Clubs, Classes & Sports

What's On

Thursday 30 June 2016

Hire a wetsuit & go splashing

Fancy getting into the water when the sun eventually arrives?

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Well, our local water sports company are now offering wetsuit hire for £10 for half day and £15 for a full day.

They are also selling their ex-hire suits at £45 a suit.

Why not squeeze into one and get splashing around!


The New Forest Paddle Sport Company 
46 High Street, Milford on Sea, SO41 0QD - 01590 645270

Sunday 19 June 2016

Music Festival Programme Launched

The ever popular Milford on Sea Arts & Music Festival have launched the programme for this years event, which takes place from 18th to 24th July 2016.

As always an eclectic mix of entertainment has been put together by the enthusiastic volunteer committee, and this year the performers include; Dolly!, Aqualung, Clockwork Carousel, Boy & a Balloon, Sound of Music Singalong, Saints of Sin, Richard lll, plus more! - and there will also be a Mini beer festival.

The Milford on Sea Arts & Music Festival is free to attend, and it is funded by programme sales, bar takings, sponsorship and donations. The Festival programme is now out, so please grab your copy from the Village News, Hollands, the Community Centre, Milford News, Inger Lise's CafĂ© or The Co-op for only £3. Buying a programme is important to help ensure that the Festival can continue!

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The festival revolves around the village green and there is an information point in the main marquee. The Festival’s central aim is to promote art and culture in the local area and to give an outlet for performers of all kinds to promote their art and to develop cultural understanding for all.

Milford has many shops and services, mostly arranged around the centre of the village and it would be great if you could support them during your visit to the 2016 Festival. 

The Festival has always been free to attend and its continued success depends upon the support of generous sponsors, advertisers and Friends of the Festival. To ensure that we can continue to promote this fantastic event, please give a donation, buy a programme and support our local businesses. 

If you would like to enjoy the benefits of becoming a Friend, or like to join the friendly group of volunteers please contact the organisers below. 

Most importantly, enjoy this fabulous village event!


Milford on Sea Arts & Music Festival

Tuesday 14 June 2016

Sam tells his La Perle Story

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Sam Hughes, chef patron at La Perle in Milford on Sea high street was recently interviewed by Travel Zoo. In the article Sam discusses his career to date, the top chefs who have influenced him, his current food passions and more. 

Since taking over La Perle a year so ago, Sam has ensured that the restaurant has remained a star in the Milford on sea dining scene, and his constant high scores on Trip Advisor are testimony to the quality of his menu and the consistency of the food.

La Perle has been shortlisted for this year's Good Food Guide Restaurant of the Year South East award and many locals are no doubt routing for him to win.

To read Sam's full interview in Travel Zoo, please click here.


PS: Sam is looking for people to join his front of house team, if you are interested, please contact him at info@laperle.co.uk or on 01590 643557.


La Perle
60 High Street, Milford on Sea SO41 0QD
01590 643557

Village Celebrates The Queen's Birthday

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See full album: click here
The weather was kind for the Queen's 90th Birthday Village Picnic last Saturday (11th June) on the village green.

Around 300 people came with tables, chairs, picnic hampers and wine to create colourful array across Milford on Sea village green.

In the pre-event promotion, everyone had the opportunity to order some tasty picnic options offered by Britannia Thai, Hollands, Polly’s Pantry, Verveine and Jones & Co Delicatessen. Picnickers who preferred to bring their own picnic were encouraged to buy their contents in the village shops, this was all done to help boost village trade a little.

As everyone settled into their picnics they were entertained by an eclectic mix of music from local musicians throughout the afternoon, the artists included; Alex Hall, Nomad, Southbound, The Empty Frets, Tony & Liam White, The Milford Strummers and Jo & Emily Vezey.

It was clear to see that whether young or old, the entertaining range of music was really enjoyed by everyone throughout the afternoon. 

Each performer donated their time for free and we send them our grateful thanks.

Big thanks also go to the generous group of volunteers (in particular Steve Carter) who were stewards and first aiders on the day to ensure that everything went smoothly.

I think it would be fair to say a good time was had by all!

To see the full photo album from the day; please click here.


Tuesday 7 June 2016

Ballard School Coastal Management Survey

We have heard from Rachel Wright, a Geography teacher at Ballard School in New Milton, and would like to give her a hand.

To explain, Rachel's current Year 10 pupils, several of whom are Milford residents, are completing a GCSE study about coastal management in Milford on Sea. The devastation to the sea front during the 2014 storms generated their interest on this topic. 

The pupils would like to know the views of local people about coastal management and also wondered if locals feel that they have had a voice in the decision making process, particularly with respect to the rebuilding of the beach huts. 

The pupils have compiled a questionnaire and have put letters through the door of some Milford residents inviting them to log on to take part. So far they have had 21 responses from 130 letters.

Ideally they would like to generate a higher number of responses so that their study accurately reflects the views of Milford residents.

Having completed the questionnaire myself, the questions are straight forward and only takes a couple of minutes.

To help out the students, you can complete the questionnaire by clicking here

If you have any questions about the study, please contact Rachel as below.

Rachel Wright
Geography Teacher
Ballard School
07891 499694

Take Aways at Hurst Castle

If you are one of the intrepid souls who take the walk to Hurst Castle, or more like me who prefers the ferry and glorious scenery along the way, you will be pleased to hear that Hurst Castle has now launched a new take away service.

Walkers and visitors to Hurst Castle can now enjoy a take away service of hot drinks, cold drinks and sandwiches.

The refreshments are now available in the castle’s ticket office for those wanting a little pick-me-up, without paying castle admission prices.

A nice addition to an excellent place to visit.



See the Pre-School's Award Winning Garden

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Milford on Sea Pre-School is naturally very proud of their RHS award winning garden. The garden is tended daily by the village's 2-4 year olds, and they grow lots of fruit, vegetables and wild flowers.

It is great to see the children are getting practical learning, whilst no doubt enjoying themselves with the mud and bugs. 

Everyone has an opportunity to see the garden for themselves this weekend, alongside many gems tucked away across the village at the Garden Open Day organised by Milford Gardeners' Club.

The Garden Open Day is this Sunday (12th June) and you can visit the 15+ villages gardens open for charity. 

Tickets and a programmes are available in advance for £5 for Milford Community Centre Box Office 01590 644861 (or Club 01590 644489), or on day £7 from 10am on Village Green or participating gardens. Children under 16 free. 

Milford Gardeners Club

Sunday 5 June 2016

Patient Group for Milford Surgery

Our local doctors surgery is looking to engage closer with their patients through the Milford & Wistaria PPG (Patient Participation Group). 

The PPG is a group of patients who work in partnership with the surgery and who act as a 'critical friend', fostering the strong relationship which is essential to achieving high quality, responsive care. 

If this interests you, you have an opportunity to become involved as a member of the 'Virtual PPG' and influence the care that you receive. 

The PPG now need a much wider group of patients to give us their thoughts and views on a whole range of subjects. This would be done by email so no need to attend regular meetings. With just occasional contact, questions would be brief and to the point. Topics can vary from opening times, parking, and patients' priorities to the services that the surgery offers or could offer in the future. 

So why not add your name and email address to receive occasional group emails and take the opportunity to influence how the surgery is run? 

To join the 'Virtual PPG' please send an email to wistariamilfordppg@gmail.com

All information is of course confidential and secure. To ensure a balanced group the PPG would like to hear from younger members (i.e. middle aged and below!) 

Finally, there is a PPG Awareness Week 6th to 11th June, so look out for posters and information in the surgery and, to find out more or have a chat, please email your phone number and we'll get back to you. 

Please note: That the PPG is not a forum for individual complaints - there is a well-established NHS procedure for personal complaints at the Surgery. Members of the Virtual Group must be registered with the Milford or Wistaria Surgeries.

Beach Hut Replacements Delayed

The re-building of the Milford on Sea seafront Beach Huts destroyed on Valentine's Day 2014 has again be delayed.

We understand that at a recent NFDC meeting it was revealed that tenders from four contractors had all been received with costs substantially above those previously expected.

It is understood that the lion's share of the increased costs comes from the works associated with alterations to the create an upper promenade on the beach hut roofs with ramped access.

Further NFDC meetings now need to take place to decide the next step, meanwhile it seems unlikely that the seafront will see any new beach huts in 2016.

Whilst the saga continues, Milford on Sea Parish Council are considering initial design and layout for seafront play facilities. We believe the ideas were discussed at a recent meeting, but as yet we do not know of any proposals.

Superfast Broadband: Milford Update

We have had an interesting email from Alexandra Paton, Marketing Officer at Hampshire Superfast Broadband Programme

Alexandra said: "We saw your piece on broadband in Milford on Sea and wanted to get in touch to thank you for bringing the issue of superfast broadband in Hampshire to the attention of your readers.

We would like to reassure you that Milford on Sea does not fall into the final 5% of premises that we cannot afford to connect to superfast broadband, a topic often raised in the news. Milford is in fact remarkably well covered under both wave 1 and wave 2 of our projects. The map below, taken from our website www.hampshiresuperfastbroadband.com, shows the location of 9 cabinets that have been upgraded in Milford on Sea, with 2 further north in Everton; these cabinets serve some 2900 premises and were all upgraded in 2014 and 2015 as part of wave 1 of our programme. 

A further 7 cabinets will be upgraded under wave 2 of our programme, between July 2017 and June 2018. These upgrades will cover a further 700 premises.

We would like to encourage your readers to visit our website and register with us to check if they can access superfast speeds. So far only 183 residents in Milford on Sea have registered with us (one of the lowest numbers in the county) and this suggests that residents are not aware that we undertaking this work and that services may already be available to them. As a result, we would like to encourage any residents that haven’t already done so to register on our website: www.hampshiresuperfastbroadband.com.

The map below shows areas covered under wave 1 of our project (red) and the wave 2 (blue) due for completion by September 2018. As you can see, Milford, Keyhaven and Everton are covered by our programme.