26th October 2023 • The HERALD • Page 31 v SUPPORT YOUR LOCAL BUSINESSES v Wet clean or Dry clean • Carpets • Rugs • Upholstery • Cushions • Mattresses • Caravans & Motor Homes Contact Chris for a free estimate and advice. We have full liability insurance 023 8104 0185 07770 792361 clean-u-up@hotmail.com We provide one of the best professional Carpet & Fabric cleaning Systems PJ-T DOUBLE GLAZING REPAIRS • Misted Units • Locks • Handles • Hinges • Door Adjustments/Repair • Cat Flaps Paul Jackson-Turner 07708 620910 pjtrepairs65@yahoo.com uPVC & Aluminium Free Quotes Fully Insured Stonyford Pond by Robin Somes, Fawley and Blackfield Memories Previously, we looked at the history of Iper’s Bridge. Just under a mile away to the north-west lies a boggy valley on Beaulieu Heath, from which a stream runs to Holbury Mill Pond, and then down the Darkwater to Lepe. Towards the head of this valley, marked by a clump of pine trees, is Stonyford Pond. Although the valley is barely perceptible when one’s there, from a distance, only the treetops are visible, so the pond remains hidden almost until one reaches it. Beaulieu Heath is crossed by a maze of tracks, some of human origin, others probably just the favoured routes of cattle or horses. e pond itself, and some of these tracks, are marked on maps as least as early as 1789, and probably date much earlier. I rst encountered the pond when I was perhaps 10 or 11, when my Uncle eo took me shing there. We caught nothing, and I’m doubtful there were ever I have always found the pond, and the heath around it, an eerie place, not least because of the many Bronze Age tumuli or bowl barrows nearby. A friend who studied archaeology has a theory that, as well as being used for the burial of important folk, tumuli were markers, denoting the boundary between the wild and the cultivated - much like the origin of the phrase “beyond the pale”, meaning outside the fence, or ‘pale’, of what’s considered civilised. More eerily, he suggests, for their creators, they also marked the division between the living and the dead, the human and the spirit world, and a boundary that the restless dead might not cross. Be that as it may, one can sit at Stonyford and imagine the modern world to be a long way away. One dry summer, a couple of companions and I walked out to see what creatures might live there. We saw no sh, but did observe a great profusion of newts. Our other discovery was that the gravelly track runs right through the middle of the pond; it was possible to walk across it on hard ground, wearing wellies. It really is a stony ford. Old newspaper records say little about the pond, other than reports of the local foxhounds chasing past there, and the discovery in 1989 of unexploded ordnance from WW2, where it’s thought anti-tank weapons were tested. We can therefore only guess at its original purpose – perhaps a watering hole for cattle being driven across the heath – or why the track didn’t just skirt around the pond. We may never know. Pine trees at Stonyford Pond; Robin Somes sh there, but shing with Uncle eo was never really about catching sh anyway; much more about peace, quiet and gentle re ection. Computer Lessons from Gateway I.T. for All If you are interested in getting better at using your laptop, computer, mobile phone or tablet, then Gateway I.T. for All can help you. Gateway I.T. for All is run by local charity Hythe 2000 and is open to everyone who needs help with computers. e experienced volunteer tutors can help you to learn a new so ware package, improve your use of email, create documents and save them to les, organise your les and photographs and keep safe online. e sessions are held every Monday 1.30pm to 3.30pm in St John’s Hall, Hythe and cost £3 per session. ere is no need to book, just drop in, you will be sure of a warm welcome. For more information visit: hythe2000.org/ or email: hythe2000@gmail.com New Forest East Probus Club e New Forest East Probus Club held their September meeting at the Dibden Golf Club on ursday 21st September. President Henley, welcomed 23 members, to the 413th meeting, which also marked the 36 anniversary of the Club. is was celebrated by the members with an ‘open bar’ a er the meeting. e meeting concluded with a short presentation by the latest member on his work at a ‘Hot Bottle Company’ during the war. Future events planned for the Club include a visit to ExxonMobil Petro Chemical Plant and a possible Christmas lunch at ‘Le Chateau’ in early December and potential trips on Solent Dolphin’s ‘Alison MacGregor’, and to Cowes next year, with lunch at the Island Sailing Club e meeting concluded with a very interesting illustrated talk by Mike Read ‘New Beginnings from Grave to Grebe’ which gave an excellent ornithological overview of the local Forest and Hampshire Birds, with speci c mentions of the: Isle of Wight White Tailed Eagles, Lepe Osprey, New Forest Goshawks and a Hythe Avocet. e planned speaker for October is RS Shahi ‘South Asian Indian Architecture’ If anyone is interested in joining, please contact the Secretary on: 023 8089 7967. Stock up on jigsaws for those long winter nights, at the Jigsaw Sale in Copythorne Parish Hall on Saturday 28th October, 2pm to 4pm. ere will also be a tombola, books and gi stall. Visit the Café for some refreshments. Adults £1, children free. Proceeds from the day will go to Copythorne Parish Hall. For more information please call: 023 8081 3341 or email: gmmacat15@ hotmail.com JIGSAW SALE IN COPYTHORNE
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