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Archive Review Archive
Woodside Avenue, Eastleigh. SO50 9ES
History
Compiled by Wilf Paskins, member since 1945
Woodside Avenue, Eastleigh
Bill Parsons, being an Eastleigh resident, and having some inside information, suggested that we should try Eastleigh as he had heard there to be a site in Woodside Road (now Woodside Avenue) which was the fourth of a group of sites the council had reserved for community purposes and which had been offered to the Scouts who had turned it down. A tentative enquiry was made which gave us some encouragement and meetings with officials were held resulting in a firm offer being made. As the Club is not a corporate body, it was necessary to appoint three trustees, Dave Pragnell, Len Harfield and myself were appointed and, after approval by the Club and the council’s legal department, we signed a lease on the land giving us
Bill Parsons, being an Eastleigh resident, and having some inside information, suggested that we should try Eastleigh as he had heard there to be a site in Woodside Road (now Woodside Avenue) which was the fourth of a group of sites the council had reserved for community purposes and which had been offered to the Scouts who had turned it down. A tentative enquiry was made which gave us some encouragement and meetings with officials were held resulting in a firm offer being made. As the Club is not a corporate body, it was necessary to appoint three trustees, Dave Pragnell, Len Harfield and myself were appointed and, after approval by the Club and the council’s legal department, we signed a lease on the land giving us
possession on 1st. January 1971. While the negotiations were taking place the sub-committee were considering what we might build. I proposed a building 60ft. long x 30 ft. wide with block walls, steel framework, asbestos roof and a concrete floor which I estimated would cost in the region of £4,000 to £5,000. That the total assets of the Club at the end of 1970 was only £4,174, did not deter the committee nor apparently did the enormity of the proposal. As a Chartered Engineer I was however under no illusions and I was confident that it could be done because, as a director of a company engaged in the construction industry, I was well placed to play a major role.
A lot of hard work by a good few members for a few weeks saw the site levelled and concrete foundations laid which incorporated pocket bases to accept the steel stanchions and made provision for foul water drainage pipes. Then the steelwork had to be manufactured from materials supplied at cost by Robinsons. I had already designed the steelwork so all that was necessary was to convene a working party at the factory one Sunday and, with the aid of a Robinson welder and a sawman who were persuaded to help, all the stanchions, roof trusses and roof purlins were manufactured in the one day, loaded on to a Robinsons lorry and dispatched to site where they were painted
We were required by the Council to construct a sewer manhole for the common usage of the four properties (Red Cross, ATC, Girl Guides and ourselves) and connect this to the main sewer in Woodside Road. More hard graft digging by members, carefully laying the pipes to the required fall on pea gravel, jointing the pipes and then, after the building inspectors inspection and approval, backfilling the trenches and making good the surface.
Erection of the steelwork was not a job for amateurs, but one of Robinsons subcontract teams was pleased to help, and it went up in a day securely tied until the stanchions were concreted into the pockets in the foundations. Blocks to damp proof course level were laid then we had to scavenge for hardcore material for infill. This seemed to be hard to come by and under the bar store lies old concrete lumps from the elephant house that used to be on Southampton Common. Controversially quite a lot of broken glass ( from Robinsons of course) also went into the infill. The oversite was then concreted.
We were required by the Council to construct a sewer manhole for the common usage of the four properties (Red Cross, ATC, Girl Guides and ourselves) and connect this to the main sewer in Woodside Road. More hard graft digging by members, carefully laying the pipes to the required fall on pea gravel, jointing the pipes and then, after the building inspectors inspection and approval, backfilling the trenches and making good the surface.
Erection of the steelwork was not a job for amateurs, but one of Robinsons subcontract teams was pleased to help, and it went up in a day securely tied until the stanchions were concreted into the pockets in the foundations. Blocks to damp proof course level were laid then we had to scavenge for hardcore material for infill. This seemed to be hard to come by and under the bar store lies old concrete lumps from the elephant house that used to be on Southampton Common. Controversially quite a lot of broken glass ( from Robinsons of course) also went into the infill. The oversite was then concreted.
Eventually the walls got built and it was time for the asbestos-cement roof, again not a job for the amateur, so another Robinson team was installed and the roof was covered in a couple of days. Club working parties then worked with renewed vigour to make the building secure so that internal work could commence. Windows and doors were fitted and made lockable, it so happened that Robinsons was, at this time, building a new office block and had no need for the pair of hardwood doors that had graced their entrance foyer up till then - very convenient.
More hard work was necessary to dig soakaways for rainwater disposal then guttering and downpipes were fitted.
With what was now a secure building the many internal works could commence, installing toilets and washbasins, connecting to the foul drainage system and the plumbing; fitting out the kitchen and installing the hot water tank; installing the electrics, consumer units, power points and lighting system; fitting out the bar including the installation of the ’Rollalong’ shutters and a steel door to the bar store to provide the necessary security. We brought in some experts ( Flooring & Fencing of Chandlers Ford) to lay the floor screed and vinyl tiles as we had neither the equipment nor the expertise to do this ourselves.
More hard work was necessary to dig soakaways for rainwater disposal then guttering and downpipes were fitted.
With what was now a secure building the many internal works could commence, installing toilets and washbasins, connecting to the foul drainage system and the plumbing; fitting out the kitchen and installing the hot water tank; installing the electrics, consumer units, power points and lighting system; fitting out the bar including the installation of the ’Rollalong’ shutters and a steel door to the bar store to provide the necessary security. We brought in some experts ( Flooring & Fencing of Chandlers Ford) to lay the floor screed and vinyl tiles as we had neither the equipment nor the expertise to do this ourselves.
