Back Through the Pages of the Advertiser: Mysterious fires

ONE HUNDRED AND SIXTY-FOUR YEARS AGO – FRIDAY  12 APRIL 1860

MYSTERIOUS FIRES

About 5 o’clock on Thursday evening, 5 April, a fire was discovered to have broken out in a skittle alley adjoining the Queen Charlotte Inn on the London road, Assistance was fortunately soon at hand and the flames were soon extinguished before much damage was done. On the following Thursday (yesterday) about 8 o’clock in the evening an alarm was again given that the Queen Charlotte was on fire. The fire engines were quickly on route, and on their arrival, the fire was found to be raging fiercely in some thatched outbuildings in the farm yard adjoining the inn, a large portion of which was destroyed. The origin of both fires is as yet involved in mystery. The police are making active investigations.

ONE HUNDRED AND TWENTY-FIVE YEARS AGO – FRIDAY 14 APRIL 1899

CORRESPONDENCE – FLOODED THRUXTON

Sir: Permit me to use the columns of your widely-read newspaper in order to make an interesting anthropological inquiry. Are the good people of Thruxton desirous of reverting once more to that ancient mode of habitation known as ‘Lake Dwellings’, or are they desirous of emulating the historic people of the Lincolnshire Fens, and becoming web-footed? I ask because it is fast becoming impossible to enter the village now except through water, which is deeply flooding the road and blocking the approach to the secluded village. But sir, if the good people of Thruxton like to have it so, we outsiders surely have a right of entrance dry shod, or will they soon supply a boat and embrace the trade of the ancient Charon? Yours enquiringly, Viator.

ONE HUNDRED YEARS AGO – FRIDAY 11 APRIL 1924

AFTER TEA

Frederick Allen, pleaded guilty at the Borough Bench on Monday to a charge of begging on Sunday. PC Lee said at 5.40pm, in the Micheldever Road he saw the prisoner calling from house to house and ascertained that he had been asking for tea. He had 10d in his possession. Prisoner said he could have bought tea had the shops been open. As it was, he asked for a drop of tea and was sitting on the bank drinking it when the policeman saw him. PS Leigh said prisoner was not the usual class of tramp. He was a merchant seaman and had done work recently. The bench discharged him.

SEVENTY-FIVE YEARS AGO – FRIDAY 15 APRIL 1949

BOXERS’ DINNER; ANDOVER AND WINCHESTER CLUBS ENTERTAINED

At the invitation of Mr R W Fluen (hon secretary), members of the Andover Boxing Club and of the Winchester equivalent, were guests at a dinner held in the King’s Arms Hotel, Whitchurch, last Wednesday. Unfortunately, through indisposition, Mr Fluen was unable to be present but his son, Mr Bobby Fluen, capably carried out the duties of host. Among the guests attending were Mr Gore, (hon secretary of the Winchester ABC, Mr Mason and Mr Furmidge (ABC officials of Winchester) and Mr A Cousins, better known to all as Archie, trainer of both clubs. Following an excellent dinner, a short speech of welcome was given by Mr Billy Fluen, and on behalf of the company, Mr Gore expressed the thanks of both clubs for the generous gesture on the part of Mr Fluen. The company was then entertained by Bob Bell’s Concert Party, including Alan Watts, conjurer and ventriloquist, with his dummy, Jackie Bryan. Miss Rose Alexander (soprano) and Mr Jack Peck, pianist.

FORTY-SEVEN YEARS AGO – FRIDAY 15 APRIL 1977

TOWN’S LARGEST PRINT FIRM HAS CASH FLOW PROBLEMS

The Andover printing firm Chapel River Press, whose impressive set of buildings has been a landmark on Weyhill Road since the early 1930s, has cash flow problems. The firm, part of the giant Reed International Group, is thinking of applying to the government for a temporary employment subsidy. The subsidy amounts to £20 a week for each of the 370 workers, or £400,000 a year. Mr Peter Richardson, managing director, told the Advertiser: ‘The company is experiencing some difficulty at the moment and a meeting with officers of the various unions is being held here in a couple of weeks to discuss the situation. The workforce has been informed that one of the options open to us is to apply for the subsidy.’ Last year Chapel River Press had a loss of around £200,000. Mr Richardson stressed that ‘the whole point of the subsidy is to keep our 370 workers in continuous employment.’ What happens if the subsidy application is rejected? Said Mr Richardson: ‘If we don’t get the subsidy – which is highly unlikely – we would have to sit down and think again.’ He pointed out that two of the conditions which must be met before a subsidy is granted are that the company is solvent and that it has a viable future. ‘We will have absolutely no difficulty on these points. We are solvent and Chapel River Press is viable and has a great future. We are on the road to recovery and our prospects are excellent. We have already shown a considerable improvement in the current financial year. All we have at the moment is a cash flow problem,’ he said. A number of workers at Chapel River Press regularly gross between £100 and £150 a week with overtime