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Recipes / Quiz & Puzzles / Health / Gardening / Pets / Tech / Sport / Entertainment<br />

At the heart of our community<br />

Get your wardrobe<br />

Summer Ready<br />

<strong>July</strong>/<strong>Aug</strong> 2021<br />

NORTH END/HILSEA<br />

BACK WITH A BANG!<br />

The reinvention of<br />

FIELD GUN Racing<br />

Competition -<br />

WIN A £50 Restaurant<br />

Voucher from<br />

£<br />

PRICELESS!


Southsea’s best kept secret<br />

Places available for September 2021<br />

Contact the Admissions Team who will be happy to help<br />

organise your visit, tour and taster session.<br />

call 023 9281 5118 email admissions@stjohnscollege.co.uk<br />

visit www.stjohnscollege.co.uk<br />

#wherestudentsthrive


Editorial<br />

What’s inside....<br />

Hello and a very warm welcome to<br />

the <strong>July</strong>/<strong>Aug</strong>ust edition of <strong>Pompey</strong><br />

<strong>Mag</strong>. This month, we bring to<br />

you a bumper issue, packed with<br />

what I hope are interesting and<br />

relevant features. I hope that you<br />

enjoy reading it half as much as I have enjoyed<br />

putting it together.<br />

Inside you will find lots of ideas for ways you<br />

and your family can get involved within your<br />

local community. Whether that is getting fit and<br />

doing good with The Good Gym, helping our<br />

wildlife to thrive within the city, making and<br />

meeting new friends through Spark charity and<br />

even helping others to feel safe and secure with<br />

Portsmouth City of Sanctuary. Don’t forget too,<br />

your nearest neighbours and local community<br />

heroes. If you would like to nominate someone,<br />

please do get in touch.<br />

But most of all, sit back, enjoy the summertime,<br />

keep safe, and I will see you in September!<br />

Debbie Payne<br />

Get in Touch<br />

Tel: 07877 943 787<br />

Email: info@pompeymag.co.uk<br />

Website: www.pompeymag.co.uk<br />

Or follow us on Facebook<br />

Editor<br />

Cover Story -<br />

Field Gun Racing<br />

relaunch<br />

pg 45<br />

The Young<br />

Doctors<br />

pg 5<br />

The Geriatric<br />

Gardener- it’s<br />

sowing season<br />

pg 13<br />

Get your<br />

wardrobe<br />

Summer ready<br />

pg 19<br />

Our popular Pub<br />

Quiz<br />

pg 40<br />

AND MUCH<br />

MORE!<br />

NEXT MAG<br />

DEADLINE<br />

14/07/2021<br />

DISCLAIMER. Whilst every care has been taken to ensure that data in this publication is accurate, neither<br />

the publisher nor it’s editorial contributors can accept any liability to any party for loss or damage caused<br />

by errors or omissions resulting from negligence, accident or any other cause. The <strong>Pompey</strong> <strong>Mag</strong> does not<br />

officially endorse any advertising material included within this publication. No part of this publication may<br />

be reproduced, stored in any retrieval systems or transmitted in any form without prior permission of the<br />

publisher.<br />

2


COMMUNITY<br />

SEARCH FOR<br />

A HERO<br />

WINNERS FOR JUNE/JULY<br />

This month winners, Kari and Dan (left)<br />

were nominated by Copnor resident<br />

Yvonne (below)<br />

♪ Neighbours, everybody needs good<br />

neighbours... ♪ and I certainly know<br />

that Yvonne, who nominated this<br />

month’s winner would agree with<br />

these lyrics!<br />

Yvonne, from Copnor wrote in to tell us<br />

about her amazing Neighbours Kari, Dan<br />

and family.<br />

‘I would like to nominate my next door<br />

neighbours as heroes. Kari and Dan and<br />

their children, are a busy working family<br />

but they are always on hand to help<br />

neighbours with shopping, in times of<br />

sickness, etc. If they hear any loud bumps<br />

from my house they come in to make sure<br />

I am in one piece. They walk my dog when<br />

they see I am struggling.<br />

Another neighbour’s wife was taken into<br />

a care home at Christmas and he was<br />

looking to spend Christmas day on his own.<br />

Despite the lockdown Kari and Dan made<br />

sure he had a Christmas dinner. I too, have<br />

lost count of the number of times a Sunday<br />

roast is forthcoming from them.<br />

Dan is always on hand and will do jobs<br />

around the house for me. During lockdown<br />

last year a middle portion of the<br />

garden fence was taken down and every<br />

3<br />

Saturday, on either side of the fence,<br />

tables were dressed and we collaborated<br />

each week on the provision of a dinner.<br />

Throughout the whole pandemic, the family<br />

has ensured I am never lonely with lovely<br />

chats over the garden fence.’<br />

Yvonne went on to explain that helping<br />

their neighbours is a family affair and<br />

Kari and Dan’s children are also willing<br />

volunteers to lend a hand by taking<br />

Yvonne’s dog for his evening stroll and<br />

baking delicious cakes.<br />

Just before Christmas, Yvonne took<br />

seriously ill and had to call on Kari and<br />

Dan for help. ‘They stayed with me and<br />

comforted me until the ambulance arrived.<br />

It was a relief knowing that if I had to go<br />

into hospital, my lovely neighbours would<br />

ensure that my dog and my house are both<br />

well cared for.<br />

I am lucky to have such neighbours, which<br />

is a view shared by many of the residents of<br />

our street. I would like to thank them from<br />

the bottom of my heart for all the little,<br />

many and varied things they do to help.’<br />

Get in touch with <strong>Pompey</strong> <strong>Mag</strong> if you<br />

too, would like to nominate your local<br />

community heroes.


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Are you having money<br />

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Have your benefits<br />

recently stopped?<br />

Are you having issues<br />

at work?<br />

We provide free, independent and<br />

confidential advice to people living<br />

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We can help you with General<br />

Specialist advice on Housing,<br />

Welfare Benefits, Debt,<br />

Employment, General Family issues<br />

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We are also available on Webchat<br />

Follow us on Facebook, Instagram<br />

and Twitter


ENTERTAINMENT<br />

Louise Howitt, who played Nurse<br />

Deborah Kendall in the popular<br />

Aussie soap talks to Darren Gray<br />

for <strong>Pompey</strong> <strong>Mag</strong>, about her time on<br />

the much-loved show and a<br />

cherished visit to Portsmouth.<br />

Over the past few decades the cast, crew<br />

and fans of the classic Australian soap<br />

opera, The Young Doctors, have been<br />

campaigning to get the show released on<br />

DVD. That perseverance has finally paid off<br />

and the first 250 episodes of the serial are being<br />

released on DVD on the 16th June.<br />

The Young Doctors followed the lives and loves<br />

of the patients and staff of the Albert Memorial<br />

Hospital where kiosk lady Ada Simmonds<br />

(Gwen Plumb) kept the gossip flowing, and<br />

where romance was the order of the day.<br />

The <strong>Pompey</strong> <strong>Mag</strong> from her home in Australia<br />

Louise said, “I had been wanting to visit<br />

Portsmouth for some time and when the<br />

chance came up I grabbed the opportunity. I<br />

loved Portsmouth and found the people to be<br />

very friendly and welcoming. I relished visiting<br />

HMS Victory and then the Mary Rose, and<br />

spent hours in awe at the Historic Dockyard. It<br />

was such an eye-opener to see so much history<br />

and another highlight was going to the Isle of<br />

Wight to visit Osborne House, where I got to<br />

learn more about Queen Victoria, Prince Albert<br />

and their family life.”<br />

The series became the longest-running<br />

commercial television drama in Australian<br />

television history, a record which is now held<br />

by Neighbours, and it was a ratings winner<br />

for both ITV and Sky One on this side of the<br />

world. The show was particularly popular in<br />

our ITV viewing region and in the days before<br />

the internet The Young Doctors Appreciation<br />

Society was based in Portsmouth boasting<br />

more than 8000 members worldwide.<br />

Louise Howitt played the spoilt nurse Deborah<br />

Kendall in the series and when she visited<br />

Portsmouth in 2016 she was delighted to be<br />

able to appear on the local television station,<br />

That’s Solent, to reminisce about her time at<br />

the Albert Memorial Hospital. Speaking to<br />

5<br />

“I loved Portsmouth and<br />

found the people to be very<br />

friendly and welcoming.”<br />

Louise starred with John Inman in an<br />

Australian tour of the comedy Pyjama Tops,<br />

and has appeared in a raft of Australian<br />

television programmes which we’ve enjoyed<br />

in the UK including Young Ramsay, The<br />

Henderson Kids, A Country Practice, E Street,<br />

Skyways, Prime Time and Cop Shop, but<br />

she’ll probably be best known to British<br />

television viewers for her work on The Young<br />

Doctors.<br />

Louise said, “We are all very excited that The<br />

Young Doctors is finally coming to DVD and<br />

cannot wait to view our past efforts. I actually<br />

haven’t seen many episodes that I was in as the<br />

workload at the time was immense. So, this<br />

is an opportunity to see ourselves as young,<br />

vibrant actors enjoying working together.<br />

At the time we were breaking new ground in<br />

Australian television and it was an honour to be<br />

part of such a long-running show.”


Louise continued, “I have such wonderful<br />

memories of working on The Young Doctors<br />

and met and worked with so many friends who<br />

are still in my life. The cast and crew were very<br />

special and we had so much fun. One of my<br />

favourite memories is the scene where Sister<br />

Scott was castigating my character for being an<br />

extremely irresponsible nurse. My character<br />

was furious, as she was a very spoilt, rich girl<br />

and resented mopping the hospital floors. I<br />

had a super time picking up the bucket full of<br />

water and tossing it over Sister Scott … a scene<br />

to remember. One take was all we had and we<br />

got it right!”<br />

In this first DVD box set Deborah Kendall<br />

is pushed into becoming a nurse in order to<br />

claim her inheritance, and the fierce Sister<br />

Grace Scott (played by Cornelia Frances of<br />

Home & Away fame) is jilted at the alter on her<br />

wedding day. Medical superintendent Dr Brian<br />

Denham (Michael Beecher) is shocked to learn<br />

that his wife Laura (Joanna Moore-Smith)<br />

has been having an affair, and their son Toby<br />

(Rodney Bell) ends up on the critical list after a<br />

hit and run incident.<br />

Several members of the hospital staff find<br />

themselves on the suspect list when a wealthy<br />

patient is murdered, and good time girl Nurse<br />

Jo Jo Adams (Delvene Delaney) starts playing<br />

with fire when she begins an affair with a much<br />

older married man. Elsewhere orderly Dennis<br />

Jamison (Chris King) develops a serious<br />

gambling habit, and there is heartache for the<br />

prickly Dr Graham Steele (Tim Page) when he<br />

falls for the charms of a terminally ill nightclub<br />

singer.<br />

Familiar faces appearing in these episodes<br />

include movie star Russell Crowe and the<br />

British born comedian Ugly Dave Gray who<br />

stars as Bunny Howard, the proprietor of the<br />

local watering hole Bunny’s Place.<br />

UK based fans of The Young Doctors can order<br />

the first DVD box set of the series directly from<br />

the website of Via Vision Entertainment.<br />

https://viavision.com.au/shop/theyoung-doctors-collection-one/<br />

We offer hassle-free web<br />

design service that will take<br />

care of all your website<br />

needs.<br />

02393 382 387<br />

07479 966060<br />

richard.search@itseeze.com<br />

itseeze-portsmouth.co.uk<br />

Watch our video here


SPECIAL<br />

Have you heard of GoodGym?<br />

We are a community of runners, walkers<br />

and cyclists who get fit by doing good. We<br />

will use our runs, walks and cycles to get us<br />

to community projects and organisations<br />

where we will help out with practical tasks.<br />

GoodGym was originally set up in London<br />

in 2009 and arrived in Portsmouth in early<br />

May 2018. We have now completed over<br />

4000 good deeds as a group! These have<br />

included many litter picks in parks and<br />

on our beaches; planting trees; painting<br />

walls and picnic tables; clearing school<br />

playgrounds; digging over planting areas<br />

and allotments; sorting food parcels and<br />

even helping out at the vaccination clinics.<br />

the red t-shirt but you don’t have to be a<br />

member to take part.<br />

Would you like our help?<br />

If you are reading this and you work for a<br />

charity, school, voluntary or not for profit<br />

organisation or group, then please let us<br />

know if you would like our help!<br />

You can request us via the<br />

website: www.goodgym.org/<br />

areas/portsmouth/request-a-task<br />

or email Katie who looks after<br />

the Portsmouth area: katie.cr@<br />

goodgym.org<br />

Come and join us!<br />

If you are interested in getting involved,<br />

you don’t need to be a super fit athlete<br />

(although athletes are welcome too!), you<br />

just need to be willing to get involved. As<br />

restrictions ease, we plan to go back to<br />

doing good deeds in bigger groups so there<br />

will be plenty of lovely people to meet and<br />

chat to while you volunteer. You must<br />

sign up on our website to attend any of the<br />

sessions. www.goodgym.org We would<br />

love you to become a member and wear<br />

7<br />

NB. Images taken pre-covid restrictions


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HEALTH<br />

What does Hypnotherapy actually do<br />

for us? It’s all about mindset…<br />

So, here’s the thing, hypnotherapy specialists,<br />

specialise in the language of the mind.<br />

Our minds are so clever, wonderful and so<br />

powerful. What we believe is true, is true. No<br />

matter if anyone tells us different. So, if we<br />

hold on to negative thoughts and emotions,<br />

those will become the normal mindset for us,<br />

whether we “claim” we want them or not.<br />

Fears and phobias, habits and<br />

addictions<br />

Because of these negative thoughts and<br />

emotions, we can find ourselves with<br />

unwanted fears or phobias, habits and even<br />

addictions. We can be led to believe that we<br />

connect flying with fear, or we HAVE to have<br />

at least 4 chocolate biscuits to make us happy<br />

– 3 just won’t do…. It sneaks up on us. Think<br />

about it; we weren’t born afraid to fly or<br />

hankering after that whole packet of chocolate<br />

digestives… we have to learn to do this – we<br />

have to repeat this behaviour in order to learn<br />

it…. We are actually more in control than we<br />

give ourselves credit for.<br />

Bad stuff does happen, even to positive<br />

people<br />

Sometimes, things happen and of course, we<br />

9<br />

have every right to NOT feel great about that<br />

thing. That’s cool. But what if that one thing<br />

stays with us, for a long time, for a very long<br />

time… forever?<br />

Now, know this, some people love this –<br />

they enjoy being in a certain situation and<br />

they don’t want to change it. I have a few<br />

people in my own circle who are like this.<br />

They have access to me – they have access to<br />

make changes, but they choose not to… why?<br />

Because they are not unhappy where they<br />

are! I might look at them and wonder why<br />

on earth they would decide to live unhappily,<br />

but some people don’t know another way. Or<br />

just don’t want another way. Sometimes this<br />

becomes a part of someone’s identity and<br />

it won’t ever change. If they decide later in<br />

their lives to do something differently, this<br />

will be when they are ready and they will find<br />

a solution.<br />

Getting back to<br />

where you want<br />

to be<br />

However, the people<br />

that do reach out,<br />

demand change<br />

from me and that’s<br />

what they get.<br />

Lasting changes.<br />

Massive mindset<br />

By Claire Butcher


shifts. Considerable changes in attitudes and<br />

happiness levels.<br />

The number of times after a session, my<br />

clients describe feeling “lighter”, “as if a<br />

weight has been lifted”, “feel so different”…<br />

the list goes on.<br />

So, if a mindset shift; a lasting mindset shift<br />

is something that is of interest to you, or<br />

perhaps someone you know – let them know,<br />

Hypnotherapy is a lasting mindset solution!<br />

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FIONA HEATH,<br />

Explains the<br />

difference between a<br />

Registrar and a<br />

Celebrant, to help<br />

make your special<br />

day as unique as<br />

you are.<br />

If Church weddings aren’t for you then<br />

consider a Celebrant led ceremony. Just<br />

as Celebrants can’t issue death certificates,<br />

they can’t issue marriage certificates either –<br />

you need to do this on the day at your chosen<br />

venue, as long as it is licenced and there is a<br />

government official, commonly known as<br />

the Registrar present, or beforehand at your<br />

local Registry Office.<br />

The day should be all about you and your<br />

partner, your interests, your story, that’s<br />

not to say you can’t have traditional vows<br />

or wording for your ceremony, but you also<br />

can write your own and involve friends<br />

and family. Readings can be from favourite<br />

poems, or books, or simply a close friend<br />

telling everyone why you and your partner<br />

should spend the rest of your life together.<br />

Religious text and prayers can be included.<br />

The choice of music is endless and is very<br />

personal, this can be recorded music, a live<br />

band or a singer.<br />

The Celebrant led ceremony can be a long<br />

or short as you like, and can include a<br />

procession, introduction, exchange of vows<br />

and rings, perhaps a unity ritual such as<br />

lighting a candle, pouring sand, tying hands<br />

with a ribbon or jumping the broom. Then<br />

follows the declaration of marriage and<br />

the kiss.<br />

Your choice of venue reflects your interests or<br />

love of the outdoors – the seaside, countryside<br />

or your own garden. In Portsmouth the more<br />

unusual licenced venues are the City Museum,<br />

Groundlings Theatre, Guildhall or HMS<br />

Warrior to name a few. But if you marry<br />

before in a Registry Office you can hold your<br />

ceremony anywhere, given the landowners<br />

permission, if applicable!<br />

The time you and your partner spend with<br />

your Celebrant, with all parties getting to<br />

know each other, will enable the creation of<br />

a unique wedding ceremony and beautiful<br />

memories that will last a lifetime.<br />

11


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12


Ramblings<br />

of a Geriatric<br />

Gardener<br />

By B.E. Norman<br />

The heady days of summer - this is the<br />

time of year for relaxation and, if you<br />

are still slaving away for a living, for<br />

holidays. Not a lot to do in the garden<br />

except the ever present weeding and<br />

also sowing vegetables for succession.<br />

On the subject of weeding, the onions are now<br />

in the stage of bulbing-up. At this time they<br />

do not need any further nitrogen, so leave the<br />

annual weeds in the onion bed to mop up any<br />

excess nitrogen. Mind you, it is a good idea to<br />

remove any pernicious annual weeds such as<br />

oxalis, pearl wort, hairy bittercress, etc., also to<br />

remove the flower stems of such as shepherds<br />

purse, chickweed and grounsel.<br />

One of the seed catalogues that regularly drops<br />

onto my doormat made its appearance earlier<br />

this year and had in it a pull-out section to<br />

assist you in planning your veg garden and<br />

recording the results. I found this rather odd as<br />

I have been doing this for years and assumed<br />

that everyone did it - apparently not. I have a<br />

four-ring binder in which I have detailed plans<br />

of rose garden, shrubs and roses on fences and<br />

trellis, the details of fruit trees and bushes and<br />

an eight year rotation plan for the vegetable<br />

garden ( I have eight raised beds).These are<br />

all at the back of the book. The contents at the<br />

front build up each year into a record of what<br />

went where and when, when it germinated,<br />

flowered and cropped. I use A4 card (more<br />

durable) and each year the first entry is a<br />

double facing page plan of the vegetable beds<br />

with (lightly in pencil) what group is going<br />

in each bed, e.g. early potatoes, beans, peas,<br />

13<br />

winter greens etc. During the year this plan<br />

is updated with the details of what actually<br />

happened – for example, in the bed for summer<br />

veg last year there were 6 sections, one of<br />

which was: 4x courgettes Defender 06-05-20 –<br />

through 12-05-20. The pea bed had one entry:<br />

pea Hurst Greenshaft own seed -10 rows<br />

planted 14-03-20 – through 27-03 - first flower<br />

27-05 - first pick 22-06 - last pick 07-07 - total<br />

crop 25lb 10oz.<br />

Immediately following the plan is a record (in<br />

pencil) of every significant event that actually<br />

happened. For example, a couple of random<br />

items from this year’s record: pea Hurst<br />

Greenshaft own seed 13 rows of 65 peas sown<br />

usual method -09-03-21: shallot Red Sun,<br />

feed of onion fertiliser hoed in 24-03-21: plum<br />

Blaisdon Red, first blossom 01-04-21:potato<br />

Cara showing through – dressed potato<br />

fertiliser hoed in then final earth up 13-04-21.<br />

The notes last year ran to 6 pages.<br />

We have a full set of solar panels (PV) fitted<br />

to the roof and each day I record the reading<br />

on the input meter which gives an indication<br />

of how much sun we have had. I also record<br />

whether it was cloudy or raining, and the<br />

max and min temperatures. So I have a fairly<br />

comprehensive record of what has happened<br />

in the garden and what the weather was like at<br />

any time.<br />

Now that the weather is turning sunny and<br />

(dare I say it HOT??) there is a possibility<br />

of the compost heaps drying out. The late


Brian Kidd who wrote a weekly column in the<br />

Evening News had the perfect solution – in<br />

more ways than one!! He always recommended<br />

a solution of one part urine to seven parts<br />

water, sprinkled on. It always puzzled me how<br />

he got the urine!! What a lovely chap Brian<br />

was. As Secretary and Show Secretary of a local<br />

Horticultural Society I had the pleasure of<br />

hearing him lecture (always most interesting<br />

and amusing – his fund of anecdotes seemed<br />

inexhaustible) and also to steward him<br />

and then entertain him to lunch when he<br />

occasionally judged the horticultural produce<br />

at our village show.<br />

Do you find it difficult to fill a watering can<br />

from an outside tap? I used to get wet trousers<br />

and splashed shoes every time, from a tap<br />

that insisted in giving its water in a wide cone,<br />

almost a spray!! The answer, I found by trial<br />

and error, was to attach a short length of hose<br />

to a spare hose-to-tap coupler. When attached<br />

to the tap, the end of the hose was an inch or so<br />

above the neck of the can. Result – a stream of<br />

water rather than a spray, going straight into<br />

the can - perfect .<br />

This might a be a little bit late, but is worth<br />

saying. When your winter brassicas (Brussels<br />

sprouts, purple sprouting broccoli, spring<br />

greens etc) have given of their best and you are<br />

not cropping them any more, if you can spare<br />

the space, leave them in the ground and remove<br />

any netting you might have used against<br />

cabbage white butterflies or pigeons. As they go<br />

to seed, they produce masses of single yellow<br />

flowers that are loved by bees (solitary, bumble<br />

and honey) and hover flies, all of which are<br />

beneficial in the garden, especially now your<br />

February/March sown broad beans and peas<br />

are in flower.<br />

14


LASH<br />

WHIP<br />

(28)<br />

HEALTH<br />

fractured left<br />

Scaphoid<br />

(11)<br />

WHOLE<br />

PERSON<br />

HEALTH<br />

By Claire Odd of Restoring Balance<br />

Your health is more than just where<br />

you feel pain, it’s a story. Your body’s story<br />

is rich; with many dimensions, including<br />

your personal experience, relationships,<br />

family history, feelings and emotions, culture,<br />

gender, spirituality, personal trauma, and<br />

much more. All of this comes together to form<br />

the person in front of me in clinic.<br />

Traditional Western medicine treats the<br />

symptoms and not the cause; in the world<br />

of whole-person health, or person-centered<br />

care, it’s about understanding the cause and<br />

effects of the symptoms that you have and<br />

the complex interplay that happens between<br />

them. This means accounting for your own<br />

body story, which is yours and yours alone.<br />

Even if you have the same health condition as<br />

one of your friends, you will both have<br />

separate, personal experiences of it. Using a<br />

whole-person approach, the work that we<br />

undertake together in clinic will be different to<br />

that of your friend with the same condition.<br />

How does this change what happens in clinic?<br />

Here in clinic, I bring together a unique mix of<br />

therapeutic disciplines to use as appropriate,<br />

which respect and safely challenge the<br />

interplay between them.<br />

Understanding & Mindset – being able to<br />

meet you where you’re at on your journey,<br />

understanding what your goals and drivers<br />

are.<br />

Emotional Health – being able to<br />

understand how your thoughts, feelings and<br />

15<br />

experiences shape how you respond to events;<br />

nearly all of our physical trauma and injuries<br />

have an emotional component to them.<br />

Nutrition – the food that we eat plays<br />

a significant role in influencing our bio<br />

chemistry and hormones. In simple terms the<br />

foods that we eat can make our body feel<br />

nourished and nurtured or they can deplete<br />

and drain us. The foods that deplete and<br />

drain us contribute towards inflammation in<br />

the body. Longer term inflammation can<br />

lead to ill health and pain.<br />

Lifestyle Choices – helping you understand<br />

how your lifestyles choices can impact<br />

your health e.g. stress, endotoxins and<br />

contraception.<br />

Movement Rehabilitation - this is the<br />

classic bodywork practice that you’ll be largely<br />

familiar with if we’ve worked together before.<br />

Why is this approach important?<br />

By working with this approach it’s possible to<br />

make positive changes to your health, rather<br />

than chasing endless symptoms, we actually<br />

get to the root cause<br />

of what is happening<br />

for you.<br />

The body is clever, it<br />

always wants to be<br />

in a state of balance,<br />

this means that it<br />

will make crazy short<br />

cuts and cheats in<br />

how we move, think


for the weekend?<br />

"Plans<br />

Let me think.....<br />

Mine?<br />

ironing, mopping,<br />

Laundry,<br />

and tidying.<br />

dusting<br />

Debbie at THE HOUSEWIFE WAY FOR<br />

CALL<br />

INFORMATION<br />

MORE<br />

and feel in order to preserve that balance –<br />

another term that you may have heard used is<br />

‘compensations’. It is resisting certain<br />

movements or using additional muscles to<br />

make sure you feel safe and remain balanced<br />

and prevent further harm or injury. It’s not just<br />

restricted to movements and muscles, but the<br />

same applies for our thoughts and feelings and<br />

the inner narrative that we tell ourselves.<br />

Want to feel<br />

great again?<br />

A refreshingly different approach to health,<br />

Using the whole-person approach it’s possible<br />

to find the first cheat the body put in place as<br />

a protective mechanism and start to re-write<br />

the instructions. We can show the body that<br />

there is an alternative approach that is more<br />

efficient. Commonly, we can show that the<br />

negative belief we’ve always held or associated<br />

with an event can be changed, so that you<br />

can move on from the pattern that has been<br />

holding you back.<br />

combination of movement, nutrition & mind to<br />

help you<br />

Relieve Pain<br />

Increase mobility<br />

Change your relationship with your scar<br />

Improve balance & stability<br />

Improve co-ordination<br />

Calm your stress & anxiety<br />

Improve your digestive health<br />

Balance your hormones<br />

Change your mind set<br />

Emotional health coaching<br />

wellbeing & rehabilitation using a unique<br />

If you’ve got a long-standing issue that’s being<br />

hanging around for a while, maybe it’s time to<br />

take a whole person approach?<br />

www.restoring-balance.co.uk<br />

restoringbalancetm<br />

www.restoring-balance.co.uk restoringbalancetm<br />

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Neuromuscular Testing | ScarWork<br />

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Want more time to yourself?<br />

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www.thehousewifeway.co.uk<br />

16


TECH<br />

BY R.S.<br />

How the revolution in battery technology<br />

is changing our lives.<br />

The humble battery has been with us for<br />

220 years since Allesandro Volta first<br />

invented his “voltaic pile”, but battery<br />

technology didn’t advance significantly<br />

until Sony commercialised the lithium-ion<br />

(Li-ion) battery in 1991 and just 6 years later<br />

lithium polymer batteries (Li-po) were released<br />

which are now found in most smartphones.<br />

Li-ion and Li-po batteries have been key to<br />

the development of smartphones and electric<br />

cars, as well as wireless power and garden<br />

tools, drones, and robotic home devices such as<br />

lawnmowers and vacuum cleaners.<br />

Climate Change concerns have now<br />

turbocharged the focus on resolving the<br />

limitations of existing Li-ion batteries, and in<br />

the UK, with the ban on the sale of petrol and<br />

diesel cars in just 9 years, it is looking like we<br />

are on the cusp of radical societal change.<br />

As technology advances in Solar Panels and<br />

they reduce in price, the long pay back times to<br />

make them a good investment are beginning to<br />

shorten. “Powerwalls” (basically big batteries)<br />

are now being installed to take advantage of<br />

Solar and off peak cheap grid electricity by<br />

storing either daytime sunshine for evening use<br />

or night time cheap rate electricity to use the<br />

following day.<br />

Imagine a world of batteries which lasted ages,<br />

and charged at lightning speed, where laptops<br />

17<br />

and smartphones would be back to 100% in<br />

less than a minute! No more hunting for the<br />

charging lead in a panic when you are on 2%.<br />

Let’s take a look at the near future:<br />

Drones – Amazon and Takeaway deliveries<br />

can now arrive much more quickly as they<br />

travel “as the crow flies”. Search and Rescue<br />

missions are now locating people in remote<br />

locations, using multiple drones which can<br />

scour the area for long periods using onboard<br />

cameras and deliver supplies.<br />

Transport – electric cars can be refuelled as<br />

quickly as a petrol vehicle, and can get you to<br />

Scotland on a single charge, resulting in full<br />

adoption by drivers. Noise and fumes have<br />

reduced, and pollution related illnesses are<br />

rapidly in decline. Property prices of houses<br />

and flats located on main roads go up. Drone<br />

taxis become viable, and electric short haul<br />

flights will be widespread and enable fast<br />

transport to more local areas as noise pollution<br />

disappears – every town has a short runway.<br />

Outside Events – your visit to a Camping<br />

site, a Music Festival or a Country Fair now<br />

has site batteries providing refrigeration, TV’s<br />

(via a projector) cooking and heating - noisy,<br />

heavy, diesel powered generators have gone.<br />

Battery packs linked to portable solar panels<br />

have become smaller, lighter and much more<br />

powerful enabling home comforts on the go.<br />

Living “off grid” – no longer the domain<br />

of the slightly bonkers tree-hugging brigade,<br />

who shunned modern day conveniences. You


can now live in more remote locations, with<br />

water pumped, purified and heated by electric<br />

battery – post-Covid this is now very attractive<br />

to people looking for a more rural life. 5G/6G<br />

is enabling remote working anywhere.<br />

Exo-skeletons – people can now lift big<br />

weights that they could not previously, without<br />

the risk of injury. Wheelchair users can “walk”<br />

for long periods, entering old buildings and<br />

exploring the wilderness.<br />

Robots –Boston Dynamics human and dog<br />

sized robots have become commonplace,<br />

which mimic the movements of both. They are<br />

set to mundane tasks carrying out duties which<br />

are now less popular for people, are dangerous<br />

or are uneconomic, such as fruit and vegetable<br />

picking.<br />

Meanwhile for the environment, longer<br />

lasting batteries mean far less recycling, and<br />

if Lithium is replaced, less mining of this rare<br />

mineral. As we become more reliant on electric<br />

power, the drive for solar, wind and wave<br />

TECH<br />

energy will be given further impetus.<br />

So is this years away? Perhaps not. By pushing<br />

existing battery technology, Tesla, VW,<br />

Renault, Kia and Vauxhall cars already have<br />

ranges of 250-350 miles, electric commercial<br />

flights have started and exo-skeletons are used<br />

now. Intensive Research and Development<br />

in battery tech is yielding some exciting<br />

results. The Israeli company StoreDot has<br />

demonstrated a “5 minute charge” car battery<br />

known as XFC, and shown smartphones fully<br />

charging in just 30 seconds. Companies are<br />

working on Graphene Aluminium-ion batteries<br />

to replace Lithium, with one Australian firm<br />

(GMG) claiming that their battery cells show<br />

promise of 60 times quicker charging, that<br />

are safer and last 3 times longer than Li-ion<br />

equivalents.<br />

I wonder what Senor Volta would have made<br />

of all this? I’m certain that our wonderful<br />

<strong>Pompey</strong> <strong>Mag</strong> distributors are looking forward<br />

to receiving their battery powered trolleys some<br />

day!<br />

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18


at your wardrobe. What do you have<br />

look<br />

you are going to wear over the next<br />

that<br />

„tyllliisst<br />

Wiith<br />

Jooooonneeeeess<br />

Jeeeeennnniiffeeeeer<br />

SPECIAL<br />

Asss ttthhhheeeee sssuuummmmeeeeerr faasssttt aapppprroooaacchhhheeeeesss aannnd iiiittt’’sss llliiiikkeeeeellly ttthhhhaattt weeeee’’llllll beeeee mmuuucchhhh mmooorreeeee sssooocciiiiaalll aasss weeeee ccooommeeeee<br />

ooouuuttt ooof COVID-19 rreeeeessstttrriiiicctttiiiiooonnnsss, yooouuu mmiiiighhhhttt beeeee ppaannniiiicckkiiiinnng ttthhhhaattt yooouuurr waarrdrrooobeeeee juuusssttt iiiisssnnn’’ttt rreeeeeaady<br />

Feeeeeaarr nnnooottt... ttthhhhaattt’’sss whhhheeeeerreeeee I ccooommeeeee iiiinnn Asss yooouuurr }eeeeerrsssooonnnaalll „tttyllliiiisssttt, I’’mm hhhheeeeerreeeee tttooo hhhheeeeelllpp yooouuu geeeeettt yooouuurr<br />

waarrdrrooobeeeee rreeeeeaady fooorr eeeeeveeeeerryttthhhhiiiinnng ttthhhhaattt ttthhhhiiiisss sssuuummmmeeeeerr wiiiillllll brriiiinnng.<br />

My jooob iiiisssnnn’’ttt juuusssttt tttooo mmaakkeeeee sssuuurreeeee yooouuu lllooooookk aammaaziiiinnng, iiiittt’’sss aalllsssooo kkeeeeey ttthhhhaattt I eeeeennnsssuuurreeeee yooouuu ooonnnllly iiiinnnveeeeesssttt<br />

iiiinnn ttthhhheeeee ppiiiieeeeecceeeeesss ooof cclllooottthhhhiiiinnng ttthhhhaattt wooorrkk fooorr yooouuu aannnd yooouuurr llliiiifeeeeessstttyllleeeee. „ooo whhhheeeeennn yooouuu’’rreeeee geeeeettttttiiiinnng<br />

rreeeeeaady fooorr ttthhhheeeee ssseeeeeaasssooonnnsss aahhhheeeeeaad, hhhheeeeerreeeee’’sss juuusssttt fiiiiveeeee sssttteeeeeppsss yooouuu ccaannn fooollllllooow ttthhhhaattt wiiiillllll tttaakkeeeee yooouuu frrooomm<br />

feeeeeeeeeellliiiinnng ssstttrreeeeesssssseeeeed aannnd oooveeeeerrwhhhheeeeelllmmeeeeed tttooo beeeeeiiiinnng pprreeeeeppaarreeeeed aannnd ccooonnnfiiiideeeeennnttt ttthhhhaattt eeeeeveeeeerryttthhhhiiiinnng iiiinnn<br />

yooouuurr waarrdrrooobeeeee iiiisss goooiiiinnng tttooo ssseeeeerrveeeee yooouuu...<br />

2. Build a shopping list - write down every<br />

item of clothing that you need. Consider<br />

what plans you’ve made for the summer,<br />

i.e. friend’s bbq or a summer holiday.<br />

the list is down on paper (or in your<br />

Once<br />

you’ll have a plan in place of what<br />

phone)<br />

you need to get when you go shopping,<br />

will help ensure you only buy what’s<br />

which<br />

Treat it like you would a food<br />

needed.<br />

shopping list!<br />

1. Spot the gaps - take just one hour to<br />

to six months? What are you<br />

three<br />

Take out anything you cannot<br />

missing?<br />

wear in the summer months and put them<br />

away, whether that’s in the loft or in<br />

another storage area in your home.<br />

19


tricky to do but try to stay focused<br />

more<br />

your list and be picky. Only buy what<br />

with<br />

yooooou’’vvvveeeee ffooooollllllooooowwweeeeed theeeeesseeeee ffiivvvveeeee ssteeeeepss tooooo<br />

Affteeeeer<br />

yooooour wwwardrooooobeeeee reeeeeady ffooooor theeeee ssummeeeeer<br />

geeeeet<br />

lllooooovvvveeeee tooooo knnooooowww hooooowww yooooou gooooot ooooonn„eeeeennd meeeee<br />

I’’d<br />

eeeeemaiilll vvvviia iinnffooooo@jeeeeennnniiffeeeeerjooooonneeeeesstyllliinng.cooooom<br />

ann<br />

take the plunge and book a<br />

prepared,<br />

out in your diary to take some real<br />

day<br />

in the time to get your wardrobe<br />

planning<br />

can make all the difference. And<br />

ready<br />

don’t forget to stick to your list (as much<br />

5. Double check everything - so you’ve<br />

every item, ask yourself the<br />

For<br />

does this go with two or more<br />

question...<br />

yooooou’’d llliikeeeee my heeeeelllp tooooo reeeeevvvvamp yooooour sstyllleeeee thiiss ssummeeeeer pllleeeeeasseeeee geeeeet iinn tooooouch vvvviia my<br />

Iff<br />

at wwwwwwwww.jeeeeennnniiffeeeeerjooooonneeeeesssstyllliinng.cooooom.<br />

wwweeeeebssiiteeeee<br />

3. Go shopping - now you’re fully<br />

time and get everything that you<br />

me<br />

Of course you can do this <strong>online</strong><br />

need.<br />

but it’s likely that it will take you longer as<br />

trust me, you’ll get distracted. Just<br />

as possible!)<br />

4. Only buy what works - this is a little bit<br />

makes you feel amazing. If something isn’t<br />

right for you - it’s not the best colour for<br />

your skin tone or the right silhouette for<br />

your body shape, walk on by. Trust me,<br />

this way of shopping will change your life!<br />

up the best colours for your skin<br />

picked<br />

the styles that make you feel good<br />

tone,<br />

they’re the right items from your list.<br />

and<br />

do they work with the rest of your<br />

But<br />

current wardrobe and other purchases?<br />

things I’ve already bought or plan to<br />

buy? If the answer is no, question<br />

whether you need it.


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How the investment<br />

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The consequences of the coronavirus<br />

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21<br />

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A more realistic rate of change<br />

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The biggest crisis now is clearly COVID-19,<br />

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The environmental gains from the pandemic<br />

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22


PUZZLE<br />

CROSSWORD<br />

ACROSS<br />

1 Exhibit hall, studio (7)<br />

5 An aqualung (5)<br />

9 Uproariously funny (5-8)<br />

10 Sweaters and cardigans (8)<br />

11 Conform, comply (4)<br />

12 Advertising (9)<br />

16 Butt, remnant (4)<br />

17 Crashed (8)<br />

19 A pirate might bury one! (8,5)<br />

21 Brownish green (5)<br />

22 Pursuing (7)<br />

DOWN<br />

2 In pain, hurting (6)<br />

3 Source of illumination (5,4)<br />

4 Cider With _____, novel by<br />

Laurie Lee (5)<br />

6 Casual hat (3)<br />

7 Slang for sausage (6)<br />

8 Cloth, textile (6)<br />

11 Large flightless birds (9)<br />

13 Imprison (4,2)<br />

14 Complex carbohydrate (6)<br />

15 English naval hero (6)<br />

18 Blood-sucking worm (5)<br />

20 Biblical ship built by Noah (3)<br />

SOLUTION ON PAGE 49<br />

23


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PUZZLE<br />

SOLUTION ON PAGE 49<br />

26


HOBBIES<br />

I think if you want to achieve<br />

immortality, you can if you write a<br />

book. Books never really disappear.<br />

Especially today with digital versions.<br />

But how do you do it? Where do you start?<br />

How do you publish? The task seems just<br />

massive<br />

although, judging by many adverts on social<br />

media the answers and help is available…if<br />

you’re prepared to part with a fair amount of<br />

cash for an answer that you still have to create<br />

and offers no guarantee.<br />

I just want to say that I am no expert in writing<br />

or book publishing but I have written and selfpublished<br />

two novels which have received a<br />

reasonable number of sales and am working<br />

on my third. So what I am going to say here is<br />

purely from my personal experience. It is what<br />

worked for me and I don’t think there is any<br />

reason why it shouldn’t work for you.<br />

I had been interested in writing a novel<br />

for quite a while. It was never a lifetime<br />

ambition and, to be honest, I am not what<br />

some might call a book or reading addict. It<br />

is just something I felt inspired to do. Many<br />

publications and experts etc. would suggest<br />

having a daily writing plan and special writing<br />

room and all the rest. I didn’t and don’t. Quite<br />

simply my approach was I had an idea. It was a<br />

character I liked the idea of and wanted to<br />

explore him. He was a rough, almost down<br />

and out looking ex-military man of middle age<br />

who I thought was the type of<br />

person that everyone ignores<br />

and would make an excellent<br />

person for security surveillance.<br />

27<br />

Local Author, Michael<br />

Birchmore, has some<br />

tips to get you started.<br />

He could sit on a bench in a shopping centre<br />

and watch people and nobody would notice. In<br />

actuality this turns out to be a technique used<br />

by professionals. But what setting could I put<br />

him in? What story line could I develop?<br />

One thing that often put me off writing was<br />

not knowing how the story would end. The<br />

author Stephen King said that his secret to<br />

successful writing was “read a lot, write a lot”.<br />

Like I said, I’m not the world’s biggest reader<br />

but I do think I’m observant. At the time I<br />

was pondering this there was a recruiting<br />

drive for the Royal Marines and a particular<br />

scene where a bunch of Marines had covertly<br />

crept up on an individual at night and capture<br />

him. That inspired my ending. It also gave<br />

me a background for Dogger in Marsh Water<br />

Murders.<br />

Some fictional private investigators have<br />

ex-military backgrounds. Strike by Robert<br />

Galbraith for example. One thing I have read a<br />

lot of is books by ex-servicemen about their in<br />

service lives. This, and watching documentaries<br />

and <strong>online</strong> research helped me create what I<br />

hope is an authentic character. But what of the<br />

storyline? It needed to be a crime. A murder.<br />

To catch the reader’s attention I devised a<br />

scenario that was quite extreme. A body hung<br />

in a church. I have to say that after this I didn’t<br />

know how the story was going to progress<br />

until the end that I had planned. So I thought<br />

I would just start and see where it took me.<br />

That is the basis of my whole<br />

writing technique.<br />

Writing to me is very much<br />

like painting a picture. You


have a rough idea of how you want it to look<br />

but as you go along you add bits here and take<br />

some bits away. You shape it as you go and<br />

that is what I did. Again to add authenticity I<br />

did include several events and scenarios<br />

that I had experienced in real life. What those<br />

were is my secret.<br />

Eventually the writing became a habit. I’d<br />

wake up in the morning with an idea for a<br />

new chapter and be eager to get it written<br />

before I forgot it. A good minimum word limit<br />

is about 80,000 words which is a lot. But<br />

persistence, enthusiasm and a regular writing<br />

habit got me there. Yes, there were days when<br />

I wasn’t inspired or able to write but I didn’t<br />

beat myself up over that. I just watched and<br />

waited.<br />

Eventually I came to a scenario that led me<br />

perfectly to the end and wow, what an ending<br />

it was. But what next? What do I do with it?<br />

Did I want to spend goodness knows how<br />

long trying to attract a publisher and deal<br />

with rejections? No. I was not concerned with<br />

selling masses. My sole intent was to write<br />

and publish a book. A novel. Fortunately I<br />

have two good friends of whom one was able<br />

to proof read and edit the book and another<br />

could design the cover, format it and get<br />

copies printed. Their fees were pretty much all<br />

I spent on it and their work was invaluable.<br />

Then with more research I found out how to<br />

publish my book as a paperback and Kindle<br />

version on Amazon. With just a few minor<br />

hiccups I eventually achieved my goal. “The<br />

Marsh Water Murders” was published.<br />

Still feeling the buzz of writing I quickly<br />

formulated an idea for a sequel which I<br />

started on pretty much immediately. That<br />

one, the “Red Fox”, was soon to follow. I had<br />

written and self-published two novels in one<br />

year! Both available in paperback and Kindle<br />

versions on Amazon. No, they’re not literary<br />

greats. But I still love reading them as much<br />

as I liked writing them and they look great<br />

on my bookshelf next to works by McNab,<br />

Galbraith, Doyle and more.<br />

Do I have a secret to successful writing? No,<br />

you just have to write. Give it a try.<br />

CHARITY<br />

We started the<br />

charity because<br />

of my story.<br />

Eight years<br />

ago I had<br />

emergency<br />

brain<br />

surgery<br />

which<br />

meant I went<br />

from working<br />

full time to not<br />

being able to go<br />

back to my job. By Becki Simmons<br />

During my<br />

recovery, I had a good network of help but<br />

some people don’t have that. We want to be<br />

that network.<br />

Before I started the charity I worked in the<br />

travel industry as a company secretary. I loved<br />

every moment. I was also a business mentor for<br />

a charity going into schools to inspire children<br />

to start their own business. After surgery, my<br />

life changed completely as I couldn’t go back<br />

to work and the normal life I once had. But<br />

eight years on I’m learning that it’s okay to be<br />

different and to be happy with the new person I<br />

am. Although I still get frustrated, it’s still okay.<br />

I just have to concentrate on things I can do<br />

and not the cards I have been dealt.<br />

At present, we are funding for our first-ever<br />

space in Portsmouth. We ran as a pilot scheme<br />

for nearly a year and it was a great success<br />

helping people who are lonely, those that have<br />

PTSD, mental health issues, or depression.<br />

We want to create a place for people to come<br />

and find community, a piece of cake and a<br />

chat. It’s amazing how many lonely people or<br />

socially-isolated people feel disconnected from<br />

the world. Spark is a place where people, at<br />

their own pace, can come and find the help and<br />

support they need. Spark support group have<br />

found a temporary home, meeting at Sherlocks<br />

Bar in Southsea. If you feel left out, left behind,<br />

lonely or just need a chat, pop down and find<br />

community. We meet every Tuesday and<br />

Wedsnesday between 11am and 2pm. For more<br />

information go to -<br />

www.sparkcommunityspace.co.uk<br />

28


NATURE<br />

By Andy Ames<br />

Wilder Portsmouth is a partnership<br />

project between Hampshire & Isle of<br />

Wight Wildlife Trust and Southern<br />

Co-op. The focus of this jointly funded<br />

initiative is to encourage people to take<br />

action to create and enhance the wild<br />

spaces where they live.<br />

We have a great opportunity in Portsmouth<br />

to help create wild spaces that are not only<br />

attractive to wildlife but an asset to our<br />

communities. Several green areas around<br />

Portsmouth’s streets, housing, flats, and<br />

apartments have been poorly designed and<br />

managed which means that both people and<br />

wildlife cannot enjoy them as much as they<br />

should be. Hampshire & Isle of Wight Wildlife<br />

Trust is working in partnership with Southern<br />

Co-op to make Portsmouth a wilder city.<br />

Wilder Portsmouth has worked with<br />

individuals, schools, and groups to adopt<br />

unloved spaces in the city and transform<br />

them into brighter, greener, and wilder areas<br />

for the whole community to enjoy and for<br />

wildlife to thrive in. Pupils from Brambles<br />

Infant School & Nursery planted wildflowers<br />

in abandoned planters in the streets outside<br />

the school and we’ve worked with Friends<br />

of the Earth volunteers to brighten up and<br />

replant flowerbeds in Derby Road, <strong>North</strong> <strong>End</strong>.<br />

We also provide individuals with resources<br />

and ideas to make their gardens more<br />

wildlife friendly, give grounds advice for<br />

schools, and work in collaboration with other<br />

environmental groups to spread our message.<br />

29<br />

Plus, we’ve been engaging people through<br />

other channels including working with artists<br />

on exhibitions and murals throughout the<br />

city.<br />

Join Wilder Portsmouth<br />

You can be a part of a Wilder Portsmouth by<br />

making your life and home a littler wilder.<br />

There are lots of ways you can create colourful<br />

wild spaces that are buzzing with life, no<br />

matter how small your space is. You can<br />

attach bird feeders to your windows, place<br />

plant pots on your doorsteps, or hang window<br />

boxes.<br />

You are not alone in your wilder<br />

journey.<br />

Our resources at hiwwt.org.uk/teamwilder-resources-and-toolkits<br />

can help<br />

you with ideas on how to get started and there<br />

are also over 700 people across Hampshire<br />

and the Isle of Wight who are making space<br />

for nature and sharing their wilder journeys<br />

with one another. You can have a look at all<br />

that they’re doing here: hiwwt.org.uk/jointeam-wilder<br />

Wilder is so much more than<br />

gardening<br />

Wilder is all about connections. Just as<br />

important as joining up the small spaces for<br />

wildlife, is coming together with other people<br />

to create positive changes in your area. We


now have three streets in Portsmouth where<br />

neighbours are working together to create<br />

stepping stones of green spaces for wildlife to<br />

pass through the city. If you don’t know your<br />

neighbours already, this is a great way and<br />

reason to reach out to them and get to know<br />

them a little better.<br />

NATURE<br />

making space for nature on their grounds<br />

and are connecting their congregation with<br />

nature. Among them are Trinity Church and<br />

All Saints. We also have a Wilder Schools<br />

programme where we give schools advice and<br />

support them to incorporate nature into their<br />

curricula. We train teachers as Wilder School<br />

leaders, outdoor learning tutors, and forest<br />

school leaders.<br />

We believe that everyone can do something for<br />

nature; it’s just a matter of finding what you’re<br />

passionate about, what skills you could share<br />

and how we can work towards common goals.<br />

Take your actions off the ground<br />

Current nature-loving Portsmouth residents<br />

on Tamworth Road and Francis Avenue have<br />

built bin shelters with green roofs, set up<br />

‘nature swap’ stalls for neighbours to share<br />

plants and seeds, created communal tubs for<br />

planting and growing, and are collaborating<br />

with the city council to reclaim small areas of<br />

abandoned scrub land.<br />

Wilder community spaces<br />

We work in other public spaces as well<br />

as residential ones. We’re working with a<br />

couple of churches in Portsmouth who are<br />

As well as practical actions on the ground,<br />

you could join forces with the community and<br />

call for your local council or others to play<br />

their part and help towards nature’s recovery.<br />

Portsmouth City Council plans to develop<br />

one of the last wild corners of Portsmouth<br />

Harbour in to a ‘super-peninsula’ by draining<br />

and concreting over a protected intertidal<br />

habitat. They want to build 3,500 new houses<br />

and a new 1million sq ft marine hub on the<br />

reclaimed coastal floodplain. However, this<br />

special area is protected as a Site of Special<br />

Scientific Interest (SSSI), a Special Protection<br />

Area (SPA) and a Ramsar Site in recognition<br />

of the value for wildlife.<br />

We need your help to stop this scheme from<br />

going any further. (hiwwt.org.uk/tipner)<br />

Be a part of #TeamWilder #WilderPortsmouth<br />

If you’ve been inspired to do something for<br />

nature today and want to find out more, please<br />

go to:<br />

hiwwt.org.uk/wilder-portsmouth or<br />

email wilder@hiwwt.org.uk.<br />

30


BREEDING &<br />

BOWLEY<br />

SERVICES<br />

FERTILITY<br />

Litter Whelping & Initial Raising.<br />

Insemination.<br />

Continued Support.<br />

Breeding.<br />

PETS<br />

Our very own dog expert,<br />

Kellie-Ann of Bowley Breeding<br />

with advice about keeping your<br />

dogs safe during the hot<br />

summer weather<br />

Well guys, looks like the summer is<br />

finally here!!....bikinis, shorts and<br />

flip flops but can you imagine 28<br />

degrees in a fur coat??!!, this is the<br />

dilemma faced by our dogs. Of course they<br />

can enjoy the sun just as we do, but with<br />

practical and sensible measures put in<br />

place.<br />

ALL dogs regardless of age, breed or fitness<br />

can develop heatstroke but some are even<br />

more susceptible, for example the older,<br />

younger, overweight and brachycephalic<br />

(flat faced) breeds.<br />

SIGNS OF HEATSTROKE:<br />

Glazed eyes, excessive thirst and dribbling,<br />

heavy/fast breathing, increased heart/<br />

pulse rate, dark gums, staggering<br />

and weakness, seizures, fitting and<br />

unconsciousness.<br />

WAYS TO AVOID HEATSTROKE:<br />

Fresh drinking water, shade in the garden,<br />

paddling pool, wet towels to lay on or<br />

cooling mats (readily available at pet shops<br />

or <strong>online</strong>), home made ice lollies, keeping<br />

your house nice and cool, bringing them<br />

indoors when it is hottest and lastly, only<br />

walk (if at all) very early or late in the day.<br />

No dog ever died from missing a walk!<br />

IMPORTANT FACT:<br />

IF YOU CAN’T LEAVE YOUR HANDS<br />

COMFORTABLY ON THE GROUND FOR<br />

ATLEAST 10 SECONDS IT CAN RESULT<br />

IN NASTY, PAINFUL BURNS ON YOUR<br />

DOGS PAWS.<br />

Also, in hot weather, never leave your<br />

dog in the car, not even with the windows<br />

down. HEATSTROKE KILLS, if you<br />

believe your dog is affected take them<br />

IMMEDIATELY to the vets. Please<br />

remember though that dogs will pant<br />

excessively when they are hot as this is<br />

their way of cooling down, but if you know<br />

your fur-babies, you will recognise the<br />

difference.<br />

As I said in the beginning, dogs can enjoy<br />

the nicer climate but extreme weathers<br />

can be completely detrimental to their<br />

health so just be responsible and you<br />

can not only achieve a Benidorm worthy<br />

‘Madges Mahogany’ tan but your hot-dogs<br />

will be cool, happy and safe too!!<br />

Kellie-Ann Bowley<br />

YOUR MOBILE K9 PROFESSIONAL<br />

Registered. Microchipping. Ultrasound<br />

Council<br />

Cytology. Semen Analysis. Artificial<br />

Scanning.<br />

07368 497998<br />

kellieannbowley@hotmail.com<br />

32


ENTERTAINMENT<br />

Welcome to my latest “encounters of<br />

the televisual kind”. I am writing during<br />

this strange “emerging from lockdown”<br />

phase where we are all hoping to be able<br />

to do many things that we haven’t done<br />

for months, such as putting on a shirt, or<br />

making conversation with strangers.<br />

I had my first proper pint in months with<br />

a friend outdoors and I’ve got to say it was<br />

amazing – bottled or canned beer is not the<br />

same. Being deprived of something for so long<br />

that you took for granted, just makes it so<br />

special!<br />

I wonder if telly watching will be like that. Of<br />

course you are rarely completely deprived of<br />

access to a TV, even in a hotel you have one,<br />

and these days you can watch on your portable<br />

devices and phones, provided you’ve got<br />

decent wireless or 4/5G signal. Maybe, with a<br />

bit less telly watching as we start eating and<br />

drinking out, playing football and doing more<br />

recreational shopping, we might appreciate it<br />

a bit more. We shall see. Sometimes there are<br />

great telly events which transcend the normal,<br />

such as the recently ended Line of Duty – what<br />

did you make of that ending? Much like Game<br />

of Thrones, there was a mixed reaction, but you<br />

know what, it is impossible to please everyone<br />

where a long running series has a big cult<br />

following. Let me know your thoughts on the<br />

“big reveal” of H (see Page 2 for details).<br />

I’m waffling again - let’s take a look at some of<br />

the better watches of the last few weeks.<br />

33<br />

Carry on Glamping (Channel 4, 2021, 4<br />

episodes, 47 mins each)<br />

What with things being a bit gloomy for<br />

the last few months, I was really pleased to<br />

discover this mini-series, as it did my mood<br />

no end of good. I am one of those people who<br />

don’t tend to seek out “feel good” movies or<br />

series, but what I have occasionally done is<br />

bumped into them (as was the case here)<br />

having seen trailers which peaked my interest,<br />

since I am one of those people that dreams of<br />

owning a Motorhome or Campervan.<br />

This is the amazing story of how the comedian<br />

Johnny Vegas decided (pre-Covid) that he<br />

wanted to create a unique glamping site made<br />

up of unusual and vintage vehicles. It starts<br />

with the incredulity of his entourage, who it<br />

seems are used to hearing from Johnny about<br />

his mad-cap ideas, which never happen. In the<br />

group is his long suffering PA, Bev, who is to<br />

become a key player in the dramas to come.<br />

The first vehicle acquired proves to be by some<br />

distance the most troublesome – a Maltese<br />

bus, bought <strong>online</strong>, then needing shipping to<br />

the UK. You simply could not make up the<br />

journey that the bus took - Johnny ends up<br />

naming the bus after his mum, Patricia, which<br />

adds considerably to the story.<br />

There are several other really interesting and<br />

varied vehicles (the fire engine being one of<br />

my personal favourites), most of which need<br />

restoring at great expense of time and money,<br />

and the episodes relate the love/hate


elationship which the restoration team have<br />

with the vehicles and Johnny, who has never<br />

done anything like this before and so has totally<br />

unrealistic expectations!<br />

There were some sad and poignant moments in<br />

the story, and it was interesting how desperate<br />

Johnny was to achieve something that was not<br />

related to his comedy career – of course there<br />

are lots of funny moments and one-liners too<br />

in his dry <strong>North</strong>ern manner. It is rare to find<br />

a series which has humour, drama, human<br />

interest and nostalgia, all very successfully<br />

rolled into one. The final episode is astonishing<br />

when “Patricia” finally arrives at the site, I’ll<br />

just leave it there, you need to see this!<br />

*****<br />

Dark Waters, (2019, Prime, 126 mins)<br />

Possibly the antidote to Carry on Glamping,<br />

but nonetheless worthy of recommendation. I<br />

often find gems from dramatised “true” stories<br />

- very belatedly I finally got round to watching<br />

Bohemian Rhapsody the other week and<br />

wasn’t surprised at all just how brilliantly the<br />

story of Freddie Mercury was told. Dark Waters<br />

is a “legal thriller” about a lawyers fight against<br />

a big US corporation (DuPont) on behalf of a<br />

community who are allegedly suffering serious<br />

medical conditions including birth defects and<br />

cancer, as a result of large scale dumping of<br />

toxic chemicals.<br />

Robert Bilott (played by Mark Ruffalo) is the<br />

lawyer who is sought out by a farming family<br />

(the Tennants) who are convinced that<br />

something is seriously amiss with their animals<br />

as a result of contamination of the nearby land,<br />

resulting in 190 deaths of his cows, many with<br />

strange symptoms. As might be expected, the<br />

idea that a single family and their lawyer could<br />

fight a huge corporation with their financial<br />

and legal might, give us an overriding feeling<br />

throughout that they can never win. If the<br />

outcome were as might be expected (and<br />

probably usually happens), you’d get a very<br />

short film, but at just over 2 hours, there are<br />

plenty of twists and turns in this case. Often,<br />

when individuals sue large local employers,<br />

the very many residents who rely on it for their<br />

jobs will turn against that neighbour, creating a<br />

huge moral dilemma for all involved.<br />

ENTERTAINMENT<br />

The terrible human tragedy of the Tennants,<br />

and of many other residents of the West<br />

Virginia town of Parkersburg, is told in a<br />

fitting manner, and the portrayal of Bilott<br />

is powerfully done, showing the great cost<br />

to himself and his own family of pursuing<br />

the case. Downright scary at times, and a<br />

real lesson (if one were needed) in why big<br />

corporations need regulating.<br />

****<br />

The Terror (2018, aired in 2021, BBC<br />

iPlayer, 10 episodes, 45 mins each)<br />

granted, this was a marathon watch (I did it 2<br />

episodes at a time), but I was always left at the<br />

closing credits wanting to see more and find<br />

out what was going to happen next. Things<br />

are pretty tense much of the time. I hadn’t<br />

actually realised that it was 10 episodes straight<br />

away, but by the time I did, I was hooked and<br />

delighted to see how long it was - perhaps I<br />

might have been a bit wary of the time<br />

commitment if I’d known from the outset?<br />

What clinched it for me was seeing Ridley<br />

Scott’s name attached as Executive Producer<br />

(he of Alien fame).<br />

If you like period dramas, disaster movies or a<br />

bit of horror, this should suit you just fine.<br />

Based on the book of the same name by Dan<br />

Simmons, the said Terror is actually one of two<br />

ships on an expedition looking for the <strong>North</strong><br />

West Passage in the 19 th Century, but it is a<br />

fine play on words for what then happens to the<br />

crew...(cue spooky music). The episodes cover<br />

human conflicts and friendships, naval<br />

discipline, ambition and redemption, survival,<br />

superstition, and (very) dangerous wildlife.<br />

The story is based upon real events when 2<br />

ships, The Terror and The Erebus, advanced<br />

vessels for their time, went missing with 120<br />

crew in 1845. Amazingly, these 2 ships were<br />

recently found, in 2014 and 2016.<br />

One minor criticism is that using period<br />

language makes it sometimes hard to follow<br />

some of the dialogue, but this didn’t spoil it or<br />

stop me understanding what was happening.<br />

Rotten Tomatoes critics gave it 94% and<br />

viewers 87%, and I’d say they got it right.<br />

****<br />

34


MAGNETIC MARIAN OF<br />

BY<br />

CHANGING ENERGIES<br />

LIFE<br />

SPECIAL<br />

A whole new meaning to the phrase<br />

“You’re grounded”<br />

Grounding is both a timeless practice and<br />

modern discovery… It simply means living in<br />

contact with the earth’s natural surface charge<br />

– being grounded.<br />

We all live and function electrically on an<br />

electrical planet. We are each of us a collection<br />

of dynamic electrical circuits in which trillions<br />

of cells constantly transmit and receive energy<br />

in the course of their programmed biochemical<br />

reactions. Your heart, brain, nervous system,<br />

muscles and immune system are prime<br />

examples of electrical subsystems operating<br />

within your bioelectrical body. The fact is, all<br />

of your movements, behaviours and actions<br />

are energized by electricity.<br />

Most people are totally unaware of their<br />

bioelectrical nature or the energetic<br />

connection between their bodies and the<br />

earth’s surface. Many of us don’t even realize<br />

that we’re disconnected from Mother Nature.<br />

Our feet and the rest of our bodies rarely touch<br />

real ground. We keep insulated with layers<br />

of clothing, rubber/plastic soles, mattresses,<br />

any assortment of chairs and accessories. We<br />

spend 23 hours indoors when we exercise<br />

outside for an hour a day. We probably touch<br />

our mobile phone more often than we touch a<br />

leaf, a tree or the earth with our bare feet.<br />

Science informs us that the Earth’s<br />

electrons contain a natural, negative charge.<br />

Maintaining contact with the ground allows<br />

our bodies to naturally receive and become<br />

35<br />

charged with these electrons. When we<br />

are “grounded,” we absorb these beneficial<br />

electrons that “reduce electrical imbalances in<br />

the body.” Since our bodies are composed of<br />

mostly water and minerals – just like the Earth<br />

– we are mutually electrically conductive.<br />

When you are electrically grounded, you can<br />

It's not all doom and gloom. Here are my<br />

top tips to keep you grounded<br />

1. Get outside in the morning light to stop the<br />

production of melatonin and wake yourself up.<br />

Take your coffee with you and stand barefoot on<br />

the grass where possible.<br />

2. Set a routine for screen curfew before bedtime,<br />

melatonin levels start rising around 8pm and<br />

leave your phone downstairs where possible. If<br />

you do use it as an alarm, put it on flight mode.<br />

The less electromagnetic frequencies around you,<br />

the more your body will feel rested.<br />

3. Spend as much time outdoors dressed<br />

appropriately for the weather and encourage<br />

your children to do so too. Barefoot where safe to<br />

do so.<br />

4. Invest in a grounding mat or sheet to sleep on<br />

and use when sitting at your laptop indoors all<br />

day.<br />

5. Sit near a window to get as much light as possible<br />

during your working day.<br />

6. The most effective way to ground yourself is to<br />

feel the soles of your feet connecting to the earth<br />

by standing barefoot on soil, sand, grass or even<br />

the sea bed.


feel more centered, strong, balanced, less tense<br />

and less stressed. This is one of the reasons<br />

why it feels so luxurious to kick off our shoes<br />

and feel the grass or sand beneath our feet.<br />

Grounding or earthing reduces cortisol levels<br />

(cortisol is a stress related hormone). It also<br />

improves sleep (think sleeping on the forest<br />

floor as in ancient times). It stabilizes blood<br />

sugar levels, reduces pain, and can help reduce<br />

and neutralize unwanted positive charges and<br />

help shield against Electromagnetic fields<br />

(EMFs), which we build up in our daily lives –<br />

restoring a healthful natural balance.<br />

Modern living in our well insulated homes and<br />

offices (remember those days), surrounded<br />

by a sea of electrical gadgets disconnects us<br />

further. Strong fluorescent indoor lights and<br />

blue light from screens all suppress melatonin<br />

levels (the sleep hormone) so no wonder so<br />

many of us struggle with sleep and mood.<br />

If you want to know more, please contact me:<br />

marian@lifechanging energies.com<br />

GROUNDING MAT<br />

£109.20 Including delivery<br />

Sleep better, feel better, live better with<br />

<strong>Mag</strong>netic Marian<br />

www.lifechangingenergies.com<br />

Marian@lifechangingenergies.com<br />

07872 626457<br />

Ros Thompson<br />

Bach Flower Practitioner<br />

These amazing natural remedies<br />

can help with<br />

Anxiety Grief<br />

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BUSINESS<br />

<strong>Pompey</strong> <strong>Mag</strong> is pleased to welcome Nicky<br />

Child of Boss Properties as our newest,<br />

regular columnist. Each issue she will<br />

discuss various aspects of the property<br />

market. This month, Nicky focuses on what<br />

you need to know to become a first time<br />

property investor.<br />

Now I have been in and out of the<br />

property market for the last 2 decades<br />

and I will still have questions for my<br />

team of experts at least once a day! So,<br />

lets keep it simple and we’ll kick it off<br />

from the beginning…<br />

It usually starts with a dream, right?!<br />

Potentially this this is your biggest investment<br />

so you’ve probably been back and forth in your<br />

own mind with a ‘yeah, you only live once’<br />

voice and another screaming ‘are you mad!?<br />

You don’t know what you’re doing!’. For so<br />

long you have thought about making a profit<br />

from property, but maybe you’re a little<br />

unsure how. Who do you even you ask!<br />

You see yourself enjoying life somewhere hot<br />

and sunny, but can you be sure that an<br />

investment like this will actually make you<br />

a profit? Or it might be that you are just fed<br />

up of working every week, but the gamble<br />

is too great and you just don’t know enough<br />

about the property game! You keep hearing<br />

about law changes, section 21’s or 13’s (what<br />

even are those?!) and Jim next door told you<br />

that his third cousin’s friend’s brother had<br />

a terrible time with a tenant! Oh no. No, no.<br />

Its out of the question…., but time to yourself<br />

would be sooooo nice! And it HAS been a<br />

tough year, why not? Whats the harm in just<br />

finding out what your options are?<br />

So, you have a property with equity, maybe<br />

some inheritance, a little savings or you’ve<br />

won the lottery! Whatever your source of<br />

investment, you CAN do this! Its now time.<br />

You’ve been thinking about this for far too<br />

long now!<br />

Hmm, post Covid, and you’ve heard that the<br />

Buy to Let market is pretty buoyant, especially<br />

37<br />

in the South East.<br />

Let’s look at the facts:<br />

At the time of writing,<br />

Rightmove has 945<br />

properties available.<br />

Student housing being<br />

the largest proportion<br />

at 745. But are there<br />

tenants looking? Well, lets see what the<br />

demand is: 486 have been ‘let agreed’, which<br />

means references are in place! ‘Hot Cakes’<br />

comes to my mind!<br />

Need another one?<br />

According to ARLA, 60% of existing landlords<br />

have increased their rent in March 2021, That<br />

tells me there is good demand.<br />

Figures and stats are out there if you look in<br />

the right places and ask the right people, so<br />

my advice to anyone thinking of becoming<br />

a landlord is to dig a little deeper! Talk to<br />

agents, meet with mortgage advisors, and<br />

search the websites to get all your information<br />

for you. You will always hear the horror<br />

stories, but listen out for success stories too,<br />

you could have your own if you really want to!<br />

Research can be pretty time consuming and<br />

there are experienced “package deal” experts<br />

that will do all the leg work for you if you don’t<br />

have the luxury of time. It depends on how<br />

much time you are willing to invest before<br />

investing!<br />

Do you know your figures? If you are<br />

remortgaging to raise funds, what is your<br />

property worth and is there enough equity to<br />

play with? Will you need a BTL mortgage?<br />

What about new builds? Are you buying<br />

leasehold or freehold? Auction or agent?<br />

Location? Students, HMO or family let?


What is the best option in the long run? Oh, so<br />

many questions, where do YOU start? Don’t<br />

worry! Just like me, start at the beginning.<br />

You can still do this, the first hurdle is always<br />

the hardest but once that momentum is going,<br />

your profits and goals are really not hard to<br />

reach. Step by step, that’s the key. Preparation<br />

and education.<br />

RECIPE<br />

So, what are you waiting for? Take step one!<br />

Go figure out your funds and research your<br />

possibilities!<br />

Know your numbers! My suggestion is always<br />

work with 3. For example, 3 agents in to value<br />

your property, contact 3 mortgage advisors to<br />

see what you can borrow, or get 3 quotes from<br />

experts - you get the idea.<br />

ETON MESS<br />

The simplest of desserts but possibly the best way to use succulent strawberries.<br />

Preparation time: 30 mins<br />

Cooking time: No cooking time!<br />

Serves: 6<br />

www.boss-properties.co.uk<br />

Ingredients<br />

Good quality shop-bought meringue<br />

nests<br />

500g ripe strawberries<br />

50g caster sugar<br />

450ml double cream<br />

1 tbsp icing sugar<br />

1 tsp vanilla paste<br />

Mint for garnish<br />

Method<br />

To prepare the strawberries: wash and hull the<br />

fruit, and slice into half or quarters. Aim for<br />

bite-size pieces. Place the strawberries in a<br />

bowl, sprinkle with the caster sugar, making<br />

sure all the strawberries are coated. Place in<br />

the fridge for 30 mins until the fruit goes<br />

squidgy and leaks juice.<br />

Set a third of the strawberry mixture on one<br />

side for later. Using a potato masher lightly<br />

crush the rest into a chunky puree. Pour the<br />

double cream into a big bowl (it's best if the<br />

bowl is cold). Sift in the icing sugar and<br />

the teaspoon of vanilla paste and whip<br />

to soft peaks<br />

Roughly squash and break six of the<br />

meringues. Fold the pieces and the<br />

crushed strawberries into the whipped<br />

cream. Don't mix too thoroughly. The<br />

red and white should be clearly distinct.<br />

Serve the Mess in pretty tall glasses,<br />

Alternating between the creamy,<br />

strawberry mess and the remaining third<br />

of the strawberries set aside. Top with a<br />

sprig of mint.<br />

38


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51


SUMMER<br />

QUIZ<br />

1. Name the comedy TV programme that follows the lives of 3 Priests living on<br />

Craggy Island?<br />

2. Wrestler Shirley Crabtree Jr. was better known by his nickname. What was it?<br />

3. The Queen celebrates her official birthday in June, but what is the name of the<br />

military pageant which has marked the Sovereign’s official birthday for over<br />

260 years?<br />

4. Gordon Sumner is the real name of what famous British musician?<br />

5. What’s longer, a nautical mile or a land mile?<br />

6. What element is denoted by the chemical symbol Sn in the periodic table?<br />

7. Who is awarded the Venus Rosewater Dish at Wimbledon each year?<br />

8. What is the real name of the Governess in ITV’s popular quiz The Chase?<br />

9. What is the collective noun for a group of cats?<br />

10. Where is the British Grand Prix F1 race held?<br />

11. What is the official name of the tower Big Ben is housed in?<br />

12. In which area of Birmingham is the hit show Peaky Blinders set?<br />

13. <strong>Aug</strong>ust sees the Portsmouth kite festival, which country first invented the Kite?<br />

14. Who invented the world wide web?<br />

15. What is the art of cutting shrubs into ornamental shapes called?<br />

16. Which TV duo would you associate with the song ‘Bring Me Sunshine’?<br />

17. Which football club plays its home games at Loftus Road?<br />

18. Actress, Ursula Andress famously walked out of the sea wearing a white bikini<br />

in the James Bond flick Dr No. What was the name of her character?<br />

19. What is the Chinese New Year animal for 2021?<br />

20. How many balls are bowled in a normal cricket over?<br />

21. Which Saints day falls on <strong>July</strong> 15 every year?<br />

22. Which two colours on a flag mean that lifeguards are on patrol and you should<br />

only swim in the area between the flags?<br />

23. Bondi Beach is a popular beach in a suburb of which Australian city?<br />

24. Which uk resort is known for its surf beaches and seafront Tate gallery?<br />

25. It’s in Paris, and it grows by six inches during the summer. What?<br />

26. What is used as the filling of a summer pudding?<br />

27. Which island group includes Ibiza, Menorca and Majorca?<br />

28. Food and Drink. What does IPA stand for?<br />

29. What’s a baby rabbit called?<br />

30. Whose advertising was based around the catchphrase It Does Exactly What it<br />

Says on the Tin?<br />

ANSWERS ON PAGE 49


NATURE<br />

WASPS<br />

FRIEND OR<br />

FOE?<br />

By LWB<br />

Wasps, our perennial summer foe.<br />

Best known for ruining alfresco dining,<br />

taking a bath in your cider and mugging<br />

children for a lick of their ice cream!<br />

But are they really the angry, aggressive,<br />

stripy hooligans just out to spoil our<br />

summer fun? Perhaps it is time for a rethink,<br />

could it be that wasps are actually<br />

our friends?<br />

Wasps have been around for some 240 million<br />

years and are the ancestors of all the bees and<br />

ants we know today. Ants could be thought of<br />

as wasps who have lost their wings and bees<br />

as wasps who went vegan! There are over<br />

150,000 known species world-wide. About<br />

7,000 species call the UK their home. Wasps<br />

can be divided into 2 main categories. There<br />

are the solitary parasitoidal wasps, who lay<br />

their eggs in live insects and are responsible for<br />

a huge amount of pest control. The other group<br />

are the Social wasps, who form large colonies.<br />

It is from this group that a select few species<br />

have become our summertime nemesis, such<br />

as the ‘yellow jackets’ (made up of the Common<br />

wasp - Vespula vulgaris and the German wasp -<br />

Vespula germanica) and Hornets.<br />

Both sub-groups of wasps do an incredible<br />

amount of good for our environment. They<br />

help to clear rotten wood, control pests such as<br />

Aphids and Caterpillars (sorry Colin) and are<br />

also excellent pollinators. Over the summer<br />

months it is estimated that in the UK, wasps<br />

capture around 14 million kilos of insects. A<br />

single wasp colony is thought to remove around<br />

41<br />

a quarter of a million Aphids each season. In<br />

some countries, experiments are underway,<br />

moving colonies of wasps into crop fields, to act<br />

as pest control agents and reduce the reliance<br />

on insecticides.<br />

Adult wasps feed entirely on sugar, which they<br />

can obtain from the flower pollen. Unlike bees,<br />

wasps are not fussy as to which flowers they<br />

visit and this makes them vital, if accidental,<br />

pollinators. Wasps are truly the gardener’s<br />

friend.<br />

I know what you are thinking, that whilst<br />

wasps might make great garden buddies they<br />

are a complete menace to picnickers! And I<br />

can’t argue with that. With their sometimes<br />

lary attitudes, their nasty stings and their lax<br />

approach to social distancing, I have to admit<br />

to being one of the first people around a table<br />

who will jump up shrieking when pestered by a<br />

little yellow thug.<br />

For me, like many, the fear of being stung is<br />

almost worse than the sting itself. For the<br />

vast majority of us wasps are a harmless,<br />

if sometimes painful, annoyance. For an<br />

unlucky few, though, the stings can be deadly.<br />

On average, each year 10 people are killed<br />

in Britain due to a severe allergic reaction to<br />

wasp or bee stings. So why is it that wasps<br />

are so keen to get upfront and personal with<br />

us? To understand why, we need to dig a little<br />

deeper into the lifestyle choices of the social<br />

wasps.


Just like bees, at the heart of each colony is<br />

a Queen wasp, however, unlike their cute,<br />

honey making cousins, only the newly fertile<br />

Queens survive the winter, sheltering in<br />

animal burrows or hiding in your Christmas<br />

decorations.<br />

In early spring these Queens emerge to build<br />

a colony. Most of the eggs she lays grow up to<br />

be worker wasps and it is these, yellow perils<br />

that we know so well. The worker wasps are<br />

responsible for hunting insect prey which they<br />

take back to the larvae to feed on. It is only in<br />

the larvae stage that wasps feed on protein. In<br />

return the larvae produce a sugary substance<br />

which helps fuel the workers.<br />

During the later Spring and early Summer<br />

as the colony grows, worker wasps are busy<br />

feeding their infants and have a ready supply<br />

of sugary snacks obtained from their larvae<br />

and flower pollen. At this time of year, wasps<br />

hardly bother with us at all. When they do,<br />

they are often just circling around you. This<br />

is because wasps use tall objects like trees to<br />

navigate by. So if a wasp does fly rings around<br />

you - don’t worry, he is just lost and asking for<br />

directions!<br />

It is later towards the end of Summer and<br />

early Autumn, when the Queen is winding<br />

down her supply of eggs and there are fewer<br />

and fewer larvae, that the workers turn their<br />

eyes towards our sweet delights. No longer<br />

able to feed from the carb-packed substance<br />

produced by their larvae the workers become<br />

jobless, homeless and hungry. Add feeding off<br />

of fallen fermented fruits into the mix and it<br />

isn’t any wonder that they revert to such loutish<br />

behaviour.<br />

So maybe in late Summer, when the wasps are<br />

desperate and dying we should remember the<br />

good services they have carried out for us and<br />

forgive them for their last hurrah.<br />

Wasps, friend or foe? You decide!<br />

Many thanks to the Natural History Museum<br />

and to the BBC’s podcast ‘The Curious Cases<br />

of Rutherford and Fry’ for much of the<br />

information used in writing this piece.<br />

"Paul has done a fantastic job helping to promote my business.<br />

He of course, produced for me some incredible and engaging<br />

videos, but the real magic was in how he has managed to get<br />

them on to the first page of both Google and You Tube."<br />

Debbie Payne<br />

Editor of <strong>Pompey</strong> <strong>Mag</strong>


SPACES<br />

SANCTUARY<br />

MENTAL HEALTH<br />

F<br />

A new initiative called the Spaces of Sanctuary<br />

is offering people a safe space to retreat to<br />

when needed. The project is the brain child of<br />

Portsmouth City of Sanctuary and builds<br />

O<br />

on<br />

the City’s proud history of offering shelter to<br />

anyone fleeing violence and persecution, or<br />

who is isolated and seeking safety.<br />

Spaces of Sanctuary works so that anyone<br />

feeling vulnerable at any time can reach out<br />

and ask for shelter from any of the locations<br />

taking part in the project and who are<br />

displaying the SoS symbol.<br />

Portsmouth City of Sanctuary is part of the<br />

national City of Sanctuary movement, and is<br />

partnering with two other local organisations<br />

to deliver the Spaces of Sanctuary initiative:<br />

<strong>Pompey</strong> Safe Spaces Scheme and Portsmouth<br />

Dignity Network.<br />

Malcolm Little, Chair of Portsmouth City<br />

of Sanctuary said, ‘The idea is a simple one<br />

that seizes on the widely felt appreciation<br />

that Portsmouth is unique in its sense of<br />

community. It aims to offer anyone, whether<br />

they are being verbally or physically abused<br />

or intimated, whether they feel suddenly<br />

frightened or panicky, for whatever reason<br />

at all, a place where they will find a welcome<br />

and a friendly face with no judgement or<br />

repercussion.’<br />

Businesses, faith groups, educational<br />

establishments and others are being offered<br />

43<br />

training so that they can support people in<br />

the simplest way -to offer them a place to be<br />

where they can take as long as it takes to catch<br />

their breath and feel calm again. If needed the<br />

volunteers can access a network of support<br />

agencies that they can contact in agreement<br />

with the person that has come to them for<br />

refuge, but this may not always be necessary.<br />

Spaces of Sanctuary looks to consolidate the<br />

tangible goodwill in the City by engaging with<br />

both the private and public sectors in support<br />

of the City’s most vulnerable people. Initial<br />

surveys carried out in 2020 by Portsmouth City<br />

of Sanctuary identified that whilst the majority<br />

of people are willing and wanting to offer<br />

support to fellow residents, they are conscious<br />

that they might end up making a bad situation<br />

worse by doing the wrong thing. The SoS<br />

initiative will address that by training people<br />

and empowering them to take right steps.<br />

Harriet Evens, the force behind <strong>Pompey</strong><br />

Safe Spaces Scheme said: ‘The <strong>Pompey</strong> Safe<br />

Space Scheme works to establish a network<br />

of city-wide safe spaces for victims of sexual<br />

assault, sexual violence and domestic abuse,<br />

and so a collaboration with Spaces of Sanctuary<br />

makes so much sense. We want to ensure that<br />

whoever you are, if you find yourself vulnerable<br />

and in need of a safe space, one is available for<br />

you. It’s about helping all residents to feel safer<br />

in this City and about guiding people towards<br />

the best support available.’


Portsmouth Dignity Network provides<br />

‘Protecting Dignity Training’, and they will be<br />

working with Portsmouth City of Sanctuary<br />

this summer to provide free training to any<br />

businesses or organisations wishing to take<br />

part in the SoS initiative.<br />

Anna Flynn, Managing Director and founder<br />

of Portsmouth Dignity Network with over<br />

20 years experience of working with the<br />

community, said: ‘I truly believe that<br />

delivering services that put people at the<br />

centre is essential to effectively achieve the<br />

outcomes of all involved. Identifying agencies<br />

with aligned values who seek to serve the same<br />

needs of the community, is vital for meaningful<br />

impact and creating change.<br />

I am so pleased to have found this perspective<br />

within the fold of Portsmouth City of<br />

Sanctuary, and very much look forward to<br />

contributing to the joint vision, for setting a<br />

standard of excellence, and ultimately to<br />

support Portsmouth to be an even kinder<br />

community.’<br />

In addition to developing the Spaces of<br />

Sanctuary initiative, Portsmouth City of<br />

Sanctuary is working to bring key stakeholders<br />

together from across Portsmouth, including<br />

the Lord Mayor. Acting on the shared values of<br />

inclusion, respect, dignity and participation, it<br />

is working with doctors’ surgeries to establish<br />

safe spaces, developing refugee care-leaver<br />

projects and sourcing social work/ law student<br />

placements. Portsmouth City of Sanctuary<br />

volunteers run the ‘Welcome Box’ initiative<br />

that greets asylum seekers dispersed to the<br />

City, conversation clubs, English language<br />

learning facilities and various other support<br />

that helps people engage with their new<br />

surroundings.<br />

Building on the idea that integration is<br />

key, Portsmouth City of Sanctuary has<br />

developed with partners a local resident and<br />

refugee gardening initiative. One of the key<br />

achievements of 2021 is the setting up of a<br />

women-only, drop-in service that will, for the<br />

moment, only cater to women at high risk, but<br />

over time plans to extend the service to provide<br />

a much-needed space for all women.<br />

Portsmouth City of Sanctuary has been<br />

instrumental in bringing the City together<br />

around its compassionate values, and the<br />

Spaces of Sanctuary project is an extension<br />

of that, reaching out to local businesses,<br />

public offices and the entire community of<br />

Portsmouth as a whole, casting the support<br />

network city-wide.<br />

Can you and your colleagues offer kind<br />

words, a glass of water and friendly face?<br />

If you own a local business or organisation<br />

and think that you might be able to operate<br />

as a venue offering a safe space for someone<br />

in need, please get in touch. Email Shaun at<br />

portsmouthcityofsanctuary@gmail.com<br />

02392 483 372<br />

07751 795 762<br />

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SPORT<br />

Field Gun Sports, one of the oldest new<br />

Sports, born in <strong>Pompey</strong>.<br />

<strong>Pompey</strong> <strong>Mag</strong> recently met up with Alex<br />

Howard to hear about his plans to reinvent<br />

an old tradition into an exciting new<br />

international sport.<br />

Many of you will be at least vaguely familiar<br />

with Field Gun racing, some of you more so<br />

if you are ex-Navy or have Naval family. If<br />

nothing else, readers over 40 will recall the<br />

annual Royal Tournament where Command<br />

Field Gun, the more rigorous and spectacular<br />

form where a chasm and wall needs to be<br />

negotiated, prior to firing the gun, provided<br />

an exciting spectacle on TV. Alas, this<br />

tradition ended in 1999.<br />

Now, after a long hiatus, a Sandhurst Officer<br />

Graduate based in <strong>Pompey</strong> is planning<br />

to not only revive Command Field Gun<br />

(Command) as a Civilian sport, but also to<br />

take it International, and <strong>Pompey</strong> <strong>Mag</strong> will be<br />

following his progress with keen interest. Alex<br />

has served as a Sapper in the Army for 30<br />

years, and saw tours of duty in the Balkans,<br />

Iraq (twice) and Afghanistan, and he knows<br />

a great deal about Command. Amongst Alex’s<br />

many goals is for Portsmouth to win back the<br />

world record time which they previously held,<br />

and was narrowly snatched by Devonport<br />

45<br />

back in 1999.<br />

The history of Command is almost a separate<br />

article in itself (so maybe we’ll save that for<br />

another time) but in essence it dates back to<br />

an incident in the Second Boer War in 1899<br />

during the Siege of Ladysmith, when the<br />

Navy hauled guns ashore, moved them over<br />

difficult terrain and brought them into action<br />

to support the army.<br />

If you’ve not seen Command before, do<br />

check it out on YouTube, it is fast paced,<br />

exciting and with a hint of danger (drop a<br />

field gun barrel on your foot and you are<br />

in big trouble!). Races typically last under<br />

3 minutes, and comprise 3 stages, the Run<br />

Out, the Run Back and the Run Home – it is<br />

exhausting just to watch, so you can imagine<br />

how demanding it must be for the teams. It<br />

has been known as the toughest team sport<br />

in the world and lately the sport for which<br />

high intensity interval training (HIIT) was<br />

invented.<br />

His concept is to create new teams, complete<br />

with interesting team names and branded<br />

teamwear, comprising professional athletes<br />

who will need to train hard and full-time<br />

for the particular rigours of a sport which<br />

requires strength, explosive power and<br />

technique to enable lifting, carrying and


and Commercial Premises<br />

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Term Rentals and Laundry Service<br />

Short<br />

hauling the heavy weights involved, always<br />

with split second perfect team action.<br />

It could perhaps be visualised as a cross<br />

between the teamwork of a Formula One pit<br />

crew, the fitness and impact of pro rugby<br />

with the commitment of a world title boxing<br />

contender.<br />

Alex sees this as an inclusive sport, with<br />

women’s teams, who will compete in a similar<br />

format but with necessary safety adaptations.<br />

Junior teams already exist carrying plywood<br />

replica guns!<br />

The historic format is likely to be preserved as<br />

much as is possible, since this is a sport with<br />

a long tradition, but where variations would<br />

make for even greater excitement or interest<br />

in the future, then these might be added. For<br />

example, a “best of 3 legs” format, and longer<br />

or changed courses, provided always that the<br />

safety and physical demands on athletes are<br />

sensibly managed. Much like athletics, there<br />

could be sprints, middle-distance or marathon<br />

runs? We shall see, but the shorter nature of<br />

the current format is likely to be retained, as<br />

the trend in modern sport (as with cricket) is<br />

increasingly more bite-sized content.<br />

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As a potential spectator sport, it has all the<br />

ingredients needed to engage the fans, whether<br />

for live events or on TV. Multiple camera<br />

angles and drone footage will provide detail on<br />

technique and maybe capture the occasional<br />

mistake, or brilliant manoeuvre. A penalty<br />

system will be in force, as with all sports, for<br />

rule infringements which no doubt will spark<br />

debate, and pundits will discuss performances,<br />

personal and team form and errors made,<br />

before, during and after fixtures. Tactics will be<br />

discussed, and team strengths and weaknesses<br />

shown. A points and league system will<br />

structure the season, whilst creating rivalry and<br />

excitement for the fixtures, as with most pro<br />

sports.<br />

I am hooked already, and the crews have not<br />

started training yet! My <strong>Pompey</strong> Command<br />

replica shirt is on advance order. So as the<br />

crews would say once the starting firecracker<br />

was alight….Burning, 2,3,4,5…..Standby.<br />

Cleaning<br />

Commercial<br />

Services<br />

mission is to create surroundings that inspire<br />

Our<br />

and support businesses to be more<br />

happiness,<br />

We do this by ensuring your premises<br />

productive.<br />

not just clean and tidy, but safe too, allowing<br />

is<br />

you and your staff to fully focus.<br />

0752 504 88 72<br />

info@thehousewifeway.co.uk<br />

www.thehousewifeway.co.uk<br />

CLEANERS<br />

WANTED!


COMPETITION<br />

At Bella Italia we truly believe that<br />

the best moments in life are those<br />

spent with loved ones, sharing food,<br />

friendship, laughter, and embracing the<br />

joy of the Italian table.<br />

Join us at our newly refurbished restaurant<br />

at Gunwharf Quays, where our little piece<br />

of Italy sits in one of the best positions on<br />

the waterfront - we have over 300 covers<br />

available, including a 2 storey outdoor terrace<br />

offering fantastic views out over the sea, and<br />

right next to the Spinnaker Tower.<br />

It’s the perfect place to enjoy time to talk,<br />

laugh, eat (and drink!) and just be together!<br />

Our new menu provides those moments for a<br />

visit to Bella to be ‘always special’ – whatever<br />

the reason is for deciding to visit us. Choose<br />

from our new range of ‘cicchetti’ – small<br />

plate starters perfect for sharing – including<br />

Calzonetti ‘Nduja; mini calzones filled with<br />

spicy ‘Nduja sausage, tomato and mozzarella<br />

with a smoky red pepper dip, or delicious<br />

Calamari Fritti; salt and pepper deep fried<br />

squid served with lemon & cracked pepper<br />

mayonnaise.<br />

Our mains include several new pasta dishes,<br />

including Ox Cheek Ragu; slow cooked pulled<br />

ox cheek in a tomato and red wine ragù served<br />

with pappardelle pasta and topped with a<br />

beef dripping pangrattato crumb and Zucca<br />

Dolcelatte; hand folded fresh tortelloni filled<br />

with pumpkin and blue cheese, served in a<br />

melting nutmeg butter and sprinkled with<br />

toasted pumpkin seeds – plus traditional<br />

favourites like Lasagne, as well as a fantastic<br />

range of pizzas. There is definitely something<br />

for all the family – our kids menu comes<br />

in 2 sizes, perfect for the smaller or bigger<br />

appetites.<br />

With a great range of desserts, and a wide<br />

selection of drinks to choose from, you’re sure<br />

to leave our new look Bella Italia with a smile!<br />

47


WIN<br />

COMPETITION<br />

a £50 Restaurant<br />

Voucher from<br />

Gunwharf Quays<br />

To celebrate the opening<br />

of their newly refurbished<br />

restaurant at Gunwharf<br />

Quays, the lovely people<br />

from Bella Italia have kindly<br />

donated this month’s prize.<br />

One lucky entrant will recieve<br />

a £50 restaurant voucher to<br />

spend at Bella Italia, Gunwharf<br />

and sample for themselves<br />

the delights of the new menu<br />

or enjoy classic favourites in<br />

wonderful, relaxing surroundings.<br />

So whether you want an indulgent lunch<br />

whilst shopping with friends, a family pizza<br />

treat or a romantic meal for two, there is<br />

something for everyone at Bella Italia.<br />

In keeping with the Italian theme, we have<br />

hidden 6 objects associated with Italy<br />

within the adverts. Can you spot them all?<br />

Free to enter, one prize to be won.<br />

TO ENTER<br />

Simply jot down the 6 names of the adverts<br />

that contain the Italian themed objects and<br />

email your answers to us for a chance of<br />

winning. Send your entry to<br />

info@pompeymag.co.uk.<br />

All correct answers will be placed into a<br />

draw and one lucky reader will be randomly<br />

picked out to win the prize. Closing date<br />

30th <strong>July</strong> 2021.<br />

TERMS AND CONDITIONS<br />

• This voucher may be used towards<br />

purchase of food and drink at Bella<br />

Italia Portsmouth Gunwharf Quays<br />

only. Booking advisable.<br />

• No change can be issued.<br />

• The voucher cannot be exchanged for<br />

cash, and is valid for one single use<br />

only.<br />

• The voucher cannot be replaced if lost<br />

or damaged.<br />

• The voucher is valid until 30th<br />

September 2021.<br />

• Simply hand the voucher to the server<br />

when asking for the bill.<br />

Bella Italia – Portsmouth Gunwharf Quays<br />

Unit R10, Waterfront<br />

Portsmouth<br />

PO1 3TA<br />

www.bellaitalia.co.uk/italian-restaurant/portsmouth/gunwharf-quays<br />

Tel 02394 318 950<br />

48


SOLUTIONS<br />

QUIZ ANSWERS<br />

1. Father Ted.<br />

2. Big Daddy.<br />

3. Trooping the Colour.<br />

4. Sting.<br />

5. A nautical mile (1.15 land miles).<br />

6. Tin.<br />

7. Ladies Singles Champion.<br />

8. Ann Hegerty.<br />

9. A Clowder of cats.<br />

10. Silverstone.<br />

11. The Elizabeth Tower.<br />

12. Small Heath.<br />

13. China.<br />

14. Tim Berners-Lee.<br />

15. Topiary.<br />

16. Morecambe and Wise.<br />

17. Queens Park Rangers.<br />

18. Honey Ryder.<br />

19. Ox.<br />

20. 6.<br />

21. St Swithuns.<br />

22. Red and Yellow.<br />

23. Sydney.<br />

24. St Ives.<br />

25. Eiffel Tower.<br />

26. Red berries - Soft fruits.<br />

27. The Balearics.<br />

28. India Pale Ale.<br />

29. Kit or Kitten.<br />

30. Ronseal.<br />

49


COPNOR CLEANERS<br />

DRY CLEANERS<br />

& LAUNDRY<br />

EST 1950<br />

COPNOR CLEANERS<br />

DRY CLEANERS<br />

& LAUNDRY<br />

EST 1950<br />

TAKE ADVANTAGE OF<br />

THE SUMMER<br />

WEATHER TO GIVE<br />

YOUR DUVET<br />

A FRESHEN UP<br />

DUVET CLEANING<br />

Pop in and see us we are always happy to help!<br />

Your local, friendly, family run business<br />

BEST PRICES - BEST SERVICE - BEST QUALITY<br />

309 COPNOR ROAD,<br />

PORTSMOUTH, HANTS,<br />

PO3 5EG<br />

FIND A LOWER PRICE<br />

PRICE MATCH<br />

023 92 644 464<br />

WE WILL<br />

OFF STREET PARKING AVAILABLE<br />

IT!<br />

BEAT


COPNOR CLEANERS<br />

DRY CLEANERS<br />

& LAUNDRY<br />

EST 1950<br />

COPNOR CLEANERS<br />

DRY CLEANERS<br />

& LAUNDRY<br />

EST 1950<br />

SERVICE WASHES<br />

DUVET CLEANING<br />

IRONING SERVICE<br />

DRY CLEANING<br />

LAUNDERETTE<br />

ALTERATIONS & REPAIRS<br />

7 DAYS A WEEK EARLY TO LATE<br />

Pop in and see us we are always happy to help!<br />

Your local, friendly, family run business<br />

BEST PRICES - BEST SERVICE - BEST QUALITY<br />

309 COPNOR ROAD,<br />

PORTSMOUTH, HANTS,<br />

PO3 5EG<br />

023 92 644 464<br />

FIND A LOWER PRICE<br />

PRICE MATCH<br />

WE WILL<br />

OFF STREET PARKING AVAILABLE<br />

IT!<br />

BEAT

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