If there's one thing that readers of this column will have "picked up", since my medium-to-long-suffering wife Lois and I moved to Liphook, Hampshire two months ago, it's the number of local news stories that come out of Betty Mundy's Bottom - at least one a week, by my reckoning!
And her Bottom is also one of Hampshire's favourite "glamping" sites, I can this morning exclusively reveal (!).
Betty Mundy's Bottom - now one of Hampshire's favourite
spots to go "glamping" in, would you believe!
Who was Betty Mundy, and what was so special about her Bottom?
Well, seeing as you're obviously "gagging" to know (!), it seems that the key factor here was that, being in the environs of the village of Exton, it was all due to her Bottom's closeness to the Navy's headquarters in Portsmouth, so super convenient for sailors coming off on leave.
Fascinating stuff, isn't it!
A heart-warming story - or should I say "inspiring" (!). And while we're about it, Go, Bedlam Bottom Jets!!!!
Yes, first 1977 (left) and then "fast forward to 1990" (right), and "fast forward" is the right expression, because time really does "fly". Where did those years go?
Local "mag" , Hampshire Life, available in all good local dentists' waiting rooms (!), reports the following (courtesy of "Facebook" and local history buff "Rod of Andover"):
But here's my point - I've looked at this morning's local Onion News, and I can see that there's "a new Bottom on the block": Bedlam Bottom, just outside Farleigh Wallop, so not too far from here. But is it really a new Bottom, or is it just another old Bottom", of which there are many around in these here parts, to put it mildly (!).
Lois and had never heard of it, to be honest, but it turns out that it hat been around for quite a while now, as this old Ordnance Survey map from the 1890's attests:
Bedlam Bottom, near the village of Farleigh Wallop,
seen here in this 1894 Ordnance Survey Map of Hampshire
And if you're visiting this Bottom, here's my super-tip: don't fall down any of the numerous "old chalk pits" in the vicinity: there's, like, a billion of them - more probably! They're almost "legion" !
[Where's this going, Colin?! - Ed]
Here's the story!
[Finally! - Ed]
You may not have seen it - it was "buried" a bit, down in the Sports section at the bottom (no pun intended!) of page 94(!), would you believe!
But, to be serious for a moment, the story is also a reminder of the complex relationship between parents and children - and it's very much a two-way street, isn't it.
Lois and I have 2 daughters, Alison and Sarah, both born in the 1970's, so they are themselves both approaching middle age, or, arguably have already got there (!). And you certainly know you're old, when your "children" are middle aged, don't you, that's for sure.
(left) flashback to 1977, us in our little back yard in Cheltenham, me holding
the new-born Sarah, and Lois holding Alison, then just 22 months,
and (right) fast forward to 1990: us having a day out in the Forest of Dean,
Gloucestershire, when we four were still "the centre of the universe"
- happy days!
And now, fast forward again to 2025, and Lois and I are certifiably old - even "clinically diagnosed as old (!)", and the boot's on the other foot, to put it mildly. We moved to Liphook, Hampshire on January 3rd this year, precisely so that we could be "looked after" by our daughter Alison (49) and family, who live in nearby Headley, just 5 miles away. Yikes!
fast forward (again!) to Jan 3rd 2025: we move into
our current home in Liphook, Hampshire, aided
by our daughter Alison and family who help us unpack
our "stuff" on moving day.
It's nearly two months later now, since we moved in, and Lois and I are feeling more settled here. And today, Lois and I can take some comfort from the fact that we're still not totally useless to our "kids" (!), so something to celebrate, no doubt about that!
At 12:30 pm today we get a call on whatsapp, out of the blue, from our younger daughter Sarah, who's now 9000 miles away with husband Francis and their 11-year-old twins, over in Perth, Australia. And it's a little bit of a "cry for help".
The family moved out to Australia, nearly 6 months ago, in September 2024, and they are currently trying to buy their first house out there. It's in the North Perth suburb of Eglinton, and just a short walk to the Indian Ocean, which is nice, and so great for our twin granddaughters Lily and Jessica.
flashback to September 1st 2024: (left) we say farewell to our daughter
Sarah and family with a lunch at the Royal Oak, Alcester, and (right)
us after they go off, flying next day from London. Heathrow to Perth, Australia
Sarah apparently had a sleepless night last night, however. Completion date for the sale of the house is in about 4 weeks' time, but some of the money is in Francis's policy with Aviva Insurance in Bristol, England. "Aviva is playing silly buggers again!", Sarah tells us, because they're refusing to confirm absolutely that the money will be available by completion date.
What madness! Whose money is it, anyway?!
People sometimes talk dismissively of the famous "Bank of Mum and Dad" - I believe it's now one of the UK's "Big Five Banks" (!), but, when you think about it, what could be nicer than to be able to help your kids in this way, even when they're 47 (!).
In this case it's only a loan that will be paid back next month, or whenever Aviva can be persuaded to take their hot little hands off Francis' money. But it gives Lois and me such a lift today to know that we can tell Sarah "Sleep soundly tonight, you don't need to worry, we'll get the money to you tomorrow. Rest easy and catch up on your 'shut-eye'!"
It's priceless isn't it.
22:00 We go to bed - zzzzzzzzzzzz!!!!
No comments:
Post a Comment