Take a tour of St Peter's Church

Tours of St Peter’s church are conducted every third Tuesday of the month except December.  The tours start at 2 o’clock and last about an hour, there is no charge but a donation could be made toward the church maintenance fund.

Tour dates for 2020 are: Jan 21, Feb 18, Mar 17, Apr 21, May 19, Jun 16,

Jul 21, Aug 18, Sep 15, Oct 20 and Nov 17.

Tours outside these dates can be arranged through the Church Office on 01329 847003.

The future of the Parish Room

Nick Girdler, Chairman of Titchfield Village Trust, on the future of the Parish Room and Project 2070

The launch of Project 2070

According to Village gossip the Parish Room is to be demolished and a care home built in its place !

Why would Titchfield need a care home when residents show they always care for the village in more ways than the Prime Minister can call for a vote on Brexit.

It’s not going to be demolished, far from it, and at a village meeting in May a ringing endorsement for Project 2070 proved that there’s life in the Victorian building yet.

The current trustees of the Parish Room charity have agreed to be merged with the Titchfield Village Trust Charity. The reason : to bring the building up to scratch and ensure it will be fit for purpose for the next 50 years.

It’s a complex set of legal hoops the Trust has to jump through in order to achieve this aim along with an herculean effort to raise the money to bring the project to fruition.

Essentially the entire roof needs replacing and at the same time we think a major upgrade should be undertaken allowing the Room to continue as an affordable and much loved venue at the heart of the village.

It’s a project we want the everyone to be part of and work has already started on setting up an infrastructure to make certain that this is the case.

If you think you have skills we could use in order to complete the task in front of us please contact the Trust. TitchfieldVillageTrust@outlook.com

We are at the start of a project that is likely to take years rather than months and cost hundreds of thousands rather than the cost of a haircut…and if anywhere in the south of England knows how much a haircut costs it’s the residents of Titchfield!

We know you won’t let us down.

Nick Girdler

Chairman Titchfield Village Trust

Concerns in Titchfield over East Street closures

Hampshire County Council’s planned work on resurfacing East Street on the weekend of the 1st and 2nd June has worried residents about gaining access to their homes during the work.

It seems the council no longer write to all homes in the street advising them of the work.

On the Saturday there are two weddings at St Peter’s and fears are that guests will be unable to find places to park due to the congestion.

HCC’s notification re. the closures…

Road Closure over Weekend of 1st & 2nd June

East Street, Titchfield – Carriageway Resurfacing Works

As part of Operation Resilience, Hampshire County Council’s programme to make Hampshire’s roads more resilient to the effects of extreme weather and heavy traffic, this letter is to advise of upcoming carriageway resurfacing works on East Street from its junction with Titchfield Hill to the junction with Southampton Hill. 

The resurfacing works are programmed to start Saturday 1st June and are expected to last for 2 days. During which time the road will be closed to vehicular traffic from approximately 09:00 to 16:30hrs. The road will be open during the evenings. Access to the High Street will be maintained via South Street throughout the works.

The above timescales are weather dependent, any significant changes to the scheduled dates will be made clear on the yellow sign boards located at the works limits.

In order to help us to complete the work as quickly as possible, please ensure that no vehicles are parked on the road or in the laybys on the days of the resurfacing.

Please be aware any vehicles left parked on the road that prevent the works taking place, face the risk of being removed.

For your safety and that of our workforce, we are unable to guarantee vehicular access to and from your property during working hours. Pedestrian access will always be available.

The surfacing operation uses a separate bitumen layer in addition to the new asphalt carriageway surface. In order to avoid potential injury or damage, please do not walk across the carriageway during the works unless directed by a member of the workforce.

Thank you for your co-operation and, if you need more information regarding these works, please call our contact centre on 0300 555 1388.

Haven star-star-studded carol concert

Martin Clunes

Hundreds of Breast Cancer Haven supporters enjoyed an evening of carols, music and readings from a talented cast of actors and musicians.

St Peter’s Church was the venue for last Monday’s charity concert which began with the traditional carol ‘Once in Royal David’s City’.

Celebrity guests Martin Clunes, Clive Mantle and Tom Goodman- Hill entertained the audience with amusing festive readings.

Between the readings the church rang to the sounds of various groups of talented singers and musicians including, Jamie Crook, Nick Blunn, Sonia Ruth, Hollie Chapman, Catherine Lawlor, West Hill Park Choir and Tre Amici.

The three members of Tre Amici had travelled down from Hull especially for the concert and had a six hour drive home directly after their performance.

A moving, yet humorous, ‘Visitor’s Story’ was given by breast cancer sufferer and ‘Haven’ client Dr Olugbenga Taiwo.

Dr Taiwo who is a senior lecturer at the University of Winchester explained how he became the first male client with breast cancer at the ‘Haven ‘in Titchfield.

New book for Titchfield

October 26th sees the launch of a new book about Titchfield.

The book, edited by John Hiett, is a work of fiction, a series of 12 short stories by 10 different authors, set in Titchfield from the Dark Ages to the 1950;s

The book has mystery, myth and magic, tragedy and deception, witch hunting, mayhem, murder and love in the most trying circumstances.

The book will be officially launched on Friday October 26th between 6pm and 8pm in Titchfield Parish Room.

There will be wine to drink, people to meet and copies of the book to buy, with cash, cheque (payable to Magic Flute Artworks Ltd.) or credit card.

The book is priced at £9.95 (paperback) or £14.95 (hardback)

A Silent Soldier silhouette for Titchfield?

In commemoration of the 100th anniversary of the end of WW1 The Royal British Legion has invited the public to take part in a movement to say 'Thank You' to the First World War generation who served, sacrificed, rebuilt and changed the nation.

In support of this Fareham Borough Council will be placing eight near life-size silhouettes of a 'Tommy' around the Borough and one of them could be here in Titchfield.

The Council are asking resident to vote on where three of the silhouettes should be placed.

The possible sites are - Westbury Manor, Daedalus and St Peter’s Church Titchfield.

The Vicar of Titchfield, Rev. Charles Matthews, went to France in 1915 to serve as a chaplain and minister to the wounded at a base hospital. He wrote of his experiences in the St Peter’s Parish Magazine.

The near life-size silhouettes of a First World War ‘Tommy’ will be fixed on buildings, gardens, fields, and roundabouts across the county, in remembrance of those in the armed forces who came home ‘silently’ from the war, as well as those who never made it home.

A large number of men from the village took part in WW1, some came back - many did not.

Set up in 2013 The Titchfield Remembers Project set out to identify and honour all WWI servicemen connected to this parish.

Through painstaking research the Titchfield Remembers group have identified 11 servicemen who were not included in the original count of those who were killed.

Copies of the book, ‘Beyond the Memorial’ which tells the story of each Titchfield man who died can still be bought - All profits to The Royal British Legion.

Visit the ‘Titchfield Remembers’ website and read about the men from this village who gave their lives in the First World War.  Click HERE
 

To vote for a ‘Tommy’ in Titchfield click HERE
 

Jazz at the Great Barn

Enjoy an afternoon of superb traditional New Orleans Jazz and support The Friends of St Peters at the same time.

The much acclaimed Solent City Jazzmen will perform during the afternoon of Sunday 16th September from 2pm - 6pm (doors open at 1.30pm).

Guests will be able to have a drink at the Licensed bar and enjoy a Hadlows hog roast at just £3.
Tickets cost £10 for adults, (£5 child) and can be bought in advance from St Peter’s Church office, Daisy B’s and Hadlows.

LINK
The Friends of St Peters

Village turns out for the Church Fete

Despite the threat of showers hundreds of Titchfield residents enjoyed a fun packed  afternoon at St Peter’s Church Fete.

See a whole gallery of images from the day by clicking HERE

Helpers from right across the community were busy from first thing preparing for the event.

The plant stalls were stocked, the second hand books stacked high, the gazebos erected and the BBQ lit.

The gate was officially opened at 1pm and the visitors streamed in.

Music was provided by Paul McKenna’s Swingworld Band in the front garden and by the St Peter’s Puppets, Titchfield Primary School Pans Ablaze and the West Hill Park Community Choir in the back garden.

The scouts did sterling work selling burgers and hot dogs.

Refreshments were also provided in the church with the opportunity to listen to the church organ and to speak to the Organist.

In the beautiful Old  Vicarage garden, were the usual range of stalls with a variety of community organisations greeting visitors on the front lawn.

Activities and games include ‘Jolly Jars’, the ‘Coconut Shy’ and ‘Splat the Rat’ as well as the Super Chance and Chocolate Tombolas.

A great day for all and thankfully the rain held off for most of the afternoon.

See a whole gallery of images from the day by clicking HERE

Get planting for Titchfield in Bloom

Judging last year

Last year, for the first time ever, Titchfield entered Britain in Bloom as part of South and South East England.

The organisers were amazed at the number of people who decorated their front of houses, in the whole area of Titchfield, with flowers and flags.  This is more than just the centre of the village.   

Everywhere looked wonderful and the village of Titchfield won Silver Gilt ( just below Gold) which shocked the organisers as we were a first time entry.

Gloria Hunt from the ‘Titchfield in Bloom’ group said, “This year we are going for Gold .

“We have to show conservation, recycling, care of environment and lots more as well as loads of flowers, so quite a job.

“You will see us through the next few weeks, in green tops planting, sweeping , litter picking and weeding.”

Following on from last year the committee are convinced that this year, and with everyone’s help , the village will look amazing.

They recommend geraniums, lavender, begonias or any plants that need less watering .

Rubbish left in churchyard

A pile of rubbish has been left on Skinhouse Piece alongside St Peter's churchyard.

The pile of rubbish includes rubble, a plastic chair, garden prunings, plastic flowers, a paint tin, plant pots and car tyre.

It is thought that the rubbish had been pulled from the nearby canal sometime last week and is awaiting collection by Fareham Borough Council.

Do you know who left their rubbish in the churchyard? Leave your comment below.