Additional Information

Longstock Parish Council by the Clerk, John Musters

Our Red Phone(less) Box:  Red telephone kiosks are as much a part of the English countryside as pubs and ancient churches.

Our box in Longstock (a Type K6 for collectors of such trivia) was installed in October 1937 to a design of Sir Giles Gilbert Scott, famous for his work on Liverpool Cathedral, Battersea and Bankside power stations (the latter now the Tate Modern gallery) and, closer to home, Southampton University.

Made of cast iron, with a prominent George VI crown on the top panels, the K6s were a visibly grand symbol of the General Post Office in its heyday.  Tens of thousands of such phone boxes sprang up over the country, and in 1988 ours in Longstock became a Listed building.

Over time, with nearly everyone owning a mobile phone, the use made of these public phones doesn’t always justify BT’s expenditure on them in maintenance.  In the whole of last year for instance, only 10 calls were made from our box.

So villages having a Listed one were given the opportunity last year to adopt their kiosk for £1!  Your parish council opted to do that, and saw a good photo-opportunity as and when the engineers came to strip out the phone equipment.

Usually, when you want an organisation to do something in a hurry, it takes for ever.  But, having asked BT to let us know when they planned to remove the phone so we could photograph the occasion for posterity, they came unannounced and took the stuff away in minutes!

A pity, but never mind.  We now have an empty box, which the parish council will insure and maintain, and the plan is to fit it with shelves and use it as a book exchange (bring one—take one) – unless of course anyone has a brighter idea.  If so, you know who to call (but not from the kiosk!).

Highways:  Progress has been slow in getting our defects dealt with, as HCC has been putting all its efforts into repairing frost damage to roads.  We have our own share of potholes which we hope to have filled as Highways resources allow; as well as repairs to the Bottom Road street sign; ‘flexi-markers’ on verges; and bridge railings on The Bunny.

Test Valley School:  The school tell us that, for a trial period, they will be locking their top gates to the drive and car parks after school hours and at weekends (except for events such as parents’ evenings), to prevent disturbance to Roman Road residents.  They will be ensuring users of the sports hall and other facilities at those times use the lower staff car park only.

Allotments:  The parish council has signed a six year lease on part of the Glebe with the Winchester Diocese, so by the time you read this the Longstock Gardeners should have started digging their plots.  

Cemetery: The parish council thanked Mervyn Brewer and David Fakes for making and fitting the new, bigger, noticeboard in the cemetery.  The plot ‘map’ will be displayed again when it has been brought up to date.  Ivan Gibson has again been awarded the contract to maintain the cemetery for the year from 1^st April.

Playground: With the summer coming round again, we can expect to see the playground being used a lot more.  The entrance has been tarmaced and where the old slide mound was (on what is now the car park) has been covered in chippings before seeding with grass.  Signs direct drivers to the only parking place., which is on the right. If anyone sees visitors trying to park elsewhere, a quiet word in their ear would help us all.

Footpaths:  Those who use our footpaths often report a sad amount of flytipping, especially on number 12 up beyond Roman Road, and on number 9 by Ratz Lodge.  Do give Charles Grieve or the clerk a call if you come across any.

Henry Smith Charity: About 50 of Longstock’s Over 60s enjoyed the 3rd annual Henry Smith lunch in March.  A delicious and nourishing 2 course meal was provided by Complete Catering of Allington, while parish councillors ran a well-stocked bar and did the washing up afterwards.

Planning Applications:

Test Valley Borough Council has approved the following:

Carbery House: (re-install chimney stack).

This is the only application in train.

Annual Parish Assembly

Every parish council has to hold an Annual Parish Assembly, as an opportunity once a year for the electors to meet their councillors, hear what they have been doing on their behalf, and quiz them on any council matter. 

This year it will take place in the village hall at 7pm Wednesday 19^th May. 

Do please come – for only by attending can villagers tell the council if they approve what is being done or planned.

Highway Ditches:

The County Council says:  Keeping roadside ditches clear of vegetation and debris is an important way of preventing flooding.

Many homeowners aren’t aware of their duty to keep ditches clear; this includes any roadside ditch running along their road frontage, even if it’s well within the verge.  Most ditches also take surface water run-off from the road, but that doesn’t change owners’ responsibility for maintenance. 

Although the County Council doesn’t routinely look after those ditches, they say they will take steps to protect roads from flooding whenever possible.

It’s therefore essential that grass cuttings and other garden waste for example aren’t dumped in ditches. Regularly clearing shrubs and small branches helps maintain the water flow and prevents flooding of roads and gardens.

Ditches also are important for biodiversity and have a much larger capacity than most piped systems.  So we must continue to look after them – they’re an important part of our rural heritage and need good management.

Parish Lengthsman

The county council is running a one year pilot scheme from this spring to see if there is merit in reintroducing Parish Lengthsmen.

The trial involves 2 areas: one in east Hampshire, the other in 10 villages centred on Stockbridge, including Longstock.

Lengthsmen were deployed in Hampshire until the late 1960s, carrying out routine maintenance work across their allocated parishes. They were given lengths of highway to maintain and were expected to do everything necessary to keep ‘their’ sections of road up to scratch. 

Lengthsmen generally worked alone, using hand tools.they tended to live in or near the parishes in which they worked and took great pride in their area. They would have a close relationship with the parish authority and be very aware of local needs.  Unfortunately mechanisation and reducing budgets sent the service into decline and proved the downfall of the labour intensive Lengthsman.

However, in recent years the county council has felt that closer involvement with parishes, using local knowledge and expertise, could supplement the work of the county and borough contractors. The Lengthsman trial is the result.

The sort of tasks he could carry out in Longstock include litter clearance; cleaning and repairing signs of all sorts; clearing soakaways and gully grates; cutting back overhanging trees and acting as Longstock’s ‘eyes and ears’.