Back Through The Pages: Andover Advertisers from the past

ONE HUNDRED AND SIXTY-FOUR YEARS AGO – FRIDAY 5 APRIL 1860

ANDOVER CRICKET CLUB

This club was not able to practise last year for want of a field, but we are pleased to hear that arrangements have been made with Mr Blewden, of the Folly Inn, for the use of his meadow, so that the club will have the privilege of beginning practice as soon as the weather permits. A meeting will be held on Monday evening next, at the Angel Inn, to discuss various matters concerning the welfare of the club, and to receive the names of persons wishing to become members.

ONE HUNDRED AND TWENTY-FIVE YEARS AGO – FRIDAY 7 APRIL 1899

SAVED FROM THE STELLA

On board the ill-fated Stella on her last disastrous voyage was Mr Harold Carter, youngest son of Mr J M Carter of Basingstoke, well-known in the Andover market. He remained on board until the captain gave his last order, ‘Men, look for yourselves,’ when he immediately jumped into the captain’s dingy, which had then 18 passengers and almost before they got away, the Stella went down. After being tossed about the whole night without food and drink they were picked up by the SS Vera and landed at Guernsey in an exhausted state. A friend of his was among the missing, having wished each other goodbye when putting on their lifebelts.

A horse-drawn carnival float in the Walled Meadow during the 1930s (Image: Contributed)

ONE HUNDRED YEARS AGO – FRIDAY 4 APRIL 1924

CAN ANDOVER RUN A CARNIVAL?

That is the question to be answered in the next few months, for if the town and district can make a carnival go in the right spirit it is likely to become an annual institution in the same manner as the annual outbursts of revelry and fun at Eastleigh, Pewsey, Romsey, Devizes and other places. Last year’s carnival week at Pewsey raised £1,200 for local institutions, a similar effort in Andover properly worked and well-supported would fetch an equal sum to round off the appeal for the War Memorial Hospital and be the first of a long series of popular gatherings of all kinds in future years to help the funds of other causes. The main idea of a carnival week is to combine pleasure with the business of getting money together for some purpose that has the support and sympathy of the majority of the people in the district. In the present day, people of all ages find pleasure and amusement in sport, and a summer carnival in Andover would certainly include tennis tournaments, sports for children, golf contests, cricket and football matches, bowling contests, with perhaps mounted events for owners of ponies and donkeys. In the evening, dances, drives and concerts would fill up the time. For the main feature of the procession, decorated carts, cycles and cars would be the centre, supported by costumed entries, either individually or in groups, as tableaux or otherwise. A meeting will be held in the next few days to organise the different sections and to invite residents to give their services on the various sub-committees.  

SEVENTY-FIVE YEARS AGO – FRIDAY 8 APRIL 1949

NEW OBJECT FOR 1949 CARNIVAL: FOR ALMSHOUSES

At the first meeting of the carnival committee, the mayor-elect, Mrs R Harvey, who presided, suggested that at least part of the proceeds of the 1949 carnival might be devoted to the repair and improvement of the Pollen almshouses, occupied by old folk and the idea was left with members for consideration. The six houses in Marlborough Street (of which the trustees were the mayor, the vicar and a representative of Winchester College) were in very bad condition. They had no back entrances, there was just one lavatory for the six houses, and to reach this the occupants had to go out of their front doors and round the back. The slope upon which the houses were built was so steep that in order to obtain any drainage at all the sinks had to be made high, so that the folks living there had to stand on boxes to use them. The trustees had managed to accumulate between £300 and £400 but the estimated cost of putting the houses in fit state was over £1,000. Unless this money could be found, the houses would have to be condemned and the residents would be homeless. Six new houses would cost the council considerably more than the suggested alterations.

FORTY-SEVEN YEARS AGO – FRIDAY 8 APRIL 1977

RAMSBURY’S NEW OFFICES

Eleven years ago, the Ramsbury was the first building society to open in Andover. After a short time in an office in Swan Court, the expansion of business meant a move to 40 High Street. Now the society’s offices have been moved again to the re-vamped premises once occupied by the Midland Bank at 34 High Street. A ramped access from Union Street will be a boon to mothers with prams, and provide a useful alternative to the conventional High Street entrance itself. Inside the building, the white walls and attractive green paintwork with the green-moulded Ramsbury tree motif give a feeling of space while the strip lighting by the door is effectively disguised by an ingenious arrangement of stainless steel strips set at right angles to each other. There is a lot more room for customers in the new premises and as there are facilities for three cashiers, long waits should be avoided.