Christian Aid Week

Christian Aid Week 2017 begins on Sunday 14th May 2017.

It is 60 years since the first Christian Aid Week, which was initiated as a response to the post war situation of refugees in Europe.

As Alex Luxon explains: "This year all donations will go to helping those in different parts of the world who have faced these kinds of decisions: Do we die in a refugee camp than to die in a war? Do we risk our children’s lives in a plastic dinghy and leave behind everything and everybody we know? When the alternative is terror, starvation, bombs and bullets, almost anything is better.

This terrible choice is facing tens of millions of people worldwide - fleeing conflict, floods and earthquakes, making dangerous journeys in search of safety. Could you help Christian Aid to look after them in their camps?"

This week some streets will receive familiar envelopes, with invitations to contribute by taking donations to Mark in the Village News newsagent at the foot of the village green. Anyone can call in to donate and there will be also Street Collections on Friday morning 19th and Saturday 27th, and a Gardening quiz crossword at the annual Plant Fair on 20th May 2017.

The Wash House Micro Ale Bar is coming

A completely new business will be arriving in Milford on Sea high street in late June.

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Peg's Beautiful Launderette closed a couple of years ago, but it is now being transformed into The Wash House Micro Ale Bar.

Duncan Broomfield will be running the bar. His background is working in property, and some may know him, as he previously spent 6 years at Murray and Hayward, and time at Sullivan Mitchell estate agents, who were just across the road from his new bar. Now his career is taking a new direction, and one that I expect he is going to thoroughly enjoy.

Duncan Broomfield
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Duncan said: "I've always had a passion for craft beer which is different than the usual pint offered from your typical pub. The vast majority of our beers and produce on sale will all be local to the area, brewed by passionate micro breweries for us to enjoy."

With a range of great local beers, local gin, selection of wine coupled with traditional bar snacks there is sure to be a tipple or treat you fancy. The bar's coffee is coming direct from the Coffee Mongers Roasting company in Lymington. 

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When open, you will be able to take in your favourite Thai/Indian or Fish and Chip take away and enjoy them with your favourite drink.

The Wash House will also do take away beer direct from the barrel for your barbecue/party. All you have to do is consume it! ......... oh and pay of course!!

If you want to keep an eye on all that is happening at The Wash House, please click here to like their Facebook Page. 

The Wash House Micro Ale Bar

27 High Street, Milford on Sea, SO41 0QF

Lonely Bouquet Day Success

Twelve members of the Milford Floral Art Club met in All Saints' Church Hall last Friday and made approximately 30 small hand-tied bunches/bouquets. These were then randomly distributed throughout the village and surrounds as part of the national Lonely Bouquet Day. 

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Each bouquet had a label explaining what the event was all about and giving details of the Club Chairman, Jackie Parker, in order to collect feedback on where they ended up, and any other comments that the recipient wanted to make.

As you can see from the feedback below they were incredibly well received, making the whole enterprise well worth while - and one person is even considering joining the Club!

Well done ladies, so nice of you to make the effort to put a smile on peoples faces.

Feedback from the Lonely Bouquet Finders

“What a lovely surprise as when my husband was walking last thing before settling our “boys” 2 dogs, George our Labrador was attracted to this lovely table decoration on a step by Mr Pinks! So thank you so much to Milford Floral Art Club and to our dog for such a lovely surprise.”

“Thank you for my lovely bouquet I found today in Milford! Absolutely made my day - such a lovely thing to do & for me to receive. It will make me smile every time I look at them!” 

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“Molly found this beautiful bouquet yesterday in Milford on Sea.” (See picture)

“We were out walking the dog when we found this beautiful bunch of flowers. We have given them a good home at my mother's flat, she will be 80 on Sunday. What a splendid idea, we thank you and your friends for organising such an event.”

“Thank you so much for your 'lonely bouquet'.... Poppy the dog and I found it earlier today at Keyhaven. My wife and daughter were very happy to receive such a beautiful gift!” 

“Well! What a lovely surprise I had today. I live in Milford and had just set out to walk my dog when I saw this lovely bouquet of flowers laid on a bench. I picked it up thinking someone had left them by accident, and I was going to return them, until I read the note."

What a wonderful idea and a big thank you - they made my day. I didn't want to leave them as I felt they may have just been tossed away by someone else who doesn't appreciate flowers. On another note, I would love to join your flower club. If you would kindly send me details. Once again thank you for the beautiful flowers.”

“Yes I always go around with a smile on my face BUT just posted a couple of letters and I had a smile/largest grin on my face all the way home. Here is a picture of your lonely bouquet that isn't lonely anymore. 

Thank you Milford Floral Art Club for making my day splendid and my office is so happy to have some flowers on my crowded desk especially as my hubby would never dream of giving me flowers. HUGE THANK YOU”

“What a lovey surprise to find your bouquet of flowers by the bus stop in Milford this morning. Especially as for the last six weeks I have been feeling unwell, so the flowers helped to boost my spirits!

Thank you for your kind effort. I believe many other people will have felt the same as me today when they also found some flowers.”

"Thank you very much for the lovely bunch of flowers I found at the Milford on Sea Bus Stop. It was a lovely surprise and we are enjoying the flowers at home. It was a good end to the day, as I had walked with my husband from Naish Holiday Park and we were waiting for the bus to take us back to Bournemouth.”

“I was widowed last year and this wonderful "lonely bouquet" has made me smile.”

Shame about the mess

This is likely to be one of the most pointless articles written on these pages, as it relates to dog owners not clearing up after their pets.

I am delighted to say that the vast majority of time when you see a dog with their owners in the village it is a pleasure, and the person at the end of the lead clearly leaves no trace of their dog's walk.

We all know that people walk and children play on the village green and beachfront, and is a shame that a handful of owners leave a messy job for others to clear up, or worse still walk in.

Until the time a training course can be devised for dogs to pick up their own mess to put in a bin, the owners are stuck with the task, and it would be really nice if those that don't, do, if you see what I mean!

Local Resident Pass for Hurst Castle

Apart from the obvious benefits of living in Milford on Sea, you can now also get a Local Resident Pass for Hurst Castle.

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The pass provides unlimited admission to Hurst Castle and return ferry, plus saving for friends and family, and discounts on the cafe, cruises and rib rides.

The pass is only available to residents of Keyhaven, Milford on Sea, Everton and Hordle.

Individual: £28 - Family: £75 (2 adults & 3 children) - Available from below, or from the Hurst Shop in the high street.

Hurst Marine

47 High Street, Milford on Sea, SO41 0QG

01590 642500

www.hurstmarine.co.uk

Milford Family Business Changes its Name

One of Milford on Sea’s oldest family businesses is re-naming. The company, formally known as Hurst Castle Services, will now be called Hurst Marine to ensure its future growth and allow its portfolio of business lines to be developed.

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Sean and Mary Crane established the company in 1984 to provide a ferry service from Keyhaven to Hurst Castle. Over the years, the business has expanded to include the management of Hurst Castle on behalf of its owners English Heritage.

The business as well as managing Hurst Castle and providing its ferry service, also runs a weekly high season ferry service from Keyhaven to Yarmouth, RIB rides in the Solent, private boat charter, ashes at sea and contract work to include the maintenance of moorings in the Keyhaven River.

Now under the management of Jason Crane, Sean and Mary’s eldest son, the company has rebranded to allow the other business lines, aside from the castle to be strengthened. 

In addition, Hurst Castle itself will also now be marketed within the English Heritage brand, providing instant recognition that Hurst Castle is one of the top days-out destinations in the New Forest.

Jason Crane, Director of Hurst Marine said: “Over the years our company has become known as Hurst Castle and although the castle is very much a core of what we do, it overshadowed the rest of our business. 

“With the castle now under the English Heritage brand it will help us drive visitors to the castle, whilst giving us the time to help our newly rebranded company, Hurst Marine the focus to strengthen our boat fleet and the range of other services we offer locally.”

Hurst Castle

www.hurstcastle.co.uk

End of Era Coming for Brocante

After 22 of selling quality antiques from her shop in Milford on Sea High Street, Julie will be closing at the end of this month. (31st May 2017)

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Julie has thanked her many friends and customers for their support and friendship in the local newspaper, and we wish her well on whatever she chooses to do next.

Brocante

58 High Street, Milford on Sea, SO41 0QD

Local Bird Watching Trips

The Milford Conservation Volunteers are continuing their bird watching trips around the 'creeks & saltmarshes' at Saltgrass Lane and Iley Point.

Eider Duck
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They currently have three spaces available on Saturday 13th May departing at 9am (£12.50) per seat and a new trip for Saturday 17th June departing at 10am (£13.50) per seat.

The summer visitors are now starting to arrive with sightings of Little Tern, Common Tern and Sandwich Tern. On two recent trips we have also seen Common (Harbour) Seal and a regular pair of Eider and regular Peregrine. The trips are on a Dory, so this flat-bottomed boat can get into shallow creeks to get up close to the birds.

Previous Trip
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To book the bird watching trip, or to find out more about the work of Milford Conservation Volunteers please visit: www.milfordcv.org

Gardeners' Warning

We have been asked by a local resident to alert to Milford on Sea gardeners (especially in the New Lane area), to small brown caterpillars which live in hedges and bushes.

Our avid local gardener was severely affected with an itchy, red rash on the upper part of the body, especially the head and neck. 

This happened after cutting a Grisallinia hedge with some of the caterpillars landed in her hair. It is believed that the fine hairs on the caterpillars cause the rash and they become air born if disturbed.

Stand Up Paddle Boarding Day at Hurst Castle

This Sunday is our Stand Up Paddle Boarding Day at Hurst Castle run by The New Forest Paddle Sport Company in association with Hurst Marine, Starboard and Hutch SUP Wear.

All our tickets for the day have now sold out but if anyone wants to come over to Hurst Castle and see what all the fuss is about they are more than welcome! There will be SUP Polo to watch and Free demo's of all the New 2017 Starboard Paddle Boards. All you need is to have had some previous paddling experience before taking out a demo board.

There will also be local clothing supplier Hutch SUP Wear with their pop up shop selling t-shirts, shorts, hats and hoodies.

Peter from The Marine Conservation Society with also be there, he will have a stand offering people information on how they can best look after the waters and coast line which we are so lucky to have.

Many of our regular club paddlers will be around to chat to during the day so why not go over and get some information about our SUP Club and maybe you will be tempted into trying SUP this summer!

The New Forest Paddle Sport Company 

46 High Street, Milford on Sea, SO41 0QD - 01590 645270

info@thenewforestpaddlesportcompany.co.uk

www.thenewforestpaddlesportcompany.co.uk

Mind the Age Gap

A new TV series called Mind the Age Gap starts at 10pm on Monday 8th May on Channel 5. 

Dee Major - 2nd left on sofa
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The show feature local Milford on Sea resident; Dee Major.

With society apparently more divided than ever, 12 volunteers from different generations attempt to bridge the gap by moving into a house together, where they are encouraged to talk about some of the most important issues that affect the world today. 

An attempt to get to know one another triggers uncomfortable debates revealing controversial opinions from the older generation. Tension is in the air, and gay marriage is the first topic that divides old from young. And while the older guests are keen to debate, the younger ones see an opportunity to party.

Befriending is Fun

Our Milford on Sea Befrienders provide a regular friendly visit to anyone who feels isolated or lonely in our community.

Just look at what people are saying …….

“We have a very close bond and never run out of things to talk about”

“We have lovely times together and I can tell her things and share problems, she always listens sympathetically and is a great help.”

“I wasn’t sure at first as I am nervous of meeting new people, now I would not be without my new friend.”

“Being a befriender is an enriching and rewarding experience for me. Chatting with my befriendee is always a pleasure.”

“We went for a little walk and had a cup of tea. Another lovely time as a befriender.”

“I feel really blessed to be able to do this, we both really look forward to our time together.”

If you’d like someone to visit you, or to join as a befriender, please contact:

Milford on Sea Befrienders
Steve Anderton on 01590 637088 or befrienders@steveanderton.com

Look Out for the Lonely Bouquets

Friday 5^th May could just be your lucky day!

The Milford Floral Art Club will be holding a workshop on May 5th in All Saints' Church Hall from 10.00am to midday in order to make 'Lonely Bouquets', and they will then be distributing them around the Village for people to find.  

The object of the exercise is to share their joy of Flower Arranging with others and, obviously, to promote the Club itself.

Other flower arrangers across the South will be leaving bouquets for members of the public to find to cheer their day up. So, keep your eyes peeled, they could be anywhere. They are known as “lonely bouquets” – flowers looking for a new home.

So, who is behind this random act of kindness? It is individual flower arrangers who are members of the great British institution NAFAS.

NAFAS is a charity that can teach you everything you ever wanted to know about flowers. From arranging flowers in your home, meeting up with friends to enjoy inspiring flower demonstrations, exhibiting in competitions, creating flowers for events – no matter what it is, NAFAS can teach it to you.

For the event, members of the clubs make up small bouquets of flowers and leave them in random places around their area for members of the public to pick up and enjoy. A label is attached with a request that the recipient contacts a named member of the Club to let them know where the flowers end up.

So, if you find a ‘Lonely Bouquet’ on 5th May, please take it with you and enjoy it!

Milford Floral Art Club

Sheila Quinney

sheilaquinney112@yahoo.co.uk

New Facilities & Open Day at Bowls Club

This week Milford on Sea Bowls Club opens their outdoor season. 

Situated right on the sea front, their clubhouse has over the Winter period been completely refurbished, with new toilets and changing room facilities, new double glazed windows, roof insulation, carpeting and a brand new kitchen. All paid for out of their own funds accumulated over a number of years for this purpose. 

Whilst contractors were brought in to do the main ‘heavy’ work the decorating and organising was carried out by members of the Club themselves. 

Many of Milford’s residents don’t realise that the bowls club has one of the highest rated greens in Hampshire and fields teams at all levels in New Forest and Bournemouth leagues. 

As in previous years Milford on Sea Bowls Club is holding Open Mornings on the 10th & 14th May where men and women can come along and try out the sport for free. 

 Now in its 84th year, the Club continues to see a great future ahead carrying Milford’s name in the world of bowls.

 

Councillor Alan Rice Serves for 44 Years

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Since April 1973 Councillor Alan Rice TD has been representing our village as Conservative Member for Milford and Hordle at Hampshire County Council.

Over the past 44 years Alan has been a stalwart, particularly on behalf of Milford on Sea and its organisations, and he is now standing down from his council duties.

Having been involved in local government for so many years is a significant achievement. He has been a member of Hampshire County Council, New Forest District Council, and for a shorter period of just 19 years a member of New Milton Town Council. 

During this service Alan has been Chairman of HCC, Chairman of NFDC, and Chairman of NMTC. He also held the informal but venerable position of 'Father of the House' at HCC because of his long service.

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Alan was NFDC’s longest serving member, having been first elected to New Forest Rural District Council in May 1973, shortly before it became New Forest District Council on 1 April 1974. 

In April 2014 Alan Rice was bestowed the style rank & title of Honorary Freeman of New Milton.

We thank Alan for his support and service to the village, and wish him well in his next chapter of life.

Everton Village Festival Unveiled

Excitement and enthusiasm are building in Everton Village as the format for the fourth annual Festival is made public on newly designed Festival website www.evertonfestival.com. 

This year the Festival has been extended to cover a week, opening in the Village Church Hall on Sunday June 11th, with a light classical evening, a‘Summer Serenade’ and closing at the Festival Finale on Sunday June 18th with Swing Unlimited playing at Everton Nurseries. In between there are Vintage Cars and so much more...

As usual the Festival offers a wide range of musical evenings, jazz, folk, swing, classical, rock and blues and brass. There are workshops during the week for starters and improvers on the ukulele, with the hope that students will give a cameo performance during the popular Empty Frets Extravaganza on Saturday June 17th.

Everton Nurseries once again have generously offered their premises during the afternoon and evening of Sunday the 18th. Forest Youth Orchestra will be opening the proceedings outside Camellias at 11.30. Fathers Day is catered for too, as there’s a chance to spoil Dad in the afternoon with a Cream Tea whilst listening to the lovely Polly Morris, who is melodic, pretty and amusing. That is sure to be a hit! And of course there’s no better way to end the Festival week than an evening of foot tapping and jiving amongst the geraniums, with the great Community band, Swing Unlimited. All this entertainment can be sampled along with Wine, buffet food and supper boxes. Most of the entertainment is free, but any charge is very reasonable as costs have been kept down as the Festival is subsidised by the Everton Community Association and sponsored by Hyundai and Purewell. Ticket details are available on the website.

The Festival focus is on a different art form on June 12th when the Village hosts a Photographic Soiree…an evening in which wildlife cameraman Dr Manuel Hinge will be showing his acclaimed film of the New Forest ‘Ytene’. He will be accompanied by International award winner, local photographer, Louis Rumis who will be showing slides of his work in the New Forest. 

Photography and the environment are a key theme in the Festival this year. This kicks off with a Photography walk in the New Forest, during which ramblers will be encouraged to take photographs, which can then be entered into the Festival Competition, entitled, ‘Spring in the New Forest’. This Photography walk takes place on May 31st and is led by Volunteer Forest Ranger Steve Adams, and helped along by artist Carole Knighton. Please phone Steve 7754842731 to book a place. The competition is open to anyone, and photographs do not have to be taken on the walk. Entries will be judged by Louis Rumis and then exhibited at the Soiree. Details can be found on the website.

Finally, Vintage cars please…is the cry from the organisers as they set about joining in with the nationwide event, ‘the Great Get together’. This will be on the Everton Recreation Ground on Saturday the 18th. This community collective will have live music from 11.30, there will be a Hog Roast, refreshments, a beer tent, tombola, Birds of Prey, Punch and Judy, space hoppers and hula hoops, let alone a bit of Zumba, all alongside displays by local creative folk.

Bring a picnic for everyone is welcome and tables and chairs will be provided.(Hopefully set, in keeping with the event, with red gingham table cloths! )The Rec is a large flat open space and is ideal for exhibiting Vintage Cars, so if you do have one then please get in touch with Festival Co-ordinator Cheryl Fillmore. 01590 644865. There is no charge, and the Rec. also offers plenty of free and safe parking. 

All details and how to find the events can be found on the website www.evertonfestival.com and in the Festival Programme which will be available in May.

Fundraising Success for Community First Responders

The MoS Community First Responders a great fundraising week.

Last Saturday the White Horse rocked to the sound of the New Forest Yokels all in aid of the First Responders. A large crowd turned up to enjoy the evenings' entertainment and the landlord Paul Rand laid on a free buffet for all.

Other businesses from around the village supported the event by donating many very desirable raffle prizes. The raffle, together with a door fee of just £1 raised a staggering total of just over £500 which was added to by a further donation of £360 from Arthur Gjoka from the Milford Car Wash next door, representing £1 for every car washed during the previous week.

A further cash donation of £300 from Hollands Supermarket and other donations through JustGiving mean that the CFR team will soon be able to kit out a further responder for the village.

The CFR team wish to publicly thank the support and efforts of everyone involved and in particular Gerry Rickman of the New Forest Yokels who arranged the car wash and evening of entertainment at White Horse. Conrad said; "We’ve received such enormous support from the community since we started fundraising last year and we’re now in a great position to give our support back to Milford in the future. Thank you!"

About the Milford on Sea Community 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 group has been founded 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

Growth Mindset at Village School

We have learnt the Milford on Sea Primary School are currently using a new approach to learning which the children have really taken to and it is something that can benefit adults and children alike. 

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For the past ten years Carol Dweck, Professor of Psychology at Stanford University, has researched the theory that pupils' mindsets (how they perceive their abilities) plays a key role in their motivation and achievement. 

Her team found that if they changed pupils' mindsets, they could boost their achievement. More precisely, pupils who believed their intelligence could be developed (a growth mindset) outperformed those who believed their intelligence was fixed (a fixed mindset) and when students learned through a structured program that they could “grow their brains” and increase their intellectual abilities, they did better. 

Finally, they found that having children focus on the process that leads to learning (like hard work or trying new strategies) could foster a growth mindset and its benefits.

At Milford-on-Sea Primary School, a key element of the school improvement plan is to embed the use of growth mindest language and attitudes into the day-to-day work of the school. Children refer to displays in and out of the classroom to support their growth mindset thinking and the teachers are careful to use the language of growth in their lessons.

If you fancy trying a Growth mindset, you can start of by adapting your language from fixed to growth - the table above illustrates some basic examples of the approach that they are using at school.

Footnote:

How school has changed since I went to a North London Comprehensive, where the teachers threw the backboard rubber at you if you talked, and if you were chewing gum, the PE master would stick in the hair behind your ear - oh those happy days!

Award for No 19 Interiors

For the second year in a row Val Plummer of At No 19 Interiors has been awarded A Best Customer Service award on Houzz, the leading online platform for home renovation and design.

Val Plummer

Over the past 10 years Milford on Sea based At No 19 has assisted numerous homeowners throughout Hampshire, Dorset and West Sussex improve and refurbish their homes. The Interior design firm was chosen by more than 40 million monthly unique users that comprise the Houzz community from amongst more than one million active home building, renovating and design industry professionals.

The Best Of Houzz is awarded annually and Customer Service honors are based on several factors, including the number and quality of recent client reviews a professional received. A “Best Of Houzz 2017” badge will appear on the winners’ Houzz profile, as a sign of their commitment to excellence. These badges help homeowners identify popular and top-rated home professionals in every specialist area and in different geographical locations on Houzz.

Commenting on the award, Val Plummer stated "Having been members of Houzz for just over 16 months, At No 19 are extremely honored to have once again received this Best Customer Service Award which is bestowed only on the top 3% of professionals in this field. It is testament to our commitment to always putting our clients wishes at the forefront of their project whilst we guide and steer them through the design process"

“Anyone building, renovating or decorating look to Houzz for the most talented and service-oriented professionals” said Andrew Small, Managing Director of Houzz UK. “We’re so pleased to recognize At No 19, voted one of our “Best Of Houzz” professionals by our enormous community of homeowners and design enthusiasts actively renovating and decorating their homes.” 

At No 19

www.atno19.co.uk

www.houzz.co.uk/pro/valplummer/at-no-19

About Houzz

Houzz is the leading platform for home renovation and design, providing people with everything they need to improve their homes from start to finish – online or from a mobile device. From decorating a small room to building a custom home and everything in between, Houzz connects millions of homeowners, home design enthusiasts and home improvement professionals across the country and around the world. With the largest residential design database in the world and a vibrant community empowered by technology, Houzz is the easiest way for people to find inspiration, get advice, buy products and hire the professionals they need to help turn their ideas into reality. For more information, visit: www.houzz.co.uk.

Bombs Stolen

Two unexploded shells which disappeared from Milford on Sea beach are being sought by Hampshire Police.

The explosives were found by a member of the public at Hurst Spit on Thursday night.

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Police said the munitions disappeared overnight, before bomb disposal experts arrived in the morning.

Officers described one of the shells as "unstable and potentially dangerous" and said anyone seeing them should call 101.

The man who made the discovery picked up the shells before alerting the emergency services, police said.

Despite being warned to leave them and get out of his car, he returned the shells to the top of the spit before officers arrived.

Ch Insp Rob Mitchell said: "The explosive ordnance disposal team advised they would attend at first light.

"A decision was made to set up a cordon around the shells and officers returned to the scene in the early hours of the morning to find the shells still in situ.

"When officers attended the scene again shortly before 07:30, the shells had gone but the police tape and the towel they had been placed on were still there."

Article from BBC News click here.


and there are more...

Four WW2 Mortar bombs found at Hordle Cliffs. Please click here.