Latest  Romsey crime report (13th Jan) Click HERE

Abbotswood Housing Estate Plan Click HERE

Cupernham schools enlargement needs

As you will be all too aware, the construction of the Abbotswood development Is now progressing at a pace and wood like to draw your attention to the improvements to Cupernham Infant and Junior Schools that are proposed in response to the resulting need for additional pupil places. The new families moving In to the housing development will carry the need for an additional 210 primary age pupil places and this is to be met by expanding the capacity of the two schools from 2 forms of entry to 3 forms of entry (up from 420 to 630 pupils). A significant budget of £4m has been raised to invest in the refurbishment and extension of the existing school buildings so that they can be transformed into 21st century learning environments. Over the past year, Hampshire County Council Children’s Services and Property Services have been working closely with the two schools to establish a brief develop proposals focused around optimising the schools for teaching and learning. This is an exciting opportunity for the schools and the wider community.

Well over a hundred local residents and parents attended a meeting at the school on Wednesday evening (Jan 11th) to meet all concerned and put forward their views. There was a very heated discussion regarding parking problems in Bransley Close which leads to the school. Plans and proposals were on display for all to see.

Roy Romsey report from Buenos Aires

Buenos Aires beckoned once again, it was the allure of Argentinean food, the sound of Tango music, the warmth of its summer sun and the escape from the UK winter blues that prompted us to take the 14 hour overnight flight to South America.

It was early morning when we arrived; a 'Welcome Romseys' sign led us to a waiting car which quickly whisked us off to our hotel in the shimmering heat of downtown Buenos Aires, some 40 kms away. Our travel arrangements had been booked through Dialaflight, a company we highly recommend.

Read more..

Digital Switchover

February/March 2012 our television signal is switching to digital. For people not yet on digital there is a help scheme if they are over 75, disabled or on certain benefits - if you know individuals in your area who are likely to be in this category please check they have received their letters about the help scheme and know what they need to do to continue watching television after the switchover. The links below are to the website and materials about both the switchover and the help scheme.

http://www.digitaluk.co.uk/home 

http://www.digitaluk.co.uk/__data/assets/pdf_file/0008/36692/HS_Leaflet_Final_Sept_10.pdf 

http://www.digitaluk.co.uk/__data/assets/pdf_file/0018/36801/DUK_5Facts_Leaf_Dec2010.pdf 

Boxing Day Classic Car and Bike meet

by Steve Biddlecombe

"WOW, what a day!! How on earth can I summarize on one page, today’s event? With a temperature improvement of 21 degrees on last year, my usual 6. 15 a.m arrival on site was certainly a lot easier to deal with! Our first car turned up at around 7.50 & half hour after our off ideal start time of 9 a.m ALL 3 car parks were FULL ! and all the time the constant stream of classics kept coming into Romsey. With 3 guys managing the entrances, the other 2 of us scowered the car parks desperately looking for and trying to create spaces and were constantly on radios once finding one (apologies if anyone tried to speak with me at this time). NEVER have we seen anything like it, the volume, the variety and the earliness of arrivals. I haven’t done anymore advertising than previous years so I’m guessing the amazing weather that was promised brought everyone out from as far afield as Wells, Cirencester, Ealing, Guildford etc etc etc. We were well and truly overrun with the volume of vehicles and did our very best to utilize every last inch of the site, so my apologies if you had to circle around a few times or parked elsewhere in the town but once you’d walked the site I am sure you could understand why! A fellow show organiser stated later that he had 500 leaflets to hand out and ran out of his 500 and guestimated at between 6 ft 700 vehicles in attendance!! We knew it had been crazy and that attendance was up but that’s one crazy amount of motors squeezed into 3 market town car parks! "

Read more and view photos galore on Steves website

Photos by Cheryl Horton

Romsey Winter Carnival Success Thousands were in Romsey’s streets on Saturday evening (Nov 26th) to watch the winter carnival parade and see the grand Christmas lights switch-on. Everyone were in true festive spirit as fake snow came down and Christmas music filled the air. Best float was Santa Claus and his sleigh entered by staff and customers of the Tudor Rose pub in the Cornmarket. Their entry included reindeer, a Christmas tree and a snow making machine, it won them the carnival’s sought after Len Fry Challenge Cup.  The walking section of the parade was won by the 6th Romsey St Joseph Brownies entry Alice in Wonderland. Click photo for more

(4th December)

Woodley's first roundabout Work is now well under way on the much debated Abbotswood village. Stuart Thorpe took some more photos in November/December which show the beginnings of a roundabout in Braishfield Rd near the top of Woodley Close. Things are certainly moving, actual houses have now started to appear.  There's an entrance in Sandy Lane and also in Cupernham Lane between Belbins and the Fishlake roundabout has also been made. Test Valley Borough Council received an application for 800 dwellings on this site, along with local facilities including a local centre, pub, community hall, doctors’/dentists’ surgery, offices, nursing home, open space, landscaping etc. View master Plan Click photo for more

Carpet Factory photos "Grumpy" a HITCO worker sent me some photos of the carpet factory  which use to be in Budds Lane, Romsey. Not sure of the year might be 70's. Might be someone on there you recognise. Many thanks  to "Grumpy" who sent the pics. Click thumbnail to view more photos.

Southgate Mitsubishi at Romsey closed

The Mitsubishi franchises in Romsey, Poole and Bridport and a joint Subaru and Peugeot site in Blandford, Dorset ceased trading last week with the loss of 43 jobs.

Rumours are circulating that family-owned dealer group Southgate has gone into administration. Despite  trying to contact the dealer group, no-one is confirming the news. Southgate Romsey is at the top of Winchester Hill, Winchester Rd next to the Co-op garage.

New Ganger Camp photo Just obtained a new photo of residents at Ganger Camp in 1953. I would be very grateful if anybody could come up with names. . The fella holding the chair possibly Eli Way?? Click photo to enlarge>>>

'ello, 'ello, 'ello, what haven't we here then?

Due to cash shortages public enquiry desks at Romsey and Stockbridge police stations will be axed next April. The move means the public will have a round trip of at least 20 miles to speak to a police officer in person. People in the Romsey policing area will have to go to Southampton Central, Totton, or Eastleigh police stations. The public can still email the police to report less urgent crime or telephone 101. Two civilian police jobs will go at Romsey police station as a result of the closure.

Banning Street Coronation Day 1953 memories

I've managed to obtain some photos of the celebrations in Banning Street on Coronation Day in 1953. The photos are not that good quality wise but are well worth having a look at. The "Day" girls can be spotted on a few of them. If you have any similar photos or negatives LTVAS would be very interested, or you can contact me HERE

<< Click photo for to view Banning St photo page

Message from the Woodley Scouts

Woodley Scouts in Braishfield Road have the occasional minor irritation with two things. One is dog walkers. As the field is used by youngsters for obvious reasons we have a "no dogs" sign on the gate. This does not seem to be clear to some of those with our canine companions. As we cannot be there 24 hours a day it is difficult to speak to those who choose to ignore the signs.

The second is related to those who seem to think it is amusing to scatter logs around, remove canes and guards supporting newly planted saplings and break the gate. We think they are climbing over from the cemetery but they may just be walking in from the road.

The mess caused by both of the above is cleaned up by volunteers (no one gets paid) who could be doing something more useful. The Scout HQ and grounds is private, owned by the Scouts, not the Council or the Government and is funded by fund raising, not by taxes, local or central, many people seem to be unaware of this.

The Duke of Edinburgh visits Timsbury

News Shorts

It's official Romsey Memorial Park is one of the best parks in the country. It has been awarded the prestigious Green Flag for the fourth year in a row. The accolade is given to the best green spaces across the UK, with 1,200 parks receiving the award last year.

A main road into Romsey is to be closed for three months so a rail bridge can be rebuilt. Ashfield Bridge, on the A27 south of the town, is being upgraded by Network Rail to allow larger freight containers from Southampton Docks to travel underneath it. The work is due to start in Spring 2012.

New Strongs page By popular demand there's a "Strongs" page now on Woodley Net. It includes photos of Strongs vehicle's, even a horse drawn one. There's also some of  the employees. Click the Strongs sign to view photos.

School pupils names urgently required I am in the process of creating a large wide photo of all the Romsey Secondary School pupils at the Plaza school in 1954. To complete this I urgently need about 15 more names. There are nearly 300 in all on the photo. If you click the thumbnail on the left it will take you to 4 larger ones with the required pupil names circled.  Here's hoping you can help, and if you can would you please contact me. Many thanks, Chris Levy.

on Woodley Net There is now a Romsey and district map and street finder on this website. There is a link on the left or just click on the screenshot on your left. There are links to every street and road in the Romsey area. This includes Braishfield, Lockerley, Wellow and many more. When you see your map you can drag the little yellow man onto the road you want and go into street view. To return to Woodley Net click the logo in the top left corner.