Gosport Choice Magazine September Edition by choicemagazines

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I love September, new shoes, new season, sunny days are enjoyed, not expected and still no coat needed! It’s also a time with lots going on locally! There’s the Alverstoke Michaelmas Fayre, Gosport Heritage Open Days, Lee on the Solent Mini Market, Anchored in Gosport Market, Stanley Park Life event, local litter picks and much more! All the details are inside. Dive in and get the diary ﬁlled for the month!

I love getting lost in a good book. I love it when I am gripped by a book that I take it everywhere with me! You know the feeling, you cannot put it down. I also love a good recipe book. I can read Nigel Slater’s recipe book cover to cover for pleasure without cooking a thing! I also love just ﬂicking through and looking at the images in a book. I coud not believe my luck when the Shore Leave Haslar book landed on my desk! It’s a story of a year in the life of an extraordinary healing garden for veterans run by volunteers. The perfect mixture of thought provoking words, wonderful images and delicious recipes! The book has been beautifully put together and you can get your hands on a copy at their Open Days, via their facebook page or at the Alverstoke Michaelmas Fayre. All the proﬁts going back in to the gardens. I have included one of the recipes on page 8 as a little taster for you! Read more about the garden and their wonderful book on page 20.

This month Rita talks about dwarf pomegranate plants that are currently blooming in Crescent Garden. She describes it as not only attractive but useful too! Check out the article on page 14.

Inside you’ll also ﬁnd the gardening guide, great offers, sudoku, plus lovely advertisers, news and much more!

Don’t forget to check out our digital edition at gosportchoice.com where you’ll hear all about what the Gosport Runners have been up to, the date of the RSPCA charity walk and more! You can follow us on our socials too!

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Why not try an advert in the October edition? Get your business in front of thousands of lovely local residents! Get in touch! Details below or scan the QR code.

I hope you enjoy this months edition, thanks so much for reading it! I also hope you have a lovely September! See you next month!

p.s. Happy birthday Dad!

EDITOR | FOLLOW SID SAYS HAPPY SEPTEMBER!

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RHUBARB CAKE

This recipe is by Shore Leave Haslar Lead Horticultural Therapist Chris Robson. It’s featured in their book ‘A Garden for Life’. The book is available to purchase. See page 20.

Ingredients

• 115g butter

• 225g self raising ﬂour, sieved

• Pinch of salt

• 225g rhubarb, cut in 1cm slices

• 115g sugar half demerara, half granulated

• 1 beaten egg

• Few drops of vanilla extract

• Milk to mix

• Juice of ½ lemon

• Icing sugar

Method

In a mixing bowl, rub the butter into the flour and salt until the mixture looks like fine breadcrumbs. Add the sugar and rhubarb, then mix in the beaten egg, vanilla extract and enough milk to make a fairly stiff dough. Put into a lined 17.5cm square tin (or 20.5cm round). Make sure the mixture is into the corners and fairly smooth on top.

Bake at 200°C or 180°C fan for about 45 minutes, or until firm and golden.

When the cake is cool mix the lemon juice with enough icing sugar to make a thin mix to drizzle over the top of the cake. It should be of a consistency that when it dribbles down the sides of the cake it sticks.

This recipe also works well with blackberries or dessert apple and a sprinkle of cinnamon.

Photo credit: Deborah Wastie

SEPTEMBER IN CRESCENT GARDEN

In the flower beds in front of the fountain in Crescent Garden there are 6 attractive small bushes with red flowers and some fruits just beginning to form. These are dwarf pomegranate bushes, Punica granata Nana. They are a natural variant of the large pomegranate, Punica granata, with whose fruit we are all familiar. This small variant was discovered in the wild about 250 years ago and first described in Britain in 1803. Although the fruits and flowers are “dwarf”, the bushes themselves can grow quite large and need regular pruning to keep them “dwarf”.

The pomegranate is native to the Middle East and South Asia, but has been widespread in Mediterranean areas for 2,500 years. Given its native area it is not surprising that it enjoys sunny conditions and once established is drought resistant. Its ﬂowers attract pollinators and although very small its fruits are edible, though not as sweet as those of its larger relation. In fact, no part of the plant is toxic, though it does not appear to be attractive to any of the plant eating pests, nor to any fungal diseases. So, an ideal plant for Crescent Garden and an easy care option for your own, so why not try it. It does not enjoy very cold temperatures so would not grow well in more northerly parts of Britain. This may account for the fact that it comes into leaf much later in the spring than any other deciduous

plants in Crescent Garden. Every year we wonder if it has died in the winter, but it eventually bursts into leaf and ﬂower in its own time!

Like many plants that have a long history in cultivation there are a lot of myths attached to pomegranates. It was named by the Romans as Mala punica - the Carthaginian apple, Punica being the Roman name for the area around Carthage and that is where the Romans ﬁrst found it and brought it to Europe. The name, ‘pomegranate’ comes from old French pome granata, ie apple with many seeds. Shakespeare’s Juliet says to Romeo, “Nightly she sings on yon pomegranate tree, Believe me, love, it was the nightingale.”

This is full of signiﬁcance for Shakespeare’s early audiences as they would have known that the pomegranate represents true love, forbidden love and sweet innocence.

The fruit was the symbol of life and fertility because of its many seeds. In Ancient Rome the juice was used to cure infertility, but I haven’t found any records of whether this worked! In some early branches of Christianity the pomegranate rather than the apple was in the Garden of Eden. The Virgin Mary is sometimes portrayed with a pomegranate.

Over the centuries and, indeed, into modern times some medicinal properties have been discovered. Extracts from the rind of the fruit and from the bark have been found useful against tapeworm infestation and mouth and throat infections. Modern research has indicated some anti-viral and anti-bacterial activity. A red dye has been made from the ﬂowers and fruit rind.

So, all in all, and attractive and useful plant to have in Crescent Garden and in yours.

Rita Rundle

Crescent Garden, Crescent Road, Alverstoke alverstokecrescentgarden.co.uk

Rear

SHORE LEAVE HASLAR PUBLISHES 240 PAGE BOOK!

As I mentioned in my intro I love a book with a mix of things. The book from Shore Leave Haslar has the most perfect mix; beautiful images, recipes, history and thought provoking words. For those not familiar with Shore Leave Haslar, it is a non-proﬁt community project bringing to life to the Memorial Garden at Royal Haslar providing tri-service veterans who have physical and mental health support needs with a safe haven, where they can come and rehabilitate through horticultural therapy.

You can now learn about the healing garden, it’s veterans, volunteers and history, see it through the seasons from the comfort of your armchair!

The book has been beautifully put together, all 240 pages. The photographs are wonderful, recipes delicious, words are touching, heartfelt and thought provoking. Most importantly it describes the work the volunteers do to support the veterans within the sanctuary of the Memorial Garden. You can get your hands on a copy at their Open Days, Alverstoke Michaelmas Fayre stall or via their facebook page. Cost £15. If you’ve never been to the garden, go. Tell

people about the garden, buy the book. Shore Leave Haslar rely on donations and fundraising to run. So in purchasing a copy you will help to keep this wonderful garden going.

Shore Leave Haslar is open to visit in September on Friday 6th September and Saturday 7th September 11am-3pm as part of the Heritage Open Days. You’ll be able to see the garden. There will be refreshments, the craft stall will be open, and they will have plants and vegetables for sale. Check out veteran Nicks fairy garden creation! Volunteers will be available to chat to about the history of the Memorial Garden and Horticultural Therapy.

Other months they have an Open Day on the second Wednesday of the month. Check out their facebook page to keep up to date on the garden or look in our events listing in this magazine for details!

It is quite incredible how such a wonderful garden is on our doorstep.

Shore Leave Haslar, Haslar Road, Gosport

IN THE GARDEN

• Pick apples. They are ready when with a little twist it will leave the tree.

• Pick plums. The plums on the sunny side of the tree will be the first to be picked.

• If you have a lawn! Rake thatch from lawns, aerate well-trodden areas by spiking with a garden fork, and re-seed bare patches

• Order bare-rooted roses for delivery later in autumn

• Sow hardy annuals for flowers early next summer

• Clean out water butts and check downpipe fittings in preparation for autumn rains

• Put netting across ponds to stop autumn leaves falling in and rotting

• Bring any houseplants that you moved outside over summer back indoors, before temperatures start to drop

• Lift, divide and replant congested clumps of perennials once they finish flowering

• Take cuttings from fuchsias, salvias and pelargoniums

• Plant spring bulbs, including crocuses, daffodils, hyacinths and bluebells

GREENHOUSE

• Clean out your greenhouse to reduce the risk of pests and diseases overwintering

• Remove shade netting from greenhouses or wash off shade paint.

• Move potted citrus plants and fuchsias inside over winter, keeping them cool but frost free

• Sow sweet peas in deep pots for early flowers next summer

VEG PLOT

• Help squashes and pumpkins ripen by lifting them off the ground slightly on a stone or up-turned seed tray. This increases air flow around the fruits and keeps the base dry.

• Plant onions and garlic

• Sow spinach, lettuce, slad leaves, kale, radish, salad onions, chard, spring cabbage, corn salad, chicory, peas and broad beans.

• Plant spring cabbages

• Stake your brassicas and keep an eye on them for butterfly eggs and caterpillars.

• Carefully dig over the veg bed once you’ve harvested the last potatoes

• Prune out all the fruited canes of summer raspberries, cutting down to the base, tie in new canes to supports

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HIDDEN TREASURES HIDDEN TREASURES

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WANTED - rolex, breitling, omega etc

Please call in to see us. Monday - Saturday 10am-6pm. Alternatively, call to arrange a home appointment

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WHAT’S ON

FRIENDS OF STANLEY PARK PARK LIFE

The Friends of Stanley Park is a voluntary group supporting and ensuring that Gosport's premier park continues to offer a great time for all ages. On 8th September our Annual event Park Life is back. A day of music, including The Band of the Hampshire and IOW Constabulary and the Beat 44 choir from Hampshire Police. Rocks and

FRIENDS OF STANLEY PARK

Monthly litter pick ﬁrst Sunday of the month 10-11am Meet in The Alverbank Hotel car park. We provide pickers, bags, gloves and smiles!

LE CERCLE FRANÇAIS DE GOSPORT

"La Rentrée" on Thurs 12th Sept 7:30pm Bay House School. A “Buffet Campagnard” - a 'bring and share supper'. Members will be invited to talk in French with anecdotes from their summer holidays, and other items of interest. New members welcome – telephone Martin Lazell on 01329 314750 for more details.

GOSPORT CATS PROTECTION

Sat 14 Sept 1-5pm At Leesland Parkfest. Sat 28 Sept 11am-4pm At Michaelmas Fayre.

STOKES BAY LITTER PICK

7th September 10am-12noon. Meet by the Splash Pool. All equipment provided.

SPITHEAD ARTS LECTURE

24th September 7pm. Bay House School, Alverstoke

Olafur Eliasson – Playing with Light. Membership £40 per year, or come along as a guest £7, refunded if you decide to join. www.spitheadarts.co.uk

Groynes - A group of sea shanty singers & local youth group New Frontiers!

There will be Craft stalls & dog agility from CB Canine care, visits from GAFIRS, the ﬁre and police services including cycle marking. The Alverbank will have a bouncy castle & will be offering a delicious street food menu & an opportunity to sit back and relax!

A free event for all to enjoy!

LEE HIGH STREET MINI MARKET

Sat 7th September 10am-3pm Pop along support your Lee on the Solent High Street. Visit various local stalls, selling their wares alongside independent High Street shops and businesses.

MUSICAL SOIRÉE St

Mary’s Church, Alverstoke. 18th Oct 7pm Organised by Alverstoke WI to raise money for local charities. Featuring Jacuzzi Jazz, the Rock Choir, Jennifer Parker-Lummis and the Men’s Shed Ukulele Group. £12 per ticket includes wine/soft drinks. Tickets from Queens Parade News, Alverstoke Village Post Ofﬁce and Hardware Shop.

GOSPORT JAZZ CLUB - 25TH SEPT

Gosport & Fareham Rugby Club, Dolphin Cres, Gosport, PO12 2HE 8-10.30pm Storyville Jassband (Holland) M £10 G £12gosportjazz.org.uk

GLOW & GLAMOROUS LADIES SHOPPING NIGHT

Friday 27th September 6-8pm. At Our Ladies Immaculate Conception Church, Bells Lane, Stubbington.

Join us at the FREE event, packed with experts in the ﬁeld of Welness & Beauty. With product samples, make up, coluor matching and styling tips all available on the night. Follow us on facebook to see who will be attending.

ALVERSTOKE

MICHAELMAS FAYRE

SATURDAY 28TH SEPTEMBER

The Alverstoke Michaelmas Fayre has become part of the fabric of the Gosport community, and this year’s event on Saturday, September 28th is once again expected to attract thousands of visitors to the village.

This will be the 34th running of the Michaelmas Fayre which is organised by Gosport Rotary Club, raising funds for the Mayor of Gosport’s charities, the Alverstoke Church Parish Centre and for Rotary causes.

It promises to be a bumper day of excitement with activities spread across the village. On the village green there will be a funfair, and spreading out to the Parish Centre there will be a range of stalls and activities with refreshments on sale inside the Parish Centre.

Green Road will be lined with more than 100 different stalls including many craft and charity exhibitors, as well as refreshment stands. Each year, local charities raise thousands of pounds from the Michaelmas Fayre.

Stalls will weave their way around the village, through the church grounds and into Village Road, where the shops will be dressed to ﬁt the occasion. There will also be activities taking place in the grounds of St Mary’s Church.

The Michaelmas Fayre will welcome back the Harry Strutters Jazz Quartet and the Big Noise Samba Band, along with the New Thorngate Singers. The fun-ﬁlled day will culminate with a parade through the village centre by the HMS Sultan Volunteer band with a salute taken by the Mayor of Gosport.

Proceedings get under way at 11am and ﬁnish by 4pm.

Michaelmas Fairs are a community tradition which go back to medieval time. They can also be known as ‘Goose Fairs’ from the days of Queen Elizabeth, who ate goose to celebrate the nation’s deliverance from the Armada.

The feast of St Michael, who is a celebrated angel in the Bible, signiﬁes the end of the season’s harvest and of nights drawing in.

For more details: www.gosportrotary.co.uk

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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

GOSPORT HERITAGE OPEN DAYS

6-15TH SEPTEMBER

Choose from family fun activities, history talks, exhibitions and guided walks.

Gosport Heritage Open Days has organised 72 free events. For the ﬁrst time Fort Brockhurst will be having two days with soldiers, riﬂes, canons and Luftwaffe pilots reenacting the Fort’s entire history. Local Victorian philanthropist Henry Cook will be celebrated

throughout the festival at the Imagination Reﬁnery with activities, art and quizzes and even a couple of guest appearances!

Visitors can enjoy 36 new events this year ranging from navigating Gosport by Nose to hearing about toffs and toilets to learning about the signiﬁcance of the Gosport Lines. Rowner is celebrated in 4 ways - an exhibition in the church, another in the Rowner Youth Arts & Media Centre, tours of Fort Rowner and a guided walk through Rowner’s history.

D-Day in Gosport will be celebrated with talks of spies and derring do, exhibitions of historical photos of Gosport during WW2, photographic and knitting displays and with radio controlled model ships and tanks showing how Allied forces landed on French soil and attacked a French village occupied by German Forces.

Printed programmes available around Gosport. Book online gosportheritage.co.uk or call 07849 399 823

Archeology students getting ready for Gosport Heritage Open Days

| Servicing | Repairs All Makes and Models catered for.

0333 3585 999

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 FREE COLLECTION & DELIVERY SERVICE

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

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CARS AND VANS ALWAYS IN STOCK FOR SALE!

Specialising in transporters and small low mileage cars. (The cars are ideal for ﬁrst time drivers.)

THE MAGIC OF ALCHEMILLA

Early one Friday morning in late July it was a beautiful start to the day, so I decided to have a wonder around the garden with my cup of tea taking in the beauty of the ﬂora and fauna. Happily, I came across a clump of Lady’s Mantle (Alchemilla vulgaris) that I had planted the summer before from a cutting, and I was treated to the spectacular views you can see in the photos. Overnight, little droplets of water formed on the edges of the leaves via a process called guttation and then collected in the middle of the leaf. It is claimed that alchemists in the 16th century would collect this dew and use it for their experiments due to its purity and beliefs that it enhanced longevity. Hence the Latin name Alchemilla meaning ‘little magical one’ or ‘little alchemist’. This plant is native to Europe’s grasslands, roadsides, chalky downs, and mountain terrain and has been used for many centuries to address women’s

gynaecological complaints, as well as for wound healing (both internal and external), and to address any excessive discharge from the body (e.g. diarrhoea) due to its astringent properties that tone and bind damaged or weak tissues. Alchemilla is one of the first herbs I consider when treating women’s health conditions. It is indicated for heavy periods, endometriosis, fibroids and polycystic ovary syndrome. It can be used internally and externally to treat a uterine prolapse and to aid recovery after childbirth. For example, you can add a strong infusion to a shallow sitz bath for frequent bathing of the affected area. Other clinical studies have supported a range of medicinal actions such as: anti-inflammatory, anti-viral, wound healing (e.g. mouth ulcers), antioxidant and antibacterial.

If you have this plant growing in your garden you can make a tea with fresh or dried leaves, however it is an astringent and bitter plant so you may want to add some honey or agave syrup to taste.

Not only was this encounter with Alchemilla both beautiful and informative, it also served to remind me to take time to really look for and appreciate the sometimes small, but spectacular, shows mother nature puts on for us.

Louise Courtney wildsidehealth.co.uk

Nb. While Alchemilla is a gentle herb, it should be used with caution during pregnancy, especially in the alcohol form, and avoided in the first trimester. Please consult a qualified medical herbalist before internal use (especially with the tincture and if you are taking other medications).

OUT AND ABOUT WITH GOSPORT ROAD RUNNERS

SOLENT AIRPORT 5k

An event close to home in June was the Solent Airport 5k. It’s not very often you get an opportunity to run on an airﬁeld and several of our members took advantage. The proﬁts from this event go to Naomi House and Jackspace hospice for children and young adults.

AWARDS AND RECOGNITION

Club members are actively encouraged to perform to the best of their abilities and running achievement and performance is recognised through gold, silver and bronze standard awards. The standard awards are not easy to achieve, however every club member can accept the challenge of ‘The Chairman’s Virtual Gemstone Awards’. The aim of these awards is to encourage and incentivise club members to become ﬁtter, stronger and faster runners and to generate enthusiasm, camaraderie and friendly competition. The Gemstone awards are not designed to supersede the Club Standard Awards which are sacrosanctthey are merely a pathway to achievement. The Gemstone awards are based on the hierarchy of Gemstones, Diamond, Ruby and Emerald and take the principle of virtual running. Members will set their own challenge and objectives by running an accumulative number of miles within a pre-set period for the Gemstone Awards and submit their results on a regular basis, via their

running apps. On achievement they will receive the appropriate award.

There are also age group prizes for nominated club championship Races, namely:

• 5 Mile - Victory 5

• 10k - Lordshill

• 10 mile – Alton 10

• 13.5 Mile - Gosport Half ‘Helpers’ Race

• Cross Country Awards – Male & Female

The club also aims to recognise the contribution of its members via Honorary Membership and Best Effort Awards and there is an annual rafﬂe at Christmas for those members who support club events.

VISIT THE CLUB

If you would like to see what we do on a club evening and without any commitment to joining then please come along to the Gosport and Fareham Rugby Club any Tuesday or Thursday (except the ﬁrst Tuesday of the month). Try to get there a bit early (6.45pm), and ask for any member of the committee. Be ready to run – we will match you with someone of a similar pace.

LESSONS IN RUNNING

“I LOVE RUNNING MOST when you don’t have a time frame and there’s no pressure. At those times you can just go on feel, and if you fancy doing a couple more miles, you crack on. It’s always great for thinking or de-stressing – I never regret going for a run”.

If you would like to know more about our club and all our activities, please refer to our website gosportroadrunners.org.uk

Solent Airport

ST MARK’S CHURCHYARD

ST MARK’S ROAD, ALVERSTOKE

Many local people, and those not so local, probably know this lovely churchyard. Small and perfectly formed, it has been lovingly restored and maintained by the Friends of St Mark’s since 2003. Until then, it had been left derelict and neglected for many years (the church was demolished in 1911), and much of the fascinating local history connected with its various incumbents had been lost or simply forgotten.

In the intervening years, an enormous amount of research has taken place, alongside the physical restoration of the churchyard, and new facts and details are being added to the ﬁles regularly. We thought we would share some of these with you, for individual graves, from time to time.

The published book about St Mark’s (available from the Friends or in Alverstoke Post Office) gives a wealth of information on many of the people buried here, especially those with wellknown connections, or who achieved significantly during their lifetimes. We continue to find out more about these figures. But some of the lesser-known local figures also

provide us with fascinating stories, some sad, some intriguing, and it is these quieter souls, whose lives we continue to research, whom we thought you would also be interested to hear about.

St Mark’s will be open for visits and guided tours as part of Gosport Heritage Open Days 6-15 September, so do come along and ﬁnd out more!

GRAVE

83 Harry Spicer Parker (1868-1932), his wife Mary Ann Elizabeth Weaver (18741947) and their daughter Aggy Lily Parker (1894-1932)

Harry was born in Stockbridge. His father worked on the railways, but had died by the time Harry was 12. At this early age he and his siblings were working as agricultural labourers, as was his widowed mother. She died in 1883.

In 1894 Harry married Mary Ann, in Fareham, and their only child Aggy was born later that year. By 1901 they were living in Portswood, where Harry was a railway porter. They moved to Railway Cottages in Alverstoke and Harry became night watchman for the Railway Company. He died in 1932 and sadly his daughter Aggy died the same year at the age of 38.

Mary Ann had been born in Australia, where her father George worked as a ﬁreman on board steamships. Her parents had both been born in England, but emigrated to Australia on assisted passage in 1873. They apparently returned to England in 1881, and George was variously described in Census records as a steamship stoker, mariner yachtsman and merchant seaman. When Mary Ann died in 1947, she was still living alone at 5 Railway Cottages in St Mark’s Place, off Clayhall Road. She was buried alongside Harry and Aggy.

GRAVE 248 Jane Anne Wilson (1818-1860) and husband John Douglas Wilson (18121862)

This rather plain grave, at the back of the churchyard, bears the poignant inscription ‘In memory of our beloved school mistress Jane Anne Wilson. The sorrowing children of Alverstoke School.’ She was born in Bermuda, according to the 1851 Census, although we have no record of her maiden name, and we continue to try to solve the mystery of her family origins. It is assumed that her father was in the military and stationed there at the time of her birth.

Her husband John came from Roxburgh in Scotland. They had three daughters, one of whom was born at sea in 1839 and called Atalanta. The family lived, in turn, in Guernsey, Edinburgh and Alverstoke. In 1851 John was

listed as a Pensioner of the Civil Service Naval Dockyard Edinburgh, and registered blind. He was 39 years old.

It was after this that they moved to Alverstoke and Jane Anne became the local schoolmistress. We do not know the cause of her early death, at the age of 42, but she clearly made an impression on the local schoolchildren. She remains an enigmatic ﬁgure. Recent research has discovered that John and his youngest daughter went to live on the Isle of Wight after Jane Anne’s death, where John died in 1862. According to St Mark’s Sexton records he is buried in this grave with Jane Anne, although there is no inscription for him. We are still researching Atalanta and also hope to ﬁnd out more about her mother Jane Anne.

St Mark’s Churchyard, St Mark’s Road, Alverstoke Gosport