Day: March 11, 2024

Yesterday was a real memory jogger for me and my fellow travellers.

Sunday was Mothers Day or Mothering Sunday in the UK, but instead of the usual lunch or cream tea, we opted to visit Milestones Museum at Basingstoke.

LIFE IN HAMPSHIRE PAST

Milestones tells the story of how people used to live, the things they used and the work they did. The maze of Victorian and 1930s streets is packed with shops, factories and houses, most based on original buildings from in and around Basingstoke.

If you enjoy shopping, you’ll discover what the high street was like before the arrival of chain stores: the milliner, saddler, and ironmonger all offer a glimpse into shopping habits of the past.

Our group of six comprised four generations of family. My wife Gerry, the mother, Marie, our daughter, Becky, our  granddaughter, and Junior, our great grandson. With Marie’s husband Karl and I, a couple of casual hangers on.

When you enter the museum building, you are actually up above the roof tops.

This view only hints at the true nature of the museum.

I can just remember, as a small boy, seeing these fabulous steam engines being used to flatten newly laid tarmac. And, also the sound and smells of these huge beasts.

Down into the depths of the museum, your perspective changes as more is revealed.

Our first stop was to the “Penny Arcade,” which evoked memories of visits to the seaside and strolling along the piers at Brighton, Southsea, and Hastings.

Milestones helps to keep the seaside memory alive by piping the sounds seagull cries and the rushing of the waves on a shingle beach.

Here, you can purchase pennies to feed the machines, or in the case of these more modern video games, it’s fifty pence a go.

Having satisfied our gambling needs we moved out into the museum proper but not before lingering in front of the mirrors.

Well, it had to be done.

And so we  came to this jumble of bicycles. I pretty sure the bright red one was probably a posties bike and the black one just behind was probably a butchers delivery bike.

I actually rode one of those to deliver papers when I was a kid. My round only consisted of around seventeen houses, but they were spread over a couple of miles, a four mile round trip every day.

One of the major vehicle producers in Hampshire was Thornycroft. They were founded in 1896, 128 years ago. The museum has many examples of their vehicles.

But the museum isn’t all about road vehicles. There is much to see that gives an insight into the way we lived back in the day.

Unfortunately, this “room” is more a work in progress. The next one is better, a bit cosier but no tele yet.

Post-war was a period of massive change both technologically but also on the social front.

As a child, I remember mum and dad getting a new fangled electric cooker to replace the clunky old gas one. Not long after, they got a refrigerator, and it even had a freezer compartment big enough to make some ice cubes.

How did we ever survive without the modern labour saving appliances.

This picture shows a Rolls “twin tub,” a combined washing machine and spin dryer.

My parents had a Hoover version, which replaced their gas-fired “copper.” There were no fancy programs there. Turn on the gas, light it, and wait for the water to heat up. I think all laundry was effectively boiled. Compare that to today’s multi programmable machines.

The Hoover Keymatic from the 1960s was a step towards today’s automatic machines. It was a front loader and had a plastic “key” that controlled the machines program.

Lose that key, and you couldn’t use the machine.

Part of the Milestones experience is to use a replica wartime Ration Card to purchase some sweets. The queue yesterday was significantly shorter than the last time we visited.

As it was Mothers Day, the alternative option was to go to the Baverstock Arms, representative of a typical British pub of the times. There all mums got a free glass of Prosecco.

Karl and I didn’t  miss out as we were able to have a hand pumped ale.

I knicked this photo from Milestones’ website. How many modern devices can you spot in this “traditional” pub. On the mirror, you can see etched, the name “George Gale & Co Ltd”

Gales were a local brewery based in Horndean, just a couple of miles from where I live. They were famous for one of my favourite tipples, known as HSB, which stands for Horndean Special Bitter.

HSB was first launched in 1959. It was Gales flagship beer and is still available to this day. Gales brewery was founded in 1847 but was bought by London brewers, Fuller’s of Chiswick, in 2005. The Horndean brewery was closed in 2006. The brewery site has been redeveloped into residential properties, although the tower still remains.

Double decker bus waiting to carry us home from the Baverstock Arms.

Yet another fine example of a steam roller, this one manufactured by Tasker and Sons Ltd. of Andover. This Hampshire based company was founded in 1813, 211 years ago.

In the background is a representation of Webbers Garage with a fine pair of vehicles for sale.

And finally, an example of the old enameled advertisements that used to decorate our streets.