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Welcome to the Alton Society. We hope you find our website interesting and informative. We would love to hear from you so tell us what you think, both good and bad! Contact us at thealtonsociety@gmail.com. 

Alton from Windmill Hill

Newsletter

Our Spring 2023 Newsletter is available! Browse our online copy. Previous newsletters can be found here.

Nicky Branch.

It is with great sadness that we report the death of Nicky Branch, past chairman of the Alton Society who passed away at the end of October. Read a tribute to Nicky here. Nicky’s memorial service will be at St Mary’s Parish Church, Bentworth at 2.30pm on the 1st June.

AGM

Our 50th anniversary AGM took place on Saturday 19th November 2022 at Alton Maltings.

Here are some more pictures of the event.

Outstanding Services to Alton Award 2022

Following the choice of Moira Baker as winner of the Outstanding Services to Alton Award her certificate was presented by M.P. Damian Hinds at our 50th Anniversary AGM on the 19th November 2022.

As Moira Howells she headed the Alton office of the Herald newspaper until its closure, using her first class journalistic skills to report Alton’s affairs tirelessly and lucidly, sometimes having to resist pressure to back down on her forthright reporting. She provided an accessible and receptive ear for the concerns of local people. She maintained the profile and vigour of the Alton edition, concentrating on Alton’s affairs. She is much missed in this role.


As Moira Baker she was the first woman to serve as Alton Lions President. As a prominent Lion she is a familiar presence working long hours in all weathers in support of local events such as the Classic Car Show and the local litter picks with her Lion’s team.


At the beginning of Covid she helped set up the Alton and District Resilience Fund, coordinating many local groups to help people adversely affected by the pandemic.
Fellow Lions report that she is full of ideas and is an inspiration. For example, by organising laptops for children during Covid and now for Ukrainian refugees.
She is a well-deserved winner of this year’s award.

Local Plan and Chawton Park Farm

Having failed to get any help from the Government regarding a sensible way to calculate the allocation of housing numbers to be included in the new Local Plan which takes account of the fact that most of the housing will have to be built outside the South Downs National Park the District Council has decided to repeat the consultation they carried out in 2018. It is to be hoped that common sense will prevail and that development of Chawton Park Farm will not feature in this but meanwhile it is vital that we maintain our opposition.  If you have not already signed the petition against it please consider doing so now, it can be found here. Further details of this proposal and opposition to it can be found on our Chawton Park Farm page.

Litter Picks – Latest news

Our Spring Litter Pick took place on 25th March 2023. We had the biggest turn out of volunteers ever, over 80. Look out for our next one in the Autumn.

For news of the Spring and Autumn 2022 litter picks see here.

Built Environment Group

We need your help!

Please come and join our Built Environment Group (BEG). The BEG keeps an eye on local building applications. The Planning Authority publishes planning applications on a weekly basis and most are non-controversial. However, due to our scrutiny we are able to alert Altonians to developments which often have a far-reaching effect on our Town and environment and this can lead us to help modify or indeed stop poor developments. Clearly, some planning expertise is preferable but not essential. You will have help from colleagues.

Please contact the Chairman on 07786 983 679 for more information or send an email to thealtonsociety@gmail.com

Community Groups

Head over to our Community pages for information on specific groups and activities to support Alton’s communities.

Alton Society Grants

Hop over to our Grants Application Page for news of the grants recently awarded to local community initiatives. Click on “About Us” then click on Grant Applications.

Wey Valley Radio 101.1FM and online

We have a regular slot on Tuesday morning at 10a.m. Tune in and have a listen! We give an update on local issues and Society news. Special features include the history of Alton and explanations for well known phrases and sayings. Plus some interesting choices of records. Its fun!

Friends of Flood Meadows – Community Action

Our next session is on 18th June 2023. We have had to cancel our May session. Meet at the Tanhouse Lane end of the meadows by our green storeroom at 10am with gloves and wellies. See you there!

These photos show conservation work in the River Wey in the Flood Meadows. In December 2022, volunteers helped enhance the pathway with much needed repair work.

We had 14 volunteers for our January session and despite the rain of the last week or so, we had a dry morning! Our March session had 11 volunteers and we repaired the pathway near the bridge to the middle path. Litter clearing was done and some branches cut ready to replenish the berms. April was again a good turn out with 16 volunteers and more work was done on the paths. The May session has been cancelled.

Come and join the Friends of Flood Meadows to help with tidying, clearing litter and maintenance. We meet at the meadows at 10am on the third (3rd) Sunday of the month.

The Friends are a family friendly group.  Children are welcome and it helps them to learn about our local environment. Bring gardening gloves and wellingtons (though we do have some spares)! We finish with a coffee or tea and a biscuit……or two plus plenty of chat.