Mobility aids from Alresford Pigs

The Alresford Pigs stock a large quantity of most styles of walking aid, which includes 3 and 4 wheel Rollators, Zimmer frames, crutches and trolleys. These are all used devices, donated to the Pigs for recycling in the local community after inspection and repair as needed, and issued free of charge – but donations to the Charity always are appreciated!

The normal users are elderly people from the different OAP complexes, like Makins Court, Ellingham Close and Wayfarer Place, plus retired people all round town. Around 70% of users are female: there is more resistance to using such things from males. Other significant sources of enquiries are those who have come out of Hospital with not enough equipment, after an operation or accident, and from younger people who have an elderly relative coming to visit or stay.

Hospital patients, after hip or knee replacement, broken leg bones etc, are usually issued with crutches and Zimmer frames (Private Hospitals are less generous). Initially these are used particularly upstairs. Once more mobile the patients graduate to 3 wheel Rollators (downstairs indoors or out) or a trolley (indoors). Requests for associated equipment often include things like shower stools or chairs, perching stools, and commode chairs/toilet aids.

Crutches

Supplied in matching pairs, typically one size, but with adjustable length legs. On some models the distance between the hand grip and the cuff that goes round the arm is also adjustable. The bottom end has a rubber foot.

Zimmer frames

An aluminium frame with four feet, in various sizes, but all have adjustable leg length, typically giving about 8” adjustment. Used outdoors sometimes. We do have a couple of folding ones currently, but the static frame can be difficult to fit into a car! Very slow in use. Can be fitted with a plastic tray for transporting cups and bowls/plates (available from Amazon at £30+).

Three wheeled walker

This might be the thing to first replace a Zimmer frame with, for outside or inside use. It is also the starting aid for elderly people, particularly ladies, who just need something that can carry the shopping, in the bag, but is not as obtrusive/obvious as a 4 wheeler, yet gives them some feeling of stability. Indoors it is far more useful than a 4 wheel unit, as it is smaller, more manoeuvrable, and easily folded away.

Four wheeled walker, or Rollator

This is much more stable than the 3 wheeler, and far better for people who are tending to lose their balance. It also offers a seat, so can be used by asthma, arthritis or COPD sufferers, who might need to stop and rest for a while. Usually there is a basket/bag under the seat, or these bags can be bought on Amazon for £15 approx. Or a shopping bag can be hung/attached somewhere.

The conventional 4 wheeler is a good design, except for the folding – it folds front to back, if the shopping bag is empty, but even then does not stand up, so is always in the way. Modern (expensive) designs are available (Picture 2): most of these fold side to side, and have a canvas flexible seat, but with wear these are less stable, and become loose. We have both types to offer, pre-used.

On both types of wheeled walker, the brakes need constant attention (the brakes are used fairly often, and the adjustment nuts creep). Typically by pushing the brake lever down, the brakes are locked on, and the user sitting on the seat can push up out of it (to stand) without it running away. If the brakes have failed this is a problem – adjustment is by bringing the brake blade closer, by adjusting the positioning of the nuts on the bottom of the cable.

Indoor trolleys

Typically two tier trays, fixed in place on a 4 wheel trolley, with the framework of the trolley extending above the top tray to give a handle. Used primarily for putting a dinner plate (or tea and biscuits) on top to then transport into another room from the kitchen. The trays are staggered to allow them to be used in front of a seated person. Height adjustable on the legs. A variant also has bicycle type handles to act as a walking aid with brakes.

Bathroom equipment

Shower chairs are basically like plastic garden chairs. The stools are taller, and have adjustable leg lengths. In the shower, suction based grab handles are useful, available on Amazon.

Toilet aids include raised toilet seats – a thick moulded plastic seat to go onto the existing toilet to raise the seating position by 4”- 6” approx. If this separate seat does not fit, then a seat on a frame is supplied, usually with adjustable legs (Pictures 1 and 2). The frame has arms to enable the patient to stand up more easily. Often the problem of standing up from the existing seat can be solved by using a toilet frame alone, providing the arms as something to push down onto (Picture 3).

Obviously where the only toilet is upstairs the separate commode chair is useful for use downstairs.

The Pigs try to keep a few of all of these toilet aids in stock.

Other equipment

Ladies also often request a perching stool, to help while preparing food or washing up, or standing at a higher worktop – we only have a few of this type of equipment. Other equipment supplied less often, and when it is available, includes bath lifts, cantilever tables (for use over a bed) and riser/recliner chairs.

For further info, and to see the equipment described, with other styles and options, consult https://www.careco.co.uk/walking-aids/ . Careco is a significant supplier to this market, and their catalogue or webpages also show a selection of wheelchairs and powered mobility scooters. Amazon is also a comprehensive supplier of walking aids and other similar equipment. The Pigs get their equipment from donations by other residents, and occasionally from sources such as Ebay.

Contact information

The Alresford Pigs website is www.alresfordpigs.org 

Contact by email at info@alresfordpigs.org

Or phone the Pigs helpline to get a callback, on 01962 658961

Sun Hill Saxon burial ground

On 3 January 2024 the first showing of a new report in the “Digging for Britain” archaeology series on BBC2 was screened. This series, narrated by Alice Roberts, looks at the various archaeological digs in progress round the country. One of the items in this programme featured a recent dig in New Alresford.

In series 11, Episode 2, Alice visits the Sun Hill development in Alresford, and explains that before the construction of the new houses was allowed to start, some three round circles found on aerial photographs were investigated by archaeologists…. and this turned into a major dig. The graves and the remains found in them are very close to the surface, because of previous intensive farming and ploughing, and presumably erosion of the topsoil by wind and rain on the north side of the hill – down towards the railway line on the Northern side of the hill, overlooking the upper part of the Alresford pond.

The round marks seen as crop circles are described as ring ditches that encircled Bronze age barrows or burial mounds, and the graves in and around these rings are believed to be Anglo-Saxon, mainly pagan, dating from the C6. This resulted in quite a lot of “grave goods”, a pagan practice, but here these were mainly knives, and in one case some shears – possibly sheep shearing shears. But at the end of C6 there was growing Christian influence, believed to be from missionaries sent from Italy. A large number of these Saxon graves have been discovered oriented east-west, with the head to the West.. These were possibly early Christian burials, and had few items present – although one gold round pendant type brooch has been found, pictured below.

The pendant is very light, with filigree work making the pattern.

The archaeologists believe there are over 100 shallow graves on the site, arranged in lines and well aligned, also well cut down into the harder chalk. It shows a special specific burial site organised over some years.

The programme is shown on the BBC iPlayer, and is entitled Series 11, #2, “Anglo Saxon Gold and Rebellious Nuns”.

John Primmer at the Tichborne Arms

The Tichborne Arms is a well-known country pub on the Tichborne Estate, close to Alresford. In 2022 the pub re-opened, after some significant modernisation of the main bar, and extension of the building to include the area between the pub and the outhouses that contain the toilets used by the guests. In addition the garden and car parking facilities have been extended, with new shelters a separate play area, and many more tables.

One of the previous ‘fixtures’ in the bar at the Tichborne Arms was a local man called John Primmer. Anyone visiting the pub would have met John at the bar – indeed it was rumoured that the pub had a special barrel of beer allocated to John, which had to be replaced on a weekly basis.

The locally produced booklet ‘Tichborne 2000; A portrait of a small parish in the year 2000’ gave some of his background. He was born in Tichborne, went to school in Tichborne, Cheriton and then Perins, leaving there in 1952 to start work at Grange Farm, and retired in 2000. He lived at New White Cottage, but apparently spent lunch and evening times at the pub, where he looked after the garden – he was also keen on cricket, and was the Tichborne wicket keeper for 20 years, then an umpire for the Club.

The main image of John that a lot of the previous visitors to the Tichborne Arms  remember was the life-size mural, painted on the wall of the toilet block, showing John apparently working in the pub garden. This is pictured above!

If anyone can add anything to this story, or knows who painted the mural on the toilet wall, please get in touch! 

Pudsey bear comes from Alresford!

An earlier post on this site mentioned in passing that Alresford Crafts made some of the first prototype bears for the BBC, for them to consider using the image for the “Children-in-Need” bear.

Jenny Lawes from Alresford, who worked at Alresford Crafts in Station Mill, remembers them producing these first versions of Pudsey, the BBC’s “Children-in-Need” bear, with the eye patch.

The original prototype Pudsey, from Alresford Crafts: note the bandage is over the left eye!

The Alresford made prototypes, built to a BBC design, had the bandage over the other eye (his left eye!). The bears were sent up to the BBC, and when he finally made an appearance, the patch had moved to the right eye! So Pudsey really was first created here in Alresford, by the workers at Alresford Crafts!

There was other work for the BBC, one presenter on children’s TV had a lamb puppet from Alresford Crafts. The company was featured in a “Made in Britain” film, and in a Pebble Mill report. The town mill also hosted visits from Angela Rippon, and even Kate Adie, but not when the latter was a war correspondent!

Memorial bench for Pam Stevens

A new public bench has been placed under the trees on the Avenue, which is dedicated to the memory of Pam Stevens, for many years a Trustee an Secretary to the NATT (New Alresford Town Trust). In this capacity she was also the untiring organiser of the town Minibus, organising the drivers, passenger lists, and trips. In this role she was a major point of contact for many of the older residents of the town, and kept them in touch with charities and other organisations that could be of use to them.

Pam died in the Autumn of 2020, and the bench, which is situated between Arlebury Park and Pound Hill, is a pleasant place to stop to rest weary legs after climbing Pound Hill, or when waiting for Perins pupils. Steve Brine, the local MP, attended the dedication ceremony, and said “Pam was in so many ways Mrs Alresford, and she put so much into the townto help so many people. She was never bothered who got the credit, she just wanted to get things done! And she certainly did that, time and again. Alresford will certainly miss Pam Stevens, and so will I.”

Mark Stevens, Pam’s elder son, summed up Pam’s devotion when visiting her in Hospital – he found her working on her laptop doing Town Trust work. He thought the Avenue was a fitting place, which his mother loved, for the bench.

The bench was provided and installed with the help of many organisations and people who had worked alongside Pam and who admired and appreciated her efforts for the town: these included local charities such as Rotary and The Pigs, plus contractors Peter Bridges and Paul Daubeney.

Pam’s bench in the Avenue

St John’s Christmas crib 2020

The Alresford Men’s Shed were delighted to help St John’s Church in Alresford bring a little better spirit of Christmas to the town and the Churchyard path last month, with four of them creating and building a full sized crib and stable at the North entrance. Organised by Peter Tudor, the redundant garage from Howard Bagley was reconstructed into the stable by Shed members Keith Brickwood, Bill Bailey and Jim Scott. These guys dealt with the erection, and the disassembly in January, having made the design in a kit like form. The crib was even better when seen at night, with very effective lighting inside: but the photo is a daytime shot.

A similar task was undertaken in the Shed for East Stratton Church, by Jim Scott, who has also renewed their noticeboards and “No parking” signs. For East Stratton the crib was a smaller design, and assembled inside the Church: it is also easily dismantled for storage, to be used again next year.

How to get into a Yorkshire Penny Bank Money box!

How do you get into one of these things when the key is long gone? Foolishly, some years ago, I put lots of pre-decimal coins in this money box! Maybe I had the key then, but I certainly do not have it any more. So as a lock-down project I decided I needed to get it open. But hopefully without demolishing the money box!

I don’t know how old this is: I think it was my mother’s savings box before me. The number, 42284, I thought was fairly old, until I saw one numbered 2012 on Ebay. Total value in the LSD coins in the money box is about £5: while the old coins might be now worth more than the face value, this project was more a challenge than a treasure hunt!

Every funny looking key available was tried, but none worked. Lock picking was even less successful, made difficult by not knowing how the lock worked. So I needed to see a lock mechanism, to hopefully find a way of defeating it!

This could be an on-going saga, as I have not achieved the objective yet, but progress is good.

The Plan

The plan was to buy a cheap similar money box on Ebay, that had no family memories: there are lots available without keys! Then to cut this up, to see how the locking mechanism worked. Straightforward! Then it should be possible to bypass the lock, or at least see what a key had to do.

With P&P the money box cost £8. It was showing the serial number 203599. First the rivets holding the nameplate were filed down, and bashed out. The nameplate came off, exposing three metal tabs holding a brass coloured metal plate under the silver lid. It was then sawn open, working from the halfcrown slot. The lid is brass, plated with a silver metal. Folding back the halfcrown slot sides gave little further information.

So then brute force was used to try to separate the cover from the base plate, which from previous knowledge supports the coin tubes, which are round, and sort of three quarters of a circle. When opened with a key, these tubes present the coins in several neatly stored columns. The two parts were levered apart, which ended up in the storage tube for the pennies, opposite the halfcrowns, being left in place, with the three tabs from that circular construction, into the base plate, having been pulled out. 

The major discovery there was that the money box locking mechanism uses a brass tongue pushed into a slot in the back of the old penny storage tube. The box is dated on the base as from a patent of 11^th June 1921. They were a bit devious at this time, as having realised that the tongue of the lock could be pushed open using a knife through the penny storage slot, they introduced a sort of metal curtain as a barrier to such an intrusion. This curtain interrupts the straight line from the slot to the end of the brass tongue, so frustrating that approach. Unless maybe you had a knife like a grapefruit knife, with a bent blade.

Showing how the lock tongue mates with the Penny slot

The next task was to remove the brass locking mechanism, still stuck inside the cover, held by the three bent metal ears from the top lid. These three metal tabs on the top of the cover were holding the lock.  The tabs themselves were part of the cover, bent through the brass coloured plate that held the lock. So all three tabs were pushed out from the top, which was necessarily violent, and caused a bit of damage! Then the lock was levered away from the cover, which when suddenly released caused a slight explosion of lots of bits of the lock, as the spring behind the tongue became free to move away from its housing.

Unfortunately this meant that the three main elements of the lock were scattered about, so I cannot absolutely say in which order they were assembled, but it seems reasonable to assume that the two spacers were above the tongue, which fits best in the base of the lock mechanism.

The conclusion for this section is that if you need to break in to the money box, the best cut is made at the top of the “Penny” column, which might give you enough access to release the lock by pressing on the tongue, from slightly below the horizontal plane, to avoid the barrier in there!

Showing the relative positions of the lock mechanism in relation to the top cover, and the positioning of this lock under the cover inside the money box.

Dimensions of the key

It seemed the only way in to the money box was by using a conventional key, so the next step was to work out the dimensions and shape required. Perhaps foolishly I also thought I should check on the internet to see how much the boxes with keys were selling for, since it seemed that one standard key shape would fit all these round box locks.

As ever, the result surprised me, as there was a guy offering to sell newly made money box keys for these round boxes from Yorkshire Penny Bank and Midland Bank…. at an auction starting price of £5 (+£1.50 P&P). He was not giving much away, but the picture of his key showed it to be much the same as what I was planning.

It also proved that there is always another engineer/enthusiast/nutter also thinking along the same lines as yourself, but that he had much more common sense than you, as he saw a business opportunity! Just to prove it, his picture shows the key, with a cleverly placed key ring, that hides the critical part of the key pattern…. see below!

The auction for this particular key ends in 24 hours, so we will see how much it costs me! Needless to say, this will not be published until after the auction ends……

The result so far…

The key sold for £20+ . OK so I need to work out the dimensions…..

Unashamedly I contacted a guy who made these keys occasionally, and he sent me one. It was the same general shape and dimensions that I had worked out, but much stronger than the material I had used, and indeed it needed quite a lot of force. So after fiddling about and a little bit of filing on edges that looked stressed, it worked!

VE Day 75 years on…

VE Day 75 years on celebrations in Alresford were given a boost by a lot of last minute volunteers and some hard work by two of the cafe owners in Alresford.

Initially it was a NATC idea to organise an afternoon tea on the Avenue for the over 75’s in Alresford, but because of the Coronavirus shutdown, they decided to hang onto their cash for an enhanced VE day celebration in July.

Faced with that a couple of the Councillors got together and lead by Cllr Sarah Cavell they decided that something was needed. So they decided on a distribution of cream teas for the 75 year olds plus. Sarah enlisted the help of her friend Becky Smith (who runs the Arlebury Cafe at the ARC) and Sarah Pendlebury, who runs Tiffins tea rooms on West Street. Together, and with the help of their staff/friends, they baked over 500 scones, during the night of 7/8 May, and made up the teas in individual bags. The cost of ingredients were met by a benefactor – who wishes to remain anonymous.  Alresford PIGs volunteered assistance at least in terms of the distribution of the teas around the town, as they were keen to support the efforts of those doing the hard work behind the scenes.

Over 500 individual cream teas were distributed to residents over 75 in the town at lunchtime on Friday, VE Day, hopefully for the residents to join in with their street parties.

The picture above shows Mark and Emma Emmerson, dressed in their vintage best, preparing to distribute the teas, along with another 20 of the Alresford Pigs members.

Life and exercise under Lockdown!

Life continues in Alresford, even though the streets are deserted of cars and parking has never been easier next to Tesco! But most communal activity for retired people in particular has closed down.

Many things have moved over to the internet – including our weekly Pilates classes with Brenda Clarke. So we have not escaped, and now don’t even get the school holidays off! Brenda, like so many other people, has adopted Zoom, and still runs her 60 minute sessions 3 days a week…. but we are still limiting ourselves to one session a week.

Will things ever return to the original classes in village halls? We don’t know, but we have used Zoom for a cocktail party for my wife’s birthday, talking to the kids – in Cornwall and Mexico – and earlier in the day it worked well much closer to home, for a lunchtime drinks get together with the neighbours!

Amazingly, the Zoom works very well, and is free to users, despite everyone adopting it so quickly. As for the Pilates, you need to try it yourself!

More info:

Zoom conferencing – www.zoom.us

Pilates with Brenda Clarke – contact via the website www.brendaclarkepilates.com

The Hurdle House

The Hurdle House, sited in Sheeplands Paddock (from the alresfordheritage.co.uk collection)

A Hurdle House is recognised as a specific, but rare type of building, meant for the storage of the hurdles used typically to create pens for the sheep in a Sheep Fair. The annual sheep fair was very important to Alresford…. not only was there a Hurdle House for the hurdles, but there was the Fair Field – known locally as Sheeplands Paddock – basically dedicated to the Sheep Fair. Presumably this helped attract the herders, as they would know it as a good, standard location to sell their flocks every year.

An Alresford Sheep Fair,  with pens made from hurdles, held in Sheeplands Paddock

The sheep fair from at least 1835 until 1864 was held in the original Fair Field, East of Sun Lane, opposite what is now the houses of Edward Terrace: it also extended south, presumably as far as to include the site of Langtons Farm. But the railway arrived, and to build the railway line through Alresford the Fair Field was bisected by the railway line and the associated cutting through the chalk.

Raymond Elliott tells the story of establishing the new Fair Field, and building the new Hurdle House on the North side of the Bishops Sutton Road, in his story in Alresford Displayed (Volume 6, 1981). The land was owned by Winchester College, but leased to the Bailiff and Burgesses of Alresford.  They asked William Henry Hunt, a local architect, to design and build the Hurdle House in 1864. Hunt showed his love of good brickwork in the “quoins. jambs and string courses together with panels of grey knapped flint-work and again red brick dressings around the door and window openings, circular ventilation openings and including decorative eaves and gable ends”. The building was about 75 feet long by 19 feet wide and 12 feet clear height inside from floor to underside of the roof timbers.

                     The photos show the hurdles inside the Hurdle House, and sheep arriving                                                along the Bishops Sutton road, outside Sheeplands Paddock,                                            where the Long Barn now stands

The Hurdle House was well used, and the sheep fairs thrived, with 20,000 sheep recorded as sold there in 1885. Slowly the numbers declined… there was no fair held in 1971, and in 1980 the Town Trustees returned the Hurdle house and Sheeplands Paddock to the Freeholders (Winchester College) – taking care to apply for listed building status before doing so.  The College quickly sold the property to a private owner. In June 1981 there was a major fire in the building, which destroyed the original roof.

The 1971 fire at the Hurdle House: picture by Peter Chalk

Raymond Elliott showed the following pictures of the Hurdle House in his Alresford Displayed article later in 1981: this was the result of the fire.

Over the next few years the house was rebuilt, and the photo below of the conversion into a dwelling was found on the web, attributed to a Mr D Toms:

The Hurdle House converted to a home: picture by D Toms

21st Century additions

Later, in 2014, the private owners started a project with Adam Knibb architects to design an extension to the Hurdle House to create more living space, whist maintaining respect for the original barn.

They approached the scheme with the aim to set the works into the surrounding nature, provide natural light, harness the fantastic views and provide a social heart to the house and for the family. Working with the Winchester Conservation department, it was agreed that a bay window at the rear of the property could be removed and provide the linking element to the extension. A frameless glass link was envisaged to touch the existing building lightly and connect the old to the new.

The extension comprises a large open plan kitchen, dining area, casual seating with utility/WC and study attached. A major aim of the project was to increase the excitement when entering the property. The new main entrance will bring you directly into the extension, showing off views directly down the garden.

Externally, vertical timber cladding has been used to mimic the surrounding trees and provide a contemporary contrast to the existing building, which Adam Knibb say clearly shows that this work is ‘architecture of this time’. Alresford Interiors was selected as the sub-contractor and supplier of the internal furniture and fittings.

This Hurdle House project won ‘The Daily Telegraph Homebuilding & Renovation Award’, and has been a finalist in the ‘AJ Retrofit Awards’, was ‘shortlisted for the ‘RICS Awards’, and also shortlisted for The Campaign to Protect Rural England (CPRE) Countryside Award. Adam Knibb Architects have produced a video describing the work, which can be found on youtube (youtu.be/nBN-u7L_Mzw). Their photographer, James Morris, presented the photos on their website, one of which is shown below.

Photo (c) James Morris c/o Adam Knibb Architects

The actual Sheep Fair Field used from 1864 to the 1970s, known as Sheeplands Paddock, is now the site occupied by Long Barn Lavender, to the East of the Hurdle House.

Long Barn Lavender sales and garden centre

The Sheep Fair Field, now devoted to lavender growing.

Photos courtesy of Godfrey Andrews of AlresfordHeritage.co.uk, Audrey Chalk, D Toms, Alresford History and Literary Society, and James Morris for Adam Knibb Architects