Test Valley Forum - Issue 150 - February 2021

ISSUE 150 FEBRUARY 2021

Forum TEST VALLEY

Life in your Community

RECIPE OF THE MONTH

BROUGHTON COMMUNITY SHOP

A LIFE OF TWO HALVES

LOCAL INFORMATION

The Ultimate Shrove Tuesday Pancake

Supporting the local community

Salisbury Cathedral Choristers

Your A to Z of useful local info

STYLE ˙ INTERIORS ˙ HEALTH & BEAUTY ˙ INTERVIEWS ˙ FOOD & DRINK ˙ ENTERTAINMENT ˙ EVENTS

WHERWELL RE FOAL S

Character Village Property Freehold for sale as part investment (the commercial unit) with vacant possession of the residential accommodation, gardens and garage.

A very attractive Grade II Listed building situated in the heart of the popular Test Valley village of Wherwell. Commercial Unit on ground floor with Residential accommodation above; Two beds, Kitchen, Sitting room, Bathroom. Gardens. Garage.

GUIDE PRICE: £500,000

OVER WALLOP RE O F AL S

Two Building Plots Situated in a countryside location on the outskirts of Over Wallop. Planning permission has been granted for the conversion of the Former Poultry houses to provide Two dwellings. (A Planning Application has been submitted for two replacement new dwellings).

The proposed development will comprise; 2 Four Bedroom detached houses offering open plan kitchen/dining area, pantry, utility room, living area, en-suite.

The plots are available either together or separately. An additional Paddock may also be available.

View from plots over surrounding countryside

www.myddeltonmajor.co.uk

PRICE ON APPLICATION

Tel: 01264 316000

THE TEST VALLEY FORUM FEBRAURY 2021

CONTENTS 02 Property Management

Buying, selling, letting?

Find local estate agents and property management services

13 Garden

04

15 Motoring

04 Feature

Say Cheese By Lucia Foster-Found

08 Education

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Trades, services, designers, All you need for your home

Contacts Editor Mark Tubb editor@forumpublications.co.uk Director of Advertising Steve Walker stevewalker@forumpublications.co.uk Director of Marketing Rob Harrison rob@forummedianddesign.co.uk Advertising Manager Mandy Head mandyhead@forumpublications.co.uk Design Manager James Curtis james@forumpublications.co.uk

Find local schools and educational experts

12 Retail

Local services to keep your vehicle running smoothly

16 Home

07 Wellbeing

Looking after your health and yourself!

Make your garden dream come true

Accounts accounts@forumpublications.co.uk

Our regular retail feature, Unique, Bespoke, Eclectic and Local shopping

Contributors Lucia Foster-Found www. luciafosterfound.com

Get in Touch Forum Publications Offices Unit 8A, Shelf House, New Farm Road, Alresford, SO24 9QH Tel: 01962 735137 www.forumpublications.co.uk

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Test Valley Forum contains facts, views, opinions, statements, recommendations, advertisements and other content and links to external websites not owned or controlled by the magazine. Test Valley Forum takes reasonable efforts to include accurate, current information on its pages, but make no warranties or representations as to the accuracy, safety or value of the published items that are displayed. No liability or responsibility can be taken for errors or omissions in magazine content.

Test Valley Forum magazine content does not necessarily reflect the views, opinions or recommendations of its creators and any reliance upon its content is taken at the user’s sole risk. Adverts designed by Forum Publications remain the magazine's legal ownership. Readership figures calculated on an average national statistic of 2.5 readers per household © Forum Publications Ltd, 2021

Say Cheese T © LUCIA FOSTER-FOUND 2021

WWW.LUCIAFOSTERFOUND.COM

o say Veganuary had been an unqualified success would be a lie. A Dairy big lie. Himself hadn’t been keen on the concept, mumbling something about it sounding gynaecological, as he laid into a hangover-busting cheese and bacon toastie on New Year’s Day. On 2nd January she’d watched him hunter-gather assorted cheeses and pickles from the fridge. On the 3rd she’d thrown in the towel when he’d looked so happy munching on a turkey and ham pie, with its cheddar pastry crust. Good job really, there were four more in the freezer.

Should have bought a smaller turkey. And definitely less cheese; shopping on-line from pictures, you really had to check the quantities.. The Cheddar? – block like a monolith. The Camembert she intended to bake for two? – size of a cartwheel.

But that much-needed bottle of hand gel? – tiny, pocket-sized.

Thought it was cheap.

By the time February had arrived, those warm, fuzzy, escapist thoughts of Christmas had receded to the dim and distant Past-eurised. But grateful they were OK and their family weren’t sick, they looked for small distractions to lighten their mood.

That was when Himself suggested they do Februdairy. Surprised, she wondered if she’d Curd him correctly. “It’ll be fun.” He said. “Support the British Dairy industry.” He said. “We can eat cheese…” He said.

Which was how Sunday evening found her with a cheese omelette half eaten on her plate, watching Ski Sunday. For no apparent reason, however, she welled up. Himself, who had cooked supper, looked dismayed. “Oh darling – it’s not that bad is it?”

Actually, les oeufs avec fromage did have an interesting texture.

She’d been brushing up on her French ahead of some future, hoped-for holiday, but the correct words for ‘unexpectedly ruberoid’ didn’t spring to mind.

“It’s not the eggs, they’re lovely” she fibbed. “I’m being pathetic, I know.” The theme tune, so evocative of past wintry Sunday afternoons, had set her off. And these days it didn’t take much. If she didn’t keep a lid on it she’d blub all the time. “I love Ski Sunday, but the resorts are deserted, there aren’t many spectators. It was

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just a bit of a shock, because after the familiar music I stupidly somehow expected it all to be normal?”

“I’ve got the opposite problem.” He confessed. “I’m looking at programmes that are ‘normal’ and I’m briefly horrified they’re not social distancing or wearing masks. Begs the question, what is normal now..?”

By breakfast the next morning, she’d had a thought “Pancake day’s still normal – even now. So let’s do that at least. I’ll make the usual sugar and lemon ones.” It would be something to look forward to and a nice change from anything with cheese. Her jeans felt tighter; she had a nasty suspicion she might be getting a little bit Feta.

“Gouda enough! You’re on.” Himself was eager. “Also, Valentine’s day is coming up. How about we dress up as if we were going out to dinner. We’ll eat at the table, light some candles – play a little music, drink some wine. It would ‘normally’ just be the two of us for Valentine’s anyway.”

She liked it “Grate idea.”

“And I’ll cook!” he announced with glee. “Perhaps something with cheese..” His face lit up. “A raclette. Cheese soufflé maybe? Stilton and broccoli soup. Turkey mornay anyone?”

Bless him for his enthusiasm, but she was getting a tad cheesed off.

Choosing her words Caerphilly, she said. “What a Brie-lliant idea darling!” Himself looked pleased. “You’ll be looking dashing and handsome like something out of Fifty Shades of Gruyere, but maybe not really dressed for cooking? So perhaps a takeaway..?” she suggested, thinking it would be nice to have a meal they hadn’t had to cook themselves.

She elaborated “Fish and chips would be lovely.” Pretty sure the local chip shop did not do cheese in batter. “Sweet and sour chicken might be delicious.” Never seen cheese on the menu in the Chinese either; a mixture of relief and anticipation washed over her and she salivated.

However, momentary disappointment flitted across Himself’s face, together with a sad little look of longing.

“With some cheese and biscuits to finish off.” she conceded.

She was, after all, very Fondue of him.

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EDUCATION that ‘some people can’t do Maths.’ It instils a belief in pupils that if you work hard at Maths you can succeed. If pupils fail to understand a concept, interventions are put in place quickly, and early intervention ensures the pupil is ready to move forward.

The mastery of Maths!

As school lessons continue around the kitchen table, Embley’s Head of Prep, Sheina Wright, provides an understanding of the building blocks that sit behind the mastery of Maths in young children…

For children to thrive in Maths in particular, it is important to think about mindset. We sometimes underestimate the impact our own narrative can have on the way our children approach subjects such as Maths.

The incidental ‘I was never any good at Maths at school’ comments are ones to be mindful of. It can create a closed mindset, which is then challenging to shift in later years.

Thankfully Maths teaching has moved on considerably since I was at school in the 1980s! I cast my mind back to the 100 times tables questions I answered in my weekly tables test. I must admit, when I was 10, my

Godolphin’s Old Girl Network comes together to support current students.

Maths learning was not especially filled with joy or creativity.

In modern Maths teaching the foundations and fundamentals are important and have their place, but there is so much more to inspire pupils. From the creativity and curiosity encouraged through problem solving, to playing with and recognising pattern in number.

Primary Maths focuses on mastery and then greater depth. It starts with cementing those building blocks and foundations, making sure they aren’t shaky. Significant time is spent focussing on deep knowledge. With firm foundations, problems can be set in different contexts, which rely on pupils to then puzzle out which operations they will use, often, by Year 6, in multi-step problems. Mastering maths means gaining a deep secure and adaptable understanding of the subject. This Maths mastery approach rejects the notion

group of OGs (the name fondly given to Godolphin’s Alumnae) who have supported OGA Connect & Find your Future Friday – two brilliant initiatives which sign-post future opportunities for their students.

OGA Connect offers a series of talks by OGs talking about their own experiences since leaving Godolphin and offering advice on taking the next step – whether applying or preparing for university, planning a GAP year, finding work experience or full-time employment or just generally preparing for life after School.

Bright Futures, Godolphin’s Careers Programme has been able to continue during lockdown, thanks to the loyal

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Last year, Godolphin launched “Find Your Future Friday” which is open to all year groups. Each week a different visiting OG speaker comes to talk to the students,

In the words of the National Centre for Excellence in the Teaching of Mathematics (NCETM): “What is teaching for mastery?”

Mastering Maths means pupils of all ages acquiring a deep, long-term, secure and adaptable understanding of the subject. The phrase ‘teaching for mastery’ describes the elements of classroom practice and school organisation that combine to give pupils the best chances of mastering Maths. Achieving mastery means acquiring a solid enough understanding of the maths that’s been taught to enable pupils to move on to more advanced material.’

And where does it all begin? In Reception, the Maths mastery approach is about deepening understanding of concepts – rather than moving on to more complex numbers. That way concepts can be revisited as children follow their interests and they begin to connect this new learning to previous experiences. So next time you are puzzling over a Maths problem at the kitchen table think about the mantra ‘everyone can do Maths.’ Make that Maths narrative a positive one.

September 2021 registrations for Embley’s Nursery and Prep School are still open. To find out more, please visit www.embley.org. uk or email admissions@embley.org.uk

(during Friday lunch break) giving them a chance to find out about a career, university, or training opportunity. Last term Godolphin welcomed a diverse range of speakers from the worlds of fashion, finance, business, and more. Girls spoke online during lockdown when visits to School had been cancelled.

Feedback on these sessions has been excellent and one Godolphin Fifth Year parent commented “My daughter came away from a Find your Futures session last week feeling fully charged and geared up to follow a career in banking. She really enjoyed hearing about the benefits of a graduate training programme and the opportunity of moving to London upon leaving School!”

EDUCATION

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A Life Of Two Halves CHORISTERS LEARN SO MUCH MORE THAN INCREDIBLE MUSIC

S

alisbury Cathedral is looking for ten new choristers – 5 boys and 5 girls – in 2021 to join its professional choir.

To audition you need to be aged between 7 and 9, have a musical ear, and love to sing. David Halls, Director of Music at Salisbury Cathedral, is very clear that he is not looking for exceptional singers, he is looking for children with the potential to become exceptional singers.

The children selected will find themselves in the unique position of being both modern children studying at a leading prep school and professional musicians before their age even hits double figures. In this way, chorister life is one of two distinct halves. Choristers are both everyday school pupils and also working representatives of Britain’s oldest cultural heritage.

David Halls explains, ‘we [the choir] are a small slice of a tradition which stretches right back to the 11th Century. I often look at the weight of history and feel proud to play our small, yet significant, part.’

Chorister life is busy and demanding, but the benefits derived really stand the test of time. In this article, we ask how the double-sided childhood experienced by choristers sets them on a path to such enjoyable and accomplished lives.

Firstly, to be a professional musician, at any age, takes both discipline and a desire to succeed. The hectic schedule of chorister life quickly builds the necessary discipline, alongside increasingly good ability to prioritise, but the desire to succeed must come from within. That’s why David Halls says he is not only looking for a musical spark but also . . . ‘a sense they [the children] really want to do it and that they want to be taught’.

If you have ever heard a professional Cathedral choir sing you will not be surprised to know that choristers rehearse every morning of the school year and into traditional holiday time too. They also sing Evensong multiple times a week as well as participating in formal concerts and recordings. This is all in addition to school.

All chorister pupils at Salisbury Cathedral School participate in the same level of academic work and co-curricular activities – including sport, outdoor learning and creative endeavours – as the non-chorister pupils. You may well ask how on earth do they ever manage to fit everything in?

‘The children [choristers] have to learn to prioritise. They do a

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lot of singing and they need to fit their other responsibilities, such as homework and sport, around it. This means they experience competing priorities at a young age and quickly learn techniques to manage,’ explains David Halls.

Furthermore, living as choristers teaches children a number of other lifelong skills. First and foremost, they learn to be integral members of a team. To sing in a choir requires an individual to blend their voice with those of their equals to create music with a life of its own. One of England’s greatest sportsmen, cricket’s Sir Alastair Cook puts it succinctly in his autobiography, ‘Choir school taught me about an individual’s responsibility to the group’.

Choristers also learn to stand still for long periods of time in both rehearsal and concerts. As part of a professional choir, they are required to take good care of their appearance at all times even when operating within a tight schedule. As the years go by, natural leadership often emerges. Older boys and girls proactively begin to care for younger children, tying their shoes and turning the music to the right page for them amongst other things.

Overall, the high standards required from day one helps every chorister develop a taste for excellence which will guide all future endeavours. This is well illustrated by Sir Alastair Cook who famously credits his cricketing success to his early years as a chorister. He explains that, ‘we were expected to learn quickly about the power of concentration and performing under pressure’.

He continues to say, ‘there is absolutely no doubt the experience [of being a chorister] made me the cricketer I became.’

Choosing the path of a chorister is undoubtedly a big commitment, for both the child and their family, but the rewards are equally large. The children chosen are directly compensated in two ways.

They benefit from an independent education at the prep school associated with their choir at a reduced rate and are also paid for professional recordings and some concerts.

Indirect compensation is less tangible but probably more valuable.

For example, the skills developed by choristers include ability to prioritise, concentrate and communicate as well as teamwork, discipline, leadership, and a natural expectation of excellence. To top it all off, choristers often travel extensively in their work and, of course, receive the most outstanding musical education available. www.salisburycathedralschool.com

EDUCATION

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Your child at our heart To find out more please contact our Registrar, Jojo Orange orange.j@salisburycathedralschool.com www.salisburycathedralschool.com CO-EDUCATIONAL PREPARATORY SCHOOL FOR CHILDREN AGED 3 TO 13

Making a happy start to school Insider secrets from the experts at St Swithun’s Thursday 25 March, 7pm This online mini conference includes: 1. Thriving in preschool and reception 2. Practical tips to practise at home 3. Making the most of the outdoors 4. Promoting a healthy mind and a healthy body 5. Live Q&A session with experts from St Swithun’s preschool and reception Booking essential: vwww.stswithuns.com/happystart | 01962 835750

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COMMUNITY / RETAIL Sustainable products made in Test Valley for eco living A new Test Valley business called ‘Made on the Chalk’ offering products to support a sustainable home life has been awarded a Test Valley Borough Council Business Incentive Grant of £750.

Grace Dunning, Made on the Chalk

Grace Dunning launches the business this autumn initially with handmade natural skincare products, and is expanding the product range to include eco household products like rubber gloves, wool dusters and handmade soap dishes. Handmade beeswax candles will be available in 2021, along with launching e-learning workshops on soap and candle making.

The story behind the name ‘Made on the Chalk’ is one that captures the beauty of the Test valley from the chalk streams to the down land and even Grace’s own chalk cob cottage.

Grace said “Made on the Chalk captures a growing market for goods made from natural ingredients that are locally produced. I wanted to create a company that makes and supplies items of quality that are sustainable, beautiful, useful; and empowers people though skill learning. The e-learning courses will be accessible to as many people as possible with discounted places for those on low incomes. I am thrilled to be awarded a Business Incentive Grant from Test Valley Borough Council to help support my new business”.

Bourne Valley ward councillor, Phil North, said: “The grant schemes are a great opportunity for those wishing to set up new business initiatives in Test Valley and enable us to offer a wider range of services for our local community. I am delighted that Grace has been successful in her grant application and wish her every success in her new business venture.”

The council’s £750 Business Incentive Grants are available to anyone looking to set up their own full-time business in Test Valley. Anyone who successfully applies for the grant will receive £750 if their business is still going strong six months later. These funds have become available to the community as a consequence of the council’s prudent investments, financial management and the use of the New Homes Bonus.

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Broughton Community Shop and Post Office This special community run Shop and Post Office is open through these extraordinary times due to the dedication of our amazing volunteers working with our enthusiastic and committed manager.

So, what are we doing to keep them and our customers safe? Signage and hand sanitiser on entry, masks, distanced queuing, a limit of 2 adult customers in the Shop at a time, one-way system, wipes for your basket handles, screens and hand sanitiser at the counters, all key touch points cleaned at least 3 times day, out of hours restocking – and we’ve even temporarily stopped take-away hot drinks to make sure that there’s no excuse for hanging around! Great coffee times will return - keeping our customers, staff and volunteers safe is our highest priority.

The Shop offers great ranges of everything you need and more – all competitively priced: the essentials – milk, dairy, bread, fresh fruit and veg, deli, fresh and frozen meat – and, just what you need at the moment, great treats too. The Post Office, calm and efficient, is ready for all your needs. Offering eco-friendly products is really important to us, from our wide range of dry and liquid refillables to beeswax wraps and dishwasher tablets and even relishes made from delicious ingredients that would otherwise go to waste, just because they are the wrong shape, size or colour. We are keeping our focus on local suppliers wherever we can – take a look at the list on our website: www.broughton.shop – it’s impressive!

And you can be sure of a friendly welcome – and easy parking - at Broughton Community Shop and Post Office too. See you soon!

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COMMUNITY NEW Events Coordinator for Andover Shelley has joined Andover BID on a freelance basis supporting the town in this role. She has a diverse career history spanning over 25 years, providing events coordination, and top-level admin support and events within many sectors: publishing, telecoms, charity, and local government to name a few.

Cllr Phil North, leader of Test Valley Borough Council comments: ‘We are delighted to be working closely with Shelley and Andover BID to put together an enhanced program of events in the town centre for 2021, to increase footfall. So, when the restrictions are finally lifted, we can give our retailers the much required boost they require. A coordinated approach, planning and delivering events with TVBC, BID, Love Andover and other event providers is what the town needs’

Events Coordinator for Andover

Andover BID is delighted that Shelley Coburn has joined the Andover BID team with designated responsibility as Events Coordinator for the town centre.

Following discussions with Test Valley Borough Council it has been agreed that Andover BID should take a lead on an events programme for the town centre and that Test Valley Borough Council will support Andover BID with some match funding for the events budget.

TVBC have also agreed some staff resources as support for getting a programme of regular events established, ensuring a comprehensive programme is properly coordinated through collaborative working with Love Andover and other stakeholders. The aim is to provide a more efficient and cohesive event planning and delivery for the benefit of residents and businesses.

Cllr North from Test Valley Borough Council commented ‘We are delighted to be working closely with Andover BID and Shelley to put together an enhanced program of events for 2021, to increase footfall.

So, when the restrictions are finally lifted, we can give our retailers the much-required boost they require. A coordinated approach, planning and delivering events with TVBC, BID, Love Andover and other event providers is what the town needs’.

Andover BID manager Steve Godwin say’s ‘We are pleased to be working with Shelley who is locally based with a strong and experienced background of organising and delivering events. It has been apparent for some time that whilst there are a number of different organisations and individuals delivering events in the town, there hasn’t until now been a coordinated or planned approach. The support of TVBC, Love Andover and other stakeholders in the town means that we are on course for an exciting programme of events when the COVID situation allows and in due course we will publish a full town events calendar. It is crucially important that businesses have a strong say in what happens in their town centre and through a co-ordinated approach from BID, we will ensure good and timely communication and events that are beneficial to the town and likely to bring business benefit. Shelley will also be looking to properly evaluate events to measure their popularity and effectiveness’.

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Shelley has lived in Andover for 12 years with her young family and has attended and enjoyed many local events in the town. She is enthusiastic about getting involved with the BID and the town working alongside all the current stakeholders who run events in the town centre. She will act as a conduit between these stakeholders and businesses and work to signpost members of the community to all that is happening locally.

Over her career Shelley has been involved in helping to organise a whole variety of different events from Summer and Christmas parties, AGMs, Conferences, CPD events, large corporate quizzes, as well as many networking events and seminars – not to mention a period working at a community radio station in New Zealand, decorating their float and participating in the Wellington Carnival!

Shelley is known for being a ‘Hands on’ individual and says that she is quite happy to roll up her sleeves and get stuck in. We could not think of anyone more suitable to be involved in the Andover town events scene, building relationships with business owners and residents through upcoming events within our community when the COVID situation allows.

Notes to editor: Andover Business Improvement District (BID) is an arrangement whereby businesses come together formally as an ideal mechanism to form and develop a dynamic business environment to promote footfall and dwell time within the town centres. The Andover BID has a 5-year term and is funded by over 200 businesses within Andover Town Centre. The BID came into operation in April of 2019.

The BID is an independent, not for profit company with a Board of directors who represent levy payers. They are responsible for the governance of the company and oversee the BID strategy with funds for investment of c£1,000,000 over five years. For media enquiries please contact Steve Godwin at Andover Town Centre BID Limited

Test Valley Arts Foundation: changes afoot for 2021 It is fair to say that 2020 has been a year for change, and as TVAF like to ‘keep up with the times’ change has been afoot within our ranks too. At the end of 2020 we bid a fond farewell to Sue Messa who retired after 5 successful years as Development Officer. Fran Henville has stepped into the role and looks forward to continuing Sue’s fantastic work with the charity in 2021 and beyond. Yinnon Ezra MBE, Chairman of the Test Valley Arts Foundation said, “Sue Messa has made an outstanding contribution to The Test Valley Arts Foundation. She has made a real difference to the Arts and Culture in the Test Valley. We shall all miss her but wish her a long and healthy retirement. We welcome Fran Henville who replaces Sue. Fran has a strong record of working in the Arts and we look forward to working with her.”

Sue Messa

Fran Henville

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ear Stockbridge Forum Reader, Value local residents An Invitation from Peter Moore, local plant breeder andconscious Club Member love a great deal.

While many Gardening Clubs have closed in the pandemic, If you Covid-19 need your carpets cleaned andall arearound looking for an has presented us with the opportunity to hear lecturers from award-winning company who willhave arrive on time, the world and therefore, where our booked speakers accepted the will be courteous, respectful and above Zoom option, we have grasped our opportunity. all trustworthy -- then you’re invited to take advantage of one of the three We are now offering our members two Zoom talksextraordinary a month and this value, high quality, carpet and upholstery will continue to the end of April. In normal times we usually have cleaning deals we’re offering new customers month one talk a month while our speakers live no more than 50 miles this from -- because we want to give Longstock. Now we are having speakers from across Ireland youthe theUK, chance to get to know our service and to find out how and also from The Netherlands. impressively new, fresh and bright your carpets will look when cleaned and freshened by Our next meeting is on 9th February The Carpet Care People.

The Gardens of Russia’ by John Baker. The talk is about the Private and Municipal botanical gardens in Moscow and St Petersburg.

The second meeting is on 18th February ‘About my world, Marketing New Plants’ by Peter van Rijssen of Plantipp, one of the world’s leading plant marketing companies and my agent in Holland.

In the summer we plan on visiting a local garden and hiring a coach to travel to gardens further afield.

Hopefully we will be back in the Longstock Village Hall from October, meeting on the second Tuesday of every month for our Autumn/ Winter programme 2021-22. Five of Hampshire’s top Horticulturists are already booked.

As an introduction to Longstock Garden Club the next six Zoom talks will be free. Contact me for details peter.r.moore@gmail.com Two reviews from recent Zoom talks: Thank you, Peter, I must say I have really loved the zoom lectures.

Great to be sitting in our nice warm houses whilst listening and dreaming of great gardens! Many thanks. Linda Thank you Peter and Richard. I thoroughly enjoyed the talk and beautiful photographs. Much food for thought! Thank you so much, Richard. Best wishes, Gilly C

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18

Reasons to remortgage Remortgaging is the process of getting a new mortgage on your existing home either with your current or new lender.

More often than not, the main reason to remortgage is to lower your monthly repayments and save yourself some money, but it’s not the only one.

1. To switch to a fixed rate product: if you currently have a variable rate product and feel that interest rates will rise in the next few years, then remortgaging to a fixed rate product is something to consider.

2. More payment flexibility: your current mortgage may not allow you to make overpayments or underpayments. If you feel this kind of flexibility would be useful then remortgaging to a more flexible product may be advantageous.

3. Better mortgage terms: when you first took out your current mortgage you may recently become self-employed or had a poor credit score leading to you being offered a more expensive product. If your financial circumstances have improved, remortgaging could get you a mortgage with lower monthly payments.

4. Accessing equity: if your property has increased in value, or your mortgage has decreased, you can release some of the equity by remortgaging. You may want to remortgage to release equity to carry out home improvements which could increase the value of your property, especially if it is an extension or loft conversion.

If you’d like to talk to a qualified mortgage adviser about your options, contact us today. Telephone and mortgage appointments are available.

Andover branch; 35 High Street, Andover, SP10 1LJ. Call: 01264 361455 Email: andover@newbury.co.uk

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YOUR MORTGAGE IS SECURED ON YOUR HOME. THINK CAREFULLY BEFORE SECURING OTHER DEBTS AGAINST YOUR HOME. YOUR HOME MAY BE REPOSSESSED IF YOU DO NOT KEEP UP REPAYMENTS ON YOUR MORTGAGE.

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