| 1 | NO. 100 - ALRESFORD REMEMBERED by Freda Kelsall |
| 2 | My dream had always been to live in a country cottage , and earn my living as a writer . |
| 3 | By the 1960s , I 'd had a novel published , and made a start in radio and television . |
| 4 | I was also teaching very happily in Greater London . |
| 5 | But the rural dream persisted . |
| 6 | My cottage would be , ideally , a short walk away from a peaceful town or village steeped in history , preferably with a tree - lined main street or square to do visual justice to its Georgian architecture , and a community of interesting people who enjoyed life and each other . |
| 7 | Then two ladies who had been good friends to me in London moved to a farmhouse near Bramdean , where my visits to them provided a contrast to the noise , traffic and seediness of the capital city . |
| 8 | Weekends often included visiting a gracious garden , Hinton Ampner , or Coles at Privett coffee in the Hobby Horse in Alresford 's Broad Street , a browse in Laurence Oxley 's bookshop . |
| 9 | The choice of where to buy my next home became no problem . |
| 10 | The town of Alresford felt like home from the moment I stepped off the train on a Friday evening as church bells rang in weekly practice . |
| 11 | The rail service then from Alresford to Waterloo , changing at Alton , was a reliable link to TV producers and meetings of the Society of Authors ; I had no fear of being professionally stranded . |
| 12 | With the help of a House Purchase loan from Winchester R.D.C. , ( single young women had little chance of getting a Building Society mortgage before 1970 ) I bought a Victorian villa in the Dean and was offered a job at Perins School . |
| 13 | I arrived with high hopes and a mongrel puppy . |
| 14 | Thus began perfection . |
| 15 | Compared to the stress of pneumatic drills digging up the Finchley Road , newly - lined with porn shops , near my London flat , any quiet country town with decent neighbourly values would have been a treat . |
| 16 | But Alresford was more than that , much more . |
| 17 | There was an inspirational magic in the place . |
| 18 | I fell in love with my five - minute walk into town along a footpath by the Arle , past the Fulling Mill and the War Memorial Garden , where the swimming pool had been recently filled in and grassed over . |
| 19 | If I add together the moments of tranquil reflection spent in this quintessential corner of England , maybe I spent months watching the river in all its moods , with birds and brown trout its courtiers , willow and alder its sentinels . |
| 20 | From there it was possible to walk to Stockbridge hardly crossing tarmac at all , or take a shorter stroll to the Bush at Ovington . |
| 21 | Even before I joined the staff of Perins one of the teachers introduced himself by vaulting my gate . |
| 22 | Jim Cordingley was on the Parish Council , a useful source of information . |
| 23 | The school was going comprehensive , and , in the two years I taught there , builders were busy making adaptations , and constructing the Rosla ' block to accommodate extra 15 - year - olds affected by the raising of the school - leaving age . |
| 24 | First - and second - year pupils followed a course of integrated studies , with team teaching , and both GCE and CSE were on offer , few students left without academic qualifications . |
| 25 | There was a thriving music and drama tradition , and highlights of a year would be productions of operettas as ambitious as Die Fledermaus . |
| 26 | In my own late teens , I had combined working shills in a public library with a four - year part - time drama course , in the belief that all intending writers need daily access to books and plays ! |
| 27 | At first glance , Alresford seemed to lack theatre , but Guy Ingram and Monica Griffin at the Hobby Horse enrolled me in Ropley Dramatic Society where there was energy and talent , and I soon discovered plays were performed regularly by good amateur groups in Hampshire village halls . |
| 28 | The Rev. George Beechey ( his Rectory recently struck by a thunderbolt ) invited me to teach in the Sunday School at St. John 's . |
| 29 | At the Church there were concerts , and in the John Pearson Hall and the nearby Community Centre a whole series of events , mainly raising funds for good causes , enough to fill a diary to overflowing . |
| 30 | On the panel for an Any Questions ? evening at Perins once , I was asked how newcomers to Alresford got to know people ! |
| 31 | My reply was , in the absence of children , who play a pivotal role in introducing families to each other , exercise a dog ! |
| 32 | For me , daily encounters on footpaths with fellow dog - owners opened informal acquaintance with a splendid cross - section of my neighbours , unhindered by comparisons of wealthy incomes , social and domestic background or professional prestige . |
| 33 | I heard a lot of gossip and some interesting ideas . |
| 34 | I walked miles in new company . |
| 35 | I did n't do much writing ! |
| 36 | My excuse was that I had lessons to prepare , and homework to mark . |
| 37 | Perhaps it was a sense of well - being , perhaps a recognition that Alresford 's supportive friendliness could make things happen , that decided me , when the chance came , to take the risk of going self - employed . |
| 38 | I 'd had my first contract for a TV drama series , and a hint that there could be more where that came from if I made myself available . |
| 39 | Giving up a permanent job could have turned out to be an act of sheer folly , but the consequence was a delightful medley of part - time jobs which not only kept me in funds until the income from writing covered my needs , but also drew me closer to the varied textures and character of Alresford life . |
| 40 | For a time , I still worked a couple of afternoons supply teaching at Perins ; most mornings I was trying to be helpful in the Studio Bookshop , in the picture - framing department with George and Beryl Watson , or at the laminating press . |
| 41 | George , a part - time fireman , wore a bleeper to call him out to a fire . |
| 42 | It was always impressive when gentlemen of the town urgently left their work and could be seen dashing down West Street to Pound Hill in response to their bleepers . |
| 43 | One evening before their annual fancy dress dance , George and a colleague were secretly trying on their wigs and frocks at home , and I 'd made their faces up to the point of applying mascara , when the bleepers went off . |
| 44 | Convinced it was a hoax until it became clear that a chimney in the Pink House across Broad Street was on fire they attended as they were , only to be told ‘ to keep out of the way , ladies ’ . |
| 45 | Other jobs at various times included helping some of the more able ‘ boys ’ at Tichborne Down Hospital with their communication skills , for me a happy experience - they were always so cheerful , in spite of various difficulties , and tackled the work with a will . |
| 46 | Some of them had jobs in the Dean , at Taylors of London , making scented candles and filling lavender bags . |
| 47 | For a few hours each week I was on duty in Alresford Library , a haven of civilisation except one day after heavy rain when it was flooded . |
| 48 | I would always choose to live near water , but one can have too much of it . |
| 49 | On several occasions , floodwater poured down the Dean seeking the river , and found the cellars of our terrace . |
| 50 | Local ducks were often pedestrians up the road , so when new bungalows replaced the old Dean Junior School , I liked the name Mallard Close . |
| 51 | For a time , I worked in the kitchen at O'Rorke 's restaurant in Pound Hill , where feral cats came hopefully to introduce their kittens to bon viveur luxury leftovers , and where I learnt a recipe for ratatouille I use to this day . |
| 52 | In the golden 1970s , there were enough fascinating part - time jobs within walking distance to keep an aspiring writer alive , and I enjoyed them all . |
| 53 | I was also finding time most days to write , having completed my first single play for television , The Reason Of Things in the autumn of 1973 , and started on a twenty - episode drama series of How We Used To Live , Yorkshire Television 's social history programme for schools . |
| 54 | But I did n't write on Saturday mornings . |
| 55 | I held drama classes for local children at the Community Centre , where we interpreted text with voice and movements and worked on improvisations . |
| 56 | Some students became keen enough for me to enter them as external candidates for the Guildhall School of Music and Drama exams , among them the Firths , who lived in Grange Road . |
| 57 | Potential career - actors , years later Jon would play Fred Viney in the BBC 's Middlemarch , Kate would receive a rave review in The Guardian for her portrayal of Hedda Gabler , and Colin would become the definitive Mr. Darcy in Pride And Prejudice . |
| 58 | In the mid - 1970s , I had the chance to try and make some return for the positive encouragement and quality of life Alresford was offering . |
| 59 | Mr. Oxley ( C. ) and Miss Pennington ( Lib. ) jointly nominated me for election to the non - party - political Parish Council . |
| 60 | Elected members brought individual strengths and points of view to meetings , sometimes dividing or re - grouping according to the issues under discussion . |
| 61 | These ranged from costing playground equipment to monitoring street lighting ; from allocating grants for local projects to vetting planning applications . |
| 62 | There was much excitement when it was discovered that Alresford had rights granted by ancient charter to hold a weekly market , a custom revived across several parking spaces , and against a short - lived barrage of opposition . |
| 63 | At this level of local government , serious controversy was rare , and never acrimonious . |
| 64 | The Council worked closely with the Town Trustees , and the Alresford Historical and Literary Society , which produced in 1976 the first issue of Alresford Displayed |
| 65 | I was honoured then , when Digby Grist asked me to contribute the first paper , and even more honoured twenty years later when John Adams asked me to contribute this , the hundredth ! |
| 66 | Sadly , they , like many others who made my time in Alresford so enjoyable , are no longer with us , and the town must feel their loss . |
| 67 | With the ever - welcome advice of Messrs. Hankin and Thornton , I had the distinction of being the first woman Chairman of New Alresford Parish Council , which caused a few jocular remarks about how he <sol> she <sol> it should be addressed ! |
| 68 | It was a significant time , as two major projects were under way , the purchase of recreational land at Arlebury Park , and the decision to construct a long - awaited by - pass . |
| 69 | During the 1960s and '70s , new housing developments and conversions of older properties flourished , and dilemmas of how to reconcile progress with conservation needed tactful resolution . |
| 70 | Much of my time ‘ in the chair ’ was spent at meetings where the by - pass route was debated , or urging Winchester City Council to use its powers to buy ten acres of Arlebury Park by compulsory purchase on our behalf . |
| 71 | In the decade when ‘ small is beautiful ’ was a keynote idea , the advantage of both these projects was that they made boundaries to the south and west , to a town already sealed by the river and watercress beds to the north . |
| 72 | Alresford would be spared the sprawling development experienced by similar attractive market towns at the time . |
| 73 | Not that there were any inward - looking provincial or parochial tendencies : expansion was happening in the light industrial areas , and watercress was being delivered nationwide , in spite of the railway 's closure as a link to the main line . |
| 74 | Wherever I have worked since leaving , I have been able to buy a bunch of Alresford watercress and enjoy a pang of nostalgia for walks over Fob Down . |
| 75 | Nor was the railway left derelict , but soon adopted by steam enthusiasts , whose efforts bring far more rail travellers than ever made their way down Station Road when I used the line as my regular transport . |
| 76 | Engaging toddy bears , and Victorian dolls made by Alresford Crafts , found their way into shops throughout the country . |
| 77 | When I worked on a TV series about racing drivers , one of the celebrities at an ‘ induction ’ weekend was Derek Warwick whom I 'd last seen loading picturesque ‘ bangers ’ on to trailers in the Dean . |
| 78 | In the seventies , in Broad Street , Patrick O'Donovan was writing books and regular articles for the Observer , and John Arlott was emerging from his home in Sun Hill to travel to Test Matches and broadcast to the cricketing world . |
| 79 | John Wakeham of Pinglestone was making his influence felt in the House Of Commons . |
| 80 | Former fellow - parish Councillor David Chidgey , now at Westminster for the Liberal Democrats , often appears on my TV screen , and the voice of Rosalind Adams , who lived in Mill Hill is heard almost daily in The Archers . |
| 81 | There 's a network of associations with Alresford and its people which bring happy memories to an exiled inhabitant ! |
| 82 | It 's almost impossible to select highlights from this wealth of memories ; the Queen 's Silver Jubilee in 1977 ( described in an earlier issue of Alresford Displayed ) provided several ! |
| 83 | An all - day event celebrating the 150th anniversary of Ropley School is another highlight , when a procession from Ropley to Bishops Sutton , of horse - drawn carts , and children in Victorian costume , slowed traffic on the A31 . |
| 84 | The film of it preserved a record of a thatched cottage , once the original school , destroyed by fire later that hot summer . |
| 85 | My lasting impression is a series of moments illustrating the sheer loveliness of the Hampshire countryside ; deer at dusk on the edge of Bramdean Common ; the impenetrable , neglected roses in full bloom around the ruins of Worthington Grange , before it was tidied up and made safe ; masses of butterflies on Abbotstone Down , waterfowl on Alresford Pond watched from the garden of the Globe , in town , flourishing hanging baskets in summer and , in dark December evenings , the Christmas trees over every shop . |
| 86 | Not long ago , I introduced a YTV colleague to Alresford , who asked ‘ Why did you ever leave ? ’ |
| 87 | In the summer of 1979 , the ITV channel disappeared from the national screens for months due to industrial action , and my main source of income was locked up behind picket lines . |
| 88 | My dog developed tumours and died in the autumn , despite excellent veterinary care . |
| 89 | I was sad , and worried about the future . |
| 90 | The strike was resolved , but freelance writers for Yorkshire Television would be wise to be on the spot , not trying to commute between Winchester and Leeds . |
| 91 | I had openings for single plays , series episodes , more How We Used To Live ; and by 1980 a move ‘ up north ’ seemed to offer a glimmer of financial security . |
| 92 | But Alresford still feels like home when I return . |
| 93 | Some of the shops I used to frequent are gone , others are still staffed by familiar faces . |
| 94 | There are new houses in - filling odd corners , usefully and attractively , but the visual aspect is much the same , even with major changes in Broad Street . |
| 95 | I go into the Library ( much - extended now ) and usually see the same staff on duty , and the Studio Bookshop is almost the same as it was . |
| 96 | A play I wrote for Central TV The Index Has Gone Fishing , owed its title to the relationship between these two establishments , the first so classified and orderly , the second a haven of serendipity for browsers . |
| 97 | As it was produced in the Midlands the locations chosen were in Pershore , not a bad second - best ! |
| 98 | The play received an International TV Movie Award for Best Drama , so the Americans must have liked our quiet English eccentricity ! |
| 99 | My ‘ cottage in the country ’ now overlooks Hardcastle Crags , a National Trust property in the South Pennines , and the nearby town is Victorian millstone grit , not Georgian flint and brick . |
| 100 | The writing career has branched out to include theatre , and I 've sometimes been surprised to meet Alresford friends in audiences far from home ; Miss Pennington when we toured to the Richmond Georgian Theatre in the North Yorkshire Dales , Rev. Parkes at our summer repertory season in Norfolk ... |
| 101 | Links with Alresford are never far away . |
| 102 | It 's good to see that the saplings I helped to plant in Arlebury Park and the Memorial Garden are now sturdy trees , that the by - pass is relieving traffic pressure along East Street and West Street , and above all , that the culture and character of Alresford are still unforgettably unique . |