“Rest is not idleness, and to lie sometimes on the grass under trees on a summer’s day, listening to the murmur of the water, or watching the clouds float across the sky, is by no means a waste of time.”

John Lubbock

Neither is catching up with what’s going on in Badger Farm and Oliver’s Battery in the Summer 2021 edition of Community News.

Our Summer 2021 Headline

As we went to press, the auction for the Davis Kickabout had not taken place, so we celebrate the benefits that green space brings to our community.

News from the Community Centre

We have reopened the Community Centre and are delighted to welcome back many of our regular groups and also see some new ones. Among are new groups is the Southern Sport Karate Organisation (SSKO). This has had a successful Martial Arts school based in Winchester for nearly 20 years. They are now relocating to the Community Centre. Our Art Group continues at home with their creative weekly challenges. They are hopeful that they can meet up again in June.

Parish and Government News

Parish Councils

Oliver’s Battery Parish Council thanks all local residents who submitted a response to the recent consultation on the WCC Local Plan. The PC continues to support Save South Winchester Campaign Group. The group is resisting the proposed 5,000 dwelling Royaldown development and the potential 1,000 dwelling development at South Winchester Golf Club. SSWCG’s Facebook is fb.com/groups/2866539066961471 and its website is sswcg.co.uk. In other projects, the PC are running a Recreation Ground Survey and are holding a Green Picnic on the Battery on 10 July.

Badger Farm Parish Council is totally committed to trying to retain the Davis Kickabout open space for the community to enjoy and prevent any development on it. Thanks to the help of a group of keen volunteer residents they have now established our three wildflower reserves. The volunteers have added around 200 native plug plants to complement the wildflowers already growing in these areas.

City Council

Winchester City Council shares the District Councillor Annual Report 2020/2021. This summary from many departments shows the work they have been carrying out for us this year.

County Council

Hampshire County Council has a 1,900-hectare farm estate. Holdings range from 1.8 hectares (4.45 acres) to 114 hectares (282 acres). These provide an affordable first step on the farming ladder for aspiring farmers and make a significant contribution to the rural economy. As spring approaches and more people are outdoors Hampshire residents are urged to be ‘tick aware’. A wide range of household items can be taken to one of Hampshire’s 24 HWRCs for recycling or disposal. Information about what can and cannot be deposited can be found online.

Member of Parliament

Steve Brine looks at the subject of development in South Winchester given we’re seemingly being circled by developers whichever way we turn right now. It was a welcome return at the end of May for his ASKtheNHS series of public meetings. He recently joined officers from the British Transport Police at Winchester station as they carried out an important ‘county lines’ operation.

Our Local Schools

John Keble CofE Primary School, Hursley are new to the magazine in the Summer 2021 edition. Executive Headteacher Marcus Roe takes the opportunity of introducing the school to all of us.

As a Church of England school, we work and learn with our four Christian Values at the heart of what we do. These are: Love, Forgiveness, Trust and Hope. We also refer to the quotation from the Bible, ‘Love one another as I have loved you’ (John 13:34) to help guide us developing young people who can ‘do well and do some good’ in the world. Our Trust Deed goes all the way back to 1839, when the original school was established to provide free education to children of faith, no faith or of different faith. Everyone is welcome and we respect and celebrate diversity in our community.

The Primary School and Pre-school in Oliver’s Battery have now officially merged to become Oliver’s Battery Primary and Nursery School. After 8 weeks on the Edible Playground project, the staff have been able to let all the children out and get their hands dirty. All classes from our Nursery class to Year 5/6s have been planting and tasting the herbs that are growing. Both the staff and children are really excited to announce that they will be rescuing some former battery hens who will be joining the school.

In their final article, Oliver’s Battery Preschool celebrate their history and share pictures of the demolition of the chalet as the pre-school is officially incorporated into the Primary School. They’d love to hear your memories; please share them on the Community Centre’s Facebook page @BadgerFarmCommunityCentre.

It is people and purpose that make a building. In this instance, it was the community who built it, the staff who worked in it and the children who all made it more than just wood and plaster. It was a place of safety, a foundation of learning and trust with a whole host of memories held together with glue, paint, playdough and glitter.

Over the past couple of years everyone at St Peter’s Primary School has been striving to achieve ‘The St Peter’s Polish’. While recognising that much of what they already achieve is good, they all know that with a little more effort, a bit more of a push or an additional thought to how they finish the job we can ensure there is that polish and so they achieve more. This is something they celebrate weekly with the St Peter’s Polish certificate.

Little Fishes Pre-School at St Peter’s School have been focusing on health and wellbeing, as part of mental health awareness in young people. There has been a lot of research into the benefits of gardening, nature and being outdoors. The children have enthusiastically engaged in growing vegetables and encouraging wildlife into the garden.

At Stanmore Primary School, they are enjoying planning their Summer Calendar with some familiar looking events. Although they are not yet certain how plans will unfold this year, they are doing their utmost to ensure that the children and families have plenty to look forward to. This year they have created an exciting new event. Their own ‘Reading Festival’ – the book version! The theme will be ‘Twisted Tales’. Children will put on their festival wrist bands and visit the different stages, including the Storyteller’s stage, the creative stage, Etymology and the Character Stage.

Badger Farm Preschool Playgroup has been an integral part of the community for over 30 years. They have a long-standing, established team who have a wide range of experience that enables them to provide a safe, caring and exciting place to come and play and learn. Their strong focus on pastoral care means all children thrive and become part of the Badger Farm family. They pride themselves on being part of the community. This they feed into the curriculum through visits, walks and links with local business. If you have preschool-aged children and are looking for a place, please contact them at deniseinpreschool@hotmail.co.uk.

Local Organisations and Clubs

Support and Advice

Lesley Rose, Advice Services Manager for Citizens Advice Winchester District, shares her advice on how best to deal with your energy supply issues. For more information about an energy related issues visit citizensadvice.org.uk/consumer/energy/energy-supply.

During the month of April, Neighbourhood Watch launched its ‘Protect your car campaign’. Leave your car:

• Locked A simple mistake can prove calamitous.
• Lit Parking near street lamps or in a busy area can deter thieves.
• Empty Personal belongings are also at risk of being stolen.

Head over to ourwatch.org.uk for videos on how to ensure your car is Locked, Lit and Empty.

Nature Groups

The Winchester Local Group of the Hampshire & IOW Wildlife Trust is planning to hold some guided walks on the nature reserves this summer. Meanwhile, all the county Wildlife Trusts have just launched this year’s 30 days Wild Challenge. Can you do one wild thing a day throughout the month of June?

Winchester Horticultural Society hope that by the time you read this, Summer will be in full swing and all the cool nights and days in late Spring but a faint memory. This summer, they are featuring talks on Growing Vegetables without a Garden, Flowers of Reserves and the Propagation of Garden Plants. At the time of writing, members and visitors still need to book places in advance by ringing 01962 868862. For up-to-date information visit winhortsoc.weebly.com.

Other Groups

Oliver’s Battery Brownies certainly had an interesting year so far. Covid restrictions have caused complications to meeting face to face but they’ve had a varied programme introducing the girls to different aspects of the 6 themes: Know Myself, Be Well, Express Myself, Have Adventures, Skills for Life and Take Action. By the time you read this we may well be back to meeting in person outside on The Battery. Oliver’s Battery Brownies is 50 in December this year! Were you or someone in your family a Brownie with us or did you help with the unit in some way? They’d love to hear your memories and welcome you to join them for an event to be planned for early 2022.

Oliver’s Battery WI celebrate the start of a new year as well as their 21st birthday – albeit virtually. Committee members did doorstep deliveries to every member, dropping off Birthday goodies (Meeting in a Bag) to accompany the virtual yet magical encounter with locally based magician Michael King, who taught some basic tricks with which to entertain friends and grandchildren.

St Mark’s Church are progressing with their renovations and expect to open up the building again in May. If you would like to see more photos and donate please visit the church website.

Keith Bunker shares a talk Robin Galvin of the charity ‘Medical Detection Dogs’ recently gave to the North Hampshire Prostate Cancer Support Group. These amazing dogs can detect diseases ranging from cancer to Covid-19. The charity also trains ‘Alert’ dogs to live and work with patients suffering from life restricting illnesses such as type 1 diabetes or severe allergies.

Winchester and District SpeedWatch is a locally driven initiative allowing members of the public to monitor speeds of vehicles using speed detection devices. Community SpeedWatch is supported by Hampshire Police and managed by a local police Safer Neighbourhood Team. The aim is to educate drivers to reduce their speeds and, in partnership with the community, is used in circumstances that are necessary, justifiable and proportionate.

General Articles for Summer 2021

Food Miles

According to Mike Berners-Lee, in his book How Bad are Bananas?, 8.6% of the carbon footprint of food (or its greenhouse gas emissions), as it leaves a UK supermarket, is due to transport. Brian Shorter shares some tips on how we can help cut this down.

Winchester Radio

Volunteer-led, community-driven, award-winning Winchester Radio is a local charity supporting older people to live healthy, happy, independent lives and stay connected; and helping to reduce loneliness and isolation. Presently they are looking to recruit more volunteers into a wide variety of roles including: fundraising for the charity, engineering, management/Team Leader positions, research & writing, out & about community reporting and presenting, community engagement, charity administration, and recording and editing features. Please express your interest by phoning or texting Anna O’Brien on 01962 603947 or getting in touch through the contact form you’ll find on winchester.radio.

Wishing You Well

Nutritionist Amanda Turner tells us that Vitamin C is Causing an evolutionary Commotion! Human beings are one of a very limited number of species (including guinea pigs and bats) who need to get adequate amounts of Vitamin C from their food intake. Rich sources of vitamin C include citrus fruits (oranges, lemons, grapefruit), kiwifruit, strawberries, blackberries, broccoli, red peppers. Along with eating these foods, a favourite hack to ensure a good daily vitamin C intake is to add juice from half an organic lemon from Riverford to 1–2 litres of water daily or adding a few drops of freshly-squeezed lemon juice to cooled black tea.

Tech Talk

Just hours after her last article went to print, LastPass sent Ann Jury an email telling her that the free version of their password manager would no longer work across multiple platforms. That left her having to decide whether to pay for the premium version or to find a new password manager. Which brings her to a topic she’s been planning to write about for a while … where to find information you can trust to keep up-to-date in the tech world. And for the record: having done her research on a replacement for LastPass, Ann has switched to Bitwarden.

A walk on the bright side

Simon Lever celebrates Summer on the Pathway to Compton.

Dramatic, awesome, lifts the heart; Summer is here!

Nature Notes

Norma Goodwin was delighted on 19th March to find the grassy banks along Enmill Lane bright with clumps of primrose and crowds of lesser celandine, their faces lifted to the sun. She was told a number of hares had been feeding there in the fields but was a day too late so the yellow flowers were a welcome consolation. On 3rd April, an early swallow was seen flying low over Texas Fields and a couple of house martins across the lake on the golf course. The martins, returning from sub-Saharan Africa are arriving later this year but will soon take up residence in the same nesting sites under the eaves of some houses in Plovers Down. If you’ve visited the wildlife area beyond the recreation ground since mid-March you will have seen a new bench presented by the Hardman family in memory of their parents Christine and Harold. Norma invites anyone who finds it rewarding to work outside surrounded by nature to join the Oliver’s Battery Countryside Group.

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We hope you enjoyed reading the Summer 2021 edition of Community News. If you have a community contribution for the next edition or would like to advertise with us, please get in touch with Ann Jury, Community News Editor, at bfobrca.cnews@gmail.com. The editorial deadline for the Autumn 2021 issue is Friday 6 August 2021.

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