Liphook Community Magazine Winter 2021

90TH ANNIVERSARY OF
Liphook Methodist Church
Displays inside the Methodist Chapel.
This September saw the celebration of 90 years since the
Methodist church was built in Liphook. Methodism had existed
in Liphook in various forms and buildings since the 1820s, but
1931 saw the culmination of the local Methodists’ vision and the
church was completed. The current congregation decided to
celebrate the 90 year anniversary by creating displays of social
history of those 9 decades. Each decade was planned by a different
person or couple and resulted in an astonishing array of artefacts
and memories. They covered food and drink of the times, games
and pastimes, literature, TV and film, fashion, historical events,
natural disasters and technological advances. Some interesting
facts on display:
1930s : Frozen food process, electric razor, parking meter,
nylon, photo copier, cat’s eyes, discovered Pluto, first commercial
helicopter flew and the first person passed a driving test.
1940s : Dominated by 2nd World War but other things of note
were: Computers, nuclear power and jet propulsion. Aerosol
cans, colour television, aqualung, dialysis machine, the
microwave. Ladies started wearing trousers and skirts were
straighter to conserve fabric.
1950s : The Festival of Britain showcased the nation’s inventiveness
in industry and the arts. The worlds first jet airliner, the De
Havilland Comet. Mount Everest climbed, Queen Elizabeth’s
Coronation prompted the sale 10,000 TV sets. Self-service stores,
fish fingers, Daz, Omo, Tide, Sputnik 1 went into orbit and
launched the Space Race.
1960s : Mods, Rockers, and Hippies. Miniskirts, Chelsea boots,
parkas and kaftans. The audio cassette, video recorder,
transplants, hovercraft, Concorde. Ice cream vans, Action man
and Lego. England won the world cup, Coronation Street,
Doctor Who and James Bond.
1970s : The world population half of today’s, three day week,
huge airliners, the Silver Jubilee, Watergate, Glam Rock, Winter
of Discontent, Commodore PET, Polaroid instant camera, Star
Wars, first MacDonalds in the UK, Punk, golden age of TV
sitcom, decimal currency, Britain joins the EEC.
1980s : First space shuttle ‘Columbia’, Falklands war, Live Aid,
great storm, fall of the Berlin Wall, Eastenders, Dallas,
Neighbours, Only Fools and Horses. Movies: ‘Back to the
Future’, ‘Ghandi’, ‘Ghostbusters and ‘Chariots of Fire’. Trivial
Pursuit and the Rubik’s’ Cube.
1970s.
1990s : The death of Princess Diana, with Elton John’s tribute
‘Candle in the Wind’. TV: The Gladiators, Friends, The X Files.
Films: The Lion King and Titanic. The Spice Girls brought us
‘Girl Power’, we read Harry Potter and played on Nintendo 64s
and Tamagotchis.
2000s : Millennium celebrations, terrorist atrocities e.g. The
world trade centre and London bombings. Earthquakes, tsunami’s
and hurricanes. USB flash drives, blue tooth headsets, the iphone
and Kindle, the Hadron collider. Reality TV: ‘Big Brother’, ‘I’m a
Celebrity’, ‘X Factor’.
2000s.
2010s : Two royal weddings, royal babies, the Queen’s Diamond
jubilee. Two referendums, Scotland stays in UK, UK choosing
Brexit. Terrorism still a threat, climate change taken more
seriously. Domestic technology: ipads, mobile phones, artificial
reality headsets for gaming.
And a special 2020/21: A display highlighting the Covid 19
pandemic and its effects.
Thanks must go to everyone who arranged a display, so much
rummaging in the loft!! Also to those providing the excellent
refreshments and clearing up. Finally, we hope everyone who
came to look enjoyed it as much as we did. We were pleased to
be able to present the Peak Centre with £200 from contributions
made at the event. An appropriate charity for our 90 Years of
Memories weekend.
Sue Calvert (photos by Markus Frank-Schultz)
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