibility to ensure that any shrubs, trees or hedges do
parish it should be reported to the police on 101 and to WCC        not endanger the public or obstruct any PROW. The land
Community Safety and Neighbourhood Services at:                     manager has confirmed that they will cut back the hedge
winchester.gov.uk/community-safety-and-neighbourhood-               and remove the trees in the first week of September after
services or the Neighbourhood Services Team on 01962                the bird breeding season. This will allow the PROW 6 to be
840222.                                                             re-established.

Asset of Community Value (ACV)                                      Benches
As reported last time, the landowner of the large open field        An order has been placed to renovate the bench in Old Ken-
around Texas Drive and Yew Hill Butterfly Reserve has ap-           nels Lane at the top of the footpath to the golf course and
pealed to the First Tier Tribunal against the WCC decision to       one of the benches by St Marks. The latter bench will be re-
confirm the nomination of the field as an ACV. The PC is            moved from site for 1 day whilst renovation work is being
grateful for the response from residents for photographs and        undertaken. Work on other benches will be undertaken in
witness statements to provide further evidence of the use of        the next 12 months.
the land by the local community in ways that furthers their
                                                                         Brian Mitchener – Chair, Oliver’s Battery Parish Council
social wellbeing and social interests. That further evidence,
                                                                            cllr.mitchener@oliversbattery.info | 01962 623585

‘Climate Emergency’ – what's that all about?
We are literally beginning to feel the heat of climate change      read all the actions that you could take listed in this the
this summer – with the hottest day ever recorded in the UK         blog. This is the time to show politicians and businesses
on 25th July. As I write this only a few days later (in cooler     that we want to see significant action on climate change –
conditions, thank goodness!) un-seasonally heavy rain is           now.
causing floods in Yorkshire. I wonder what other extreme           What can we each do that would make a difference? If you
weather events might have happened by the time you read            are still short of ideas then look out for Winchester Green
this magazine? We know three out of                                                      Week – a week of inspiring talks, events
every four people in the UK were con-                                                    and activities running from 29th Sep-
cerned about climate change in 2018                                                      tember to 6th October. Meanwhile, think
and I suspect even more people are con-                                                  about doing things differently at home,
cerned now.                                                                              at work and at play.
The UK government, Hampshire County                                                   The winacc.org.uk web site is a useful
Council and Winchester City Council have                                              way of keeping up to date as the local
all declared a Climate Emergency. This                                                situation develops. However, there are
means that, at last, politicians and gov-                                             many web sites with a national perspec-
ernment realise that business as usual                                                tive you could read, such as:
cannot continue. There is a clear, easy to                         friendsoftheearth.uk; 1010uk.org; rebellion.earth/act-now;
read blog giving more details online at                            wwf.org.uk; theguardian.com/uk/environment to mention
winacc.org.uk/climate-emergency-what-and-why.                      only few.
Thinking about climate change makes us all feel sad and
possibly a little bit scared, but please don't blame yourself                   Clare Shorter, a concerned Olly B resident!
and certainly don't feel helpless. You will be surprised to

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COMMUNITY NEWS Badger Farm Oliver's Battery - Badger Farm ...
Please encourage your children to stay off the re-seeded ar-
                 Badger Farm                                       ea whilst it establishes itself.

                 Parish Council
                   Lengthsman
                   We have had some glorious weather over
                   the last couple of months. I hope you have
                   been able to enjoy the summer in our beau-
tiful parish. Whilst you are out and about, it would be helpful
if you could keep an eye out for parts of the parish that need
a bit of a tidy up. We use the lengthsman scheme to do             Both playgrounds are inspected regularly, but if you do spot
small jobs like cutting back brambles and compile a list of        anything that needs attention, please contact our clerk or
jobs to be done when he visits. You can notify us of potential     Cllr Harvey Skinner on 01962 868653/07788 207137.
jobs by emailing the clerk or contacting Cllr Julie Lacey on       Grants
01962 860717/07734 458840. If we find there are too                We would like to thank HCC Cllr Jan Warwick for a generous
many jobs for the lengthsman to tackle, we have decided to         grant of £1,000 towards purchasing speed monitoring signs.
trial funding some extra work paid for by the parish council.      The parish council will be approaching WCC for a grant to
Anti-social behaviour                                              match fund. The signs will be used to monitor speed in vari-
The problems with anti-social behaviour with one group of          ous locations around Badger Farm following an appeal for
young people continue. They come over from Stanmore in a           action by one of our parishioners. If you have any comments
group of 6 (mixed boys and girls) and cause a lot of disrup-       or concerns relating to speeding or other transport related
tion in the Elder Close and Broad Chalke Down area. We are         matters, you can contact Cllr Harvey Skinner or via the clerk.
still struggling to identify the culprits by name. One is called   Each year the parish council reserves a small amount of
'Ady' and is very tall, but we have been unable to find out any    money to offer as small grants. The grants are to voluntary
more information. Cllr Hannah Williams (WCC) is going to           organisations and community groups that provide a service
contact the Neighbourhood Warden in Stanmore to see if             that benefits the residents of Badger Farm. These grants are
they can be identified. If you witness anti-social behaviour       limited and can only be made available to those organisa-
contact the police on 101. If a crime is in progress, dial 999.    tions that can demonstrate a need for assistance and for
Playgrounds                                                        activities which qualify. An application form must be submit-
Our two playgrounds are in top condition after some work           ted to request this funding by the closing date of 30th Sep-
recently to rectify a few minor faults. The work includes level-   tember. The application form is available on our website
ling and re-seeding the two goals at the Central Play Area.        badgerfarm-pc.gov.uk/policies or by contacting the clerk.

       Website                          Facebook                              Clerk Email                    Clerk Phone
 badgerfarm-pc.gov.uk          facebook.com/badgerfarmpc               clerk@badgerfarm-pc.gov.uk           01425 656010
                                                                                                            07463 760801

Badger Farm Pre-school Playgroup: Another successful year
                       As another busy year finishes, we say a     Another fond farewell
                       very sad farewell to 24 children, off to    this term was to Mrs
                       their new ‘big school’ and a whole new      Esther and Mrs House
                       world! We wish them all luck and suc-       who have left us for new
                       cess for their futures. They were seen      adventures. They will be
off in style with a great party and the superb and extremely       missed by us all.
funny Mr Potty – always guaranteed to raise lots of laughter       The Summer Term –
and giggles! We were also absolutely delighted to be given a       blessed with good
hand-drawn picture of the staff by one of the parents. We          weather – enabled us to
will certainly treasure this gift!                                 have a successful outing to Moors Country Park where eve-
                                                                   rybody had a great time. Also our Sports Day was enjoyed by
                                                                   the children and parents alike! Making the most of the good
                                                                   weather, we have also had excursions to local parks and
                                                                   Whiteshute Ridge to name just two. We live in a beautiful
                                                                   part of Winchester and there is no shortage of interesting
                                                                   places for the children to visit.
                                                                   We are now looking forward to a new academic year with the
                                                                   challenges for the children. Spaces are available if you
                                                                   would like to join us. Please either drop in or email
                                                                   deniseinpreschool@hotmail.co.uk.

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COMMUNITY NEWS Badger Farm Oliver's Battery - Badger Farm ...
Andrew Harris
       Electrical Services
ALL DOMESTIC WORK UNDERTAKEN INCLUDING:
�� REWIRING
������FUSEBOARD REPLACEMENT
������ADDITIONAL LIGHTS AND SOCKETS
������WIRING FOR TELEPHONE AND COMMS SOCKETS
������INSTALLATION OF LIGHT FITTINGS
������GARDEN LIGHTING AND POWER
ALL ASPECTS OF TESTING INCLUDING:
�� ELECTRICAL INSTALLATION CONDITION REPORTS
������P.A.T. TESTING OF APPLIANCES
           COMMERCIAL INSTALLATIONS
               RETAIL INSTALLATIONS
     ALL WORK UNDERTAKEN IN A CLEAN, TIDY
          AND PROFESSIONAL MANOR
           FREE ESTIMATES AND ADVICE
 63 May Tree Close, Badger Farm, Winchester, SO22 4JF
  Telephone: 01962 856805 ~ Mobile: 07956 934 195
           Email: andy@adhelectrical.com

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COMMUNITY NEWS Badger Farm Oliver's Battery - Badger Farm ...
traffic calming, subways, crossings and illuminated traffic
Hampshire County Council                                           signs. Hampshire Constabulary were consulted on the
Changes at the top                                                 proposals and asked to comment on those areas where
Former RAF pilot and MP, Councillor Keith Mans has been            lights should be left on. It is early days in the programme
elected as the new County Council Leader and Councillor            and changes can be made as necessary as the streetlights
Charles Choudhary has been elected as Chairman (the Civic          can be individually controlled via a central system.
Head of Hampshire County Council). This follows the
announcement by former Leader, Councillor Roy Perry, that          Large commercial vehicles or trailers at HWRCs
he was stepping down from the role after six years.                Hampshire residents can use a van, pick-up or trailer longer
                                                                   than 1.8m to transport their own household waste for
Climate Change Cabinet                                             disposal with a permit. The permit will cost £15 and will be
A meeting to consider how Hampshire County Council can             valid for 12 months or 12 visits, and provides access for
reduce its carbon emissions to zero will be arranged over the      vans and larger vehicles at any of the 24 HWRCs across
coming weeks. This will be an opportunity to consider carbon       Hampshire. Separate arrangements are in place at
reduction targets across Hampshire from schools, farms,            Hampshire's HWRCs for traders and businesses to dispose
traffic and transport through to waste and recycling.              of commercial waste on a chargeable basis, depending on
                                                                   the scale and type of waste. All HWRCs have an accessible
Streetlights
                                                                   parking bay for blue badge holders. Blue badge holders will
Hampshire County Council has had a programme of energy
                                                                   also now require a permit if they wish to use a larger
reduction around street lighting over recent years with a
                                                                   commercial-type vehicle for their household waste.
50% reduction in consumption and a 66% reduction in
carbon emissions since 2010. Although lights have been             Residents can apply for a permit at:
dimmed in residential areas overnight since 2012, a three-         hants.gov.uk/wasteandrecycling/recyclingcentres/wastepermits.
hour switch off between the hours of 0100 and 0400 came
into force on 1st April. The decision was supported by the         See hants.gov.uk/wasteandrecycling/commercialwaste for
Clear Skies campaign following a public consultation in            information on commercial waste charges for businesses.
2018.                                                                                                       Cllr Jan Warwick
Areas excluded from the part night lighting are Principal                Hampshire County Councillor – Winchester Downlands
Routes (A to C class roads), town centres, and roads with               Tel: 07712 695431 | Email: jan.warwick@hants.gov.uk

                                                                   Winchester Sports and Leisure Centre
                                                                   The Winchester Sports and Leisure Centre is progressing
                                                                   well and since taking charge we have worked on making the
                                                                   Centre more sustainable and in line with our environmental
                                                                   aims. One of the first outward changes has been the name
                                                                   which is simply Winchester Sports and Leisure Centre as it
Climate Emergency                                                  was hard to choose a name that reflected this city. We look
                                                                   forward to giving you more reports as it progresses.
Since the City Council announced the Climate Emergency,
we have been working hard to ensure that the environment           Bin collections
and reducing our Carbon Footprint is central to everything         There have been issues with bin collections and routes being
that we do. The aim is to become carbon neutral as a City          missed and rounds being late. This issue is being tackled
Council by 2020 and as a District by 2030. We have been            but the hot weather has made it worse as it has caused
working with local environmental groups and are making             refuse lorries to break down. If anyone has issues with bins
sure that real change happens. This week we installed our          they should logon to the website (winchester.gov.uk) and
first water fountain in the Abbey Gardens; this will allow resi-   report them.
dents and tourists alike access to free water and reduce the
need for single-use plastic bottles. This has been as a result     Sustainability projects
of the council working with local environmentalists and            We have also been meeting with HCC about a number of
groups. We have been working on introducing wildflower             sustainability projects that will benefit the residents of Win-
verges and have a pilot in Water Lane that has been very           chester District; these include buses and bus routes. Provid-
successful. This is hoped to be extended around the District       ing good local transport is key to reducing the district’s
and we will be working closely with Parish and Town Councils       carbon footprint as well as providing a lifeline to people in
to achieve this. There are a number of big projects in the         rural communities. We are working with HCC to improve the
pipeline and as soon as they are confirmed you will be the         service we currently have whilst also ensuring that the buses
first to know.                                                     used are as sustainable as possible.

           Cllr Eleanor Bell                          Cllr Hannah Williams                         Cllr Brian Laming
       ebell@winchester.gov.uk                    hwilliams@winchester.gov.uk                  blaming@winchester.gov.uk
           01962 775521                                  07776 138405                               07973 265028

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COMMUNITY NEWS Badger Farm Oliver's Battery - Badger Farm ...
Winchester Local Group Hampshire and IOW Wildlife Trust
Come and join us this autumn to discover more about our wonderful British wildlife such
as solitary bees, dragonflies, wading birds and the great variety of creatures found in an
Otterbourne backyard plus the importance of balancing the needs of nature, people and recreation in the New Forest. Our
indoor meetings are held in the Bushfield Room at Badger Farm Community Centre. Admission £4 to include tea/coffee.
Non-members are always very welcome at all our events. For further information about the Group please phone Loraine on
01962 861182 or email Anne, atardill2@gmail.com. Alternatively visit the Trust website at www.hiwwt.org.uk.
Wednesday 11 September, 7.30–9.30pm ~ Looking After The               phy taken in the 'backyard' and studio he has created nearby in
New Forest. An illustrated talk by New Forest ranger Richard          Otterbourne and further afield. Discover some tips on taking
Daponte on the role of Forestry England balancing the needs           your own wildlife photographs.
of nature, people, recreation and business in an area of interna-     Sunday 24 November, 10am–3pm ~ Birding at Titchfield
tional importance for its landscape, nature conservation and          Haven. Join John Clark for a winter bird walk at this Hampshire
heritage.                                                             County Council reserve. Park in the Yacht Club car park (map
Saturday 5 October, 10.30am–1pm ~ Rooksbury Mill Local                ref SU 535 023, nearest post code PO14 3JT) or by the sea-wall
Nature Reserve. Join Mervyn Grist for a walk at this Test Valley      and meet in the Yacht Club car park, Cliff Road, Hill Head. We
Borough Council reserve in Andover for birds and late dragon-         will go in as a group to qualify for the group rate for entry.
flies. We plan to walk to an adjacent site later in the morning.      Refreshments are available in the café but this can get busy so
Meet at Rooksbury Mill car park in Barlows Lane, post code            bring a packed lunch. For further information, phone Mary on
SP10 4AU, grid ref SU 355 444. For further information, please        01962 864440. Sorry, no dogs. Suggested donation £4.
phone Mary on 01962 864440 or Mervyn on 01264 358737.                 Wednesday 11 December, 7.30–9.30pm ~ Over To You! Come
Sorry, no dogs. Suggested donation £4.                                and share your digital photos or personal anecdotes of places
Wednesday 9 October, 7.30–9.30pm ~ Solitary Bees and                  and wildlife far and near that have inspired a love of the natural
Wasps. Join Bryan Pinchen to discover the huge variety of small       world over a glass of mulled wine/soft drink and light buffet or
furry solitary bees in Britain which are amazingly effective polli-   just come along. As in previous winter socials photographic ex-
nators as they move amongst the flowers and also lots of fasci-       pertise not required – enthusiasm for the content is far more
nating facts about wasps other than their sting!                      important. Please contact Anne Ardill beforehand if showing
Wednesday 13 November, 7.30–9.30pm ~ Wildlife in an                   photos or for further information on 07804 764604 or via
Otterbourne Backyard and Beyond. Join photographer Pete               atardill2@gmail.com. Admission £4 to include the light buffet.
Whieldon as he shares with us his passion for wildlife photogra-                                Protecting wildlife, inspiring people

                                                                      8
COMMUNITY NEWS Badger Farm Oliver's Battery - Badger Farm ...
Winchester Horticultural Society
 We've had a mixed summer, with sunny spells alternating with rainy days, despite which the vegetable garden has required
 frequent watering just to keep going at a slow pace. Maybe Autumn will bring more rain but hopefully also some more sunny
 days and a glorious display of Autumn colour. When you get tired of raking up leaves and tidying up borders and beds, you
 might like to come and join us at one of our monthly meetings where we sit back and enjoy interesting talks from guest
 speakers, socialise with fellow members and acquire the odd plant or two from the sales table. Our programme for the next
 three months offers the following topics:
Wednesday, 11th September Well known grower, exhibitor
and horticultural judge Barry Newman will talk about GROW-
ING IN RAISED BEDS and give us useful advice on how to
maximise the advantages of growing plants in raised beds.
Wednesday, 9th October Lesley Chamberlin will pay us a
return visit and tell us the story of HIGHDOWN GARDENS:
SECRETS OF A GREAT CHALK GARDEN which promises to
be interesting.
Wednesday, 13th November We will armchair travel to New
Zealand with Rosemary Legrand, former nursery owner,
whose topic will be EXPLORING THE NORTH ISLAND OF
NEW ZEALAND. She will introduce us to the island's fabu-
lous plants and scenery.

Our meetings are held at the Winchester Club, Churchill
Room, Worthy Lane, Winchester SO23 7AB, on the second
Wednesday of every month, starting at 7.30pm. Visitors £4.

For further information ring 01962 868862 or visit our web-
site: winhortsoc.weebly.com.

                    Oliver's Battery WI
                    Olivers Battery WI return to the
                    Battery in September
                     Oliver's Battery WI are delighted to
                     announce that we are returning to
Oliver's Battery in September, when we start to hold our          Future meetings
monthly meetings in St Mark's Church Hall again. We usually       22 September 2019 Help us as a Volunteer, when we are
meet on the 3rd Monday of the month from 19:30 for a              Marshalling in the Battery for the Winchester Half Marathon.
19:45 start until 22.00. Our first meeting after the summer       21 October 2019 Meet the Auctioneer – Peter Raw
break is on Monday 16 September, when we will be hosting          18 November 2019 My Life in Stitch by Alison Hulme
a representative from Trinity Winchester to learn more about      16 December 2019 Olivers Battery WI Christmas party with
the charity, what they do for the community and how we can        Dance demonstration. Audience participation encouraged.
help them in the run up to Christmas.                             Put on your dancing shoes, gloves and bring a scarf or boa!
This is an open invitation to ladies of any age: if you would     and a small plate of food to share.
like to join us for an evening, to find out more about WI, what   20 January 2020 Grandma flew Spitfires by John Webster.
we do and if it's for you, come and join us at a meeting (two
for free) before you decide about membership. To join one of
the next meetings please contact
oliversbatterysec@hampshirewi.org.uk for more information.
Let us know if you would like to be put in touch with a buddy,
or please just turn up. We also run monthly Book, Craft and
Knit and Natter groups. There's something for everyone. We
look forward to meeting you and sharing an evening with you
over a cuppa and some cake!

                                         In friendship,
                                   Oliver’s Battery WI

                                                                  9
COMMUNITY NEWS Badger Farm Oliver's Battery - Badger Farm ...
The consumption of foods rich in polyphenols is associated
The benefits of blackberries                                       with a lower risk of some conditions derived from cellular
                                The abundance of blackberry        degeneration. Strong scientific evidence shows the role
                                bushes on Bushfield inspires       played by these colour pigments in blackberries, blueberries,
                                this piece on the health bene-     strawberries and other berry fruits in maintaining brain
                                fits of blackberries (well, many   health, for example. Together with other dietary nutrients,
                                berries really).                   they appear critical for long-term brain structure and func-
                                 These little blackberries con-    tion. For those of you who are interested in nutrition and
                                 tain natural colour pigments      brain health, here is an easily-accessible review of a scien-
                                 called anthocyanidins; they       tific paper on 7 nutrients important for brain health on the
give fruit that dark purple, blue or blackish colouring. These     well-respected independent Food and Behaviour (or FAB)
colourful pigments in plants are types of polyphenols which        website: tinyurl.com/bfob-blackberries. ‘An increasingly robust
are seen as the 'newer kids on the block' in nutrition sci-        body of research points to the detrimental effect of unhealthy diets
ence. They give the rainbow of colours in vegetables, fruit        and nutrient deficiencies, and to the protective value of healthy diets –
and spices like the red in red peppers, the orange in carrots.     along with select nutritional supplements as required – for maintain-
                                                                   ing and promoting mental health.’
The building blocks of the nutrient family of course includes
protein (including essential proteins), fats (ideally healthy      After harvesting some blackberries when they are ripe (and,
fats), carbohydrates (ideally slow-release carbos or indigesti-    if not gobbled-up immediately, storing some in the freezer to
ble fibres), vitamins, minerals, water, etc. all of which have     use over the next few months), I like adding a handful of
been shown to play a vital part in maintaining good health,        blackberries to smoothies with organic natural yogurt, pro-
repair and preventing many diseases. Now these polyphe-            tein powder and pre-softened chia seeds with nutmeg or
nols / colour pigments have also been shown to support             with stewed and cooled apples and cinnamon. Yum!!
good health. Together with other nutrients, their super-smart                             Amanda Turner | ATnutritiontuition.co.uk
main antioxidant function is to combat cell ageing and pro-        A CNHC-registered Nutritional Therapist and Registered Nutritionist
tect the plant cells from 'rusting' or ageing too quickly by the   mBANT, Amanda is based at The Cupboard of Health in Winchester
elements. So by eating blackberries frequently, we are bor-        and is keen to educate motivated shoppers to overcome confusion in
                                                                   this key area. A main aim is to help you to feel more empowered and
rowing this technology from plants which have cleverly
                                                                   clear up nutritional confusion!
worked out how to protect themselves from harsh conditions
in their natural environment.

                                                                   10
Home Instead Dementia Activity Group at
Badger Farm Community Centre
As part of our service to the local community, Home Instead is delighted to sponsor the
Dementia Activity Group at Badger Farm Community Centre on Friday mornings. Come along
and join us for our regular activity group for people with dementia and their carers. The ses-
sions are run by a team of volunteers with experience and an understanding of dementia care. Enjoy games, activities and a
sing-along – all designed to provide stimulation for people with dementia. Carers will have the opportunity for some time out
to chat to other carers in a similar situation. The sessions are funded by Home Instead and are free to attend, with a small
donation requested to cover the cost of tea or coffee. The Activity Group runs on Fridays from 10.30am until noon.
                    2019 Dates                                      About Home Instead Central Hampshire
                                                         We understand that home is where you feel the happiest. If you
  August           2nd     9th     16th    30th
                                                         want to stay living comfortably at home, you can live well, your way
  September        6th     13th    20th                  with Home Instead. From our office in Alresford, Home Instead has
  October          4th     11th    18th                  been at the forefront of specialised home care for the elderly and
  November         1st     8th     15th    29th          supporting those being cared for and their families for many years.
  December         6th     13th    20th                  Founded on personal experience, these family values remain at the
                                                         core of everything we do 24 years on. Our award-winning care at
                                                         home fits around your life – it's tailored, it's flexible and it's adapta-
                                                         ble. Whether you're looking for help getting dressed and showered,
                                                         help around the house or companionship, Home Instead's trained
                                                         CAREGivers are perfectly matched to you.

                                                         We believe age should be celebrated and that everybody should be
                                                         able to live happily, comfortably and independently at home.

                                                         For more information please call Home Instead on 01962 736681,
                                                         email us at hants@homeinstead.co.uk or visit our website
                                                         homeinstead.co.uk/centralhampshire.

                                                               11
‘The modern day Neighbourhood Watch operates in
Neighbourhood Watch                                                     many different ways and is flexible to how people live
Only two schemes are active despite lots of signs in the ar-            and work. Some are run entirely online through so-
ea. If you would like to know how to re-establish a scheme in           cial media, others have regular face to face meet-
your road do get in touch; I can let you know what to do and            ings. Whatever works for you, works for
provide information and literature. Plus you can receive the            Neighbourhood Watch.’ June 2019 for Neigh-
regular bulletins, crime incident reports, crime prevention             bourhood Watch Week.
advice, warnings about scams and lots more.                             For further information do contact me (all my details below)
In the last issue I gave advice to prevent burglaries; similar          and/or follow these links: ourwatch.org.uk/crimes-
advice applies to safeguarding yourself, your property and              archive/setting-up-and-running-a-neighbourhood-watch-
belongings. I have a 'Home Security Challenge' I could send             scheme and ourwatch.org.uk/inspiration.
you to help check the security of your property.                        Finally, please be mindful of any vulnerable or elderly neigh-
Extracts from the Press Release issued by the CEO of Nation-            bours, not only because of any heatwave but check to see
al Neighbourhood Watch:                                                 they have someone to turn to about scams, cold callers, sus-
‘Residents living in areas covered by Neighbourhood Watch can expect    picious activity. If you are vulnerable or elderly and want
to experience 11% fewer crimes. John Hayward-Cripps, CEO of the         more information please do contact me or ask a family
Neighbourhood Watch Network, said: The evidence is clear. No matter     member to get in touch.
your background, social class, whether you own your own property or          Crime cannot flourish in a caring community
rent, you are safer if you live within a Neighbourhood Watch area.           so please help me to help your community be
                                                                                            more informed.
    Sandie Vining | Neighbourhood Watch Area Representative, Winchester City | 01962 865384 | sandievining@btinternet.com

               Stanmore Primary School
                 Over 250 former pupils and staff celebrated Stanmore School's 90th anniversary with a BIG
                                                 tea party on Friday 19 July.
                    Amongst those attending was one of the             anecdotes shared by people who have strong and vivid
                   first pupils to go to the school in 1929, Mr        memories of experiences from many years ago were heart-
                   Ernie Nunn, now aged 95. Margaret Cole              warming.’
                   MBE, the lollipop lady for 40 years, and            School catering manager Mandy Dodd, herself an ex-pupil
                   Mrs Mary Broadway, a governor for 30                who has been working at the school for thirty years, pro-
                   years, were also there. The visitors includ-        duced old school delicacies (iced buns and jam & coconut
                   ed the grandson of the first Headteacher            pudding). She recalled her school days from 1968: ‘It was
                   of the School, Ian Dart, who now lives in           a very different place. There were outside toilets and tem-
                   Victoria, Australia.                                porary classrooms in huts. The library was a small cup-
Councillor Eleanor Bell, Mayor of                                                               board, with only room for two at a
Winchester, congratulated the                                                                   time.’
school on its anniversary and was                                                             Current pupils interviewed former
joined by Councillor Roz Chadd,                                                               pupils, gathering personal stories
Hampshire County Council's Execu-                                                             for a digital archive. Current Chair of
tive Member for Education who                                                                 Governors, Chris Lindsay, said: ‘This
said: ‘It has been fantastic to see                                                           school is so much more than a
the enthusiasm of the children and                                                            building to the people who have
commitment of the staff and gover-                                                            fond memories of their time here. It
nors as Stanmore Primary cele-                                                                is a place of play and work. It is a
brates its milestone year. The                                                                place to have fun and a place to de-
County Council will continue to work                                                          velop. All the staff and governors
with the school to support its drive                                                          are committed to ensuring our
for improvement and I'm sure we all                                    school is a place where children are inspired to thrive and
look forward to the next 90 years of success.’                         everyone is the BEST that they can be.’
Current pupils gave a tour of the classrooms and performed             The Hampshire Archive Trust provided a grant to display
readings to entertain the visitors. Mrs Sharon Taylor, cur-            photographs, newspaper articles and other materials which
rent Headteacher, said: ‘We are extremely proud of our                 date back to the opening ceremony of the school on 25
school, and the sharing of our 90th birthday celebration               February 1929. Memories and the history of the school can
was a truly special occasion.                                          be found at stanmore.hants.sch.uk/our-history.
‘The school was alive with children's accomplishments on                                                    Sharon Taylor, Headteacher
display, and their enthusiasm for their school palpable. The

                                                                       12
SPANISH
                 HIGHER INTERMEDIATE
                                                Lipreading Classes
                 CONVERSATION CLASS
                                              Do you have a Hearing Loss?
                                              Are you over 18?
      Badger Farm Community Centre
                                              Feel that you miss parts of
         Wednesday 9.45-11.45                 the conversation or always
                                              asking people to repeat what
                                              they have said?

                                              Beginning to feel isolated or frustrated at not feeling
We are a small, friendly group of people
                                              able to join in social occasions as much as you'd like?
who meet every Wednesday for 2 hours.
                                              The Community Centre holds Lipreading Classes during
 Ven y únete a nuestra clase. Hablamos,       term time. Wednesday 2–4pm in the Warren Room.
escuchamos historias, vemos películas y nos   Taught by a qualified, experienced Lipreading Tutor in a
                                              relaxed and safe environment.
            divertimos mucho.
                                              For more information about Lipreading Classes in
                                              Winchester, Romsey and a new learners class in
    We are very keen to welcome new           Eastleigh, please check the Association of Lipreading
                                              Teachers to Adults, ATLA website.
members to our informal classes so, if you
      are interested, contact us at           For more information about the Badger Farm Lipreading
                                              Group, contact Sandy.
   esglearnspanish@gmail.com for more
                                              sandydawn3064@gmail.com | longmeadow.rcs@gmail.com
               information.

                                              13
It's all too much …
                                  "Jack, not his real name, has another scan at Andover Hospital and this time it's at 9.30.
                                  That was OK while Jack was driving …" and so the appeals go on and on. The real or imag-
ined example is now the standard way for charities to try and grab your attention and money. The trouble is that with multiple
media blasting you repeatedly, it's all too much. It's enough to give you compassion fatigue. So …
Please may I have your attention for about 2 minutes using the old fashioned method. We have a need in our community and
we would really like your help.
Medical appointments aren't much fun at the best of times but if you live alone, or no longer drive a car and are on limited
means, just the transport can be an expensive, worrying and time-consuming challenge. Just try getting to Andover for 9.30
without your own car …
Winchester Good Neighbours offers transport to those (usually elderly) with difficulty getting to and from medical appoint-
ments, asking just a modest donation (e.g. a routine appointment with home and surgery in city limits, £4 return) to cover
our volunteers’ car costs. We also try and ‘match’ volunteer and client so that over time it's a known face that comes to the
door.
Among all the needs that are out there, this is one where donating a few hours a month (only when possible) is of so much
value. If you have a car and can help (your costs are covered), please, please pick up the phone or drop us an e-mail … or
get in touch if you need transport.
                    08450 948946 | goodneighbours.org.uk | winchestergoodneighbours@outlook.com

                                                                  stand with vulnerable children and their families – who are
                     From your MP                                 often of course highly vulnerable themselves. Our teachers
                     Supporting local schools remains a           are doing an incredible job but, as I said in Parliament, right
                     major priority for me so it was really       now it feels like they are expected to be housing officers,
                     great to lead a special 'Schools in          mental health professionals and even nutritionists and that's
                     Winchester' debate in the House of           not sustainable.
                     Commons recently. My speech covered          I closed the debate with a plea to the Schools Minister, and
funding, capital projects, teachers' pensions, the work of        the new Prime Minister, to produce a long-term funded plan
PTA's as well as high needs provision and was contributed to      for schools as has recently happened for the NHS where I
by a number of headteachers from across my constituency           was until recently a Minister. You can read and/or watch my
where every school bar one is either 'good' or 'outstanding'      speech, which didn't pull any punches, at
at the current time.                                              stevebrine.com/schoolsdebate.
As well as the Teachers' Pension Scheme – employer                Finally, Parliament rose on one day for its Summer recess
contributions are due to increase to 23.6% this year and I        and my 2019 Summer Tour began the next with a very
challenged the Minister to provide long-term funding              successful pop-up street surgery in Winchester Village and a
certainty given the increase is only confirmed to be met by       supermarket surgery at
Government for 2019/20 – I majored on funding issues. In          Sainsbury's Badger
particular the challenge of increased per-pupil funding           Farm. We had a queue
alongside a reduction in the lump sum across Hampshire to         for the full two hours
bring it in line with the national funding formula – a decision   we were there so thank
taken by the Hampshire Schools Forum a few years back.            you to everyone who
The truth is, it has created winners and losers depending on      took time out from their
the size of the school, and this is a particular challenge for    grocery shopping to
small rural schools in our area who I liaised with closely        stop and chat. Talk was
while writing the speech and were mentioned specifically, as      of Brexit and Boris of
was Oliver's Battery Primary which has undergone such a           course as well as uncollected bins (by Winchester City
positive transformation in recent years.                          Council) and the council's plans for a near doubling of
The major focus, however, was on high needs funding given         resident parking permits and the end of free on-street
so many local schools are seeing a marked increase in the         parking/Sunday parking. Constituent views very welcome on
needs of children, especially with regards to social,             steve.brine.mp@parliament.uk.
emotional and mental health. Sure Hampshire has received          As we move into the Summer period – and the Autumn to
an additional £6m in High Needs block funding but it clearly      come – you can see my reaction to the latest Brexit
cannot keep up with demand. In 2014 there were 5,500              developments (and priorities for the new Prime Minister) via
pupils with a statement across Hampshire; in 2019 there           my website at stevebrine.com but please 'like' my Page at
are 8,300 with EHCP's! If you add to this how stretched           fb.com/SteveBrineMP for instant updates.
CAMHs and the Supporting Families Programme are in our
                                                                                                                  Steve Brine
area we have the perfect storm in my opinion which says
                                                                      MP for Winchester, Oliver's Battery and Badger Farm
clearly we need so much more support in our schools to

                                                                  14
BenitA YogA
                                     We are based in Oliver’s Battery, Winchester.
                                     Specialising in airport transfers and long distance
                                     travel. All drivers are CRB checked by Winchester
                                     City Council and we offer chaperoning for
                                     unaccompanied minors. Providing a polite,
                                     professional service, all vehicles are kept to a very
                                     high standard. We use Mercedes E Class cars and
                                     also have a long wheel base 8 passenger VW
                                     Transporter, ideal for evenings out, airport or dock
                                     transfers. We are happy to discuss all your
                                     specific requirements.
Small classes and private lessons
                                     All major credit cards accepted in car or via
 Specialistic Therapeutic Yoga
                                     phone.

     Olivers Battery                 Book online at:
                                        bookings@winchesterexecutivetravel.com
        Contact Carolyn                  Tel: 01962 676676 or 07795254193
     07759 778436                         114 Oliver’s Battery Road South, Oliver’s Battery,
                                                 Winchester, Hampshire, SO22 4HB
    www.benitayoga.co.uk

                                    15
well-behaved and a credit to the school – well done Years 5
                                                                     and 6.
                                                                     Year 6 leavers
                                                                     We waved a fond and very proud farewell to our Year 6 on
                                                                     23 July. We have some great memories of the children from
                                                                     their time at Oliver's Battery. One of which being an incredi-
Sports Day                                                           ble performance of Charlie and the Chocolate factory. All the
On Thursday 23 May the children at Oliver's Battery Primary          children got involved and worked together to put on a show
School took part in Sports Day. The sun shone brightly and           that highlighted their great sense of humour and wide range
all the children were looking forward to the day. During the         of talents. The children very much enjoyed their last week at
morning the children in Key Stage 1 and Foundation Stage             school with a Friday night activities evening, where they got
completed a variety of activities to highlight the skills they       to have a water fight with members of staff, and a lovely
had learnt this year in PE and several individual and team           leavers assembly where they shared their best memories.
races. The children scored points for their House throughout         We hope you all have a lovely relaxing summer and enjoy the
the morning. After a lovely picnic lunch on the school field         challenges that face you at secondary school.
the children in Key Stage 2 came out to begin their events.
Activities included football skills, hockey skills, netball skills   Lunch Time supervisors
and sprinting. All the children had to work together and earn        We are looking for a lunch time supervisor to join our team
points for their House. After some very close races, points          on a Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday. The lunch time will run
were given and the scores were added up. The winning team            for an hour from 12.00. If you know anyone who would be
was the Yellow house. A great day was had by all!                    interested, please contact the school office. As with every
                                                                     job in the school, this will be subject to pre-employment
Paultons Park                                                        checks and an interview.
Years 5 and 6 visited Paultons Park and had a thrilling day!
They enjoyed meeting a snake called Matilda, two rats and a          For details of all the latest happenings at school, visit our
millipede. They learnt all about their lifestyles and had the        website: oliversbatteryprimary.com. If you would like to visit
opportunity to hold them. The afternoons were spent in the           the school, please call 01962 869496 to make an appoint-
park – an activity that was enjoyed by all! They were all very       ment. Our acting Head, Mrs Redfern, would be delighted to
                                                                     show you around.

                                20 Years of Oliver's Battery Preschool!
                 We are proud to celebrate our 20th anniver-         to receive their certificates.
                 sary and are looking forward to another dec-        A few tears were shed, and
                 ade of providing preschool education to our         not just by the children, but
community. We have enjoyed the support of our community,             staff too as they bid good-
parents and particularly Oliver's Battery Primary School over        bye to another cohort. After
the decades. From our first days within the school itself to         graduation it was straight
the parents building our current building we have cherished          onto the Teddy Bear's Pic-
                               the support we have.                  nic – our traditional final
                                                                     farewell event for children
                                Highlights of the past term
                                                                     and families. Sadly, the sun did not have his hat on as the
                                have been the visit by the fire-
                                                                     heavens opened! Instead of our usual frolicking on the play-
                                men and a chance to get up
                                                                     ing fields the children tucked into an indoor picnic. Cake was
                                close and personal with the
                                                                     in abundance and proved a magnet for all (you're never too
                                truck! The mud kitchen has
                                                                     old for cake! – especially if it has teddy bears on it).
                                been more of a dust bowl this
                                term while there was plenty of       While looking forward to the next decade we need to update
                                dust as the kids blazed a trail      our building and would like to offer the community an oppor-
                                through sports day.                  tunity to help us out so that we can carry on providing excel-
                                                                     lent preschool education in the heart of our community at a
                                Our class of 2019 graduated
                                                                     time when so many providers have had to close. If you can
                                and our little professors were
                                                                     help us with this fundraising project please contact us.
                                decked out in royal blue robes
Government funded 15 hours a week childcare available for            For more information, please contact our Pre-School leader,
all 3 and 4 and some eligible 2 year olds. We offer govern-          Jackie Johnston, on oliversbattery.preschool@gmail.com or
ment funded 30 hours for 3 and 4 year olds subject to eligi-         07941 796958 or pop by and see us.
bility. Conveniently located in the beautiful and spacious
                                                                      ▪ Rated across the board as ‘good’ by Ofsted and where
grounds of Oliver's Battery Primary School, we accept all
                                                                        ‘Children form strong bonds with the staff’
children from the age of two years to school age, regardless
                                                                      ▪ Opening times: Monday to Thursday: 8:45–15:15; Friday
of which Primary School they will attend.
                                                                        8:45–12:45 with flexible drop off and pick up times.

                                                                     16
ter gushes down with an aquatic applause of a waterfall as it
A walk on the bright side                                      reaches the Itchen. The Mill is steeped in history from the
Autumn is the most beautiful season and as memorable as
                                                               Saxon period, spanning a thousand years.
a multi-coloured sunset. The leaves, enhanced by the sun
shining on and filtering through, glow with shades of amber,   Within the immediate area is the Bridge Patisserie, the
red and gentle mauve. Mesmeric fascination. The myriad         Chesil Restaurant, The Rising Sun and the Bishop on the
colours and distinct scent that accompany Nature's prepara-    Bridge with a terrace overlooking the river. Not far from the
tion for the winter months combine, becoming a master-         Chesil theatre is the 'Black Boy' Inn. Certainly worth a visit,
piece of scenic beauty.                                        as is the friendly River Cottage, great for tea, coffee, cakes,
                                                                                   or lunch.
Winchester beckons the walker to wander
along the Water Meadows to the city.                                              Clearly visible is the mystic St. Giles' Hill,
There are numerous signs providing vari-                                          boasting different types of arboreal splen-
ous ways to the historic centre. Glancing                                         dour, tempting the onlooker to climb to the
around, the majesty and Nature's grace is                                         top and witness the most dramatic Autum-
awe inspiring. The ruins of Wolvesey, in-                                         nal views of the historical gem that is Win-
spired by of Bishop Henry of Blois in the                                         chester. The scenic beauty of St. Giles' Hill
12th Century are both impressive and at-                                          is enhanced by the all-round vistas: in one
mospheric. Liberate the imagination, float                                        direction, St Catherine's Hill in the dis-
back in time and witness in the mind's eye                                        tance; in another, the Cathedral rising up
the full glory of this once majestic creation.                                    out of the centre. From an observation
                                                                                  platform the shades of Autumn bless the
Turning left on exiting Wolvesey, stroll
                                                                                  city centre with warmth and majesty.
along the side of the River Itchen, over-
looked by the medieval city wall and battlements. The rip-     On descending, pause to look at the iconic statue of King
pling sound of the river and the quacking ducks, graceful      Alfred, the only English monarch afforded the title of 'Great'.
swans; so peaceful yet minutes from the bustling High          Enjoy the historical significance and the peace and tranquilli-
Street.                                                        ty of the countryside just minutes' away from the city centre.
                                                               Flowing water and beautiful gardens.
The Winchester City Mill, today managed by the National
Trust, is the most ancient in England and is the western       A Beacon of Autumnal Splendour.
gateway to the South Downs Way. Beneath the Mill, the wa-                                                     Simon Lever

                                                               17
Winchester City Festival Choir
              We are recruiting singers for our next concert.
The concert, in February 2020, features Dvorak's Mass in D
and includes music by Bach, Mozart, Faure and others.
Prospective new members are invited to come to either or
both:
     ● An introduction to the music, Sunday 8 September
       from 2 to 4.30 pm
     ● Our first rehearsal on Wednesday 11 September at
       7.30 pm
Both take place at the Memorial Hall, Littleton, SO22 6QL.
Rehearsals during the year are usually in Littleton on
Wednesdays. On the third Wednesday of the month they will
be in Oliver's Battery. Just come along or for further informa-
tion please see our website, wcfchoir.org, or send an email
to wcfc_sec@hotmail.com.

                                                                  18
mercial use. There are sites that offer free fonts, but some
Tech Talk                                                            are notorious for pirating copyrighted fonts or including mal-
As well as being Winchester Computer Tutor, I've been the            ware, so you must choose carefully.
editor of Community News since the spring. I've enjoyed re-          If in doubt, go with the big boys. And they don't get bigger
designing the newsletter and when setting up my first edition        than Google. With over 900 free fonts at fonts.google.com,
I took a long time choosing the fonts. Font choice is like           your problem may be that there's too much choice. You can
housework – no-one notices when you do a good job, but               use the search tools to find fonts based on their type (serif
everyone notices when you don't!                                     or handwriting, for example), language or other characteris-
The right font can make a difference in the                                             tics. You can also use the font pairings rec-
way you get your message across, not just                                               ommendations to find fonts that work well
in publications like Community News, but                                                together.
in work and personal documents and even                                                When you've found your ideal font, select,
in emails. If you're designing a website,                                              download and install it: tinyurl.com/wct-
font choice becomes even more critical –                                               fonts will guide you through this process.
‘it can have a real effect on your site's bounce
                                                                                       If the Google fonts don’t meet your needs,
rates and conversion rates, especially if you
                                                                                       other reputable font sites are dafont.com,
choose a font that's hard for your visitors to read.’
                                                                                       fontspace.com and fontsquirrel.com.
kinsta.com/blog/best-google-fonts.
                                                                                       Some of my favourites for fun projects are
Windows 10 comes with around 100 fonts
                                                                     Ink Draft from the Microsoft store; Courgette, Parisienne,
already installed, with a few more available from the Micro-
                                                                     Poiret One from Google; Kingthings Wrote, Montez and 1942
soft store. While that sounds like a lot, you may still feel that
                                                                     report from Font Squirrel. The medieval section of
you can't find the perfect font for your project. So where can
                                                                     FontSpace has a great collection of illustrated letters and
you get new ones?
                                                                     there's a party atmosphere in the Mexican section of daFont!
It takes time and effort to design a great font, so many cost        One word of warning – too many fonts can slow down your
a lot of money and have restrictions on, for example, com-           computer, so don't get too carried away.
                   winchestercomputertutor.co.uk/anns-thoughts ~ ann@winchestercomputertutor.co.uk ~ Ann                Jury

                               Volunteering makes
                               you happy!
                                                                                                       Art Group
                                                                                                   The Badger Farm Art Group has
With busy lives, it can be hard to find time to volunteer, but the                                 been going for many years now,
benefits of volunteering are enormous to you, your family and                                      with some of the original mem-
your community. The right match can help you to reduce stress,                                     bers still attending. We could
find friends, reach out to the community, learn new skills, and       give out some ‘long service awards’, but we also have some
even advance your career. Giving to others can also help protect      new members who have joined much more recently. There
your mental and physical health.                                      is always space for some new faces though.
Community First is a charity which helps people in the Winches-       The group works usually on their own projects with their
ter area to find the right volunteer opportunity. The Volunteer
                                                                      own equipment, but I am on hand to offer advice, alterna-
Service team offers advice and expertise on what volunteering
                                                                      tive materials, books/photos. Sometimes we will do some
opportunities are available and has a dedicated website, Volun-
                                                                      figure drawing from a model, or I may suggest a theme for
teer Wessex, where you can search for suitable roles from the
                                                                      the group to work on.
comfort of your own home.
If you would like to find out more about how you can get involved     The group is a very friendly, welcoming and supportive
with volunteering in your area, go to volunteerwessex.org or you      bunch of people. We enjoy having a chat and a cup of tea,
can book an appointment at The Discovery Centre with one of           and sometimes some cake! If you fancy joining us, or just
our team. Just ring Julie Eden on 01730 777514 or email               coming to have a look, please pop in to get some more in-
volunteer@cfirst.org.uk. We look forward to hearing from you.         formation. Your first session will be free, so it’s worth a try!
                                                                                       bfobrca.org/activities/badger-farm-art-group

                  Winchester Young Embroiderers
                  This friendly group meets for a workshop once during each school holiday on a Friday. It is run by members of
                  the Winchester Embroiderers' Guild who teach embroidery stitches as well as other craft techniques such as
                  felting and printing. At each workshop we combine techniques to make a complete project such as a phone
                  case or pencil pot. No experience necessary.
                  Forthcoming workshops are on 1 November 2019 and 3 January 2020. Contact Karen Brooking at
                  brooking.karen@gmail.com for more details.

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