Education

Great success for Fareham schools

On Saturday 7th May the final District round of the prestigious Rotary International Debate 2022 for schools was held at the Mountbatten School, Romsey. Two teams from Fareham, an intermediate age team from West Hill Park School and a senior age team from Crofton School, had beaten off all the challengers to get to this final stage. Teams took part at this round from as far afield as Salisbury, Shaftesbury, Poole and Southampton.

In this highly competitive third round, both teams gave excellent presentations and the team from Crofton School won the Senior Teams round with their motion “Is poetry more powerful than the novel?” The Crofton team comprised Mollie Delahay as the chairperson, Abigail Hughes as the proposer for the motion and Lillie Dix as the opposer. The judges commented on the superb quality of all the entries which makes Crofton School’s achievement stand out even more.

Norman Chapman, President of the Rotary Club of Fareham that held the first round of the competition, said “We are delighted to see how all the dedication and hard work of the students of these two local Schools, and their teachers, paid off by their achievement in getting through to this round. Our congratulations go to Crofton School for winning this highly contested final round.”

Petersfield Festival

We can't wait to be back for the Petersfield Spring Festival 2022 after missing out on two awesome years due to the global pandemic!

The Petersfield Spring Festival will always be as you have to come to expect, but with added excitement and love for enjoying a drink and a dance with your loved ones, browsing the quality stalls for a special gift or treat, sitting in the sun and chilling for the afternoon listening to awesome music, admiring the vehicles from days gone by or taking a selfie with a character from your favourite film or TV show. We can't wait... So save the date for 2022! it's going to be platinum year! Wednesday 1st June - Friday 3rd June 2022.

In the meantime, please stay safe and we will see you all soon. The Hometown Crew

Falklands Fighter Controller talks to Aviation Group

Squadron Leader Joe Marsden (left) with Terry Coombes, Chair of Daedalus Aviation & Heritage Group

Members of the Daedalus Aviation and Heritage Group were treated to a presentation by one of its own members, Squadron Leader Joe Marsden, on Life After the Conflict in the Falklands. His talk, illustrated with historical and current information, explained what life was like in the forty years since the conflict and during the tenth anniversary of the campaign. Joe’s three tours took him 2,000 feet up Byron Heights on West Falkland as Senior Operations Officer. Later he became Commanding Officer and Master Controller at the Air Defence Control and Reporting Centre on the summit of Mount Kent in East Falkland overlooking the capital Port Stanley. Finally, Joe became Air Defence Commander at Mount Pleasant, the Headquarters of the British Forces in the Islands, scrambling fighter aircraft as needed.

Joe explained how changes to the military garrison and its equipment had evolved to cover the threat over the years. He also demonstrated how these changes affected life for the Islanders. The Falklands are 8000 miles from the UK but, as a British Overseas Territory, they are covered by British Forces for defence.

Chair of the aviation group, Terry Coombes, said “Joe brought us up to date on the air defence progression in the Falklands from Harrier to the Phantom, then the Tornado and today replaced by the Typhoon and showed us some dramatic aerial footage. The support aircraft included the Hercules and the VC10 now replaced by the A400 and the Voyager.”

Joe’s talk clearly demonstrated the isolation at remote radar sites with extremes of weather. The war memorials of the 1914 Battle of the Falklands and the 1982 conflict were covered as were some of the military cemeteries. The civilian population has now grown from around 2,000 at the time of the 1982 conflict to 3,500 today who benefit from tourism. Visitors to the islands have massively increased from 700 at the time of the conflict to 30,000 per year now with many cruise ships visiting and boosting the finances of those in the Falkland Islands.

Daedalus Aviation & Heritage Group Incorporating Gosport Aviation Society and Lee Flying Association www.daedalusaviation.org