On an afternoon of sunshine and showers, an intrepid group of 35 ringers from the Alton and Petersfield District Bell Ringers - ranging in age from their early teens to their 80s - ascended the steep spiral steps to the Winchester Cathedral ringing chamber.

They passed through the exhibition room into the narrow walkway through the very high clerestory looking down on to the chapel below.

They went further up very narrow steps which opened out into the large Norman ringing chamber. There were 213 steps in all to the 16 bells above in the belfry.

Bells have been ringing from Winchester Cathedral since Saxon times. King Cnut gave two bells to the Old Minster in 1035.

Ringers wearing ear defenders were given belfry tours to observe the bells in action. Some of the bells were cast between September 1 and September 28 in 1936. Due to the abdication of King Edward VIII and the accession of King George VI during that period, King Edward VIII’s name - which had been incised on the bells - was removed, and King George VI’s name was placed on them instead. The inscription on the largest bell had to be changed by hand.

The treble and second bells were cast in 1992 at the famous Whitechapel Bell Foundry, which has since sadly closed.

At the ringing session the ringers rang rounds, call changes and Grandsire on the 14 bells, the tenor weighing in at 35.5cwt, or 1,800kg. All ringers felt very honoured to be asked to ring before the Sunday Choral Evensong service.

Thanks were given to the Winchester ringers for permission to ring and help with the arrangements. There were special thanks to young Petersfield ringer Francesco P Greenslade, who ran the afternoon programme, to Rachael Barbar, who helped organise the event, and all the experienced ringers who came to help and support those less experienced on ringing higher numbers of bells.

For the July meeting, Paul Hudson Oldnall made a return visit with his Songs of the Sixties.

Paul talked about various artists that had covered some of the songs he chose and then sang the version he preferred. Members were encouraged to join in with clapping and various percussion instruments, and it was a great evening for everyone. There was even a visit from a bowls club member to check out Paul.

Some members enjoyed a visit to Hinton Ampner on one of the hottest days, where they had a very interesting garden tour with a very knowledgeable guide.

It is a garden that has interest all year round. In the walled garden a past tenant had built a tennis court and swimming pool, which the National Trust had to remove and restore it back to its original form. The guide said sometimes the gardeners still dig up tennis balls.

After lunch in the café members went into the house, where the upstairs is now open and the bedrooms have been refurbished. Members hope to pay a return visit over the Christmas period, when the house is beautifully decorated with a different theme each year.

There was no meeting in August, but 20 members celebrated their Summer Lunch at The Hogs Back Hotel on August 11. It was a very nice setting, and excellent food.

Alice Holt WI meets at the Rowledge Club in Fullers Road, Rowledge, on the third Tuesday of the month at 7.15pm for 7.30pm.

The Alton Art Society is celebrating its 100th birthday this year.

It is holding its annual exhibition at the Alton Assembly Rooms from October 11 to 19.

Admission will be free, and it will be open from 10am to 5pm, except on the final day when the hours will be 10am to 3pm.

Petersfield South Downs Probus Club is hosting a talk followed by lunch at The Half Moon in Sheet on September 30 at 11am for 11.30am.

The talk, entitled The Real CSI - How DNA Fingerprinting Works, will be given by Dr Ian Goodall.

Dr Goodall is a retired headteacher of a very large comprehensive school and is returning to Petersfield South Downs Probus Club after a very successful talk last year on vaccines.

This highly illustrative talk explains how the technique of DNA fingerprinting was first used to solve a double murder. Other famous cases involving DNA fingerprinting will be described, including the King in the car park, the murdered last royal family of Russia and the OJ Simpson trial.

Non-members are welcome for the talk and lunch (£22) or for the talk only (£5). To book, or for more information, call the secretary on 07967 015596. For more details about the club visit www.psdpc.wordpress.com

The hottest summer on record and four heatwaves did not deter Frensham and Dockenfield members from putting on their best ever autumn show.

The society received a record 388 exhibits from 46 members - 39 adults and seven juniors. This was 50 entries more than the previous autumn show record set in 2021.

With the growing popularity for vegetable growing, for the first time the society had the honour of hosting National Vegetable Society judge Neil Bulsom, who commended the society on the quality of both the vegetables and fruit.

He was particularly impressed by four sections, namely tomatoes, herbs, vegetable baskets and the any other vegetable section, which included agretti as an exhibit.

In the vegetable section, Neil Mumford was awarded The Stevens Cup for most points in the 14 classes. Neil also won the Atherton Cup for his collection of vegetables; this exhibit was also considered as the best in show and he was duly awarded the Morris Cup.

The society received a record number of fruit exhibits, which included peaches and buckthorn for the first time. Neil commented that it was the first time he had seen peaches exhibited.

In this section, Dan Bosence won the Colonel Earle Cup for most points in the fruit section, and Stuart Easton’s wonderful basket of fruit bagged him the People’s Choice award, voted by the show visitors.

Penny Hearn retained The Wilson Bowl for most points in the home industries section.

The Helen Lloyd Trophy for the total number of points in shrub classes 22 and 23 was awarded to Caroline Plant.

The Hunt Cup for most original flower arrangement was awarded to Jilly Steventon.

Sharon Bleach and Bridgette Wilson shared the Lee-Jones Cup for highest points in rose classes 5 to 8.

The Hunter Cup, for most points in flower classes 5 to 30, was shared by Alison Bosence and Caroline Plant, while The Bill Othen Vase, for dahlias, was awarded to Suzanne McLean.

The Machin-Cooke Cup for photography went to Simon Bleach.

In the junior section, Lily Easton made a clean sweep, winning both The Dockenfield Cup for most points in the junior section, and the Pat Mattin Cup for best junior floral arrangement.

Lastly, the Huitfeldt Cup for accumulating most points in the show was awarded to Penny Hearn.

Archie Gooding, aged 13, became the youngest ever winner of the Cookery Cup in the Bramshott & Liphook Horticultural Society’s autumn show held on September 6.

He entered all the classes and received firsts for his rustic loaf and date and walnut cake, along with seconds and thirds for the other classes, beating all the competition including his grandmother, Lesley Hollands.

The society was also pleased to see that Malcolm Harvey came first in all three classes in the flower arranging, winning the Floral Cup. His entry in the Hot Hot Hot class was stunning, as was his entry in the Wind Chimes class. He soundly beat his wife Kim-Britt into second place.

The show was a success, with the tables full of colourful veg, beautiful flowers and scrumptious apples and pears – all despite the weird weather of 2025, first bone dry, then almost floods.

Other cup winners were Ian Haussauer, winning best in show for his wonderful basket of veg, and the Bob Bell trophy for being the most successful in the vegetables. Wife Ann won best in show for the flower classes and other cups.

Christine Hill won the W A Coyte trophy for her pot plants. Tim Wayne was delighted to win the Novice Cup with his mixed dahlias.

Children’s classes this year were a gingerbread man undersea collage, and own made up Lego model - which proved very popular, with ten children taking part. The winners were Chloe Langley in the under-eight section and Milly Morton in the eight to 13 category.

The society would like to thank all those who entered and made the show a success.

The next meeting will be at the church centre in Portsmouth Road, Liphook, on October 16 at 7.30pm, when Gillian Taylor will give a talk entitled For the Love of Roses.

To join the society call Ann Haussauer on 01428 723045 or visit www.liphookhortsoc.org.uk