Choice Magazine - Stubbington & Hill Head - July edition
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Summer feels in full swing! I am loving the warmth and the wonder of how the sunshine lifts everyone. And long may it continue for the wonderful summer events coming up! Some dates for your diary...First up we have the Stubbington Fayre & Donkey Derby. The annual event in Stubbington is on Bank Holiday Monday 25th August. There’s also the Stubbington Ark Summer Country Fair. It’s on Saturday 30th August. Fancy yourself as a champion baker? Get your showstopper entered in to their baking competition! Cakes must be baked and delivered to the centre by Friday 29th August, they will be judged before the event opens on Saturday morning and will be sold to the public at the fair! There will be Morris dancing, retail stalls, tombola, ice creams and of course a dog show. More local events are listed inside.
Is your garden too big or too small? Are you looking to do home improvements or move? Need help with your mortgage? Give Amac Mortgages a call (see front cover). They’ve helped me with my mortgage needs for over two decades. Maybe they can help you too.
DO YOU HAVE SPACE?
The Love Stubbington group are still searching
for covered space in the local area - such as a garage - large enough to store the village Christmas lights and also Rudolph and Santa’s sleigh! Can you help? If so, pop in to the Holy Rood church office or call 01329 661154 or email office@croftonparish.co.uk
Keep watering the plants, keep mowing the lawn, keep deadheading. I’m enjoying pottering in my new garden. Seeing what beautiful plants I’ve inherited from the previous owner. So far, so good! I’ll be using the gardening guide inside too!
You’ll also find great offers, sudoku, more great advertisers, local news and much more inside!
ARE YOU A LOCAL BUSINESS?
Let us pound the streets and get your advert through 11,000 homes a month and sent out to our growing number of subscribers too! Get in touch! Details below.
Don’t forget you can view our online edition with even more local news and info. Simply go to our website stubbingtonchoice.com. Plus if you subscribe it’ll land in your inbox each month.
Coconut anything is good in my book, whether it’s ice cream, water or chopped up raw, I love it. But it is especially good covered in dark chocolate! These no bake coconut brownies hit the sweet spot but feel good for you!
Makes 16 large brownies
Brownie layer
• 2 cups (310g) medjool dates
• 1 cup (143g) almonds
• 1 cup (117g) walnuts
• 1/2 cup (43g) cocoa powder or cacao powder
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1/4 tsp salt
Coconut layer
• 2 cups desiccated coconut
• 1/4 cup (59ml) coconut cream
• 1/4 cup (59ml) maple syrup, honey, or agave
• 2 tbsp coconut oil
• 1/4 tsp salt
Chocolate ganache layer
• 1 1/2 (336g) cups chocolate chips
• 2 tbsp coconut oil
Method
Line an 8×8 inch baking dish with parchment paper, leaving some of the paper hanging over the edges. Add dates, almonds, walnuts, cacao or cocoa powder, vanilla extract, and salt to a food processor. Blend until a crumbled, sticky dough forms. If mixture is dry, add a couple extra medjool dates or 1 tsp coconut oil. Transfer brownie dough to the baking dish. Firmly press it across the bottom in an even layer.
Add desiccated coconut, coconut cream, maple syrup, coconut oil, and salt to the food processor. Pulse until a wet, sticky, crumbly mixture forms.
Transfer the coconut layer to the baking dish. Press it across the brownie layer. Set aside.
Add chocolate chips and coconut oil to a bowl and melt. Pour chocolate over the coconut layer and evenly spread across the dish.
Chill coconut brownies in the refrigerator for 1 hour or longer. After, slice into equal quantities. Enjoy!
Jess
qualified Mechanic
Jake our Apprentice
THE OLD TULIP TREE IN CRESCENT GARDEN
One of the prize specimens in Crescent Garden is the old tulip tree, dominating the western end of the garden. This was almost certainly planted as the garden was established when the crescent houses were built in 1830 and so has been in this spot for nearly 200 years. The tulip tree (Liriodendron tulipifera) is a native of America, its natural range being along the east coast from southern New England to the northern part of Florida. The name comes from the flowers it bears, which are shaped remarkably like tulips, but are green and yellow. It is a member of the Magnolia family and like the rest of that group is a primitive tree with cone like fruits distributing a lot of winged seeds.
The celebrated plant collector, John Tradescant the Younger, made several voyages to Virginia between 1628 and 1637 and amongst many other specimens brought the tulip tree to the UK. Our tree may well be a descendent of those first imports.
As many will have noticed the tree is not in the
best of health with several large branches on its eastern side bare of leaves. It has been attacked by honey fungus, Armillaria mellea. Honey fungus is endemic to Britain (and other countries) and is found in many woodland areas. It can grow on living, decaying and dead wood, so unlike other parasites it can continue thriving even after it has killed its host. It forms thin sheets of cream coloured mycelium (fungal threads) beneath the bark and, more destructively, black threads (rhizomorphs) not only beneath the bark, but in the surrounding soil, through which it can spread at a metre a year. In the Autumn attractive looking pale yellow fruiting bodies (looking like mushrooms) appear on the outside of the trunk. The presence of these indicates how the lethal fungus has spread inside the trunk of the tree. There are more of them each year and last autumn some appeared for the first time on the western side of the trunk and, sure enough, in the spring one branch on that side of the tree failed to come into leaf. At any time of year the position of the fruiting bodies is indicated by black marks up the tree trunk. The growing mycelium inside the trunk blocks the conducting tissue of the tree, hence the death of branches above due to lack of water and minerals.
There are various cures suggested for honey fungus, but none are known to be particularly effective and the best advice is to keep plants well fed and watered, so that they are strong enough to fight the fungus themselves. This is not easy with a large old tree and a few more branches are dead each year. Sadly this means that the whole tree will eventually die, but, hopefully many years hence. Fortunately there is another, younger tulip tree at the other end of the garden, to continue showing the flowers and leaves of our logo.
In May tree surgeons were sent by Gosport Council to cut out the dead branches.
Shoreline Church meets every Sunday, 10.15am, in the main hall at Crofton Community Centre, Stubbington
Please join us, everyone is welcome
Visit shorelinechristianchurch.com for more information or phone Kevin Stares on 07462 066104 or Julie Stares on 07531 856465
Waves meet every Sunday in Crofton Youth Project 10.45‐11.45am (adjoined to Crofton Community Centre)
Waves plus are aged 13 to 19 meet every fortnight on Thursdays 6.30‐8.30pm from Thursday 3rd July.
DECORATIVE FOUNTAINSCAPES
Ideal for front gardens as statement pieces, or for smaller rear gardens where you want the sound of water without the footprint that a pond requires. There are a multitude of fountain designs to choose from and the configurations are endless. These are also really good for attracting birds to drink and wash.
ECOSYSTEM POND
PONDL
Ideal for and stre a hidden water is
Ideal for people wanting to enjoy it as a fishpond, and/or to use it as a recreation pond if the space allows, where your family sit and relax in the summer, but still enjoy the visual of a beautiful natural looking pond all year round. This is the oppos swimming pool which remains a covered over rectangle for most of the year with our English weather! Using the Ecosystem basis for natural chemical free filtration, underwater jets and larger wetland filtration systems can be incorporated to ensure and circulation. Waterfalls, streams and decorative fountainscape elements can be incorporated into the pond to suit your s ultimate outdoor living lifestyle.
I can also create and incorporate Rainwater Harvesting systems to use with any of the water features mentioned. All ponds and water features will periodically lose water due to evaporation, splash and wind. Manual top up is the simplest solution but requires regular checking for levels. Creating an underground water reservoir from collected rainwater for your feature to draw upon is the most environmentally friendly way
Contact Craig to arrange a consultation and design visit: 07787 562490
All other landscaping, pond cleaning and garden maintenance also carried out.
LESS WATERFALL
people wanting the impressive visual and sound of a waterfall am, but without the want for fish or pond maintenance. Using n water reservoir to give the illusion of disappearing water, the then pumped back up to the start of the waterfall to recirculate.
All water features can be enhanced with lighting to ensure 24 hour enjoyment of them.
y and friends can swim or site to a standard garden m Pond philosophy as the the highest water quality space and budget, for the
W L S
Do you have important legal documents in place to protect your interests and make life easier for you and your family, whatever the future brings?
If you have received a diagnosis of dementia, or are concerned about becoming ill and unable to cope with paying your bills, wouldn’t it be helpful for a family member to be able to step in and deal with your finances? If your family member needed to make decisions for you, instead of just acting on your instructions, they would need your formal written authority to do this.
Formal authority can be given by creating a Lasting Power of Attorney. This document will allow your family member to take over managing your money, either temporarily or long term.
You can also create a Lasting Power of Attorney which allows your family member to make decisions for you about medical treatment, if you are unable for any reason to make your own decisions. This is not the same as an Advance Decision, which is a document which sets out your decision to refuse medical treatment in the future, under specific conditions.
If you are caring for an elderly relative, or are likely to be doing so in the future, a Lasting Power of Attorney will mean that you can provide the support your relative needs and access services on their behalf, without the difficulties, stress and resistance you would otherwise encounter.
Having a Will gives you peace of mind that your money, property and personal possessions will be going to the people you have chosen to benefit. An out of date Will can cause problems within the family or mean that a chosen beneficiary receives nothing.
If you have any unanswered questions about Wills or Lasting Powers of Attorney, Christine will be pleased to help, so do please get in touch for a free, no obligation, chat.
Call Christine Davies
Solicitor
on 07860 772274 or email: christine@winterbornelegal.co.uk
Christine is a Fully Accredited Member of Solicitors for the Elderly and a Dementia Friend. Christine will visit you in your own home and aims to provide a warm personal touch to every meeting.
Christine Davies Solicitor
IN THE GARDEN
• Trim lavender after it flowers
• Dead-head your roses
• Prune the long sideshoots on wisteria
• Deadhead your lupins
• Cut back hardy geraniums and delphiniums
• Top up bird baths
• Apply mulch to help retain moisture and suppress weeds
• Mow regularly, but raise the cutting height during dry spells
GREENHOUSE
• Keep pinching out side shoots of cordon varieties of tomato
• Damp down the greenhouse floor on hot mornings
VEG PLOT
• Lift early potatoes
• Sow seeds of salad leaves
• Pinch off growing tips of squash /courgette
• Plant out winter cabbages/leeks/courgettes, squashes and sweetcorn.
Grinding
Shrubs:
& DONKEY DERBY
Monday 25th August
Stubbington Recreation Ground 10:30am - 4 pm
ENTERTAINMENT - LIVE MUSIC
DRIVING CLUB - STALLS - EATERIES
BUSKERS - GOSPORT BRASS BAND AND MUCH MORE!
LEE PLAYERS - INTERACTIVE MURDER MYSTERY
Fri 18th & Sat 19th July. Doors 7pm curtain 7.30pm
Crofton Hall Theatre, Crofton Community Centre
Tickets £10 from 01329 662128 or the Crofton Community Centre. Solve the crime to win a prize!
CROFTON PROBUS CLUB
Monthly social lunch at Lee-on-the-Solent Golf Club. For retired and Semi-retired professional/businessmen. If you miss the camaraderie and social connection of the workplace come along to a trial meeting before joining? 07508711299 or email: morton.wouter@gmail.com
ST EDMUNDS (CROFTON OLD CHURCH)
Services 9.30am every Sunday.
1st & 3rd Sunday of month is Holy Communion (BCP). 2nd & 4th Sunday is Morning Service. Coffee served after. 18th July 10am-12pm Open for visitors/private prayer.
STUBBINGTON BELLES W.I.
2nd Monday of the month 1.30-3.30pm Crofton Club, Titchfield Road. Pal Hayre, Mayor of Fareham, joins us to talk about her journey to becoming Mayor. Try us email stubbingtonbellessec@hampshirewi.org.uk
SHORE LEAVE HASLAR MEMORIAL GARDEN OPEN DAY
Haslar Road, Gosport. Weds 9th July 11am-1pm. Free entry, donations gratefully accepted. Crafts, plants, produce for sale. Homemade cake and drinks. Walk around the peaceful garden. Please park in main Haslar site. Free entry. Donations gratefully received.
LEE ON THE SOLENT MINI MARKET
5th July 10am-3pm High St, Lee on the Solent
Local small businesses and artists, selling alongside our fabulous independent High Street businesses.
GOSPORT JAZZ CLUB - JULY
Rugby Club, Dolphin Cres, Gos, PO12 2HE
2nd Harry Strutters Hot 7 Marlene
16th No band. Members AGM, followed by part 2 of the Nat Gonella Story.
30th Chris Walker’s NEW Pedigree Chums 8-10.30pm M £10 G £12 - gosportjazz.org.uk
STUBBINGTON BAPTIST CHURCH Jay Close
Sunday 10am Morning Service with Sunday School
Tuesday 1.15pm Baby & Toddler Group (Term time)
Tuesday 7pm Evening Life Group
1st Wednesday of the month U3A Gardening group
Thursday 3rd July 12:30 Snack ‘n’ Chat £2
Thursday 17th July 10.30am Coffee and Cake
Tuesday 24th July 10.30am Special All Age Fun morning for children and grown ups of all ages. Craft, Puzzles and Games – Table Tennis, includes lunch. Please book 07775687767. douglasfleming612@gmail.com
Premises available to hire, ring Douglas on number above.
CIVIL SERVICE RETIREMENT FELLOWSHIP
STUBBINGTON GROUP Second Thursday of the month 2pm at Catholic Church Hall, Bells Lane
All retirees are welcome. For info contact Peter Cornish 023 9234 5457 or visit csrf.org.uk/group/stubbington
ENJOY PLAYING BADMINTON
Tuesdays 6.30-8pm Crofton Community Centre. A social crowd of all standards and welcome anyone to join us (we cannot accommodate complete beginners). First session free. For info Jan Hooper 07501126196.
MENOPAUSE TOGETHER GOSPORT
Every first Saturday of the month 10am-12noon Methodist Church, Soke Road, Gosport & Every third Wednesday of the month 6-7.30pm at Lee Hub 14 High St, Lee-on-the-Solent PO13 9BZ A local support group for others struggling with this journey of menopause. Find our group and page on Facebook - Menopause Together Gosport
GOSPORT ROTARY VEHICLE RALLY
25th August 11am-4pm Stokes Bay This is a family day by the Solent - and the sun normally shines brightly! Besides the array of gleaming car, bikes and trucks, there will be a feast of entertainment including a samba band, a petting farm, Juggling Jake's circus skills, a range of different stalls, plus refreshments. All children go free, and £4 admission for each adult. All proceeds from the day go to the Mayor of Gosport's charities and Gosport Rotary Club's Benevolent Fund.
With 3 sites in the local area, all of our Garages are high ranking members of ‘The Good Garage Scheme’ and ‘Checkatrade’. Our Garages provide onsite MOT testing. Mon - Fri: 8.30 - 5.30 Sat: 8.30 - 12.30
All Makes and Models catered for.
0333 3585 999
Solent Airport MOTs, Unit il1-3, Illustrious Daedalus Park, Daedalus Drive, Lee on the Solent PO13 9FX (Stubbington Motors is now at Solent Airport MOTS) Elkins Motors, 99b Mays Lane, Stubbington PO14 2ED Locks Heath Garage, 212 Hunts Pond Road, Locks Heath PO14 4PG
HVR CUSTOMS
Specialists in VW’s, we also cover many other makes and models in the full or part conversion of camper vans, kombi vans and caddy’s. We manufacture and design custom built camper interiors for Volkswagens and other makes.
Full & Part Conversions
VW Transporters, Campers, Kombi’s and Caddy’s
0333 3585 999 (Option 3)
HVR Customs, Unit il3-4, Illustrious Daedalus Park, Daedalus Drive, Lee on the Solent PO13 9FX
CARS AND VANS ALWAYS IN STOCK FOR SALE!
Specialising in transporters and small low mileage cars. (The cars are ideal for first time drivers.)
GERMAN CHAMOMILE
MATRICARIA RECUTITA – THE UNSUNG HERO OF PLANT MEDICINE
German Chamomile has been used medicinally since ancient times. It was recommended for fevers by Dioscorides as long ago as 900BCE and was also used by the Egyptians. It was also one of the nine sacred herbs used by the Saxons who used it to calm patients and as a stomach remedy.
The flower heads are dried and taken as a tea and also form part of medicine preparations such as tinctures and infused oils. The flowers are rich in bisabolol, flavonoids and coumarins which contribute to its gentle nervine effects.
Chamomile has a calming and soothing effect on both sensory and motor nerves, and relaxes
smooth muscle, thereby working as a calming agent for the nervous system and reducing spasm, pain and irritation in the digestive tract. It is wonderful for helping to alleviate the stress that many of hold in our digestive system as it helps to inhibit spasms in the digestive tract and reduce nausea. It regulates peristalsis (bowel transit) and therefore can be used to treat diarrhoea and constipation. It also promotes wound healing and stimulates skin metabolism.
I often use Chamomile topically to treat eczema and dry skin, and to help wound healing either by using tea infusions, infused flower oils or with essential oils that can be included in topical creams, ointment and balms to relieve pain, swelling and dry and irritated skin. It is a very gentle and safe herb that can be used with children (McIntyre, 2005) and is less bitter than Roman Chamomile. I have prescribed Chamomile tea to breastfeeding mothers to help calm fretful babies or those who are teething or suffering with infantile colic, through her breast milk. Chamomile is one of the herbs I use most frequently in my practice especially for patients suffering with nervous system symptoms such as stress, anxiety, insomnia, irritability and restlessness. It is also the mainstay of most prescriptions for symptoms related to irritable bowel syndrome, food sensitivities, colic, flatulence, bloating, diarrhoea, gastritis, peptic ulcer, reflux, nausea and painful periods. Often I prescribe it in both tincture and tea form so patients benefit from the full range of the plants effects. I have also
used a strong infusion in the bath, either by brewing first or by using a muslin bath bag containing the flower head tied around the tap.
Below is a recipe for a lovely relaxing herbal bath courtesy of Rose (2022). I have had a number of patients tell me that they do not like Chamomile, but they have only tried it in a teabag with the powdery residue. Using the full plump flowerheads has a completely different taste and texture. The tea is not as bitter and is smoothing and demulcent on the mouth and mucous membranes of the digestive tract.
Inspired Sleep Dream Bath
1 handful of dried rosebuds
I handful of dried lavender flowers
I handful of dried chamomile flowers
Combine the herbs and place in a muslin bag and add to the bath water, or you can make a strong infusion in a jug and add this to the bath.
Louise Courtney wildsidehealth.co.uk
Nb. If you are allergic to any of the Compositae (Daisy) family, such as Marigold or Feverfew, you are most likely to be allergic to Chamomile too, so bear this in mine. Whilst considered safe in pregnancy, I would always exercise caution with using herbs in the first trimester, especially in tincture form, and please consult a medical herbalist if you are pregnant, breastfeeding or would like to use with your children.
Refs:
McIntyre, A. (2005). Herbal Treatment of Children: Western and Ayurvedic Perspectives. London: Elsevier.
Rose, K.M. (2022). The Art and Practice of Spiritual Herbalism.
Beverly: Fair Winds
TUESDAYS 7-9pm Wednesday 9.30am-12noon
STUBBINGTON FAYRE & DONKEY DERBY
Bank Holiday Monday 25th August
Stubbington Recreation Ground 10.30am-4pm
The hugely popular perennial August Bank Holiday Fayre and Donkey Derby, with it's many and varied stalls and eateries, comes to Stubbington again this year.
Both Phoenix Under-17 Driving Club, who offer test drives and a seat belt simulator, and Interactive Bubbles (can you create the biggest bubble?) make a welcome return as highly entertaining activities for children and young adults of all ages!
Music will be provided by the marvellously tuneful Gosport Brass Band.
A quick flutter via the Tote tent on the 3.15? All we need is the going to be good to firm. It's going to be a good one, so put the date in your diary and we look forward to seeing you there!
p.s. Please be considerate when parking for this event. We also ask you to take notice of the signs to make driving home smoother.
p.p.s. If you'd like to help with the organisation of this please come and speak to any of the Lions team members on the day.
