BURLEY VILLAGE MAGAZINE - Articles 1975
January P15 BURLEY PAST AND PRESENT
All the seats in the Village Hall were filled on November 28th for the talk on Burley History by Miss Hardcastle, which raised £70 for the Vestry Fund.
Starting 40 million years ago, she showed a picture of shells found 14 feet below Mill Lawn, in a trench for the new sewage system. This layer of Barton Clay was laid down when Hampshire was deep under the sea.
A long skip in time, but still over 3,000 years ago, slides of four fine Bronze Age barrows told of the wandering tribes who buried their dead in these parts. So to Castle Hill (Iron Age) the Roman potteries and the Norman Manor, Burley was becoming a true village, with a Manor House, Mill and Inn.
A view of the village shop in 1880 with geese on the green in front was contrasted with the same scene in 1970, with no geese but many cars. Old buildings were shown before and after “restoration” and village activities followed from the Maypole Dancing in 1852 and Queen Victoria’s Diamond Jubilee (1897) to the festivities staged for King George V’s Jubilee (1935) and the Women’s Institute Golden Jubilee in 1969.
The changing fashions were traced from the armour Sir Richard de Burley would have worn in 1350, to smuggled Leghorn hats (1830) and the “Mini-skirts” of today. The sequence was brought right up to date with pictures of the Remembrance Sunday Parade Service, and ended on a humorous note, when to accompany a slide of New Forest pigs, Miss Hardcastle demonstrated on her new “Presentation” tape recorder, the authentic grunts of Burley’s oldest inhabitants!
The slides were projected by Mr. Peter Bromfield, who generously gave his time and skill to ensure the evening’s success.
Starting 40 million years ago, she showed a picture of shells found 14 feet below Mill Lawn, in a trench for the new sewage system. This layer of Barton Clay was laid down when Hampshire was deep under the sea.
A long skip in time, but still over 3,000 years ago, slides of four fine Bronze Age barrows told of the wandering tribes who buried their dead in these parts. So to Castle Hill (Iron Age) the Roman potteries and the Norman Manor, Burley was becoming a true village, with a Manor House, Mill and Inn.
A view of the village shop in 1880 with geese on the green in front was contrasted with the same scene in 1970, with no geese but many cars. Old buildings were shown before and after “restoration” and village activities followed from the Maypole Dancing in 1852 and Queen Victoria’s Diamond Jubilee (1897) to the festivities staged for King George V’s Jubilee (1935) and the Women’s Institute Golden Jubilee in 1969.
The changing fashions were traced from the armour Sir Richard de Burley would have worn in 1350, to smuggled Leghorn hats (1830) and the “Mini-skirts” of today. The sequence was brought right up to date with pictures of the Remembrance Sunday Parade Service, and ended on a humorous note, when to accompany a slide of New Forest pigs, Miss Hardcastle demonstrated on her new “Presentation” tape recorder, the authentic grunts of Burley’s oldest inhabitants!
The slides were projected by Mr. Peter Bromfield, who generously gave his time and skill to ensure the evening’s success.
May P6 MRS. DEAR
Most of the older residents of Burley will remember Mr. Charles Dear, who lived in “The Copse”, that tiny cottage in the wood between Campden House and Warnes Lane. Many of his oil paintings are still treasured possessions in the village. His pictures were indeed “portraits” of trees, mostly of the great beeches in Mark Ash. He taught himself to paint and to play the organ, and was organist at the Church for about 20 years. Though not born in Burley, he was the stepson of the Rev. S. Stevens, Vicar of Burley in 1889. He married Lily, daughter of Alma Rolls, whose sister, Miss Bromfield (Aunt Kate) died only last year, aged 104. Lily Dear died just before this Easter at a Home in Romsey in her 90th year, and we scattered her ashes as she wished near those of her husband, at a lovely spot on Burley Beacon where he often sat and sketched. She is survived by a granddaughter and great-grandchildren.
F.H.
September P6 WILLIAM RETFORD, 1875-1970
It has not been given to many Burley men to have the honour of an exhibition of their work staged in London to mark the centenary of their birth, but this was accorded last June to William Retford.
In my short account of his life in this magazine (November 1970), I mentioned his 64 years of service with W.E.Hill & Sons of Bond Street, London. He was sent from his home at Old House by the Hon. Auberon Herbert to this well known firm of violin and bow makers, and he made such superb bows for them that a “Retford Bow” became world famous.
When 90, he published a beautifully illustrated volume “Bows and Bowmakers”, enshrining all his knowledge and experience. This exhibition contained 20 “Retford Bows” alongside examples of many continental craftsmen. One bow, made by a young Englishman, held a minute photograph of William built into the head and visible through a lens. A worthy tribute to a great character.
In my short account of his life in this magazine (November 1970), I mentioned his 64 years of service with W.E.Hill & Sons of Bond Street, London. He was sent from his home at Old House by the Hon. Auberon Herbert to this well known firm of violin and bow makers, and he made such superb bows for them that a “Retford Bow” became world famous.
When 90, he published a beautifully illustrated volume “Bows and Bowmakers”, enshrining all his knowledge and experience. This exhibition contained 20 “Retford Bows” alongside examples of many continental craftsmen. One bow, made by a young Englishman, held a minute photograph of William built into the head and visible through a lens. A worthy tribute to a great character.
F. Hardcastle.
December P 18 SO THEY ARE HUMAN AFTER ALL!
Dr. Robert Howard recently sent to the Castle, Winchester for a car licence. The licence arrived in an unstamped envelope on which there was a surcharge of 13p. This prompted Dr. Howard to send the following to the Licensing Officer:-
Taxation the Winchester way,
Gets more expensive every day.
To get a car licence,
Alas and alay.
There’s no less than
Thirteen “p” extra to pay.
A reply came back pretty quickly:-
Dear Doctor,
Excuse the sin of omission
It was not one of deliberate commission
But merely a slip of human failing.
Due to the machine (Franking) failing.
Please accept stamps – 13 pence
Taxation the Winchester way,
Gets more expensive every day.
To get a car licence,
Alas and alay.
There’s no less than
Thirteen “p” extra to pay.
A reply came back pretty quickly:-
Dear Doctor,
Excuse the sin of omission
It was not one of deliberate commission
But merely a slip of human failing.
Due to the machine (Franking) failing.
Please accept stamps – 13 pence