The Fawley Falcons under 8’s are pictured in their new football kit that has been jointly sponsored by Easton Residential from Holbury and The VIP Network (Mortgage Specialists) from Langley.

The two companies are honoured and proud to be able to help a local Football Club.

Glenn Jackson of Easton Residential said “We’ve been hearing many good reports about the under 8’s and are glad to help out in their plea for a new kit.”

Having been runners up in two local tournaments recently it’s only a matter of time before trophies start to come their way.

Marshall Palmer of The VIP Network added, “The team had been playing in kit for a few years and needed a replacement so we’re both glad that we could help out.

The team seems to be going great guns at the moment and we are pleased to be associated with them”.

Both sponsors work very closely with the local community ensuring that they get excellent service and support that they need when moving home.

For further and advice visit www.vip.uk.net or www.eastonresidential.co.uk

Photo’s kindly supplied by TLC-Online.

Some of the world’s most exotic plants are in flower at Exbury.

Visitors to the Rock Garden will spot the spectacular blue Puya (Puya berteroana), its blue and orange flowers reaching up to six foot.

The Puya, which has over-wintered successfully at Exbury, comes from the Andes mountains in Chile, where Exbury’s head gardener, John Anderson has seen groups of this wonderful plant growing in the wild.

“There they flower away in quite arid conditions on the sides of slopes and mountains,” he said.

“Here I’m finding them easy to grow given a warm, sheltered well-drained spot that does get too wet. It’s a prickly beast and although it was attacked by some brave badgers, it didn’t seem to be harmed,” he said. “It’s spiketacular plant!”

The Exbury Puya, a member of the pineapple family, (Bromeliaceae), has been planted close to some other fantastic exotics – the Mexican Beschorneria septentrionalis which throws out shocking pink stalks reaching to four or five feet, bearing tubular hanging red and green flowers.

“People come here in the spring to see our wonderful rhododendrons,” said John. “But they really should come back to see these fantastic exotics, flowering away in the Rock Garden.”

John will be showing off these plants and many others to those booking places on the Hampshire Food Fare Breakfast Walks on the first weekend in July.

The walks, which must be pre-booked, last for ninety minutes and start at 8am on Saturday 5 July and Sunday 6 July.

They are followed by breakfast, made with locally produced ingredients. Please telephone 023 8024 5750 to arrange.

They cost £16.00 per person or £13.00 for season ticket holders. There is free re-admission to the Gardens after breakfast.

Exbury Gardens are open daily until November 9. For details of all events and what is in flower, please visit www.exbury.co.uk or telephone 023 8089 1203.

Police are investigating a failed attempt to remove an ATM machine at the Morrisons superstore in Spruce Drive, Totton.

Sometime between 11.50pm on Monday, June 16 and 4.30am on Tuesday, June 17, an attempt was made to remove the metal hinges and handle to a door containing the cash machine, using an oxy-acetylene torch.

Investigating officers believe that the offender(s) would have been at the scene for some time while they cut away at the machine, before giving up and driving off.

Anyone who was in the area or used the A326 during this period and saw anything suspicious, particularly a van or an Audi together of separately in the vicinity, should contact the Serious Organised Crime Unit at Hulse Road, Southampton on 0845 045 45 45.

Alternatively, information can be given anonymously to Crimestoppers, the charity, on 0800 555 111.

Old Winchester Hill is located near West Meon and in walking terms can be described as an ‘upside down hill’ or a bowl in layman’s terms.

This is because the car park is at the top of the hill; so you have to walk downhill first before returning in an uphill direction.

Actually you don’t have to go downhill at all as you can go for a fair walk along the escarpment at the top of the hill.

We decided to walk in a circle by going down into the bowl first, up the other side, and then spend some time walking round the hill fort at the top before returning to the car park.

By this means we got the hard part over as soon as possible and were more able to enjoy the rest of the walk.

The main features of the walk are the scenery and at this time of year the flowers on the chalk downland.

When we arrived at the car park however the first thing we heard was the call of a turtle dove.

They could certainly teach the wood pigeon a thing or two about cooing.

It was difficult to see many other birds because of the vegetation but we did see skylarks and yellow hammers during our walk.

Yellow is the first thing you notice about the flowers at this time of year being late spring or early summer.

Buttercups are there of course but they are crowded out in many parts by the clouds of crosswort.

Crosswort, which is a member of the bedstraw family, is so called because the petals, stems and leaves are all in fours and in the shape of a cross.

Technically two of the leaves are stipules which have copied the shape of the other two leaves so the plant is regarded as having two opposite leaves.

The yellow theme is continued in the birds foot trefoil, kidney vetch and horseshoe vetch.

Birds foot trefoil and kidney vetch are found in small patches but the horseshoe vetch covers wide areas of the hillsides.

If you can identify the birds foot trefoil then the horseshoe vetch is like a smaller version and the kidney vetch is recognised by the downy fluff around the flowers.

Other yellow flowers include yellow rattle which is just coming into flower, mouse ear hawkweed which are like a pale yellow dandelion and catsear or hawkbit.

There are flowers of other colours about but they look less significant.

The small white flowers of fairy flax for instance or the slightly larger flowers of lesser stitchwort are only noticeable on close inspection.

The blue flowers of wild thyme and the white wild strawberry are there in small numbers.

We were lucky enough to have a taste of wild strawberry which although about a hundred times smaller than the commercial variety is about a hundred times tastier.

Orchids are regarded as slightly exotic flowers but the heath spotted orchids are plentiful and the fragrant orchids, although fenced off, are not in short supply.

Salad burnet is there in abundance but the dark purple colour of the ball shaped flowers make them merge into the background of the hill.


They are not so insignificant for the butterflies however.

We did not see a great number of butterflies but there were small heath and brimstone butterflies.

Also common blue, large white and meadow brown butterflies put in an occasional appearance.

The most striking however was the sighting of a tiger moth on the west side of the hill fort but we lost sight of it before I could take a photograph.

You cannot go far on Old Winchester hill before you have to stop and look at the landscape.

We had hauled ourselves up the hill on a hot sunny day and were looking for somewhere to rest when we came across a wooden bench.

On the back of the bench was written ‘The life of Maggie’.

At first sight a wooden bench is no substitute for a life but when we sat on the seat and looked out over the rolling downland with no noise but the sound of birds and the swifts soaring over the hill catching the insects then that seemed to me to be a good life.

Our next outdoor meeting will be to Basingstoke Canal.

Meet at Oak Road car park Dibden Purlieu at 10am on Sunday 20th July.

Our next indoor meeting will be at St. Andrews centre, Dibden Purlieu at 7.30pm on 28th July.

Our speaker will be Carol Watson and the topic will be ‘My Views of Winchester.

All visitors are welcome to indoor and outdoor meetings.

Contact the Secretary on 02380893803.
Any comments to mharrison67@btinternet.com.

Police in Totton are investigating the theft of a mini-excavator from the garden of a residential property in Winsor Road, near Cadnam.

The New Forest Hire owned turquoise coloured Kubota K008, was taken from the property almost opposite the school, sometime between 5.30 and 6.30pm on Monday, June 9.

At the same time, a man was seen acting suspiciously in the vicinity and a white Ford Transit van with a metal trailer measuring approximately 6ft x 7ft attached was seen close to the property.

This man is described as:

• White
• Aged 25-30 years old
• Thin build
• Dark blonde hair covering the ears
• He was wearing black trousers, possibly jogging bottoms and a green high-visibility jacket over a t-shirt.

Officers investigating the theft are keen to speak to this man or anyone who saw him or knows who he might be.

Information should be given by contacting PC Bemand at Totton police station on 0845 045 45 45 or anonymously on Crimestoppers, the charity, on 0800 555 111.