From Our Files: Keith down the mines, school head protests, and supermarket threatens shops
75 YEARS AGO
KEITH BUNDAY, a son of Mr and Mrs L. H. Bunday, of Ashley Common Road, is the first New Milton youth to have been drawn out of Mr Bevin’s hat to work in the coal mines.
He was one of those whose National Registration numbers end with a nought - the mystic hat figure which was chosen for the selection of the first mining recruits.
Keith (18) isn’t too well pleased about it, being used to an outdoor life, but philosophically says: “It may not be so bad when you get used to it, but it would be better if a couple or more of us were going from this district, so that we could chum up in a strange place and surroundings.”
He has heard that two other youths – one from Lymington and another from Sway – are also joining the coal recruits and he would like to contact them to find out if they are going to Clifton Lanes, where he has been notified to report, although the date is not yet given.
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At a meeting of Lymington Council on Wednesday it was reported that the Medical Officer of Health (Dr. E. Croft Watts) had made strong representation to the Emergency Committee regarding the probable calling up of two more local medical practitioners and the committee fully supported his view that any depletion of the medical services locally may be fraught with considerable risk to the health of the residents of the Borough. The M.O.H. has taken up the question strongly with the County M.O.H.
The Public Health Committee reported that the influenza epidemic which spread through the Borough in November and December resulted in the death of five adults and that the epidemic was now declining.
50 YEARS AGO
The 24 members of the staff at Gore Secondary School, New Milton, have been joined by pupils and parents to their protest over the lack of a future appointment for their headmaster Mr. E. N. Day in comprehensive proposals for the town.
The proposals already approved in principle by the Secretary of State for Education and Science, involve the amalgamation of the Ashley and Gore Secondary Schools to form a new comprehensive school.
Mr D. Gorvett, head of Ashley School has been offered the headmastership of the new school. The staff who also fear that they too, may be adversely affected by the amalgamation have taken the matter up with the chairman of the school governors Coun. Mrs Iris Nedderman.
Now pupils at the school have formed a committee of senior members to support Mr Day, and have started a petition headed “Mr Day for Headmaster”. Already it bears over 200 signatures.
16 year old Margaret Light of Barton Firs, Western Avenue, the school’s deputy head girl is one of those behind the petition.
“We think it is unfair”, said Margaret, “Mr Day has built up a jolly good school, and each year examination results are getting better and better.
“We have had meetings at school during our breaks and almost everybody wants to help. The children have the greatest respect for Mr Day. It is all wrong after what he has done for the school.”
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“I can only suggest that the girls worked much harder on the course,” said the headmaster of Somerford County Secondary School, Mr K. Hudson, reporting on the school’s G.C.E, “O” Level performances at the annual fifth-form prizegiving on Wednesday evening.
“There are those who believe that just being on the course is enough and if they fail they blame anyone but themselves. Nothing worthwhile is achieved without hard work,” he added.
He reported that 66 pupils obtained certificates – this was about half the year group. Of those, 34 passed the G.C.E “O” level in up to eight subjects.
In the CSE examinations there were 33 grade one passes, which are equal to GCE “O” level passes. Seventeen girls achieved good results in commercial subjects and Mr Hudson commented that had several of those girls not devoted half their times to commercial subjects, they would have been able to gain full GCE certificates with little difficulty.
Mr Hudson regarded the results of the 66 pupils as good, particularly in view of the fact that all of them some years ago suffered the disappointment of having failed the 11-plus.
The girls, however, were twice as good as the boys. Although entering in equal numbers for the GCE subjects, the girls obtained twice as many passes as the boys.
25 YEARS AGO
A warning that a superstore at Ampress Lymington - now the subject of an appeal by Wyncote Developments - would have a devastating effect on traders in the town centre, came from Chamber of Commerce vice-president Gordon Young when he led a small deputation of shopkeepers attending the latest meeting of Lymington Town Council.
“I pray this appeal will fail,” he said.
Town-mayor Mike Thorp remarked that he attended a small private meeting between District Council and Wyncote representatives, when the development company assured they did not wish to go to appeal and hoped they could sort out their differences with District Council officers: “Obviously they were unable to do so.”
Mr Young had stated the Chamber deemed the superstore, with its filling station but not now including industrial units, “unwanted and unnecessary,” adding: “Such an out of town superstore would have a devastating effect on traders in the town as seen up and down the country and now recognised by the Government.”
With three supermarkets already in the town, and Tesco shortly opening a superstore in New Milton, another was not needed at Ampress. Cut-price petrol would also affect garages in the town. Nothing that the promised industrial units have now been withdrawn from the appeal, Mr Young insisted: “It is a fallacy to say this application will create jobs — for each one gained, another is lost in the town.”
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The rain-hit New Forest Show had a calamitous year, reports treasurer, John Barradell. After three years of excellent results when revenue surpluses were almost £108,000, the organisers experienced a revenue deficit of £39,000 and an overall loss of £45,000 after capital expenditure of £6,000 was written off during 1993.
The serious adverse weather conditions for the three-day July show are blamed for the disastrous financial results. The gross takings at the gates were £59,000 down (£50,000 nett), which represented over 11,000 fewer attending, states Mr Barradell in his report to members.
Fewer people meant that concessions income suffered — reduced by £8,000 — and sales of programmes were down by £2,000. Bad weather before the show probably also affected advanced ticket sales — down £3,000 — and sales of guest tickets were down a further £3,000.
The Show Society’s president, Jennie Loriston-Clarke, recalls the treasurer, had considerable foresight, having insisted that the pluvious insurance was continued in spite of his recommendation that a bad weather reserve should be arranged by using insurance premiums. “We achieved the requisite amount of rain by just two thousandths of an inch,” he said.
Campaigners have won their battle to stop part of the Druitt Gardens at Christchurch being sold by Dorset County Council to a developer who wants to build a new shopping mall.
Opponents of the plan to sell the 360 square yards of land to the owner of the Matthews shoe shop produced an 1,800 name signature and challenges to the Attorney General and the Ombudsman.
The land was part of the site zoned in the Town Centre Local Plan for a 12 shop development behind the High Street, but campaigners said it should remain as open space.
The decision not to sell the land was taken on Wednesday by the county council’s Amenities Committee and will mean that the shops scheme will have to be reconsidered.
