Archives: Articles
May 7, 2020|
Wickham Fair – All the fun of the fair!
Wickham Fair day – 20th May – was a great day in the village. The horse-drawn caravans were beautifully painted – they were owned by real Romany people. They were not allowed into the Square until the church clock struck 12 noon, then they’d gallop the horses and caravans in, to try to get the…
Find Out More »May 7, 2020|
May Day Celebrations in Wickham
Marjorie’s Memories When I think of Wickham I like to remember it as it was in the days of my childhood. On May Day each year, we collected wild flowers and made garlands. We went to the houses of the local gentry to sing to them and they gave us a penny each. Our…
Find Out More »January 1, 2020|
Knowle and the Railway
Although there was already a railway line from London to Portsmouth, consent was given to build the Meon Valley Railway (MVR) by an Act of Parliament in 1897. In 1898 the London and South West Railway (LSWR) purchased 7 acres of land from Knowle. The following year, Wickham landowners were paid £7,500 for 23 acres…
Find Out More »December 30, 2019|
Knowle War Memorial
At the beginning of the last century, Knowle Hospital was home to about 1000 patients and staff and was a self contained ‘village’ with gardeners, carpenters, upholsterers, blacksmiths as well as those who undertook various duties caring for the hospital patients. As with many villages, members of the staff and estate residents answered the call…
Find Out More »December 26, 2019|
A Casualty of the Great War – E. E. Pharoah
ERNEST EDWARD PHAROAH Gunner Ernest Edward Pharoah was one of the fourteen children of George, a local farmer, and his wife Mary. Ernest worked as a cowman on his father’s farm at Whiteley Pastures before becoming an attendant at Knowle Hospital. Enlisting at Brockhurst, Gosport in November 1915, Ernest became a gunner in the Royal…
Find Out More »January 23, 2019|
Molly Grace Haydock
Molly Grace Haydock 24th July 1928 – 21st June 2016 Local girl Molly (nee Cheater) Haydock was born in Swanmore. She went to school in Curdridge and Hedge End. During the war the classrooms were shared by the evacuated town children escaping from the dock yard bombs: locals went in the morning and the evacuees…
Find Out More »January 23, 2019|
The Battle of Coronel – The Wickham Connection
The Battle of Coronel took place on 1st November 1914 off the coast of Central Chile. Britain knew from radio messages that Germany’s East Asiatic squadron, under Admiral Graf Maximilian von Spee, was trying to elude the British and Japanese ships as it sailed eastwards from the Caroline Islands across the Pacific. A British Squadron…
Find Out More »January 23, 2019|
Admiral Robert Linzee
Robert Linzee was born in Portsmouth in 1739 and died 4th October 1804. He is buried in St Nicholas Churchyard, Wickham. Linzee was twice married and had one son by his first wife. For some time, he lived at Little Park, located to the north of Wickham Village. Promoted to Admiral on the 1st January 1801, Robert Linzee commanded no further ships…
Find Out More »January 23, 2019|
Mr Shepherd of 8 Southwick Road
Mr. Shepherd was extremely helpful and interested in the Society, and said that if only he could read and write he would join. His eyes are very poor. Born in 1900, his earliest memory is the beginning of the railway. As a toddler, dressed all in white, as the fashion was, he was taken by…
Find Out More »January 23, 2019|
Wickham National School – Extracts from the Log Book
We are fortunate to have access to the logbooks of Wickham National School from c1864-1900. Below is an extract taken from a logbook for a few days in a chilly February. February 1864 Feb 19th 10.30am Finished hearing children repeat their Hymns, which time with 2 hours on Monday morning spent in learning them makes…
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