MY old grammar school chum Rod Davies need not worry about the Sprat and Winkle Line being forgotten.

Although it ground to a halt after 99 years of service our memories have not.

When I wasn’t playing football my friends and I travelled down on the S & W line to watch Southampton FC when they were a lowly club ensconced in the third division south.

Not many people know the origin of the name Sprat and Winkle but my cousin, the late John Marchment, regaled me with the following story.

Shortly after the line came into service moonshine and other illicit liquor and goods would find their way up from Southampton to Andover.

The illegal cargo would end up at the old White Hart Inn.

It is now the Star and Garter and it was here under the archway, where furtive, unshaven figures, shrouded by moonlit darkness, quickly unloaded their booty. Then it was speedily carried along the little-known underground tunnel that ran beneath the shops and offices right up to the top of the Upper High Street. Having reached the top the ill-gotten gains were dispatched by a motley crew of shady characters, the willing entrepreneurs of the day. Many years ago I ventured down the tunnel and I believe it is still there today. Spooky!

To avoid detection from the officious customs officers along the route the crates containing the “offending” merchandise would be completely covered with sprats and winkles, all of which were more than well past their sell by date! The officers, in their freshly laundered uniforms, would take one look at the fetid sprats and winkles and with their pinched noses in the air would hurriedly motion them through undisturbed.

Odorous in the extreme!

I like to believe that this amusing, near-legendary tale was the true reason why this much-revered rail track, with all its quaint little village stations along the way, came to be known as the Sprat and Winkle Line.

Re-write the history books please!

John Porter, Millway Road, Andover