ONE HUNDRED AND SIXTY-FOUR YEARS AGO – FRIDAY 11 JULY 1862
CARD SHARPING
A man who stated his name to be George Day, was brought up in custody, charged with card sharping.
The prisoner denied the charge.
John Warr, a police constable, stationed at Amport, deposed: that on 3 July last week, he was on duty at Stockbridge Race Course, and saw Day in the afternoon with a brass chain on a table, offering to bet about something.
I then cautioned him as to what he was doing.
Later in the afternoon I saw him again in a booth with some cards, and offering to bet 6d about not telling a certain card out of three.
One of his ‘pals’ came up, bet 6d and won; two navvies then tried and lost 6d each.
The prisoner in his defence stated that the navvies had given him the money to buy some beer and ‘baccy’ with, and that he was not betting or playing with cards, although he had some.
The magistrate convicted the prisoner and sentenced him to six weeks’ imprisonment, with hard labour, under the Vagrancy Act.
ONE HUNDRED AND TWENTY-FIVE YEARS AGO – FRIDAY 12 JULY 1901
FIRE AT IBTHORPE
The inhabitants of a portion of Ibthorpe were somewhat alarmed on Friday afternoon last by an outbreak of fire at a blacksmith’s shop, the property of Mr W Bound.
The roof of this building was covered with thatch, and a spark from the forge chimney falling upon it caused the roof to soon be in flames.
Assistance was promptly rendered, and every effort made to stop the progress of the fire.
Fortunately, a supply of water was easily obtained from a tap near; a garden hose was affixed to this, and it was found that there was sufficient pressure to carry the water onto the roof of the burning building.
In a couple of hours, the fire was under control, little beside the roof being damaged.
Surrounding the building are many thatched houses, the inmates of which must have been exceedingly anxious until the flames were subdued.
ISLE OF WIGHT SUBMARINE RAILWAY
The construction of an electrical railway under the Solent, giving direct communication between the London and South-Western system on the Lymington and the Freshwater, Yarmouth and Newport Railway at Freshwater, is now assured, as the South-Western and Isle of Wight Junction Railway bill, promoted with this object by the Earl of Egmont, Sir John Blundell Maple and others, having already received the sanction of the House of Lords, came yesterday before a committee of the House of Commons unopposed.
It was then remitted to the chairman of the Committee of Ways and Means (Mr J W Lowther) for formal proof of the preamble.
ONE HUNDRED YEARS AGO – FRIDAY 9 JULY 1926
PEACH GROWERS
Local cultivators of the peach will recollect that in 1924 Mr W Palmer produced a marvellous crop of fruit from his trees in Junction Road which were visited by a large number of peach growers.
This year gives promise of passing that record for Mr Palmer commenced picking on June 29, and from his record tree has already taken over 200 fruit of excellent colour and size, while the branches are still loaded from quite near the earth to the top-most branches.
This has apparently had a competitive effect upon other peach and nectarine trees in the house as they are all heavily dressed with fruit.
PETROL GAS EXPLODES
On Tuesday afternoon, Mr J Mattia was engaged with a leaky petrol tank, that had been removed from a car which had previously been emptied and rinsed with water.
He was melting off the solder with a blow-lamp when there was an explosion of petrol gas which sent the lamp he was using through the air, just missing his father who was standing near.
Mr J Mattia was struck in the face by pieces of metal and solder and the ambulance was sent for.
It was found that no permanent injuries had been inflicted but he was suffering from cuts, bruises and shock.
His father escaped with a fright.
SEVENTY-FIVE YEARS AGO – FRIDAY 13 JULY 1951
MISS JOSEPHINE ROE TO BE CARNIVAL QUEEN
Twenty-five-year-old Miss Josephine Roe, the only daughter of Mr Alford Roe, of 94 Charlton Road, is to be Andover’s Carnival Queen for the Festival year, the Advertiser learnt yesterday.
Miss Roe who is 5ft 8 ins tall, with medium brown hair and hazel-coloured eyes, has charm and a sense of humour, which will stand her in good stead during her busy and exciting week.
The secretary to a local motor repair firm, Miss Roe is a native to the town and has spent all her life locally.
She was educated at Wykeham House and at the Girls’ Modern Secondary School, London Road.
Her many hobbies, of which handicraft occupies most of her time, include tennis, swimming and gardening.
She is also a clever dressmaker and makes many of her own clothes.
Miss Roe commented to the Advertiser reporter: 'When the Mayor asked me to be Queen, it certainly was a surprise to me, but I very much hope that I shall be able to carry out the duties of Queen to the benefit of the Carnival.'
The Executive Committee of the Carnival was acquainted by the Mayor of Miss Roe’s acceptance at its meeting last night.
Who will be her two attendants has not yet been decided, but the Mayor hopes to be able to make an announcement next week.
FORTY-SEVEN YEARS AGO – FRIDAY 13 JULY 1979
WAS AN OLD ANDOVER PUBLIC HOUSE
The discovery of copies of The Times for 1856 underneath wallpaper on a room above shop premises in Bridge Street, Andover, this week, rekindled memories of a fragment of the town’s early history.
Underneath the wallpaper and the newspapers, wooden panelling was revealed dating back to when the property was a public house, long before it became the drapery business of W Percival Clarke.
Mr Bill Legge, manager of FADS Home Care Centre, in Bridge Street, made the discovery when preparing a room over the shop for conversion into a staff room.
An exploratory cut with a sharp knife removed a square of the existing décor and the panelling was brought to light.
To cover the panelling in Victorian days, hessian had been stretched across sizing; then copies of The Times had been pasted on and finally a wallpaper covering.
'We shall not be removing the hessian and paper,' said Mr Legge.
'It’s good enough to decorate over.'
So those old newspapers and the panelling will be left to be rediscovered by a member of some future generation.
Records show that one of Andover’s vanished pubs stood on this site originally.
It was called The Three Choughs – after a type of cow – and it was referred to in parish registers in the early 17th century.
In the early 19th century, a drapery business was established there and that eventually led to the Percival Clarke outfitters’ partnership.
The premises were better known to many local people as the Plummer Roddis establishment before Debenhams took over.
FADs moved into the premises on 9 June 1973.
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