Yes please..... Maggie Some of you may remember reading bits of My Story before... Born in south London, and an only child, I was brought up in the Hampshire countryside 4 miles south of Winchester. Our home was a detached house of brick built in 1922, and bought by my father for the very reasonable sum of £660 and we moved there in 1927. It was a typical bit of between-the-wars ribbon development along one side of the main road to Southampton. It had two good-sized living rooms and a kitchen downstairs, and two and a half bedrooms and a bathroom upstairs. Each room had its fireplace, the one in the living room notably inefficient at heating the water in its back boiler and given to smoking badly, especially when easterly winds blew. Lighting and cooking was by town-gas; electricity didn't come to this rural area until after World War II. There was no television of course, so an electricity supply wasn't seriously missed. Dad made our first ‘wireless' set in about 1930, a cumbersome thing fitted into a narrow cupboard bought for the purpose. It was battery-driven, as were its later boughten successors, and one of my childhood duties was to carry the small glass-cased lead accumulator every week or so the mile over the downs to Shawford, where it seemed all the lead accumulators of the district were re-charged from a dynamo in an abandoned watermill on the River Itchen. Facing us on the opposite side of the road were several much more imposing houses that had been built at the turn of the century and which were now mostly hidden behind tall hedges. Here lived retired admirals, Indian Civil Service wallahs and similar crusty personalities, all moderately wealthy and keeping themselves very much to themselves. Companions of my own age had I none until, in 1929, I started at the little Church of England primary school in the small village of Compton, a mile north of home. The enlarged society in which I suddenly found myself was not easy to adjust to, and this was apparently not helped by my more ‘refined‘ accents. Miss Durrant, the teacher of the infant class, even suggested to my mother that I should try to adopt the more rounded Hampshire vowel forms. (Having since heard myself many times ‘on tape', I do wonder how I acquired my ‘Received Pronunciation' accent — or, rather, how my parents did, for obviously I mimicked them. Yet, even in later years I never heard a trace in them of the London accent which marked my various aunts' tones.) Compton, now a rather up-market commuter adjunct to Winchester, was in the 1930s still largely agricultural. There were a few ‘posh' houses, but two large farms provided the principal employment for the locals. An abiding memory of those early school days was at harvest-time when huge horses hauled the laden carts back from the outlying fields. The school was small — perhaps 40 pupils, in just two classes, almost all the children of farm workers. With an all-through age range of 5-15, the eldest were expected to help teach the juniors. Mine was Norah, a rather large cheerful girl of the great age of 15. Memories of the traditional games learned in the playground were later rekindled by Peter and Iona Opie's famous books. And yes, we called ‘scribs' for a truce. (My mother, a Londoner through and through, cried ‘fainites'.) Amongst other skills learned was how to drink from a tap without getting one's face wet, for the only water accessible at playtime was a tap by the school wall. The toilets were even more primitive; bucket privies for both sexes plus, for the boys, an iron trough filled with peat at the beginning of each term — and expected to last! I walked the mile to school and back every day, alone and mostly alongside the main road. It had little traffic in those days, often not a vehicle in sight for minutes on end, but since transformed into the unbelievably busy M3 which passes just behind my old home. As an alternative for part of my route, I could walk over the Downs, the last chalky escarpment before the gravels and clays of Southampton through which, down at Shawford, the Itchen had carved its valley. These Downs, and their narrower companion strip above Compton, became my playground, a favourite hawthorn tree being in turns a pirate ship and a den. For most of those primary school years, my principal companion was Betty Pritchard, some 2½ years older than myself, who lived with her ‘uncle' and ‘aunt' in one of a short row of workers' cottages just down the road. I say ‘uncle' and ‘aunt', for I now suspect she was in fact the child of one of their own daughters, then in their 20s. Betty was, perhaps fortunately for me, a bit of a tomboy and we got up to quite a number of scrapes, thereby incurring sharp words from her ‘uncle'. At the age of 6, I caught a very mild dose of scarlet fever and, in accordance with the health regulations of the time, was promptly packed off by ambulance to spend six weeks at the Isolation Hospital on the downs a couple of miles east of Winchester. Betty had gone there, too, for the same reason. The Hospital was a typical construction of corrugated iron, painted the pale yellow colour of such places. Not feeling particularly ill, we had the run of the place and its bare open grounds. The food was memorably awful, and I owe a life-long distaste for custard from the cold stiff yellow goo they served there. I also learned one shouldn't chew ones nails, for “the bits could turn into worms in your tummy”.. (True, from the eggs that might lurk under them.) I remember, too, the chuffing and clanking of a huge steam excavator nearby that was making a start on a deep cutting for the Winchester bypass, now part of the M3. As a family, we were fortunate — and exceptional — in having the use of a car. My father, now a sales representative working from the Southampton office of the Anglo-American Oil Company (which became Esso Petroleum Company in 1936), had a company car. He progressed in turn from a tiny canvas-sided Austin Seven to a Morris Ten to a Hillman Saloon. As he was allowed to use it at weekend for family purposes, this could make quite frequent trips into the Hampshire countryside, especially to the New Forest and our favourite seaside at Highcliffe. (“I can see the sea!”) We became a two-car family in 1936 when my mother acquired a Baby Austin Seven and learned to drive, which was an exceptional thing for a woman to do in those years. In 1935, with a bit of special coaching from the motherly head teacher, Miss White, I passed the scholarship examination to attend the secondary school in Winchester. And after the first year, when I travelled by bus, I cycled the hilly 4 miles to and from school... [More if you want it!] Howard

I am not a writer by any stretch of the imagination, just a few thought's and impression of my village life. My Mum was a widow but she re-married and we moved from Essex to Somerset not sure of the year maybe 1941-1942,we had a village shop and post office also an off license and because of that they had to stay open late. There were two other shops in the village, we lived almost opposite the Anglican church... Wednesday evening it was bell ringing practice I think there were six bells,I'm just trying to visualize them maybe only four, I don't the church door's ever being locked another thing I remember is climbing up the tower.... bit on the scared side but didn't to admit it steep stairs and the top one was the worst very steep,not to bad going up but coming down was worse they were quite worn as well,I can't remember how old the Church was but the there were marks on the back pew's said to be where Oliver Cromwell tied his horses.....don't know if that was true but there were lot's of

While, as an atheist, I tend to pooh-pooh miracles, I am rather impressed by the level of belief and/or faith that took place in the creation of “The Miracle at Lourdes”. While one tends to chortle about the joke and insurance scam where, a man, having won a substantial settlement in an insurance case, informs the insurance investigator that he is going for a tour of Europe as a quadriplegic which would be followed by a visit to Lourdes and the miracle, there seem to be far too many “miracles” to be accounted for by psychological illnesses and insurance scams. Perhaps the Druids had it right, that there are places where religious miracles can and do take place. I have placed more than the usual number of URLs for you to consider. In my opinion there is something unusual that has happened to Bernadette Soubirous and to a remarkable number of those who believe as she did.   http://www.biographyonline.net/spiritual/bernadette-soubirious.html http://www.catholicpilgrims.com/lourdes/ba_bernadette_intro.htm http://members.chello.nl/~l.de.bondt/bernadetteEng.htm http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bernadette_Soubiroushttp:/ http://www.bernadette-of-lourdes.co.uk/bernadette-of-lourdes.htm http://www.catholic.org/saints/saint.php?saint_id=1757 http://womenshistory.about.com/cs/religion/p/p_bernadette.htm http://www.catholicpilgrims.com/lourdes/bc_bernadette_lourdes.htm http://www.catholic-pages.com/saints/st_bernadette.asp http://www.lourdes-france.org/index.php?goto_centre=ru&contexte=en&id=421&id _rubrique=421   Capt’n John   St. Bernadette Soubirous (1844-1879)   Born to a very poor family on January 7, 1844, she suffered severely from asthma and was such a poor student she was delayed from making her First Holy Communion until 1858, when she was 14. On February 11 of that year, the first of her visions took place as she was gathering firewood along the river Gave. This drama is known to most Catholics as the Apparition at Lourdes. On March 25, 1858, the Blessed Virgin appeared for the last time and identified herself as the "Immaculate Conception." With these words the Mother of God confirmed the pious belief which Pope Pius IX, 4 years earlier, had raised to the dignity of a dogma of the infallible Church. The Sisters of Nevers, who operated a school at Lourdes, were later entrusted with Bernadette's care, and when she was 22, was admitted to their order. She spent the rest of her days there, a short distance from Lourdes. After suffering heroically for years from tuberculosis of the bone in the right knee, including several complications, she died a holy death on April 15, 1879. The body was first exhumed 30 years after her death. On September 2, 1909, in the presence of representatives appointed by the postulators of the cause, 2 doctors, and the sister of the community, the coffin was removed by workmen from the place where it was intombed. On opening the lid, they discerned no odor and the virginal body lay exposed, completly victorious over the laws of nature. The arms and face were completly unaffected from corruption and had maintained their natural skin tone. The teeth were barely visible through her slightly parted lips. The rosary in her hands had become rusty, and the crucifix was coated with verdigris. The sisters, with the best of intentions, thoroughly washed the body and reclothed it in a new religious habit before placing it in a new casket. After the official documents pertaining to the exhumation were placed beside the body, and the double casket officially sealed, the remains were again placed in the tomb. The second exhumation took place at the end of the Process on April 3, 1919. The body of the Venerable was found in the same state of preservation as 10 years earlier, except that the face was slightly discolored, due to the washing it had undergone during the first exhumation. A worker in wax who was experienced in such duties applied a coating to the face of the Saint who had been dead 40 years. This sacred relic was placed in a coffin of gold and glass and can be viewed in the Chapel of Saint Bernadette at the motherhouse in Nevers. Picture & biography courtesy of Joan Carroll Cruz, "The Incorruptibles" ©1977. Used with permission.

In a message dated 2/11/2008 2:00:57 AM Pacific Standard Time, [email protected] writes: Hi Annalee, I am 58 this year. Brought up in Sydney (Oz) when, in those years it was still Queen and Country. My father was from English extraction, my mum Scottish. I was not particularly academic compared to my bros. I went to Secretarial College - they went to University. The 3 of us were completely different. I was the baby, tomboy and absolutely into sport. I was also involved in church Youth Groups. My main group of friends came from school, the Church groups and my Tennis Club. Hi, That does sound like quite a bit like what some of the young people occupied themselves with, growing up. For most here, there is not a whole lot of alternatives to getting into trouble, but for those who weren't interested in that, some of the biggest distractions have been church youth groups, and high school & middle school sports! :) Personally, at that time, I did neither... I was involved with the Drama Club in high school, and working for the high school yearbook. After school I did volunteer work with the library. :) Annalee **************The year's hottest artists on the red carpet at the Grammy Awards. Go to AOL Music. (http://music.aol.com/grammys?NCID=aolcmp00300000002565)

You`re kidding,it was cold here over the weekend, a cold southerly blowing, but about 26 today Val xx > Tis warm in Invercargill too.........just thought I would mention that :-) > Di Di > http://photobucket.com/albums/d100/didi_45 > [email protected] > > > >> Hi Annalee >> >> I joined recently also...so, it's hello from NZ >> >> Peter in a warm and humid Auckland >> ----- Original Message ----- >> From: <[email protected]> >> To: <[email protected]> >> Sent: Monday, February 11, 2008 10:35 AM >> Subject: Re: [TRIVVIES] New Member >> >> >>> >>> In a message dated 2/10/2008 8:27:06 AM Pacific Standard Time, >>> [email protected] writes: >>> >>> OK folks, time to put out the Welcome Mat once more and give a hearty >>> welcome >>> to Samuel Phillips. >>> >>> Welcome Samuel! I'm Annalee in California, and I've just joined the list >>> myself. I am looking forward to getting to know everyone, and also >>> getting >>> to know >>> more about England. :) >>> >>> Annalee >>> >>> >>> >>> **************Biggest Grammy Award surprises of all time on AOL Music. >>> (http://music.aol.com/grammys/pictures/never-won-a-grammy?NCID=aolcmp003000000025 >>> 48) >>> . >>> . >>> "IS THE SUBJECT LINE STILL RELEVANT? >>> If not, PLEASE change it." >>> >>> ------------------------------- >>> To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to >>> [email protected] with the word 'unsubscribe' without >>> the quotes in the subject and the body of the message >> >> . >> . >> "IS THE SUBJECT LINE STILL RELEVANT? >> If not, PLEASE change it." >> >> ------------------------------- >> To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to >> [email protected] with the word 'unsubscribe' without >> the quotes in the subject and the body of the message >> > > . > . > "IS THE SUBJECT LINE STILL RELEVANT? > If not, PLEASE change it." > > ------------------------------- > To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to > [email protected] with the word 'unsubscribe' without > the quotes in the subject and the body of the message

I don`t know if this is relevent Geo, but I used to spend a lot of my holidays as a child at a country property of my aunt and uncle. They lived out from a small heritage town called Millthorpe, over the mountains and on the western plains. They ran sheep and dairy.I used to love staying there as I could go riding, help with the milking, watching them docking the lambs` tails and taking flocks of sheep to he rail head etc. My aunt had a horse and sulky and she would take me into town to meet other members of the family who had left the land and retired to the town.I had a couple of cousins but they used have to work on the property so only saw them at mealtimes and at night. The weather differed according to the time of year I stayed there, I remember the winters,we used to get black frosts, uncle used to say ' too bl--dy cold to snow" and one summer it was 113 f for twoweeks, without respite, " too bl--dy hot to move!" My aunt used to send me down in the cellar to keep cool! I used to go riding by myself and was told if I got lost, either find a fence and follow it or let the horse find his way home, and watch out for snakes!! I remember one day coming onto a great big cage and it was filled with dead and dying crows, right out in the middle of nowhere. When I asked about it was told it was a trap to catch the crows, that many less to attack the baby lambs and peck their eyes!! I have never forgotten the sight of that! I had a pet dog a Kelpie but was not allowed to pet the working dogs, dogs for working and dogs for pets, two different things! I loved the big Clydesdales they were so gorgeous. I think that`s enough, don`t want to bore everybody Val xx > Just a gentle reminder... > > We have had four submissions on this month's topic and very interesting > they were too. > > If anyone else as any stories, anecdotes, descriptions of life, customs, > etc. in a village, farm or rural area won't you please share them with us? > They can relate to any era. Do you know anything of the places your Ag. > Lab. or farmer ancestors lived? Did you live in a village or on a farm > yourself? > > For all those folk who know nothing about village life, do you have any > questions on the subject? > > Geo. > . > . > "IS THE SUBJECT LINE STILL RELEVANT? > If not, PLEASE change it." > > ------------------------------- > To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to > [email protected] with the word 'unsubscribe' without > the quotes in the subject and the body of the message

Hi Samuel, welcome, I`m Val and I live at Manly Beach in Sydney Oz Val xx > OK folks, time to put out the Welcome Mat once more and give a hearty > welcome to Samuel Phillips. > > A warm welcome from me, Samuel. It would be appreciated if you would > introduce yourself to the List and tell us where you are and what your > interests are. > > Geo. > (Joint Listowner) > . > . > "IS THE SUBJECT LINE STILL RELEVANT? > If not, PLEASE change it." > > ------------------------------- > To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to > [email protected] with the word 'unsubscribe' without > the quotes in the subject and the body of the message

Tis warm in Invercargill too.........just thought I would mention that :-) Di Di http://photobucket.com/albums/d100/didi_45 [email protected] > Hi Annalee > > I joined recently also...so, it's hello from NZ > > Peter in a warm and humid Auckland > ----- Original Message ----- > From: <[email protected]> > To: <[email protected]> > Sent: Monday, February 11, 2008 10:35 AM > Subject: Re: [TRIVVIES] New Member > > >> >> In a message dated 2/10/2008 8:27:06 AM Pacific Standard Time, >> [email protected] writes: >> >> OK folks, time to put out the Welcome Mat once more and give a hearty >> welcome >> to Samuel Phillips. >> >> Welcome Samuel! I'm Annalee in California, and I've just joined the list >> myself. I am looking forward to getting to know everyone, and also >> getting >> to know >> more about England. :) >> >> Annalee >> >> >> >> **************Biggest Grammy Award surprises of all time on AOL Music. >> (http://music.aol.com/grammys/pictures/never-won-a-grammy?NCID=aolcmp003000000025 >> 48) >> . >> . >> "IS THE SUBJECT LINE STILL RELEVANT? >> If not, PLEASE change it." >> >> ------------------------------- >> To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to >> [email protected] with the word 'unsubscribe' without >> the quotes in the subject and the body of the message > > . > . > "IS THE SUBJECT LINE STILL RELEVANT? > If not, PLEASE change it." > > ------------------------------- > To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to > [email protected] with the word 'unsubscribe' without > the quotes in the subject and the body of the message >

Hi Annalee I joined recently also...so, it's hello from NZ Peter in a warm and humid Auckland ----- Original Message ----- From: <[email protected]> To: <[email protected]> Sent: Monday, February 11, 2008 10:35 AM Subject: Re: [TRIVVIES] New Member > > In a message dated 2/10/2008 8:27:06 AM Pacific Standard Time, > [email protected] writes: > > OK folks, time to put out the Welcome Mat once more and give a hearty > welcome > to Samuel Phillips. > > Welcome Samuel! I'm Annalee in California, and I've just joined the list > myself. I am looking forward to getting to know everyone, and also getting > to know > more about England. :) > > Annalee > > > > **************Biggest Grammy Award surprises of all time on AOL Music. > (http://music.aol.com/grammys/pictures/never-won-a-grammy?NCID=aolcmp003000000025 > 48) > . > . > "IS THE SUBJECT LINE STILL RELEVANT? > If not, PLEASE change it." > > ------------------------------- > To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to > [email protected] with the word 'unsubscribe' without > the quotes in the subject and the body of the message

That's great Marlene....lovely names....congratulations to all concerned!! You didn't have to wait long for the news after I spoke to you....many thanks again for the call. Hugs, Gwen & Nick > Maria and Andy have just phoned to say that > little Phoebe Mary Paige has arrived > she weighed in at 6lb 7ozs at 11. 15pm UK time > Saturday 9th February > One Relieved Gt Nan who hasn't moved outside today > Marlene > > > > > > > ___________________________________________________________ > Support the World Aids Awareness campaign this month with Yahoo! For Good > http://uk.promotions.yahoo.com/forgood/ > . > . > "IS THE SUBJECT LINE STILL RELEVANT? > If not, PLEASE change it." > > ------------------------------- > To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to > [email protected] with the word 'unsubscribe' without > the quotes in the subject and the body of the message >

Hi Geo In my submission earlier, I forgot to say that the village also had Post Office/ stationers, and I should have remembered as I was born in the flat above. At Christmas time it sold toys, too. Incidentally, the village store and P.O. were owned by my father's employer and I think my mother felt he did rather well as most of Dad's wages went back him. He also owned a number of cottages and ours was tied. He was a good employer, though as retired employees remained in their dwellings. Jean Oz Subject: [TRIVVIES] Topic of the month: Village Life/country life > Just a gentle reminder... > > We have had four submissions on this month's topic and very interesting > they were too. > > If anyone else as any stories, anecdotes, descriptions of life, customs, > etc. in a village, farm or rural area won't you please share them with us? > They can relate to any era. Do you know anything of the places your Ag. > Lab. or farmer ancestors lived? Did you live in a village or on a farm > yourself? > > For all those folk who know nothing about village life, do you have any > questions on the subject? > > Geo. > . > . > "IS THE SUBJECT LINE STILL RELEVANT? > If not, PLEASE change it." > > ------------------------------- > To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to > [email protected] with the word 'unsubscribe' without > the quotes in the subject and the body of the message > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > >

Hello Samuel! My my, what a lot of new members we're getting. ... Lizzie -----Original Message----- From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Geo. Sent: 10 February 2008 16:26 To: Trivvies Subject: [TRIVVIES] New Member OK folks, time to put out the Welcome Mat once more and give a hearty welcome to Samuel Phillips. A warm welcome from me, Samuel. It would be appreciated if you would introduce yourself to the List and tell us where you are and what your interests are. Geo. (Joint Listowner) . . "IS THE SUBJECT LINE STILL RELEVANT? If not, PLEASE change it." ------------------------------- To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to [email protected] with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the subject and the body of the message

Hi everyone, Thank you for the welcome mat. My name is Shirley and I am actually an old Trivvie who joined when this list first started. I thought I would pop in and see how everyone was doing so a special hello to any of the original members, Howard it is good to see you are still writing such interesting posts. Anyway I was born in Lewisham, London in 1937, we were bombed out in the Blitz of September 1941 and moved to Shepton Mallet, Somerset. I think a recurring theme of village life is the freedom of our childhood, being able to roam through the countryside beats video games any day. We moved around a lot from age 8 to 16 when we ended up in Horley, Surrey.I worked in London and then married and had babies. In 1966 my husband remarked on one Sunday afternoon that there was a job in the paper in America. I said "why not write and apply" One small sentence that totally changed my life. In 1967 we came to America and I now live in Maryland on the East Coast about 80 miles from Washington and not far from Camp David. I return to England every other year and became interested in my family history about 10 years ago. My main interest besides my Grandchildren is my garden and this has been curtailed lately because of a wonky knee and other parts not working like they used to!!!!!!!!!!! I look after my Mother who is 96 and was born within the sound of Bow Bells. I hope I can stay a while, and look forward to hearing life experiences!!! Shirley who still feels like a Brit.

Samuel Plimsoll, social reformer, inventor, Member of Parliament, made a name for himself by working to change the working conditions of seamen so that safety for the ship’s crews was protected by law rather than by the beneficence of the ship’s owners. As such he was considered to be a serious threat to intercontinental shipping and hated by the ship owners. Of particular note was his invention of the Plimsoll line which marked the point on the side of a vessel that showed the deepest safe point that a vessel could be loaded to. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samuel_Plimsoll http://www.mcgill.ca/maritimelaw/tetley/plimsoll/ (This is an article about a relation of Samuel Plimsoll who was a flamboyant Canadian lawyer.) http://www.plimsoll.com/history.html (This article shows how the Plimsoll line works, and also gives some idea of how ship owners reacted to Plimsoll.)   Oh yes, Samuel Plimsoll did not invent Plimsoll shoes, but the line of shoes was named after him.   Capt’n John Samuel Plimsoll, the son of Thomas Plimsoll and Priscilla Willing, was born in Bristol on 10th February, 1824. Plimsoll became involved in shipping coal to London and soon became one of Britain's leading experts on trading in this community. By 1862 he had written two books on the subject, The Export Coal Trade of England and The Inland Coal Trade. His research into the coal trade made him aware of the dangers faced by sailors. He was particularly concerned with the negligence of some shipowners and the indifference of government to the issue of marine safety. While working in London Plimsoll lived in one of the model lodging houses for working men established by Lord Shaftesbury. Aware of the role that Shaftesbury had played in persuading Parliament to pass protective legislation, Plimsoll decided to try and become a member of the House of Commons. In the 1868 General Election, Plimsoll was elected as MP for Derby. He immediately began to campaign for government legislation to protect seamen. To support his case he published Our Seamen (1873), a book that provided documentary evidence about the scale of the problem. This included information that nearly 1,000 sailors a year were being drowned on ships around British shores. As part of his campaign, a copy of Our Seamen was given to every member of the House of Commons. Plimsoll was particularly critical of the 1871 Merchant Shipping Act. As a result of this legislation seamen were obliged, subject to imprisonment and fine, to go to sea and complete a voyage once they had signed a contract. This made it difficult for sailors to leave a ship once they realised it was unseaworthy. In March 1873, The Times joined Plimsoll's campaign by printing a story about fifteen seamen who had been imprisoned for three months after they refused to go on board the ship Peru. When the ship finally left Cardiff with a new crew, it sunk in the Bay of Biscay and three men were drowned. Ship-owners had powerful supporters in the House of Commons and it was argued by them that the government should not pass legislation that restricted the freedom of employers to run their companies. Gradually, other politicians, such as Lord Shaftesbury, became involved in Plimsoll's campaign. In 1875 Benjamin Disraeli, the Conservative prime minister, changed his mind on the issue and in 1875 gave his support to an Unseaworthy Vessels Bill. The following year Samuel Plimsoll managed to persuade Parliament to amend the 1871 Merchant Shipping Act. This provided for the marking of a line on a ship's sides which would disappear below the water line if the ship was overloaded. A further amendment in 1877 imposed a limit on the weight of cargo which vessels were permitted to carry and created rules governing the engagement of seamen and their accommodation on board ship. Plimsoll retired from the House of Commons in 1880. Although no longer in Parliament he continued to campaign for reform and in 1890 published Cattleships, a book that exposed the cruelties and dangers of cattle-shipping. Samuel Plimsoll died in 1898.  

Hi Samuel, welcome to our group. I'm Capt'n John from Mahone Bay, Nova Scotia. > OK folks, time to put out the Welcome Mat once more and give a hearty > welcome to Samuel Phillips. > > A warm welcome from me, Samuel. It would be appreciated if you would > introduce yourself to the List and tell us where you are and what your > interests are. > > Geo. > (Joint Listowner) > . > . > "IS THE SUBJECT LINE STILL RELEVANT? > If not, PLEASE change it."

Some of you may remember reading bits of My Story before... Born in south London, and an only child, I was brought up in the Hampshire countryside 4 miles south of Winchester. Our home was a detached house of brick built in 1922, and bought by my father for the very reasonable sum of £660 and we moved there in 1927. It was a typical bit of between-the-wars ribbon development along one side of the main road to Southampton. It had two good-sized living rooms and a kitchen downstairs, and two and a half bedrooms and a bathroom upstairs. Each room had its fireplace, the one in the living room notably inefficient at heating the water in its back boiler and given to smoking badly, especially when easterly winds blew. Lighting and cooking was by town-gas; electricity didn't come to this rural area until after World War II. There was no television of course, so an electricity supply wasn't seriously missed. Dad made our first ‘wireless' set in about 1930, a cumbersome thing fitted into a narrow cupboard bought for the purpose. It was battery-driven, as were its later boughten successors, and one of my childhood duties was to carry the small glass-cased lead accumulator every week or so the mile over the downs to Shawford, where it seemed all the lead accumulators of the district were re-charged from a dynamo in an abandoned watermill on the River Itchen. Facing us on the opposite side of the road were several much more imposing houses that had been built at the turn of the century and which were now mostly hidden behind tall hedges. Here lived retired admirals, Indian Civil Service wallahs and similar crusty personalities, all moderately wealthy and keeping themselves very much to themselves. Companions of my own age had I none until, in 1929, I started at the little Church of England primary school in the small village of Compton, a mile north of home. The enlarged society in which I suddenly found myself was not easy to adjust to, and this was apparently not helped by my more ‘refined‘ accents. Miss Durrant, the teacher of the infant class, even suggested to my mother that I should try to adopt the more rounded Hampshire vowel forms. (Having since heard myself many times ‘on tape', I do wonder how I acquired my ‘Received Pronunciation' accent — or, rather, how my parents did, for obviously I mimicked them. Yet, even in later years I never heard a trace in them of the London accent which marked my various aunts' tones.) Compton, now a rather up-market commuter adjunct to Winchester, was in the 1930s still largely agricultural. There were a few ‘posh' houses, but two large farms provided the principal employment for the locals. An abiding memory of those early school days was at harvest-time when huge horses hauled the laden carts back from the outlying fields. The school was small — perhaps 40 pupils, in just two classes, almost all the children of farm workers. With an all-through age range of 5-15, the eldest were expected to help teach the juniors. Mine was Norah, a rather large cheerful girl of the great age of 15. Memories of the traditional games learned in the playground were later rekindled by Peter and Iona Opie's famous books. And yes, we called ‘scribs' for a truce. (My mother, a Londoner through and through, cried ‘fainites'.) Amongst other skills learned was how to drink from a tap without getting one's face wet, for the only water accessible at playtime was a tap by the school wall. The toilets were even more primitive; bucket privies for both sexes plus, for the boys, an iron trough filled with peat at the beginning of each term — and expected to last! I walked the mile to school and back every day, alone and mostly alongside the main road. It had little traffic in those days, often not a vehicle in sight for minutes on end, but since transformed into the unbelievably busy M3 which passes just behind my old home. As an alternative for part of my route, I could walk over the Downs, the last chalky escarpment before the gravels and clays of Southampton through which, down at Shawford, the Itchen had carved its valley. These Downs, and their narrower companion strip above Compton, became my playground, a favourite hawthorn tree being in turns a pirate ship and a den. For most of those primary school years, my principal companion was Betty Pritchard, some 2½ years older than myself, who lived with her ‘uncle' and ‘aunt' in one of a short row of workers' cottages just down the road. I say ‘uncle' and ‘aunt', for I now suspect she was in fact the child of one of their own daughters, then in their 20s. Betty was, perhaps fortunately for me, a bit of a tomboy and we got up to quite a number of scrapes, thereby incurring sharp words from her ‘uncle'. At the age of 6, I caught a very mild dose of scarlet fever and, in accordance with the health regulations of the time, was promptly packed off by ambulance to spend six weeks at the Isolation Hospital on the downs a couple of miles east of Winchester. Betty had gone there, too, for the same reason. The Hospital was a typical construction of corrugated iron, painted the pale yellow colour of such places. Not feeling particularly ill, we had the run of the place and its bare open grounds. The food was memorably awful, and I owe a life-long distaste for custard from the cold stiff yellow goo they served there. I also learned one shouldn't chew ones nails, for “the bits could turn into worms in your tummy”.. (True, from the eggs that might lurk under them.) I remember, too, the chuffing and clanking of a huge steam excavator nearby that was making a start on a deep cutting for the Winchester bypass, now part of the M3. As a family, we were fortunate — and exceptional — in having the use of a car. My father, now a sales representative working from the Southampton office of the Anglo-American Oil Company (which became Esso Petroleum Company in 1936), had a company car. He progressed in turn from a tiny canvas-sided Austin Seven to a Morris Ten to a Hillman Saloon. As he was allowed to use it at weekend for family purposes, this could make quite frequent trips into the Hampshire countryside, especially to the New Forest and our favourite seaside at Highcliffe. (“I can see the sea!”) We became a two-car family in 1936 when my mother acquired a Baby Austin Seven and learned to drive, which was an exceptional thing for a woman to do in those years. In 1935, with a bit of special coaching from the motherly head teacher, Miss White, I passed the scholarship examination to attend the secondary school in Winchester. And after the first year, when I travelled by bus, I cycled the hilly 4 miles to and from school... [More if you want it!] Howard

Hi Annalee, I am 58 this year. Brought up in Sydney (Oz) when, in those years it was still Queen and Country. My father was from English extraction, my mum Scottish. I was not particularly academic compared to my bros. I went to Secretarial College - they went to University. The 3 of us were completely different. I was the baby, tomboy and absolutely into sport. I was also involved in church Youth Groups. My main group of friends came from school, the Church groups and my Tennis Club. I lived 500m from the school and would catch the train to Beecroft to meet the "Barker" boys - private school in Sydney - coming off the train to have a chat, they were also friends, Then would walk the mile back home <g> My dad once made the comment I only went to school to play sport - spot on as I was on just about every sporting group they had - Hockey, Netball, Lifesaving, Gymnastics, Trampoline Squad. Have to brag here but also gained a couple of school "Blues" (not barnies - tis an accolade) My best friend, and this friendship has remained, her "Blues" compared to mine were minor as she was a National and State Champ with Diving and Gym. Mel is still competing (Gym) - believe she may be the eldest in the Seniors and I think their may be a World Comp this year. caddy. fotosearch - search clipart, illustration, drawings and vector eps graphics images" src="http://www.fotosearch.com/comp/sue/sue110/penguin-caddy-~-gfcl0199.jpg" width=157 border=0> ROS ----- Original Message ---- From: "[email protected]" <[email protected]> To: [email protected] Sent: Monday, 11 February, 2008 8:11:45 AM Subject: Re: [TRIVVIES] Topic of the month: Village Life/country life In a message dated 2/10/2008 8:55:30 AM Pacific Standard Time, barg [email protected] writes: For all those folk who know nothing about village life, do you have any questions on the subject? How did people entertain themselves in village life? Having grown up in rural California, even with all the technology and such that we had in our teen years (I was a teenager when the internet was just taking off), we still dealt with boredom, and the youth in this town still feel bored at times. What kinds of pasttimes did people of any and all ages occupy themselves with when they didn't have to work? Annalee **************Biggest Grammy Award surprises of all time on AOL Music. (http://music.aol.com/grammys/pictures/never-won-a-grammy?NCID=aolcmp003000000025 48) . . "IS THE SUBJECT LINE STILL RELEVANT? If not, PLEASE change it." ------------------------------- To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to [email protected] with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the subject and the body of the message Get the name you always wanted with the new y7mail email address. www.yahoo7.com.au/y7mail

Just a gentle reminder... We have had four submissions on this month's topic and very interesting they were too. If anyone else as any stories, anecdotes, descriptions of life, customs, etc. in a village, farm or rural area won't you please share them with us? They can relate to any era. Do you know anything of the places your Ag. Lab. or farmer ancestors lived? Did you live in a village or on a farm yourself? For all those folk who know nothing about village life, do you have any questions on the subject? Geo.

OK folks, time to put out the Welcome Mat once more and give a hearty welcome to Samuel Phillips. A warm welcome from me, Samuel. It would be appreciated if you would introduce yourself to the List and tell us where you are and what your interests are. Geo. (Joint Listowner)

In a message dated 2/10/2008 2:27:37 PM Pacific Standard Time, [email protected] writes: Hi Annalee I joined recently also...so, it's hello from NZ Peter in a warm and humid Auckland Hi Peter, thank you for the welcome, and welcome to you too! It's a bit warm here by California standards, as well. :) Annalee **************Biggest Grammy Award surprises of all time on AOL Music. (http://music.aol.com/grammys/pictures/never-won-a-grammy?NCID=aolcmp003000000025 48)