Pride of the Fleet Air Arm which helped sink German battleship '“ Nostalgia

Here we see a Firefly Mk 3  at HMS Daedalus, Lee-on-the-Solent, a plane which had several incarnations of varying designs all the way up to the Mk 9.

These aircraft saw service well into the jet age. They were being used by the Australian, Netherlands, Canadian and Indian services as late as 1962.

During the Second World War they acted as air cover during attacks on the German battleship Tirpitz which was sunk in Norway in November 1944.

'¢ The photograph published on October 18 of the graves of men and boys from the Hampshire Regiment killed in the Barberton train crash in South Africa on March 30,1902, brought a response from Ian Heath.

His grandfather and his brother fought in the Boer War and Henry Heath, his grandfather's brother, was on the train that crashed. Henry was one of the fatalities. He would have been just 30 at the time.

Looking at the date of his signing-on he should have been demobbed on October 9, 1901.

However, he was also a reservist of another five years so perhaps that is why he was still in South Africa at the time instead of being safely at home.

'¢ I recently published a photograph of Batchelor's butcher's shop in Arundel Street, Landport, Portsmouth.

Here is another but this time I think the people have been superimposed. They certainly look somewhat odd don't you think?

Mr Batchelor is to the far right with, perhaps, his son in front of him.

The date of the photograph is a little faded but I think it says Christmas 1895.

This was of course before the days when everyone had refrigerators in their homes and customers, usually housewives or servants, bought their needs on a daily basis. You can only imagine what they would have made of online shopping!

'¢ Alan Dolling, of the New to You Bookshop in Cosham, has loaned me a collection of photographs and I've featured the first here.

It shows a view looking west through Denmead along the Waterlooville to Hambledon Road where, on the right, is the village post office.

An early motorbike and sidecar compete for space with an oncoming horse-drawn cart. It is all somewhat different today of course.

In the distance the road divides with the left lane being the Southwick Road and the right heading towards Hambledon.