This is the West End Parish Council web site which will provide you with information not only about the parish but also about all aspects of the village. It is hoped that you will find all information required – if not please check out our contact page
Considering that once West End was but a sleepy little village, it has certainly had more than its share of prominentpeople, who have either livd here or were born here. This is just a small selection of some of them:
RICHARD ST.BARBE BAKER was a West End man born and bred. His father John Richard St. Barbe Baker started a Nursery at The Firs in Beacon Road, West End after using the ground for sand and gravel extraction. Born in 1889, Richard served in the Horse Artillery during the Great War, where he was woulded. His claim to fame is that he formed the Men of the Trees organisation whilst working in Kenya in 1922. This grew into amajor environmental force whose aim was re-aforestation as a means to combat the worlds advancing deserts. An influential force, he was a friend of Kings and Presidents around the world and one of his many triumphs included the preservation of the Pacific Redwoods in the USA in conjunction with John Muir. The organisation has long since been renamed and is today known as The International Tree Foundation and is still very active in the field of tree planting and environmental issues.
ARTHUR HENRY ROSTRON was Captain of RMS Carpathia on that fateful night of 14th/15th April 1912 when RMS Titanic struck an iceberg in the North Atlantic on her maiden voyage and sank with the loss of 1,523 lives. Captain Rostron was responsible for saving all 706 survivors, hewas feted both with a knighthood by Britain and many other awards including the Congressional Medal of Honour by America. In later life after a distinguished career he rose to become Commodore of the Cunard Line and moved to West End around 1927 and bought a house at the top of Chalk Hill. He retired from the sea in 1931 and died of illness in 1940 and is buried in the Old Burial Ground by the War Memorial along with his wife Minnie.
EDWIN JONES although not born in West End, livedat Harefield House in the late 19th century (the grounds of which are now a housing estate). At that time Harefield, Thornhill and parts of Bitterne where all incorporated into the Parish of West End. Edwin was famous for his Department store in Southamton (now Debenhams) and was a very enlightened and thoughtful employer. On his death he ws buried in the Old Burial Ground where his memorial can be seen today.
HARRIETT HASELFOOT born in 1803 came from Essex. She was a very wealthy lady inheriting her husbands fortune on his death, she moved to West End with servants and bought the house called Moorhill where the Reservoir is now in Moorhill Road (not to be confused with the present house of that name). She lived to 97nyears of age and spent much of her furtune in acts of generosity towards the people and village around her. Amongst other deeds she purchased the land, paid for an Infants School to bebuilt by local builder Haines Bros in 1871 and ran it for a number of years as a Dames School for local children, she also contributed large amounts of money to rebuilding St James' Church in West End and St. Johns' Church in Hedge End. She died 19th September 1900.
BRIGADIER GENERAL GEORGE HENRY GATER was the son of William Henry Gater of Winslowe House, West End: born in 1886 was educated at Winchester and Oxford and in the Great War he joined the Army and in the short space of five years became the youngest Brigadier General in the British Army. Destined for promotion to even higher rank had the war continued, he was demobilised on 18th January 1919 taking up his civilian career as Director for Education for the County of Lancaster. He was badly wounded in the mouth and ear in 1917 at Messines and again the following year with a machine gun wound below the shoulder at the Aisne. For his service in the Great Wr he was highly decorated including the DSO with bar, C.M.G. as well as the Croix de Guerre and Legion of Honour from the French. He played an important part in halting the German advance in 1918 and was always a leader "that led from the front", a very brave man.
MELITA NORWOOD (nee Sirnis) came to promience for all the wrong reasons - she lived at Thornhill (then part of West End parish) and went to St. James' School at Hilldene in the 1920's. She was unmasked as a KGB spy, who had spied for Russia during the "Cold War" period and before. The Government decided not to prosecute her due to her advanced years (she was 87 years old). She next appeared in the Times Obituary column on Tuesday 28th June 2005, which gave news of her passing aged 93 on June 2nd 2005.
For more details of these and many other personalities that were resident in West End why not visit the Museum and Heritage Centre at the Old FireStation corner of Orchards Way and High Street, open between 10.00am. and 4.00pm. on Saturdays.
Mrs Alison Ramseyer has been appointed as Assistant to the Parish Clerk and took up her duties in March 2008. Alison is responsible for bookings and all recreation areas including the allotments.
New Life International Church meet at Townhill Farm Community Centre every Sunday at 10.30am. All meetings are signed for deaf people. Contact Details: Pastors Paul & Julie Franklin Tel: 023 8057 5852
Hilldene Community Association now has its own website.
Why don't you have a look!
www.hilldenecommunity.co.uk
A successful Tea Dance was held on Friday 4th July 2008. The 'New Arcadians' provided music for dancing and several couples took to the floor to demonstrate their skills in waltz, quickstep, foxtrot, latin american and jive. The tickets, refreshments and raffle raised £150 for Marie Curie Cancer Care.
Midsummer's day got off to a damp start but improved in time for the Carnival Procession based on a 'Musical' theme. Eleven floats, seven walking displays, three bands and a cheer leaders group joined the procession which set off from Quob Lane and proceeded through the village ending up at Hatch Grange. The West End Pre School as 'Wizard of Oz' were 1st overall winners.
There were plenty of royal waves as carnival queens from home and abroad joined the procession which rounded off with the Fete on Hatch Grange commencing at 1.00pm. There were various displays in the arena throughout the afternoon including a Falconry Display, Latin American Dance Group, Albion Band and Cheer Leaders display. Cups and Shields were presented to winners of the competitions by the Mayor of Eastleigh, Councillor Derek Pretty - Toddler and Baby, Miniature Garden and Victoria Sponge cake.
Leading up to the Carnival there were two interesting Village Walks and a well attended Pub Quiz.
We hope that the success of this Carnival will ensure that West End have a Carnival for many years to come.
Good evening fellow Councillors, Ladies and Gentlemen. Welcome to the 2007 - 2008 Annual Parish Assembly of West End Parish Council.
This is the first assembly in the four years cycle of the current Parish Council of West End and in one months time , your councillors will be electing members to one or more of the three standing committees as well as to the honorary positions of Chairman and Vice-Chairman and Treasurer. Like this meeting tonight you are all welcome to attend any of these committee meetings whether it be the first and third Tuesdays for Planning and Highways committee which is consulted on those matters arising within the parish or the Recreation and Environment committee which, on every third Wednesday evening, oversees matters to do with the use of our various facilities or on the fourth Wednesday at the Policy and Resources committee which generally determines how the money will be spent and the assets looked after. We would of course like to see more of you on the second Wednesday evening of each month - when we have the full Parish Council meeting.
It is a pleasure to see so many of you her tonight. I would like to extend an invitation to you all to attend the Annual Parish Meeting on Wednesday 9th May and thus support and encourage your local councillors at the beginning of the new parocial year.
Like last year I take this opportunity of thanking you all for your support, fellowship and achievements over recent years and state it is a priviledge to be your Chairman. We have all worked to the benefit of West End parishoners and can be proud of the successful decisions and achievements arrived at during the past twelve months.
Those of you who regularly attend parish meetings will know of the high regard this council has for the people who work for us. The staff, ably led by the Clerk to the Parish Council, Mrs Laura Cooke, are Jane, Sheila and Diane in the office, Margaret Wood, the part-time assistant to the clerk, decided to take a sort of early retirement so we offer our best wishes to her. We are pleased to welcome Mrs Alison Ramseyer to the office team in a full-time capacity as the assistant to the Parish Clerk. The Ground Staff team of Ian, Steve, Eckhart and new boy Kerion have, you must all agree, made the open spaces, parks and cemeteries a pleasure to look at and evidence of the staff commitment in making West Enders proud to live here.
Steve Petterson was appointed the Youth and Community worker about ten months ago and together with the ably supported by Nikki, Penny, Anne, Brenda, Shelley and Keiron, have continued the development of youth activities to the advantage of the younger members of this parish. Norman, Dave, Gill, Yvonne, Ingrid and Roy are the caretakers and cleaners for all the parish property and help tie everything together for the smooth running of the facilities for hirers and users alike.
Unfortunately there was little interest for a wider calendar of social events in the past twelve months, so we settled for the usual themes - Carnival in June, Remembrance Day in November and the Switching on the the Christmas Tree Lights, the Children's Pantomime and the Senior Citizen's Party in December.
We have been fortunate enough to continue having the services of two, sometimes three, PCSO.s (Police Community Support Officers), dedicated solely to West End. I would like to suggest that these young servants of the public have made a difference towards the various little problems that seem to be around and only time will tell how successful this line in policing will become.
The previous Parish Council decided to take advantage of plans by Eastleigh Borough Council to devolve property and land assets to parish councils from last April, West End has been entrusted with the land at Megan Green, the Community Centre and play areas at Townhill and Carpathia Close as well as the land with play area at Upmill. With a bit of luck the full paperwork will be completed by the time of our next annual meeting.
I believe that the parish of West End, with all its assets, has been ably managed by the Councillors and Staff during the twelve months May 2007 - April 2008 and look forward with everyone connected to this council to the challenges in the coming year.
I recommend this Annual Report to this meeting. Thank you.
Councillor N E Dickinson, Chairman of West End Parish Council.
