Below is an email received through our village website Contact page:

I am doing some research into an American pilot in the RFC during WW1 who was based at an airfield nearby in the Stockbridge area.

The squadron mess was at the Grosvenor Hotel in Stockbridge (of which I have photo's),but he was actually billeted in Lord Harewood's fishing cottage in Longstock.According to his journal, the river Test was immediately behind the cottage (he describes it as a creek!). Do any of your members have a picture of it? I would be delighted if you could help!:-)

Furthermore, any photo's of the old airfield in the Longstock/Stockbridge area would be gratefully received, then or now,even if it's been built on, it all helps!

I know this is a big ask, but any help by your goodselves would be great, thankyou very much!

Luckily we have a very knowledgeable historian in the village, Geoff Merritt, and I was able to put this gentleman in touch with him. The result is brilliant and I thought it should be shared with you all. Geoff was able to send scanned pages from a magazine called 'Flypast', which was printed in June 1984, the article is about an American pilot, Captain William Lambert, the 3rd ranking ace of World War 1. Captain Lambert flew with the RFC (93 Squadron) and was based at Chattis Hill, Stockbridge. A copy of the scanned document can be downloaded from the 'Features' column. Geoff was also able to identify Lord Harewood's house as The Grange, photos have been placed in the Photo Gallery.

Sunday 27th May 2012 in the field opposite Windover. Gates open at noon lunch will be served at 1pm. All money raised in aid of Rupert Trust and 14th Andover (Stockbridge) Scouts.

Jubilee Trad Jazz Band will entertain you and the hog roast will be prepared by Robinson's butchers, a bar will also be available.

Tickets can be purchased from Stockbridge Pharmacy, Beccy's Greengrover or the Garden Inn. Bring your own chairs.

Cost: £15 per adult, £8 under 12, Free for under 3.

This year’s fête will be held on Saturday the 1st of September, just enough time to recover from the Olympics. The purpose of the day remains as ever, to bring the village together for a great afternoon’s entertainment.  Although it seems ages ahead, planning has already begun and I am appealing please for help, either with ideas or especially on the day itself.

We seem to depend on the same people each year and as some of them have now left the village or feel ready to pass the mantle to others, we really do need some new faces if we are to     continue holding the traditional

Longstock Village Fête. So especially some of the younger, newer villagers, please step forward and call me on 810580.

Please note that although it is called the Village Fete, all the money raised goes to St Mary’s church.

The Water Gardens are opening again on the first and third Sundays from 2.00pm to 5.00pm.  These are magical gardens, world renowned and well worth many visits throughout the summer.

Entrance is £5 for adults, £1 for children to age 14, in aid of the following charities:

1st April Rotary Club Chandlers Ford and Eastleigh Carers

15th April Key Changes, Winchester; on 6th May Age Concern Southampton

20th May Fighting Blindness.

Teas are served by Benefice churches.

What is a Taxishare?

It is a public transport service for anyone who needs to travel from Wherewell, Chilbolton, Longstock, Stockbridge, King's Somborne, Houghton into Romsey. The service is similar to a bus service, except passengers need to book in advance and the journey will be operated by a taxi instead of a bus.

Other Transport Information

Test Valley Dial a Ride serves various parishes and can be used by people who do not have transport available as well as people with mobility difficulties. This service runs from Longstock to Andover and return on Thursday's. Telephone 01264 356808 for further information.

Stockbridge Neighbourcare - Serves Stockbridge and neighbouring villages. For further information call 01264 810363 or 0845 094 3713.

Each month the Parish Council Meeting Agenda and Minutes will be available to download from the village website. Each document will be in Adobe pdf format, if you do not have Adobe Reader loaded on to your computer there is a link on the far left hand side of this page where you can download the application. For more information on your Parish Council please visit the Parish Council web pages.

Longstock PC Agenda Wednesday 16th May 2012
Longstock PC Annual Assembly Agenda Wednesday 16th May 2012
Longstock PC Minutes March 2012

Diamond Jubilee Big Lunch Party

The Parish Council is organising a village lunch on Sunday 3rd June 2012 on the Recreation Ground, at the same time as many other communities are celebrating the Diamond Jubilee.

Much as we did for the Royal Wedding last year, we will be putting up some tents and firing up the barbeque, so that anyone wanting to join the party can bring along their picnic and whatever they want to drink and barbeque. We’ll have a table too for anything people would like to ‘bring and share’ - from salad crops to cupcakes.

Steve Young will be playing music to get you in the mood, and we hope to show the TV broadcast of the River Pageant on a big screen that afternoon, when hundreds of boats sail down the Thames from Hammersmith to Greenwich.

Bring your own chairs and tables, or a rug and join your neighbours from 12 noon for a relaxing afternoon. You can park in the areas adjacent to the barn that day, but not the field as there will be animals grazing there by then. We’ll even have the Burnfield’s portaloos!

By the way, has anyone got any bunting we can use to add to the festive air?

The council decided against buying commemorative mugs, thinking that there are so many different styles on offer, and that we might get disapproval if we bought the ‘wrong thing’ with what is after all money from householders. We assume there will be plenty on sale elsewhere so that anyone wanting a memento can choose their own.

Commemorative oak:  The village has been given a free oak sapling to commemorate the Jubilee; the idea at the moment is to plant it in the wild meadow section of the cemetery.

To visit the official Diamond Jubilee website click here.

As you know we finally gained approval last year from Test Valley Borough Council (TVBC) for the adoption of the Longstock VDS. We have had many comments about the high quality of the photography, map presentation and general layout - a short but concise document concerning the future for Longstock.

TVBC have recently provided a £650 grant for production of some hard copies in booklet form.

Please apply to the Parish Clerk on musters358@btinternet.com or by ringing him on +44 (0) 1264 810459 should you need a copy.

Click here to down load the VDS

A country wide appeal is taking place at the moment to try and find Alaska who has gone missing from her home. It is believed she was taken from the garden so could be anywhere. Her family miss her so much - please print off a poster and place where is can be clearly seen so more people can watch out for her, to download the pdf file Click Here.

If you spot Alaska, or any dog that you think could be Alaska please use the contact details on the poster or email contact@longstockvillage.com

Thank you.

For years the parish council has tried without success to have the stretch of road between Southside Cottages and Bottom Road made a 30 mph limit, which would neatly link the two existing 30 zones at each end of Longstock.

In 2007 the county council launched a 'Village 30' scheme, under which villages could bid for 30 mph speed limits where they did not exist, and once more the parish council applied. But this was rejected by HCC because there were not enough houses along that bit of road to justify a 30.

Not to be put off, and knowing how dangerous that straight bit of road is with traffic speeding past cyclists, riders and pedestrians, the parish council then applied for a 40 limit. They cited other villages in the area (Houghton for one) that had a 40 limit in apparently less dangerous lengths of road; but this seemed to tax the best brains of the county and borough councils, since the bid continued to be ignored in the county's annual road scheme plans.

When the parish council complained again this autumn about the lack of progress, they quickly heard from Highways that they had completed speed surveys in the same section and the survey data revealed that a 40 mph limit would be suitable in this area after all, and would also help to improve overall safety on the road. They now wait for the change to be made and, when completed, hope for more considerate driving throughout the village.