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WHERWELL — SCHOOL TREAT

Thursday the 15th was chosen by Mrs.Studdy on which to invite the scholars attending the Church of England Day and Sunday Schools to her residence at Leckford Down. Upwards of 120 children left the village in waggons at 1.30, and being favoured with fine weather the ride was much enjoyed. Mr.Studdy always gives the children a free hand, and therefore on their arrival they were quite at home and repaired to the invigorating downs in search of the wild raspberries which there grow in abundance. Thus occupied, time passed quickly till the welcome sound of the bell told them tea was ready. Grace having been said by the vicar, meat sandwiches, bread and butter, cake and tea, rapidly disappeared, but they were constantly supplies by Mrs.Suddy and her lady guests, Miss Harison, Miss Saunders and Miss Olga Montagu. Tea over the girls and younger children adjourned to the downs for races and games, the ladies devising ample means of amusement till the return of the older boys with Mr.Studdy and the Vicar from a more distant part of the downs. A very pleasant day was brought to a close by each child receiving a bun and a present. Heart cheers were given for Mr.and Mrs.Studdy and others, and the children mounted their waggons for the return home.

ONE HUNDRED YEARS AGO — 21 AUGUST 1914

CORRESPONDENCE — ALIEN COMRADES

If Mr.Faithfull feels it absolutely necessary for him to keep his name before your readers by writing letters to you at the present time, would he not do better himself of trying to run his peculiar political propaganda to inform your readers what has become of those German working men friends of his from whose information he told us a year ago or so he was able to “assert” facts so much better than anyone else. We should like to know where they are, what they are doing, have they been registered (to Mr.Faithfull’s knowledge), and if not has he reported their existence to the police. Of course our quarrel is not with the German working man, but with the German Government, and one hopes that Mr.Faithfull’s friends have been and will be treated with consideration and courtesy: still we should like to know how they are occupied at the present time. A.EAST.

SEVENTY-FIVE YEARS AGO — 25 AUGUST 1939

WHITCHURCH — A TERRIFIC STORM

One of the heaviest storms witnessed for many years broke over Whitchurch on Monday afternoon shortly before 5 o’clock. Accompanied by heavy claps of thunder and vivid flashes of lightning, the storm lasted for about half-an-hour, and there were torrents of rain. Fortunately no damage was done, and the drains were able to take all the water from the streets.

FIFTY YEARS AGO —21 AUGUST 1964

ZOO AT A PUB

It is not pink elephants that patrons of The Plough, Longparish, might see when they call there for a pint. But they can see a large Himalayan bear, two monkeys, a baboon, an owl and a fox, besides the more conventional domestic pets of three rabbits, two cats, a dog and a budgerigar.

This menagerie has been acquired by Eddie and May Paull since they took over The Plough 18 months ago.

They were offered the bear—once part of a circus act—a year ago. Named mischief, the dark brown bear with a white v-stripe on her chest, lives in some stables at the rear of the public house. She weighs 450lbs. and, standing on her hind legs, she is about 5ft. tall.

She seems to be a very friendly bear, but Mr. And Mrs.Paull take no chances with her and they have stringent security measures for their own and the villagers’ safety.

Like the three bears in the story of Goldilocks, Mischief adores porridge and eats a large saucepanful of it every day. She also consumes quantities of fruit and likes bread and cakes.

The baboon has not yet been named. “We have to be so careful because of the customers’ names. We had already called the monkeys Fred and Barney before it dawned on us that we had customers of the same name.

Susie, the Vixen, was brought to them as a very young cub after she had broken a leg in a trap. The leg is now mended and Susie likes nothing better than to play with the Paull children—Christine and Terry—or Nicky, the big white Alsatian dog.

Ollie-beak , the owl, was found deserted as a baby after a tree had been felled.

The Siamese cat, which answers to the name of Chang or Wong, has no fear of any of the other animals and has even tried to chase the bear. Of less exalted breeding, the other cat is called Tosh.

It was while the Paull family were in Southampton recently that Terry [their son] went off to the pet shop to make a purchase. “He had been talking about buying an alligator but to our relief he came back with a budgie,” said Mrs.Paull.

TWENTY-FIVE YEARS AGO — 25 AUGUST 1989

MOST SIGN NEW POLL TAX FORMS

More than 90 per cent of people in the Andover area have returned their poll tax registration forms.

But the stubborn remainder are likely to have inspection enquiry officers knocking on the door.

TEN YEARS AGO — 20 AUGUST 2004

OLYMPIC HOPES DASHED

Andover’s Kate Howey was cheered on by millions of Britons around the world as she proudly carried the Union Jack into the stadium at the opening ceremony of the [Athens] Olympic Games on Friday.

Britain’s most famous female judo star had been selected for the honour by fellow athletes in recognition of the tremendous role 31-year-old Kate has played in the Olympic movement and her two Olympic medals won at previous games.

However, her dreams of going one better and winning a gold medal were dashed in the first week of competition.

Kate’s golden hopes were ended by Canada’s Catherine Roberge in the second round of the 70kg judo event on Wednesday morning.