Archive

  • Flowers and art fill church for 850th anniversary

    FLOWERS and art crammed every corner of Ellingham Parish Church near Ringwood at the weekend as the church celebrated its 850th anniversary with a festival. The festival of art and flowers attracted lots of visitors to the historic church for the three-day

  • More debate on gay marriage

    IN this column, I try to address the principal concerns that people have written to me about, so this week I write, yet again, about same-sex marriage. Notwithstanding the currency chaos facing the euro and all its implications for our economy, I

  • Home and away

    I COULD have been watching England in the Euros instead of writing this, but it’s too stressful for me. While I always wish our national team well, family life with three Spurs fans has confirmed my suspicion that the best way to avoid ultimate disappointment

  • Course focuses on urban warfare

    SOLDIERS are relearning their urban warfare skills in a new course at Copehill Down. The new Urban Operators Instructors Course will train close to 100 military instructors a year across all arms. The instructors can then go back to their units

  • Pain on the Plain 2012

    THE 2012 Pain on the Plain cycling event will take place at Tedworth House over the weekend of July 7 and 8 and promises to be a memorable day, with more than 500 riders expected. The POTP Sportive is now in its third successive year and is nestled

  • Holiday play

    A FREE holiday play scheme in Ringwood is back again this year. Carvers Recreation Ground will be host to the event, which will be run by Jonathan the Jester of Table Top Circus. It will be based on the former grass tennis courts next to the children

  • The sharp end of bomb disposal

    WITH recent reports of phosphorus bombs and Second World War hand grenades being found locally, I decided to visit the local bomb disposal unit to find out more about their work. I was met by the troop commander, Captain Lisa Brown, and her

  • Food week goes down a treat

    BREAMORE School pupils took part in a Local Food and Sustainability Week. Years 3 and 5 went to Lyburn Cheese in Landford to watch how cheese is made and then returned to school to make cheese tarts with the cheese they had seen being made. Year 5 and

  • Hospital staff should be paid more not less

    REFERENCE your article about hospital staff pay cuts (Journal, June 14) - if you haven’t got your health, then life’s a different ball game. Who wants to work for less? My husband Brian and I cannot believe hospital staff are to get pay cuts. Put

  • Crash woman named

    A WOMAN died in a collision with a car travelling in the opposite direction in Holmsley. A Vauxhall Insignia was overtaking another vehicle on the A35 when it collided with a Vauxhall Astra on Sunday. Joyce Frigot, 61, from Christchurch, who was in

  • Play your part in parking charges survey

    THE question of Salisbury parking charges continues to be raised often with the view that councillors don’t care about them. Virtually the first email I sent on being elected to Wiltshire Council was to the leader and cabinet member making

  • Jubilee celebrations can silence moans and groans

    HOW refreshing to read so many letters in last week’s postbag from people who enjoyed the Jubilee celebrations. And what a contrast to the catalogue of moans and groans from your other correspondents. No less than five letters mentioned

  • Pet shop will be missed

    I, TOO, feel devastated over the closure of the Salisbury Pet Stores. What a loss this represents for their many long-standing customers, as well as for the pets who enjoyed their products. Nonetheless, it consoles me somewhat to think they

  • Bag packing was success

    ON behalf of Salisbury Sea Cadet Unit I would like to express my sincere thanks to Tesco (Southampton Road), for giving us permission to do a sponsored row, bag-packing and a collection at their store on Saturday last. I would especially

  • Why are dairy cows treated so badly

    IN the last few years the use of farrowing crates has been banned, the veal calf pens have also been banned. This year, the use of battery cages has also been banned. So can anyone please explain to me why dairy cows that produce our milk, are being

  • Support for Mencap is appreciated

    THANK you to the very generous public who supported South Wilts Mencap on a sunny Saturday in May. Your generosity resulted in a total of £1,073, which will be used to help our local learning disabled community get involved in community-based

  • Sign petition against arms trade

    EVERY day, more than 1,500 people die as a result of armed violence and conflict. That’s more than one person a minute. Next month, Prime Minister David Cameron and other world leaders will be meeting at the United Nations to agree a new treaty

  • Thanks from fete committee

    ON behalf of the fete committee, I would like to thank everyone who made the Whiteparish All Saints’ Church and School fete a huge success. Thank you to the numerous volunteers who gave up their time to organise and help to set up the treasure

  • Shoppers asked to spend with independent businesses

    INDEPENDENT businesses are asking Salisbury shoppers to spend at least £10 with them as plans for a forthcoing Independents’ Week move forward. Customers will then be asked to report back on where they have spent their cash. Several independent

  • Carpet firm points way to the future

    HISTORIC firm Wilton Carpets has invested in the latest technology to market its products. The company has teamed up with Aurasma which will use the effects of its visual browser technology to help sell Wilton Carpet’s traditional products. Shoppers

  • Bra firm has a bigger base

    THE Olympic Games are expected to bring increased demand for all things sporty this summer. In preparation, sports bra company LessBounce.com has relocated to bigger premises at East Barn Farm, Codford. The company, which stocks the widest range

  • Beamer chief's brain picked by minister

    A WHITEPARISH company which received the Queen’s Award for Enterprise has met with business minister Mark Prisk as he begins the search for new firms worthy of the prestigious award. Beamer Ltd was honoured with the award in 2009 for creating

  • Chippy's fire role is recognised

    A COUPLE who run a fish and chip shop in Ludgershall have been recognised for their support of Wiltshire Fire & Rescue Service. Although they are only a small employer, Peter and Pauline Unwin who run Down At The Chippy allow one of their members

  • Pub scoops major award

    THE Beckford Arms at Tisbury has been honoured with an Alastair Sawday’s pub award. The latest edition of Sawday’s Special Places Pubs and Inns of England & Wales comprises more than 900 of Britain’s very best pubs with just 12 selected to receive

  • Gospel concert this Friday

    GOSPEL singers from Northern Ireland, Solid Ground, will be performing at Poulner Baptist Church, near Ringwood on Friday at 7.30pm. A voluntary donation of £2.50 is suggested on the night.

  • House prize up for grabs

    A THREE-bedroom house is the prize in a charity competition being run by housebuilder Persimmon Homes to celebrate its 40th birthday. The construction firm, which has developments in and around Salisbury, has launched a competition where one charity

  • Studio to tread boards at Stratford

    SALISBURY amateur dramatic company Studio Theatre will be treading the boards in Stratfordupon- Avon this summer after winning the final of the first ever Open Stages National Shakespeare competition. The theatre, which has its base in Ashley

  • Wood festival is for all the family

    FOLLOWING the success of the inaugural 2011 event, the Ashley Wood Festival 2012 takes place from June 29 to July 1 at the unusual location of Ashley Wood Farm on the outskirts of Tisbury. This promises to be a festival for all the family, with

  • Young film makers focus on the Plain

    YOUNG film-makers from the Salisbury area are set to be part of a documentary film crew recording an archaeological dig on Salisbury Plain. The venture is named Project Florence to match up with the army’s excavation codename of Operation Nightingale

  • Olympian torsos go on display in Cloisters

    THE Cloisters at Salisbury Cathedral have been transformed into an Avenue of Champions with Ben Dearnley’s bronze and marble sculptures of Olympians and Paralympians. The exhibition opens on Saturday for a three month run to coincide with the

  • Cathedral organ on DVD

    DAVID Halls, Salisbury Cathedral’s director of music, performs a recital of music with links to the cathedral, its history or surroundings on a new DVD, The Grand Organ of Salisbury Cathedral. Recorded and filmed last year, the DVD gives pride of

  • Summer concert on Saturday

    FOR Salisbury Musical Society’s summer concert on Saturday, the choir will sing Haydn’s ‘Nelson’ Mass and Vaughan Williams’ Dona Nobis Pacem. Haydn wrote his Mass in D minor in 1798, and its powerful qualities will make it the perfect piece for

  • Bike worth £700 stolen

    A MOUNTAIN bike worth £700 was stolen from a Ringwood pub car park. Thieves took the blue Giant bike, which was secured on a bike rack of a car parked in the Elm Tree car park in Hightown, last Thursday, June 14. Police are appealing for anyone with

  • Playhouse stepping out for autumn season

    COMEDY, epic drama, world premieres, pantomime, musical comedy, theatre for young people and visits by theatre companies from across the south west all feature in Salisbury Playhouse’s autumn season announced on Friday by the theatre’s artistic director

  • Big fun in the big top

    HELLO everyone and welcome to the Journal Gang. Did you go to see the circus in Salisbury at the weekend? I did and thought it was great. There were funny clowns, an amazing high wire act and lots of songs, acrobats and magicians.

  • Tariffs FiT for better purpose

    THE Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) introduced newregulations in May to put the Feed-in Tariffs (FiT) scheme on a more predictable and sustainable footing for householders, businesses and the solar industry. Following consultation

  • Window shopping!

    SHOPKEEPER Dave Tree was bemused when he arrived to open up last Wednesday and found the entrance to his toy store sealed off by a health and safety-conscious glazier. Mr Tree, who runs the All The Cool Stuff classic toy emporium in Fordingbridge High

  • Looking at ways to cut buzzard numbers

    BUZZARDS on shooting estates could be taken into captivity and their nests destroyed as part of government proposals to control escalating numbers of birds of prey in England. Defra is offering thousands of pounds to research projects into the best

  • Putting in some big miles

    DESPITE this constituency being by no means one of the furthest flung from Westminster, there are weeks when I feel I am clocking up more than my share of miles. Today, the Defence Select Committee is taking part in a visit to Hereford, following

  • NADFAS

    MEMBERS had a treat on June 12 when Anthea Streeter took them through the history of London from Roman days to the 21st century with the help of pictures. She began with a familiar painting of the present skyline viewed from across the Thames

  • Bourne Valley WI

    THE June meeting was a do-it-yourself afternoon as there was no speaker. President Jill Bushnell welcomed members, after which the secretary, Pat Merritt, read the minutes anddealt with correspondence. There were invitations to garden parties

  • Alderbury Royal British Legion

    A CONCERT by the Dun Valley Singers was held in Pitton Village Hall to celebrate the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee. It was introduced by branch president Major General Michael D Regan, who paid tribute to the work of the branch and the dedication

  • Winterslow Singers

    IN the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee year the village hall, bedecked with union flags and bunting, was the setting for Winterslow Singers and friends to celebrate all things British. From our obsession with the weather to a night at the proms, street

  • Redlynch and District WI

    IN June, the group welcomed John Clark as the speaker. His subject was Engineering the Pyramids. He based his talk on the Great Pyramid of Khufu, (also known as Cheops) on the Giza plateau, south west of Cairo. John was an engineer and had

  • Dinton WI

    DUE to a spell of unseasonably cool and unreliable weather, the group’s annual garden meeting was held indoors in Dinton Village Hall on Wednesday, June 13. The president, Vivian Longland, welcomed 18 members to the meeting, which began with

  • Fond farewell Sarum Counselling stalwart

    LOCAL councillor and recently-appointed Sarum Counselling trustee Jo Broom spoke to an audience at Sarum Counselling’s annual meeting about the varied and valuable service offered by Salisbury Walk-in Health Clinic to people in the city.

  • Odstock, Nunton and Bodenham WI

    THE annual garden party held on June 11 at Sue Bourne’s was a little different this year owing to the monsoon–like weather. The president, Elizabeth Cutter, with the able help of her committee, decided on the previous evening to hold the meeting

  • Redlynch History Society

    WITH All The World’s A Stage as its theme, the group, on June 12, was treated to a tour of Salisbury's historic entertainment sites. As far back as 1603, there was a staging of A Midsummer Night's Dream at the Old George Inn in the High Street

  • New website for advocacy service

    SWAN Advocacy has launched a new website. The charity, which provides free advocacy services to vulnerable adults in Wiltshire, launched the new site at the White Hart Hotel. “The launch of Swan’s new website is the culmination of months

  • Murder trial latest: blood found at homes

    THE jury at the trial of three people charged with the murder of Semley man Lennie Adams has been hearing evidence from a forensics expert. Forensic scientist Clare Lowrie told Winchester Crown Court that 43-year-old Mr Adams’ blood was discovered

  • Kind hearted knitters make clothes for African babies

    KNITTING needles were clicking as a group of kind hearted souls in Salisbury got to work to help African babies. The Retired Senior Voluntary Programme (RSVP) group, which meets once a month at the city’s Pembroke House, has made more than a hundred

  • Olympian at Exeter House

    CHILDREN at Exeter House School had the chance to meet an Olympian on Tuesday. Former England hockey start Steve Batchelor, who won gold with the team in Seoul in 1988, took along his medals to show the youngsters at the school.

  • School celebrates Ofsted improvements

    STAFF and children at Stratford-sub-Castle Primary School are celebrating after improving their Ofsted grade and getting an outstanding report from the diocese. In 2009 the Church of England school was rated satisfactory by Ofsted inspectors but it has