Wine Course
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Wine and Sign and The River Rat are teaming up for a WSET Level 2 Intermediate Certificate in Wines and Spirits. You can take part in the whole course or just enjoy the wine tasting should you not wish to complete the exam. Click here for more details:

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The Air Transport Auxiliary Flies Again
On the 10th July 2010 which was the 70th anniversary of the start of the 'Battle of Britain' the A.T.A. Hamble-le-Rice Memorial was unveiled before a large crowd and representatives from the A.T.A., RAF Association, RAF Cadets and the Royal British Legion. The Memorial was created by a partnership from BP, GE Aviation and Hamble-le-Rice Parish Council.

left to right: Maggie Frost (ATA), Tony Bray (Proposer of the Memorial), Annette Hill (ATA),
Mary Ellis (ATA), Peter George (ATA), Joy Lofthouse (ATA), Peter Garrod (ATA).
The Ceremony was brought to order by the St Andrews Pipe Band. Speeches were made by Ken MacCallum (BP), Todd Powers (GE Aviation), Mike Davies (HPC) and Peter Garrod who is the Commodore of the A.T.A. Association. The Memorial was unveiled by the entire A.T.A representation: Mary Ellis, Maggie Frost, Peter Garrod, Peter George, Annette Hill, Joy Lofthouse, Rosemary Seccombe and Freydis Sharland. Father John Travers from St Andrew’s Church in Hamble blessed the Memorial before wreaths were laid. The unveiling ceremony was brought to a close with a double flypast by Joe Dible and Owen Watts in the last remaining Foster Wikner Wicko which was previously owned by Phillipa Bennett and Lettice Curtis who were war time A.T.A. pilots stationed Hamble Ferry Pool 15.

(left to right): Joe Dible, Mike Watts, Owen Watts
Peter Garrod said, “It is sad but inevitable that there are so few lady members of ATA surviving today to see this splendid tribute which BP; the skilled craftsmen of GE Aviation; and Hamble Parish Council have created together in their memory. So appropriate, too, that it depicts a Spitfire, not only because of its strong association with this part of Hampshire, but also because, so many being built, it is the aircraft most likely to feature strongly in any ATA pilots logbook, and almost certainly in those of the women pilots of 15 Ferry Pool based here at Hamble”.
The initial idea for the Hamble-le-Rice ATA Memorial was proposed by Tony Bray of Netley to BP Oil UK Ltd (Hamble-le-Rice) and the Hamble-le-Rice Parish Council in the autumn of 2008. In 2009 GE Aviation (Hamble-le-Rice) welcomed the opportunity to show their engineering expertise to manufacture the 1 metre wing spanned Spitfire from aluminium which was kindly donated by Thyssen Krupp Aerospace. GE Aviation enlisted the willing assistance of Justin Adams of spitfire3d.com who generously donated his time and expertise to produce diagrams of the Spitfire from which the programmers could establish the cuts using their machines. After the initial engineering, the fuselage and wing sections where precisely joined and then Spitfire was meticulously polished following hours and hours of skilled labour.
The team at GE Aviation who manufactured the Spitfire for the Memorial are Chris Apletree, Bob Attree, Pauline Bower, Adam Harfield, Dan Hickman, Chris Hodson, Mike Neave, Pete Newcombe, Todd Powers, Phil Ratcliffe, Ian Russell, John Savage, Danny Small, Martin Stratton, Ben Sutton, Derek Walbridge, Pete Williams.
The Welsh slate rock base for the Memorial was sourced after extensive hunting for the suitable piece by at Silverland Stone in Fair Oak, Eastleigh.
The creation of the Memorial would not have been possible without the willing participation of numerous individuals who are all acknowledged along with full information about the Memorial and the unveiling on the official A.T.A. Memorial website www.atamemorial.org.uk
Hamble Conservation Volunteers
Hamble Conservation Volunteers group are looking for people to get involved in wildlife monitoring, educational and community events and practical work. You can join in with the programme of events and practical workdays at Hamble Common.

Click here for more information and details.
‘AETHERIS AVIDI’
EAGER FOR THE AIR
Wartime Britain, Hamble, October 1941, Alison King ATA pilot in the all female Hamble ATA Ferry Pool wrote:
"It was cold and drizzly, we left the airfield and wandered through the village, suddenly we turned from the wide windy road round a corner and down a sloping lane into something that had been in a world of its own since the fourteenth century”.
The Air Transport Auxiliary, or ATA, was formed at the outbreak of war in September 1939 to transport mail, dispatches and essential supplies. It quickly developed to ferry new, damaged and repaired aircraft between the aviation industry and the RAF and Fleet Air Arm airfields. The ATA delivered all types of newly built operational aircraft and flew others in need of repair. By 1941 the Hamble unit had become an all female unit.
Between September 1939 and November 1945 the ATA flew 309,011 aircraft missions. Tragically 173 ATA personnel were killed on duty.
At 1pm on the 10th July 2010, which is the 70th anniversary of the Battle of Britain, BP Oil UK Ltd (Hamble), GE Aviation (Hamble) and Hamble-le-Rice Parish Council will proudly unveil the Hamble-le-Rice ATA Memorial, which is to be placed on the corner of Aquila Way and Hamble Lane. The memorial will honour the courageous men and women of the air transport auxiliary.
There will be a reception/exhibition directly after the unveiling in the Hamble Village Memorial Hall. Both the unveiling and reception/exhibition are open to all, free of charge.
You can discover more information about the Memorial at www.atamemorial.org.uk Enquiries: BP (023) 8045 6028 or Hamble-le-Rice Parish Council (023) 8045 3422 or click here to view the event leaflet.
Hamble Aquatics

Hamble Aquatics has been established since 1997 and has about 80 swimmers. The club are currently recruiting for new swimmers who wish to take part in swimming competitions in Hampshire and South East Region.
Look out for their stand in Hamble Week. In the meantime you can viist their website bia the link below.
Hamble Aquatics Swim Team |