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THE WATER SUPPLY

The Hampshire Chronicle says—“The large well from which the town of Andover gets its water supply and which can be pumped dry in about six hours, is found to be incapable of meeting the growing needs of the town. There are several adits, but even then there is not enough. To get a larger supply a 200ft. 12in. bore is being worked out by Grace and Gore, of Braishfield, who some time ago did the deep boring at Netley Hospital. The Andover bore is driven through the well, and already about 150ft. depth is reached. It is expected that plenty of water will be obtained. The grand gain in the successful boring is that the water comes up to the surface, no machinery being required.”

ONE HUNDRED YEARS AGO — 4 DECEMBER 1914

LOOKING AFTER THE SOLDIERS

There was a steady flow of men in and out of the Andover Soldiers’ Rest on Saturday, and Sunday, in fact another record was broken as regards numbers. It is calculated that some 600 men took advantage of the refreshment buffet and the writing accommodation. The Soldiers were so crowded at times that they had to sit on the benches all round the Corn Exchange. They were a right merry lot, though, and many were their eulogies of the manner in which their wants were attended to. Andover looked more military than usual, the week end, for in addition to the increased number of house soldiers who were in the town, we were favoured with the presence of some of the Colonial forces, and very smart they looked. Then the large notice board over the Corn Exchange which announced the “Soldiers’ Rest, open from 3 to 8” was decked with the flags of Great Britain, France, Belgium, and Japan.

SEVENTY-FIVE YEARS AGO — 8 DECEMBER 1939

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Salisbury Andover Winchester

FIFTY YEARS AGO — 4 DECEMBER 1964

THE EDITOR’S POSTBAG — AWKWARD TIME FOR TRADESMEN

The directors of Willis and Son, 85-87 High Street, Andover, write: The Compulsory Purchase Orders were received by the resident and shop owners of the “tennis racket” last week—four weeks before Christmas, the busiest time of the year for business, and these people have 33 days in which to protest including the Christmas holiday!

We wonder how many of our fellow townsfolk realise what worry and unhappiness this is causing among the people whose homes and businesses are included in this area. In many cases where years of work and sacrifice have gone into the building of a business and the buying of a freehold property, it is a very hard blow to be compulsorily purchased with prospects of a future as tenants of the local and London County Councils. We may as well be quite honest and say that most of the people affected did not want to give up all that they had lived and worked for in the past. Many of us did give up the best years of our lives away from home during World War II (and some World War I also) and we believed we were keeping our country free, but this sort of thing makes one wonder if it was worth our efforts.

We cannot help thinking that all this worry and misery need not have happened but for a few members of our local council who dream of a new modern impersonal town at the expense of local tradespeople and private residents. Surely we have a right to fight for our own? The same thing could happen in any other part of the town and we appeal to the local residents of the whole town to think about this affair and protest strongly.

TWENTY-FIVE YEARS AGO — 8 DECEMBER 1989

PLEA FOR BLITZ ON VANDALS

Vandal attacks on Andover’s new £4 million multi-storey car park in the first week of its opening have brought a call from the leader of the town’s commercial life for an all-out blitz on ‘youths causing mindless damage and giving the town a bad name’.

Part of a prestigious £16 million town centre development, the car park has already been defaced with graffiti, the lifts have been put out of action and used as lavatories and pedestrians have been in danger from cyclists and skateboarders hurtling down interior ramps.

In one horrific incident a youth, when challenged, is thought to have thrown his cycle from the top floor to the ground outside, an action which could have killed a passer-by.

Leading businesswoman, Ann Wilson, commerce chamber president, says the public must alert the police immediately any out-of-order behaviour is spotted.

Such action would be protecting the cash in their pockets because the increasing bill for damage had to be met in part by the borough council, dual owners of the Chantry Centre.

10 YEARS AGO — 3 DECEMBER 2004

NHS TRUST MERGER IS ‘A LEAP OF FAITH’

Two major NHS bodies ranging from Andover to Eastleigh have agreed to ‘integrate’ their healthcare organisation.

The move will bring together the management structures of Winchester and Eastleigh Healthcare NHS Trust and the healthcare commissioning body of Mid Hampshire Primary Care Trust.

Mrs Barbara North, chairman of the NHS trust, said last week: “This is potentially the most important decision that this trust has taken since it became a trust.”

And its chief executive, Rod Halls, described the integration as a ‘leap of faith’ but one that was ‘probably in the right direction’.

The new organisation will have one chief executive to lead the partnership and the hope is that integration will lead to better care, better business performance and to simplification of the organisation.