Summer has arrived! I have a spring in my step, morning coffee in the garden is now a permanent fixture, and so too is pottering around the garden in the evening. I’m sure the novelty of watering the garden each night will eventually wear off, but for now I’m enjoying it.
Gardens are a sanctuary for many people, and being in nature, as we know, is good for uswhether you talk to your plants or not! How about a peek into other people’s gardens? Just down the road, the annual Alverstoke Garden Walkabout takes place this month. One ticket gives you two days of visiting beautiful gardens around Alverstoke, all while raising money for the regeneration of the Parish Centre. Details are inside.
Right on your doorstep is the annual Picnic in the Park - so pack your picnic, it’s happening this month! Organised by the Crofton Lions, Stubbington Recreation Ground will once again be the place for an afternoon of fun. Enjoy all sorts of activities, from archery to Jonathan the Jester. There are even more activities this year! Details of this event and other locally are inside.
Do you suffer from indigestion? Would you reach for Gaviscon or Rennies - or try Aloe Vera juice instead?
If natural remedies are more your thing, take a look at Louise Courtney’s Wildside Health in Titchfield. Part apothecary, part wellness haven, it offers consultations alongside a fully stocked
herbal dispensary, where remedies can be prepared while you wait.
You’ll find herbal tinctures, teas, supplements, plant and fruit juices, as well as natural candles, skincare, bath oils, soaps, books, and more - all chosen to support health and wellbeing. There are also informative talks and events, including yoga and nature walks, plus wellness programmes such as a 90-day reset.
You’ll find Louise’s advert inside - if you pop in, let her know you discovered her through Choice Magazine!
Need a spare key for your car? Looking to fund your retirement? Need your carpets replaced, your garden landscaped, or perhaps a good massage? I have advertisers inside who can help with all these things and more. Let them know you found them in Choice Magazine!
Are you a local business looking for more customers? Book an advert in our next editionI’d love to help, and you’ll love my circulation figures and prices!
If you have an event you’d like shared in the next edition simply go to the ‘submit an event’ button at gosportchoice.com
Wishing a very Happy Father’s Day to my Pa and all the fathers and father figures out there!
Have a lovely June, everyone!
www.mjquigleybuilders.co.uk
Sometimes only ice cream will do!
I made this super-quick and delicious ice cream in just a few minutes. You can use any frozen fruit you like. The recipe serves two, with a generous three scoops each. You can easily double or triple the recipe, as long as your blender is big enough.
I’d definitely recommend freezing some seasonal strawberries to use in this recipe, but any frozen fruit works just as well!
Prep 5 mins
Serves 2
DELICIOUS ICE CREAM
Ingredients:
• 100g oat creme fraiche or dairy full fat creme fraiche or full fat yoghurt
• 200g frozen fruit of your choice
• 1 tsp agave or honey
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
Method
Put all the ingredients into a blender, and whizz on high speed until smooth and the consistency of ice-cream. Serve immediately, scooped into glasses. If you do have leftovers, transfer to freezer-proof tubs and keep in the freezer for up to two days. Take the ice-cream out of the freezer 10 minutes before serving to soften up.
Recipe from Anna Jones annajones.co.uk
If you stroll eastwards across Crescent Garden and then down the little twisting path that leads to the far corner of the garden you will pass, on your left, a rather remarkable plant. It is a small bush covered with brilliant crimson lantern shaped flowers, each one about 2.5 cms long and hanging on its own pendulous stem from the bough above it. This is the Chilean Lantern Tree (Crinodendron hookerianum). As its name rather tells us it is native to southern Chile and is found in the wild as an understory component, often near watercourses, in Nothofagus rain forest.
C. hookerianum was introduced into Britain in 1848 by the Cornish plant collector, William Lobb for Veitch Nurseries in Exeter. As was so often the case in that era the plant’s name was derived partly from a classical language and partly from the name of a famous plant person. In Ancient Greek krinon means lily and dendron means tree, so ‘tree lily’ was its first name. The specific name, hookerianum, came from William James Hooker who was director of the Royal Botanic Gardens at Kew at that time and had studied many South American plants.
As may be assumed from its native home it grows best in wooded areas, in fertile, moist but well drained acid soil in partial shade. It will grow in sunshine, but the roots need to be kept cool. It can be badly affected by frost; the plant will survive a really heavy frost, but will not flower well in the following summer. This is partly because the flower buds form in autumn and have to survive the winter in order to produce their wonderful display between May and August. It’s position in Crescent Garden is ideal, lightly shaded by various trees and well protected; especially with global warming
Crescent Garden
JUNE
there is very rarely a severe enough frost to damage it. The tree cover also prevents it from getting too much sun, which might affect its ability to flower well. As well as its attractive appearance another feature which makes it an ideal garden subject is that it is almost entirely pest and disease free. It can look spectacular and has been likened to a Christmas tree hung with baubles. The flowers contain rich nectar, which in this country attracts bees, butterflies and moths. In its native country it is often pollinated by humming birds. One characteristic not so acceptable in the garden is the fact that, like many of our favourite garden plants it is slightly poisonous, containing cucurbitacins, so named because of their occurrence in the cucumber family, Cucurbitaceae. It is, however, used in folk medicine in Chile.
With its preference for cool summers, mild winters and plenty of moisture it is ideally suited to maritime areas, such as the West coast of Scotland and Ireland. There is one in County Wicklow in Ireland which is thought to be one of the original plants introduced by William Lobb in the nineteenth century. It is now 13 metres tall and 148cms in girth on multiple stems. Fortunately the plants grows very slowly, so ours is unlikely to become intrusive in its present position in Crescent Garden. Another prize specimen of the Chilean Lantern Tree is in Nymans Garden, near Cuckfield in West Sussex.
So a fascinating and attractive plant eminently suitable for your own garden, but there to be admired by all in Crescent Garden.
Specialists in VW’s, we also cover many other makes and models in the full or part conversion of camper vans, kombi vans and caddy’s. We manufacture and design custom built camper interiors for Volkswagens and other makes.
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CARS AND VANS ALWAYS IN STOCK FOR SALE!
Specialising in transporters and small low mileage cars. (The cars are ideal for first time drivers.)
Sat 27th & Sun 28th June 1-5pm
ALVERSTOKE GARDEN WALKABOUT
Saturday 27th & Sunday 28th June 1-5pm
Adult £10 (children free). Advance tickets from Alverstoke Post Office, Alverstoke Village Hardware or on the day from the Parish Centre from midday and participating gardens.
MEMORY CHOIR AT CROFTON COMMUNITY
CENTRE 9th June. 2.30-3.30pm A singing session for people affected by dementia, stroke survivors and people with Parkinsons. We also welcome anyone who is socially isolated.
ST EDMUNDS OPEN DAY AT LYCHGATE GREEN
Saturday 6th June 10am-3pm. See page 28.
SHORE LEAVE HASLAR MEMORIAL GARDEN
Wednesday 10th June 11am-2pm.
Free entry, donations gratefully accepted. Crafts, plants, produce for sale. Homemade cake and drinks. Walk around the peaceful garden. Please park in main Haslar site.
CROFTON GARDENING CLUB STRAWBERRY TEA
Friday 26th June The Wheelhouse, Salterns Lane, Hill Head. Numbers limited to 42. Cost £8.
CROFTON WI 2nd Wednesday of each month
2pm Baptist Church, Jay Close, Stubbington
For further info please call either 01329 664573 or 01329 664864. Visitors warmly welcomed.
EVENTS AT THE GOLDEN BOWLER IN JUNE
122 Stubbington Lane, Stubbington.
Quiz Nights - 3rd, 15th & 29th
Bingo - 10th & 24th. Folk Night - 8th. Meat Raffle - every Friday at 9:30pm
Local Events
INTERNATIONAL FOLK/CIRCLE DANCING
June 9th, 23rd 10am-12noon, RC Church Hall, Bells Lane, Stubbington. No Partner required & all dances are taught. New members welcome. £7 Contact Bob & Mary 01329 609589, 07748009838 neal.bob61@gmail.com
CROFTON PROBUS CLUB Monthly lunch 12pm
Lee-on-the-Solent Golf Club. Are you a retired gentleman, missing social contact? Come to a trial meeting. New members welcome 07508711299 morton.wouter@gmail.com
STUBBINGTON LIBRARY FAIR
Every Friday 9:30-11:30am
Home-baked cakes, jams, and chutneys, unique handmade crafts, plants & vegetables. Come along and enjoy a wonderful selection of home-baked cakes, jams, and chutneys from our talented local cooks!
ST EDMUNDS (CROFTON OLD CHURCH) Services
9.30am every Sunday. 1st & 3rd Sun Holy Communion (BCP). 2nd & 4th Sun Morning Service. Coffee is served after the Morning Service. 18th June 10am-12pm Open for visitors/private prayer.
STUBBINGTON STITCH AND KNIT GROUP
Meet Fridays 2-4pm Foster Room, next to Holyrood Church. We make garments and craft items to sell at our sales, to raise funds for the local Hampshire charities we support. We appreciate all the donations. Our next sale: 1th June 9.30am-12pm Stubbington Library Cash only please. For info Chris 07970 826044.
I am loving the perfumes in the garden right now! And I’m loving the seeds sprout with growth! And the plant deliveries! It’s all grow, grow, grow! Here’s a guide of what to do right now...
Around the garden
• Sow poppies now for and they’ll be flowering in about 8 weeks time!
• Stake and tie in dahlias as they grow
• Deadhead roses and more flowers will follow
• Keep picking your sweet peas & tie them in
• Give wisteria its summer prune
• Pinch out the tips of fuchsias and bedding plants to encourage bushier growth
• Mow and edge your lawn to keep it looking good
• Prune evergreen Clematis armandii if it has grown too large
• Cut back delphiniums and oriental poppies
• Clear pond weed
In the greenhouse and on the veg patch
• A second sowing of courgettes can be done now
• Plant out tender vegetables raised indoors, including beans, tomatoes, pumpkins, courgettes and sweetcorn
• Pinch out the side shoots of cordon tomatoes regularly
• Keep doing successional sowings of radishes, lettuce and salad leaves
• Sow herbs in pots now for your windowsill, including coriander and parsley, chives, basil and dill.
• Damp down the greenhouse floor every morning if the weather gets really hot
• Enjoy the last harvests of asparagus this month, then leave the ferny top-growth to grow up over the summer
• Rejuvenate chives by cutting the clump down to the base, for a fresh crop of new leaves in just a few weeks
• Plant out sweetcorn after hardening off
TOP TIP: Add a drop of bleach or slosh of vinegar to the flower water of cut alliums. This slows the stem ageing, and reduces any oniony smell.
Grinding
Shrubs:
W L S
Do
you have important legal documents in place to protect your interests and make life easier for you and your family, whatever the future brings?
If you have received a diagnosis of dementia, or are concerned about becoming ill and unable to cope with paying your bills, wouldn’t it be helpful for a family member to be able to step in and deal with your finances? If your family member needed to make decisions for you, instead of just acting on your instructions, they would need your formal written authority to do this.
Formal authority can be given by creating a Lasting Power of Attorney. This document will allow your family member to take over managing your money, either temporarily or long term.
You can also create a Lasting Power of Attorney which allows your family member to make decisions for you about medical treatment, if you are unable for any reason to make your own decisions. This is not the same as an Advance Decision, which is a document which sets out your decision to refuse medical treatment in the future, under specific conditions.
If you are caring for an elderly relative, or are likely to be doing so in the future, a Lasting Power of Attorney will mean that you can provide the support your relative needs and access services on their behalf, without the difficulties, stress and resistance you would otherwise encounter.
Having a Will gives you peace of mind that your money, property and personal possessions will be going to the people you have chosen to benefit. An out of date Will can cause problems within the family or mean that a chosen beneficiary receives nothing.
If you have any unanswered questions about Wills or Lasting Powers of Attorney, Christine will be pleased to help, so do please get in touch for a free, no obligation, chat.
Call Christine Davies Solicitor on 07860 772274 or email: christine@winterbornelegal.co.uk
Christine is a Fully Accredited Member of Solicitors for the Elderly and a Dementia Friend. Christine will visit you in your own home and aims to provide a warm personal touch to every meeting.
Christine Davies Solicitor
I wonder how many people know where the oldest building in Crofton Parish is situated. There is a church building recorded in the Domesday Book which was commissioned by William the Conqueror in 1086 to determine who he could tax and how much people could afford to pay. The building is Crofton Old Church in Lychgate Green. It was a chapel built on the east side of the river Meon. This helped people to worship at St. Peters in Titchfield without having to cross the River Meon, which at that time flowed out into the Solent.
The original church, built in Saxon times, has over the 1000 years been enlarged by the extension of the Nave and addition of Chancel and north and south Transepts in medieval times giving the church the footprint of a cross.
The next major change was the enlargement of the south Transept to accommodate the crypt for the Missing family during the early 18th century. A small vestry was added in Victorian times.
In the Domesday Book it is referred to as Holy Rood, but this name was taken over by the new church on Gosport Road when it was built in 1878. From that time the Old Church was very seldom used and fell into a state of disrepair. The name for the chapel in a document from Titchfield Abbey refers to it as St Edmund’s.
In 1980 the Parochial Church Council (PCC) were
Local News & Events
having to seriously consider closing the Church due to costs of just keeping it watertight. Fortunately, a group of local people got together to raise funds to help look after the building. In 1982 this group was formed into the Friends of Crofton Old Church (FOCOC) who under the PCC now look after the Old Church.
Since FOCOC was formed the Old Church has been reroofed, had a toilet added, central heating installed as well as being maintained and generally improved. It is now regularly used every Sunday for worship, as well as for weddings, funerals and other special services.
Every year, FOCOC holds a St Edmund’s Open Day, which this year takes place on Saturday 6th June from 10am–3pm at Lychgate Green. There will be something for everyone, including refreshments, a popular plant stall, games, a jewellery stall, a quiz, and a Grand Draw at 2.30pm. Visitors can also enjoy performances from the Crofton Anne Dale Choir at 11am and the Odd Wednesday Men at 12pm, as well as a historical church tour starting at 1.15pm. Why not come along, look around the church, enjoy tea, coffee and cake, and take part in the day’s activities? Admission is free and all are welcome.
Gary Willcocks - Warden for St Edmund’s St Edmund’s (Crofton Old Church), Lychgate Green, Fareham, PO14 3HA.
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Nash, our Centre Manager doing diagnostic work Jake our Apprentice
Picnic in the Park
Sunday 28th June 12noon - 4.30pm
Stubbington Recreation Ground
ARCHERY
JONATHAN
FACE PAINTING
TUG
Local Events
Sat 27th & Sun 28th
June 1-5pm
Adult - £10 Children FREE Entry
One ticket for both days from Alverstoke Post Office, Alverstoke Village Hardware and Solent Springs Adventure Golf
Tickets on the day from Parish Centre from midday and participating gardens
All proceeds to Alverstoke Parish Centre Regeneration Project. Registered Charity Name - St Mary’s Alverstoke PCC No. 1130178
HIDDEN TREASURES HIDDEN TREASURES
51-53 HIGH STREET LEE ON THE SOLENT
We urgently require your broken and unwanted gold, jewellery and antiques.
Any amount, any condition- top CASH prices paid!
PRE 1947 COINS (SILVER) WANTED
WANTED gold - silver - jewellery of all kinds medals (any militaria) - cuff links - studs - tie pins pocket watches - wrist watches antiques - moorcroft - clarice cliff - old postcards
WANTED - rolex, breitling, omega etc
Please call in to see us. Monday - Saturday 10am-6pm. Alternatively, call to arrange a home appointment TELEPHONE: 023 9255 3428 MOBILE: 07767 304495
