Apple Court Gardens Reopens After 4 Year Closure

Apple Court Gardens in nearby Hordle have new owners, Emma Taylor and Gavin Mann who live in Milford on Sea.

The nationally acclaimed Hampshire garden has now reopened after 4 year closure and is gaining fantastic feedback from locals and holidaymakers alike. Welcoming 250 through the gates in the first two weeks of opening. 

It is great that we now have another lovely place to visit right on our doorstep.

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Featured in various international magazines, and Alan Titmarsh’s “Love Your Garden” on ITV, the garden is packed with unusual flowers, shrubs and trees from around the world. Visitors can enjoy an authentic Japanese Garden, a circular White Garden, sub tropical planting and famous collections of hostas and daylilies. 

Originally designed by renowned horticulturists, Emma and Gavin are gradually improving each area and planting new species. 

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Tea, coffee and cakes are available to take to the lovely summer house or terrace.

Open 4 days a week, Thursday to Sunday, visitors can also buy plants, many of which feature in the garden. Free entry to the nursery, £5 to the garden itself. It is also part of the Gardeners World 2 for 1 offer this year. 

If you have never visited I can vouch that it is a tranquil place and joy to see. Why not take a trip along to see for yourself.

Apple Court Garden

Hordle Lane, Lymington SO41 0HU

www.applecourtgarden.co.uk

www.facebook.com/AppleCourtGarden

Instagram: @applecourtgarden

Contact Emma Taylor 07971 882317

Outdoor Cinema at Chewton Glen

Chewton Glen have an outdoor cinema event taking place from 9th – 23rd July. 

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The Pop-Up Picture Company is presenting Rick Stein’s Sunset Cinema – a unique food and film experience in the stunning hotel grounds, you can find out more about the event here: www.popuppicturecompany.co.uk.

Fancy Playing Chess?

Do you enjoy playing chess or perhaps you played in the past and are thinking of playing again.

Local Milford on Sea resident Peter Ashwood is a Committee Member of the New Milton Chess Club which welcomes players of all abilities whether you are interested in friendly social chess or more competitive play in the Bournemouth and District Chess League. The Club will be running teams in Divisions 2 and 3 in 2017/18.

The Club meets at the New Milton Conservative Club in Station Road every Tuesday at 7pm and every Thursday at 2pm.

For more information please contact Peter at 01590 644876 or John Belinger (Club Secretary) on 01425 280943 or visit the club's website at www.newmiltonchess.wordpress.com

Help Out at the Community Centre

The Bar and Café in the Community Centre form an important part of the service that is provided to residents and visitors.

Each of these services is managed by a team of volunteers – led by two small groups who make sure that there are adequate stocks to meet demand, manage the rota and help introduce new volunteers to the job.

Both teams have a vacancy for which a volunteer is sought.

Bar

The bar is open only for events that are presented in the Community Centre and a person is needed to take over the volunteers rota - this is work that needs limited computer skills and can be done without leaving the comfort of ones own home! It involves

· Keeping the Bar events calendar up to date - gathering information from the Community Centre    Calendar, 'What's On" etc.

· Maintaining a contacts list of volunteers

· Contacting new volunteers and arranging their induction into the role.

· Intermittent emails to the volunteers to get them to look at the rota and sign up.

· Contact with event managers on the rare occasions when no volunteer is available to cover an event.

Café

The cafe is normally open Monday to Friday only from 9.30 to 12.30 but occasionally for longer periods and on some Saturdays for special events.

The rota for cafe volunteers is currently run in a less high-tech way than the bar! A paper copy of the months rota is kept in the cafe and volunteers sign up. However, the rota person needs to have their own copy and to keep an eye on how it’s filling up. They must contact the volunteers, usually by email, to keep them informed about gaps that need filling. 

Someone taking over this task could, of course, find a more efficient way to ensure there is always a volunteer to staff the cafe!

For an informal chat about either of these roles contact Kathleen or Tony Hales on 01590 644481.

The Wash House is looking for Bar Staff

The new Wash House Micro Ale Bar in Milford on Sea high street is well on the way to opening, and now needs some lovely people to prepare serve an enthusiastic group of thirsty customers!

We hear that full and part time positions available for the right candidate. Experience is essential for full time position, experience preferred but not essential for part time positions. 18+ a must.

If you, or anyone you know may be interested, please email a CV to Duncan at: thewashhousebar@gmail.com

The only thing better than working in a bar, is standing the other side drinking!

The Wash House Bar

27 High Street, Milford on Sea, SO41 0QF

Beautiful Demoiselle Spotted by the Dane Stream

An eagle eyed reader, Eric Lewis spotted and captured these excellent photographs of a Beautiful Demoiselle whilst in the woods by the Dane Stream in Milford on Sea.

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The beautiful demoiselle (Calopteryx virgo) is a European damselfly. It is often found along fast-flowing waters where it is most at home. Click here for more information.

The White Horse Opens a Tea Room

Paul Rand, the landlord at The White Horse in Milford on Sea has opened a Tea Room, alongside its usual pub activities.

You can visit the The Tea Room any Monday to Saturday from 9am to 6pm, and a copy of the menu is below.

To celebrate, Paul is offering today and tomorrow (Saturday 17th June) a free tea or coffee when you buy a sandwich or premium cake.

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The pub also has an beer garden with a childrens' play area.

If you fancy some weekend entertainment, this Saturday The White Horse has live music with the Blue Quays from 9pm to 11.30pm.

£3 million Montague Dawson Art Sale

The Daily Echo has reported that A £3 million collection of oil paintings by Milford on Sea based and great marine artist, Montague Dawson, is being sold this month.

The art collection includes a £120,000 picture, The Stricken Kelly, which features the ill-fated Hampshire warship HMS Kelly, commanded by Earl Mountbatten of Burma.

Two other Dawson paintings – The Silver Moon-Nocturne and Trimming The Sails – will be offered for sale at £375,000 and £200,000 respectively.

Collectively the  art collection could reach a sale value of £3m for the lucky owner.

Montague Dawson, F.R.S.A., R.S.M.A. (British, 1895-1973) once lived at 1 Hurst Road, Milford on Sea, SO41 0PY, and a plaque sits on the white walls of the property today.

Stricken Kelly

The Silver Moon Nocturne

Trimming the Sails

To read the full Daily Echo  article please click here.

No64 Biscuit House in Hampshire Living

No64 Biscuit House once again find themselves in the news, this time with a three page article in this month's Hampshire Living, part of Hampshire Life.

The front cover heading is "Living the Danish Dream: Interior Styling with Clare Southcombe-Holmes" and talks about Clare's career, new home and business.

To read full article, please click here.

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No64 Biscuit House

High Street, Milford on Sea

www.No64.co.uk

Vote for our village businesses in Muddy Stilettos Awards

Four of our village businesses have been shortlisted as finalists in the The Muddy Stiletto Awards, and your vote can help them to win.

No64 Biscuit House are in the best interiors shop category - www.No64.co.uk 

Sam's Bar at The Cave are in shortlist of five for best bar - www.thecavemos.co.uk

Lisa's Larder are competing in the farmshop/deli category -www.lisaslarder.com

Verveine are also up for an award in the best restaurant category - www.verveine.co.uk

The voting opens from midday today (Saturday 10th June) for one week.

To vote in The Muddy Stilettos Awards please click here. A great time to show our local businesses that we love them!


Ed's Note: Seems that the voting closed before lunchtime on Friday 16th June  (Today). No idea why the closed early!!

Weird World of MoS Souvenirs

Over the decades holiday makers have bought some very strange souvenirs from Milford on Sea. I suspect that visits to our great range of village pubs may have contributed to the decision making process!

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To take a look at a lot more of the Weird World of Milford on Sea Souvenirs - please click here.

Hugh Retires from Hugh Whitlock Solicitors

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It’s all change at Hugh Whitlock Solicitors. You may have noticed the new signage - ‘Dagless and Whitlock Solicitors’. After 45 years as a Solicitor, 25 of them in Milford on Sea sole practitioner Hugh Whitlock has retired - as you can see he is rather relaxed in the photograph!

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Hugh is also known in the village in various disguises from a sleazy car/cow dealer to this year’s Genie of the Lamp in the village pantomimes.

Hugh qualified as a Solicitor in 1972 and worked with Richards Butler in the City of London before moving to Winchester and taking a partnership with Shentons. He then moved to the village to set up his own practice, first from a small office in the High Street and then moving to the existing offices at number 44. He was delighted to take on a partner - Louise Allonby – who had first worked with Hugh as a student on a work placement from university. Louise was with the practice for several years until she left to have her first baby - she now has three! So Hugh became a sole practitioner again.

Three years ago Niels Dagless joined the firm as an assistant Solicitor always with succession in mind. So, from the end of April of this year Niels has taken over, given the practice a new look along with an established staff of Billie, Ellie and Otillia and Hugh has become a consultant to the firm, working on a part time basis for the next year. Hugh will be pleased to see old and new clients and is delighted to be supporting the Dagless and Whitlock practice as a consultant. Not sure about next year’s pantomime though!

Scammers target Zaika

A reader has let us know of a scam phone call they received the other night.

The caller offered them the opportunity to buy some sort of VIP card for £55 which would give them various extras at Zaika Indian Restaurant in Milford on Sea High Street. 

Obviously they expressed surprise as the restaurant is currently closed, which the caller was unaware of.

The caller was ready to take payment over the phone on a card, but they wisely declined!

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The fate of Zaika Indian Restaurant remains a mystery. 

For some months now the window has carried a sign saying a new chef is on the way with an exciting new menu.

We have tried to contact the restaurant, but with no success. So, the news is that we have no news! (Quality journalism from these pages as always!)

I guess the new chef has either got lost on his way, or is still looking for ingredients for his new menu. - Either way, not having a curry house on the doorstep is giving me significant withdrawal symptoms!

Belle Epoque Reopens

The quirky Belle Epoque has reopened at the previous high street location of The Raft (which is now located at The Marine on Milford on Sea seafront, and serving great food and drinks all day and evening.)

Belle Epoque has a eclectic range of second hand and antique items for sale alongside a new lunch menu.

Belle Epoque

11 High Street, Milford on Sea, SO41 0QF

Milford Artist's painting sells for $32,000

A painting by a famous Milford on Sea resident has fetched $32,000 at a Christie's auction in the Rockefeller Center, New York on 23rd May 2017.

Montague Dawson, F.R.S.A., R.S.M.A. (British, 1895-1973) once lived at 1 Hurst Road, Milford on Sea, SO41 0PY, and a plaque sits on the white walls of the property today.

The artwork is entitled: Bowling Along - 'The Glorious Lightning'.

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An interesting article appeared in The Daily Echo which told more about the life of Montague Dawson:

Food was so scarce in some parts of Hampshire during the Second World War that at one point artist Montague Dawson survived by living on soup made from lawn cuttings and nettles.

Mr Dawson survived this hardship and went on to become, in the 1960s, one of the world’s highest paid artists.

He enjoyed an annual income of £100,000 when in 1967 the average Southampton house cost £4,050.

Montague Dawson died at the Western Hospital, Southampton, on May 21,1973. He was buried at Boldre Church, Lymington.

You can read the full Daily Echo article by clicking here.

The latest book in The Hurst Chronicles

This time last year Robin Crumby launched a new book series 'The Hurst Chronicles' set at Hurst Castle in the aftermath of a flu pandemic. 

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Robin said; "The book seemed to strike a chord with locals who sent me several suggestions for historical references to include and plot lines for future books." 

He has just published book two in the series, titled 'Sentinel' which is now on sale. You can read the blurb and first few reviews by here clicking here. 

Robin also did an author interview which gives some interesting background. Please click here to see interview.

Robin Crumby (Author)

rob.crumby@gmail.com | www.hurstchronicles.com

No64 Biscuit House wins Shop of the Month

No64 Biscuit House in Milford on Sea High Street has won Coast Magazine Shop of the Month.

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This exciting and stylish new shop has only been open for 12 weeks, so it is pretty cool to get recognised so soon. 

If you haven't been inside the new shop yet, you can take a look at their range by clicking here.

Coast Magazine publishes a physical magazine and also has an online version that you purchase/subscribe to. Please click here.

No64 Biscuit House

64 High Street, Milford on Sea, SO41 0QD

www.No64.co.uk - Don't forget to visit the No64 Online shop!

01590 643765

Another Award for Milford Travel

Last Tuesday, Christina at Milford Travel in Milford on Sea High Street, won an award at The Global Travel Group Conference. 

The award was for the Best Increase In Sales Retail South 2017, and Christina said; "It was basically a recognition for how fabulous my customers are!!"

Christina was previously an air hostess, and knows many great places around the world - and the best ways to get there!

Milford Travel offers a full range of travel services including; bespoke holidays, cruises, exotic trips, flights, and even coach trips.

Obviously a lot of holidays are now booked on the web, but to do this takes a fair bit of research, and ultimately nothing beats a nice dose of personal service - and supporting a village business!

Milford Travel

christinapegler83@gmail.com

78 High Street, Milford on Sea, SO41 0QD

Facebook: click here

CPR Training for Village Clubs & Societies

The Milford on Sea Community First Responders have recently been awarded CPR training equipment from the British Heart Foundation and would like to offer training to clubs and societies in the village.

The training kit will teach trainees how to recognise cardiac arrest and carry out CPR on adults and children.

It uses a film tutorial on a DVD to demonstrate CPR skills. Participants watch the film and practice the skills on portable manikins.

It also shows how public access defibrillators work and their role in the live-saving process, so trainees are aware of their importance and are more confident to use one, if needed.

Up to 10 trainees can be accommodated at a time, you just need a location big enough for everyone to practice (about the same sort of space you would need for yoga.)

If you would like to arrange training sessions for your Village Clubs or Society, please contact John Blessing on 07984 144109.

About the Milford on Sea Community First Responders

Milford on Sea now has a newly established Community First Responders group.

The Community First Responders support the South Central Ambulance Service and get deployed to appropriate emergency calls in the village.

All are volunteers who donate their time and expertise for free. The new group has been founded in 2017 by Ross Woolgar, Terri Newton and Conrad Curtis.

The advantage of Community First Responders is that in many cases they can get there before the paramedics and commence life saving emergency treatment at the earliest opportunity, which significantly improves patients chances of survival.

If you would like to find out more, or help out with a donation, please contact: Conrad Curtis at conrad.curtis@me.com

Happy Birthday to Us!

We launched our first Milford on Sea village website www.milfordonsea.org on 20th May 2008, so it is now nine year old & and I don't look a day older!

Milford on Sea Website: When we decided to create this village website, it was purely as a hobby and to provide some more local information for locals and holidaymakers. I say ‘we’, but there is only me, my wife (who inadvertently provides occasional story lines) & our two dogs (who contribute much less than they should!)

From day one we have always loved our independence, and as we take no revenue from anyone this means we can say & do exactly what we like!

We never really considered that people would enjoy what we built, however it is very satisfying to provide a service to the local community which a number of people seem to enjoy.

The site has now taken on a life of its own, and a small hobby has now turned into a big one! As a result, we now have a number of spin offs which have been created for specific purposes to inform and entertain people across the village.

To date: www.milfordonsea.org has had 1,585,336 visitors - over a million people with nothing better to read! We are also averaging around 250 visits to the website every day.

Milford on Sea Calendar: This website details anything we hear about that is happening in the village, plus things that may be of interest nearby. The calendar also contains sections of 'Clubs & Classes' and 'Church Services'. www.milfordonseacalendar.org

Enjoy Milford on Sea - News Bulletin: We are now up to Edition No. 377 and counting!

The News Bulletin has 2868 local people who regularly receive our e-mail, and 907 unsubscribed people who don't want to hear the village news at all!

Our News Blog keeps people informed with articles and news that is only village related. Some are factual, others embellished, and others simply made up. Over 25,000 News Pages get read every month, and with approaching 1 million page views since we started, it seems most people find something worth reading! www.milfordonseanews.org

We are always looking for more people to receive the village news, so if you can spread the word to any friends, family or neighbours who you think would like to get our newsletter, please just ask them to send an e-mail to: david@milfordonsea.org or complete the form here: www.milfordonsea.org/join-us. We can then ensure all of our community are kept informed of local news, which on some occasions contain actual facts!

Thanks for your support and for as long as you keep reading, I’ll keep writing!