Friends of Sir Harry group launch at packed-out VIP reception

OVER 70 people attended the launch of a group that celebrates the life and times of Admiral Sir Harry Burrard Neale.

The Friends of Sir Harry hosted the reception at Lymington’s St Barbe Museum where they pledged to maintain the monument at Walhampton dedicated to the naval hero’s legacy.

Among the guests were Lord Montagu, New Forest West MP Sir Desmond Swayne and Mayor of Lymington and Pennington Cllr Anne Corbridge.

Chair of the friends, Don Mackenzie, said: “The joint Lymington Society and Town Council project to fund and carry out the restoration of the monument at Walhampton has been a great example of how a local organisation and a council can work together.

“The scheme is for the benefit of local people and we are very proud of our role in co-ordinating the bid to the Heritage Lottery fund and helping to bring this project to completion.

“We are now pleased to be taking the next step and setting up this dedicated Friends organisation to help ensure that the tremendous gains from this project are not lost and that the monument and other Burrard Neale artefacts in the town, such as the gas lamp at Bath Road, are properly maintained.”

After a short presentation outlining details of the restoration project, Mr Mackenzie displayed photos of the ‘jungle’ of overgrown foliage that was cut away in 2015 followed by before and after pictures of the now gleaming monument.

Lord Montagu thanked the society and the Burrard Neale committee for their hard work over the four year mission and for finally getting to this stage with a completed project.

He also mentioned how as a boy at Walhampton School he was taken by the matron on a ‘sick-walk’ organised for anyone who was ‘off-games’ which usually ended up at the monument for an informal kick-about.

Sir Desmond also praised the society for its involvement in the restoration project and Cllr Anne Corbridge commended the successful outcome of the project.

She also recalled the day when she and other council members and staff were able to climb the scaffolding during the restoration to get a 76ft high view of Lymington.

Jan Mein, historian and associate of SPUD, a local heritage and funding charity, gave a brief overview of the life of Sir Harry from his birth in 1765 till his death in Brighton at the age of 85.

Matthew Butcher, a teacher from Pennington Infants School, gave a talk about the way that he has used the history of Sir Harry as a teaching subject and theme for many areas of the curriculum.

He said children were fascinated by these lessons and he described how much they enjoyed studying such a heroic figure at an important time in the country’s history.

On behalf of the Burrard Neale Project Mr Butcher will be undertaking a training programme for other teachers in the area to enable them to share the lesson plans and syllabus that he has been using.

Mr Mackenzie added: “The new committee are very grateful that so many people came along to St Barbe for the launch of the Friends to wish the new organisation well and for their enthusiastic support on the night.

“We are also grateful for the kind messages of support and gratitude expressed for the Society’s efforts in co-ordinating and completing this successful project.

“We will now be planning a wide ranging and exciting programme of meetings and events in the next couple of years as well as organising a team of volunteers to help with the task of keeping the site in the great shape that has been achieved since 2015.”

Anyone interested in joining the Friends of Sir Harry can visit www.friendsofsirharry.org.