Tristan islander honoured in Hampshire
Re-Opening of St George's Hall, Calshot
Photos and video link from Marc Heighway
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| St George's Hall / Chapel before and after refurbishment | |
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| Principal guests gathered outside the chapel on 29th October 2024 | |
An event was held on Tuesday 29th October 2024 to mark the re-opening of what is now known as St George's Hall, Calshot. The building was previously St George's Chapel, which held its first service in June 1919 serving RAF Calshot. It is believed to be first ever RAF chapel to be built.
After RAF Calshot's closure in 1961 it was chosen as the UK home for refugees from Tristan da Cunha who had been evacuated from their island in October 1961 and who were first housed at Pendell Camp in Surrey as a temporary residence. The islanders moved to Calshot on 23rd January 1962 and occupied houses recently vacated by RAF staff and their families. St George's Chapel became the centre of the community for this close-knit Christian community.
Most islanders returned home, mainly in two tranches, leaving in an Advance Party via Tilbury on 17th March 1963 and the Main Resettlement Party who departed from Southampton aboard the Danish ship Bornholm on 22nd October 1963.
Several islanders remained in the UK, some still living in Calshot on the road re-named Tristan Close in 1962.
Some families were split following the return to Tristan. Arthur and Edith Repetto returned to Tristan with their sons Martin, Ernest and Michael and their daughter Dora, but daughters Mildred, Violet and Vivien remained in the UK, married English men and brought up families. In 1966 Arthur and Edith changed their minds and decided to return to England, together with their son Martin and youngest daughter Dora.
Dora first lived in London and married Keith Tarrant from Surrey, but they moved to Hampshire and took up residence in Tristan Close. Dora spent the rest of her life contributing to the local community, setting up a youth club and looking after what was known as the Church (occupying a small extension of the building) and hall.
Dora was presented with the Chairman's Cup in June 2010 for her years of voluntary work in Calshot. On her death on 12th January 2013 aged 84, she was the last Tristan islander to live in Tristan Close.
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Above: The crowd in St George's Hall on 29th October 2024. Right: Some of the display boards. |
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Left: The Tristan display board featuring images supplied by the Tristan da Cunha Association and published in the book 'Nothing Can Stop Us'; Above: The speech prior to the unveiling of the plaque honouring Dora Tarrant. Link to speech video: |
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| Image of the commemorative plaque unveiled on 29th October 2024 in St George's Hall, Calshot. | |
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| A first presentation in the Dora Tarrant Cinema Room (Formerly St George's Church) showing a slide of islanders arriving at Southampton aboard MV Stirling Castle in November 1961. | |
The re-furbished St George's Hall includes a large kitchen, a cinema room, and an accessible toilet. Outside, a community garden, skate ramp, all-weather shelter, goal posts, and a basketball net have been added. The project, which has preserved the building's original character, aims to increase its use by the local community. St George's will now host a variety of community events and provide facilities for a youth club, community garden project, and community hub and food larder collection.
The former Church side room was converted into a cinema room has been dedicated to Dora Tarrant to commemorate her service of over fifty years to the hall and local community.
The event showcased information about the hall's history and Calshot, with a film on local history screened in the new cinema room. This included displays about the Tristan da Cunha refugees and a plaque containing images and information which was unveiled to mark Dora Tarrant's contribution which led to the naming of the cinema room in her honour.
More photos featuring Dora Tarrant from various sources
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Dora being presented with the Chairman's Cup in June 2010 for her years of voluntary work in Calshot. |
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| Above: Dora and Keith Tarrant outside their home in Tristan Close, Calshot; Right: Dora keeping up the island tradition of knitting outside her Calshot home. |
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| Repetto sisters re-united: Left to right Vivien Baker, Dora Tarrant, Millie Sparks and Violet Brown. (Photo: Violet Brown) |
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RAF Calshot
RAF Calshot first opened as Calshot Naval Air Station in 1913 and became Royal Naval Air Station (RNAS) Calshot in 1914. Seaplanes and flying boats used the spit as a base for flying from Southampton Water. Originally a training station, its role expanded to include the protection of shipping along the south coast during the war. A massive building programme in 1917 saw the first hangers built on the spit, including the Sunderland Hanger that is still in use today as part of Calshot Activities Centre.
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| Early aerial views of RAF Calshot showing the embryo accommodation, left, and the plethora of buildings at Calshot Spit at the south-west entrance to Southampton Water at its junction with The Solent. | |
Between the wars, Calshot was renamed as RAF Calshot and used as the main base for Schneider Cup races in 1929 and 1931. T. E. Lawrence (Lawrence of Arabia) was also based here during the 1929 event.
During World War II, Calshot was used as a maintenance and repair centre for flying boats and a training centre for RAF launches. Five of the station's tender boats took part in the Dunkirk evacuation. From 1942 it was also used as a base for Air-Sea Rescue high speed launches.
An early photograph of RAF married quarters at Eaglehurst Camp
which later housed Tristan island refugees in 1962. (Marc Heighway)
Eaglehurst camp was first built during World War I as an ancillary site of RNAS Calshot, built to accommodate the ground staff and aircraft crews based there. The site was modified in World War II with the addition of defensive trenches and camouflage on the building's roofs. The camp was connected to RAF Calshot by a light railway (also built in World War I) and by 1940, the camp accommodated 500 trainee airmen.
After the war, operation squadrons were based at RAF Calshot until 1961, when the station was closed.
Eaglehurst camp evolved into the housing complex which was empty in 1961 and therefore an ideal location for all the Tristan island refugees to be housed.