Tag: Civic Centre

Research Rabbit Hole – Southampton Parks 1926

OS Map 1852

The town of Southampton was once surrounded by ancient fields where townspeople grew crops in summer and grazed animals in winter. By law, all crops had to be harvested by 1 August, Lammas Day, so the fields were called Lammas Lands. In 1844, the Marsh Improvement Act allowed the council to drain the Saltmarsh around the new Terminus Station. To compensate the townspeople for losing this common grazing land, the council agreed to turn the other Lammas Lands into parks. The Central Parks were laid out in the late 1850s, and old OS maps of the time show the layout has changed very little since. Southampton’s wonderful parks are still a prominent feature to this day, and they also feature in many of my books. Making sure I got things right required a good deal of research.

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Marathon views

Team Hamwic

The return to post-COVID normality continued on 24 April 2022, with the ABP Southampton Marathon. The last one, back in May 2019, had been eventful, and I was hoping for a more relaxing time. As usual, Commando was acting as a pacer for the Half Marathon, which meant I had access to the VIP changing rooms. This year they were in the MAST Mayflower Studios rather than across the road in the Sir James Matthews Building. Pre COVID, this was the NST Nuffield Southampton Theatre, which opened in February 2018 as part of the new Cultural Quarter. The original Nuffield Theatre opened on Highfield Campus in 1956. I was lucky enough to see a performance of The Tempest there back in my college days. As far as I can tell, the new theatre was supposed to run alongside the old rather than replace it. Sadly, both were victims of the pandemic and went into administration.

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