Report by Sue Kett on Milestones.
More than 25 of us went to the Milestone
Museum at Basingstoke on 9th July. It was an
enjoyable ride through the beautiful Sussex
and Hampshire countryside. We arrived about
noon on a lovely sunny day and most of us
headed towards the cafe for an early lunch.
The displays cover the period of the first
eight decades of the 20th century. Many of
the exhibits were familiar to us, such as
cylinder vacuum cleaners and old gas
cookers! There was a penny arcade where you
could have a go. I didn’t win anything, but
it was fun.
At 2.00pm there was a presentation entitled
“make do and mend”, which was set in the
second world war. Two fabrics that were
highly valued were parachute silk and off
cuts of barrage balloon material. The latter
unfortunately was camouflaged!! If you saw a
parachute in the sky, you hopped on your
bike taking your large scissors with you in
the hope of getting a good supply of silk.
For the ladies they were tips on how to
extend the life of your make up and pretend
stockings You covered your legs with a
diluted solution gravy browning (remember
that you can still buy it) and then draw a
seem with a cork that had been burnt and
blackened. You had to watch out for the
local dogs, who loved the taste of gravy
browning. There were some cooking tips and I
brought home and tried a recipe for the
famous “Walton pie” it was very filling but
a bit bland in taste. The sort of thing I
would nowadays cover in tomato Ketchup. By
this time we were in need of refreshment and
retired to the cafe to sit outside in the
sunshine enjoying coffee and ice cream.
We departed for home just before 4pm
Milestones
Museum
Roger and
Kieth
Diamond
Coaches
Terry and
Gaynor
Milestones
Museum
Robin and
Clare in the Dinosaur exhibition
Savoy
Buildings
Milestones
Gordon Sue
Carol and Marion
Janet
Roger
Keith
Keith with
Linda and Carole
Sue
and Audrey
Peter Cora
and Robin
Milestones
Barbara
and Betty
Marion
Carol
Penny
arcade
Bob
Bob
Milestones
Terry
Gill and
Pat
Ann and
Jewel
A Make and
Mend talk
Gordon
Karen
Roger and
Beulah
Er??
Cora and
Peter With Roger who's buying a new broom
for Beulah
Switch the
power on full blast
Tram
Robin by a
train wearing a pith helmet, because!!!
Milestones
Clare in
the gift shop
Pat
Gordon
talking to Pat with Alan the best coach
driver.