I am researching the history of one of our two locals. It was bought at auction by Charles James Stephenson Jackson in 1868 and he bought the freehold from the Ecclesiastical Commissioners in December of that year. He may have sold the premises to William Bentley George, the younger, brewer of Romsey' sometime between 1868 and 1874. Do you have access to any transactions of the Romsey Brewery at that time to enable me to make the link? Is there a comprehensive history of Strong & Co's acquisitions or their predecessors for that period?
Your guidance would be much appreciated. Yours sincerely John Hammond, Durley Mill

Reply: From Local History Group
I don't have specific information about the George brewery estate. However George's brewery was one of the three Romsey breweries acquired by David Faber in 1886. The archives of Strong & Co are held by Hampshire Archives and Local Studies in Winchester (renamed from Hampshire Record Office). The collection is now catalogued, so an on-line search would be a way to start.

Could you please tell me if it is still possible to see the salmon leaping in Romsey. If so, please would you advise where exactly they might be seen.
We used to visit regularly 35-40 years ago and I would love to take the family back there now we have returned to the area. I believe it was always November time.
Many thanks.

Reply:
If you look at the link below and read down the page there is some information about the salmon leap which I think answers your query. Romsey Trail

I am seeking information and any maps/diagrams of the US Army camp at Lockerley, either wartime or post war remains.
I visit a Christian campsite at Lockerley on an annual basis which is near to the old camp, and being interested in history i am fascinated with the area where some remains still exist. As an ex-cartographer the layout and topography interest me too!
If there are any local historians with knowledge of the camp, what it was used for, where the railway came onto the site, which units were there, etc i would be very interested to hear from anyone with any information or memories. I believe it was a repair depot and also a map depot.

Reply:
Have you looked at: the Lockerly website? See the History link, it gives quite a bit of detail although not of an US camp specifically. Contacting the website owner might glean some more information perhaps.

I got your details from the Romsey & District Society News internet site, and hope you may be able to help me with a query about something covered in a past issue.
In your Winter 2001 issue, there was an article about "Walking the Otter", describing a walk through Otterbourne. The article asked readers if anyone had any information about nearby Hawksley Memorial Garden, and I was wondering if you got any responses?
The reason I am asking is that my little sister died recently from cancer, but used to enjoy walking in the area. Her husband and the rest of my family are trying to find whether it would be possible to plant a tree in her name in the Memorial Garden - but there are no clues in the area to help us take things any further.
It seems possible the garden may be something to do with the Water Board, but do you know if anyone ever responded to your magazine's 2001 query? Any help would be appreciated.

Reply 1:
On the subject of the Hawksley Memorial Garden:
We do remember the article and we did look into it at the time. The Garden is within the premises of the Water Board at Otterbourne. It has been designed as a quiet area where the relatives of deceased Water Board employees can spend some time with their thoughts. The relatives are invited to plant a tree and these are marked with a small plaque.
We were unable to learn why the garden is called the Hawksley Garden although it seems likely that it was named after Joseph Hawksley who was the engineer and manager of the waterworks from 1932 until his retirement in 1956. There is a newspaper article written at the time of his retirement in the Southampton Reference Library. We hope these notes will be of some help to Mr. Nick Allen. Best wishes, Jeff and Mavis Hawksley.

Romseynet Reply 2: Looking up the memorial gardens on Google I found a brief mention in a Heritage Report of the Itchen Navigation Heritage Trail Hampshire, produced for The Isle of Wight Wildlife Trust that the gardens are situated at the side of this trail.
In this 2005 report by Wessex Archaeology, amongst the acknowledgements are listed the Hampshire Record Office. You might therefore obtain further information about the gardens from them or at the very least a referral to others who might have more details.
Unfortunately the Twyford Water Works do not give any contact details to enquire there.

Reply 3: 08 January 2010
Since your enquiry to Romseynet regarding the garden in the grounds of these waterworks, the waterworks have updated their webpages and now have the contact details below: Maybe you can get some further information about the garden and enquire about planting a tree there in memory of your sister.
General and Visitor Enquiries: Tel: 01962 714716 Email / Website

I am Stefano Villani, senior Assistant Professor in Early Modern History at the University of Pisa. At present I am working on the Italian translations of the Book of Common Prayer and on George Frederick Nott (who published one of these translations in 1831). G. F. Nott, prebendary of Winchester was in contact with a "Rev. Mr. Sims of Winchester" who, at Nott's death in 1841, acquired the copyright of the Italian translation of the Liturgy by Dr. Nott. I think we can identify this Sims with Thomas Sims who was studied at Queens' and was rector of St Swithun's, Winchester, 1839-43.
I would like to know if you can confirm that Thomas Sims was actually rector of St Swithun's during this period (and if in 1843 a new rector was appointed because the former one died). I would like to know any possible information about this Thomas Sims. I would be particularly happy to know if he is the author of An Historical Defence of the Waldenses or Vaudois, Inhabitants of the Valleys of Piedmont, by Jean Rodolphe Peyran (London: 1826) Thank you in advance for your help. My very best wishes Stefano Villani

Reply:
My enquiries have suggested you contact the Hampshire Records Office, who should have an old copy of Crockfords which will give you the details of who was vicar of St Swithuns in Winchester at the dates you require. I hope that helps.

Hi, Just to let you know that the photo of the Hunter's Inn on your web pages was taken in the mid 1960s not 1930s. I actually took the photo and I was born in 1942. The Strongs sign is a dead giveaway. Earlier years it would have been "Strong & Co of Romsey" The photo I took came from a box of matches. This was a popular thing at the time. I believe it was in colour, but I probably couldn't afford a colour film at the time. I've attached a copy of the original photo before I removed the text, phone number etc. Thought this might be of interest to you. Best regards, Chris Levy

Reply:
How intriguing! I cannot now remember who gave me the photo but I expect it was LTVAS but I cannot find it in any of my folders other than the one I have applied to the website page.
May I give the history of it to Phoebe Merrick of LTVAS? I am sure she would be interested in its origins if she is unaware.
I have changed the date on the website but not added any details, but if you agree I can add your little bit of history about it on the page - with reference to you by name?

Hi, As you can tell my name is Romsey. I am trying to purchase some shirts with the name Romsey on them as fun gifts for my 2 daughters and some relatives as Christmas gifts. I thought this would be novel. I have been searching the web sites and have not had any luck. I am here back in the states, Brooklyn, NY. Do you have any ideas? Thanks , Jim.

Reply:
So far no luck regarding 'T' shirts but Romsey does have a cloth shopping bag with the following detail - in the order as it appears:
ROMSEY
A drawing of Romsey Abbey
'See you in Romsey'
The bag is a creamy colour and the writing and the Abbey drawing are in Brown. It is 15 inches wide and 16 and a half inches deep, with the same material cloth handles.
We are being encouraged to use re-usable bags for shopping in preference to plastic ones which take up so much room in landfill refuse sites - we are running out of such spaces to deposit the increasing amount of rubbish!
Maybe you would consider the bags instead of the shirts? They are 99p each - that is almost one English £ pound. There would of course be postage costs to add.
I must also say it would be too late to reach you before 25 December!
This is the Town Centre managers email address and she could arrange to send you some of the bags if you choose. CCole@testvalley.gov.uk

Can you please help me to get in touch with people I used to know in Romsey? I used to teach Modern Languages at Romsey School till 2000 but in 2004 I left Romsey to build (literally) a new home in Muehlhausen, Thueringen, part of the former East Germany, where one of my sons lives and works. I have been able to reconstruct one of the timber-frame houses typical of this beautiful mediaeval walled city. Various of my former students and their parents keep in contact with me and there may be others who have lost my email address but would like to write. I would be very grateful if you would allow me to use this letter to remind them of my email address (rfuecks@hotmail.com) and also to tell them of my website, where, if interested, they can look at what I have been doing since leaving Romsey. It is http://intouchde.org.uk, particularly the section on Mühlhausen (or Muehlhausen). I would be delighted to hear from old friends and former students and even more so if they would like to come over on a visit, especially anyone with an interest in restoring old houses. We have one other expatriot here about to restore an old bakery, and there is plenty of scope for more.
Many thanks, Rachel Fuecks.

Hello, TV Series: 'Along These Lines'
I'm hoping you might be able to help me. I'm working on a commissioned 8-part series for ITV Meridian, which looks at 8 former railway lines in the Meridian area. In each episode, the presenter walks, cycles or rides a disused rail track, sometimes alone, sometimes in conversation and, in the process, shows viewers a piece of their own local history they might never have known is there; a pleasure waiting to be explored. The aim is to make this a human story, drawing in locals and their stories and, hopefully, encouraging viewers to get out and enjoy the English countryside.
While researching the Sprat & Winkle line I came across a marvellous piece written by Norman Goodlant for your newsheet, entitled Days of Steam and Rose Gardens. This is dated 1997, but wondered if it would be possible to contact Mr. Goodland, himself, or any of those family members mentioned in the article. I also wondered if you might know of any other locals who might have personal memories of this line and/or a family connection with it or any other lines in the area for that matter. Any names and stories you could give me would be a great help.
If you need more information about the series, please don't hesitate to contact me anytime.
Cathy (Further enquiries discover that sadly Mr Goodland has died.)

Dear, may I say friends?
I live in Epsom, Surrey and am a volunteer working for the Watercress Line in Hampshire. Our Railway attempts to portray a line as it was in the early 1960's, both in its stations, trains and the train journey. One delight of travelling by train in years gone by was the view from the window as the train charged through the countryside sometimes as fast as 70 miles an hour! One thing that could be seen on a journey from Waterloo were the large advert's by the lineside that said that,"You are heading to the Strong Country". At my age then, I had no idea that this was a reference to beer.
The Watercress Line would like to re-create one of these signs and we need some information. We know they featured a locomotive that changed over the years but what colours were they? We have locomotives running on the line that are the same as at least one of the advertisements.
If there is anyone who could help us with information on these famous advertisements, we would be delighted to meet you. Initially I would be pleased to have any reply by E-mail.
In anticipation, thank you for your help, Michael Ball. Watercress Line Signalman.

Reply:
I notice that last week someone used Romseynet search facility looking for 'Strongs' - maybe it was you, but if not, or even if you did, maybe you missed this items in the Romsey and District Archives in the following Newshees: Newsheet Number 60 Spring 1997 and
Newsheet Number 61 Summer 1997
Two books are available from Romsey Library From further enquiries I have received a picture of the Strongs Sign Board as on the top of this page and have sent you a copy.
A further reply from the Chairman of Romsey Signal box reads:
"We do have several signalmen from the Mid-Hants involved with Romsey SB, which is a fully operational box with simulator. If you wish to visit, we are open on the first Sunday of every month, bar January." Romsey signal Box