The Portsmouth Society - News
| News | BBC Southern Ways in South Today | |
| Earlier news | Deane and I have had a most enjoyable time presenting six short programmes
on Southern Ways in connection with the BBC 2 series Restoration which
ran in the Autumn. So far we have been able to persuade them to do any
other threatened buildings in Portsmouth, but do keep sending in suggestions
to BBC South in Southampton because there will be another series. We were driven about in a beige 1948 Jaguar with cherry red upholstery seats - a bit like the Two Fat Ladies! On the first day (fryingly hot) we looked at a derelict twelfth century Dorset chapel once on a pilgrimage route between two abbeys which has been falling down for most of the twentieth century. The farmer owner has great plans for festivals on his beautiful land. Clavell Tower teetering on a cliff by Kimmeridge Bay may be rescued as a holiday home by the Landmark Trust, rebuilt a bit further back. One place I really wanted to feature was the Royal Aircraft Establishment Farnborough, because the new owners, Slough Estates don't really know what to do with the marvellous windtunnels and key sites of invention in the history of flight. It should be a separate museum / workshops entity amongst new workshops for innovation. SAVE Britain's Heritage are working on this. In the afternoon we saw the remarkably large Elizabethan Shaw Hall which served as a secondary school until someone rashly removed a key inside wall to put in some loos and made it unsafe. The geography teacher was eloquent on what it was like to teach in such august surroundings. West Berkshire council hope to win a lottery bid to turn it into community facilities including a marriage hall and meeting rooms. The third day was devoted to Sussex barns: how to ruin them and how to convert them well into expensive houses. It was good to see that Gosport Gun Boat sheds and the railway station were well looked after - by Qinetic, - newly privatised defence research agency, and Hampshire County Council, but it would be better to see them both in use. Qinetic manager David Gant showed us his largest amazing ship testing tank - which we should try and arrange a Society visit too. A planning brief is being prepared for public input on the station - new uses invited! We also saw the porters' lodges at HMS Hornet - terribly neglected, a sad shock for two sisters who grew up there in wartime. Tangmere control tower is the standard model for Airfix kits, a Modernist box, now boarded up and on Church Commissioners' farm land. Lottery bids to restore it as a feature of the Military Aviation Museum failed, but as the land agent wants to save it, may be everyone should have another go. Cowdray House, Midhurst is the logo for the Restoration series: the most beautiful ruin since a fire in 1793, which the Town Council are taking a lease on to stabilise the walls so the public can enjoy access. On the last day we met a Peace Camp campaigner, Sarah Hipperson at the memorial garden at Greenham Common before peering over a triple fence at the hardened hangers where the cruise missiles were kept. The night before we were there, the Minister of Defence agreed to sell the site to Flying A Services, who want to repair and store historic aircraft there. They won't be able to fly them, however, as the runway has been dug up and placed under the A34; the site is reverting to common. Our last assignment was milestones: the enthusiast was concerned about keeping them whitewashed and visible, especially those on the Hungerford/Newbury stretch of the A4. We had to be quick on the draw and say whatever came into our heads! The presenters said they learnt a lot, and so did we, especially from the beautiful shots by cameraman Trevor Adamson and the skilful editing. The whole thing got quite addictive! It was a marvellous opportunity to communicate with hundreds of thousands of people, even if they were not really concentrating, but munching their supper! Celia Clark |