SEPTEMBER 4TH, 2010
By ADMINISTRATOR
Hampshire
Approximate Population: 41,420
An unspoilt cathedral city on the edge of the South Downs, Winchester is England’s ancient capital and former seat of King Alfred the Great. Today, Winchester combines the best of city life with the freshness of the surrounding countryside. One hour from London, this is England as it ought to be.
Popular for its shopping streets and architecture, its floral summer season and quirky open air events, Winchester is most well known for its eleventh century cathedral and for the Great Hall which for over 600 years has housed the mysterious Round Table. Winchester College is the oldest continuously running school in the country, whilst the Hospital of St Cross – a medieval almshouse – still offers the Wayfarer’s Dole to travellers as it has done for more than eight centuries.
Home of good food, birthplace of cricket, resting place of author Jane Austen and inspiration to the many craft-makers and artists who live here, Winchester is truly a city for all seasons.
Discover the treasures of this beautiful city. Alongside its magnificent Cathedral, there are museums and galleries, medieval buildings and tranquil green spaces, ideal for strolling and soaking up the historic atmosphere. Winchester is the perfect destination for the discerning shopper. You will find all your favourite high street names, a market and in the charming side streets, you’ll discover a tempting array of independent shops and boutiques. Winchester is also renowned for hosting the largest Farmers’ Market in the country which attracts visitors from far and wide.
Nursing Homes near Winchester Hampshire
AUGUST 30TH, 2010
By ADMINISTRATOR
Hampshire
Approximate Population: 234,224
The south coast city of Southampton, once a fortified medieval port, is on the main train line linking the adjacent New Forest to London. The Spitfire was designed and developed here during WWII, resulting in the city being flattened from mass bombing by the Germans, including the historic 1898 football stadium, The Dell, since rebuilt. Much of the medieval town walls and Georgian and Tudor buildings survived, however, the most impressive of which is a timber framed house known as the Tudor House Museum.
The best place to view the ruins of the city‚s walls is the Western Esplanade. The most prominent landmark in Southampton is its 1930s white Civic Centre clock tower, on a hill above the main train station, the locals see the new year in there but it is best known for its substantial collection of British paintings in its art gallery.
Around the corner are parks with sculptures and ornamental rose gardens and The Avenue, a pleasant footpath through a tree-lined green island with busy roads either side, leading eventually to the wooded heathland of Southampton common.
Hampshire
AUGUST 29TH, 2010
By ADMINISTRATOR
Hampshire
Approximate Population: 187,056
The first time I saw Portsmouth was late at night from the top of the white cliffs of Portsdowne Hill, a hill fort which overhangs the three roads connecting the island city of Portsmouth to the rest of Hampshire.
I thoroughly recommend all first time visitors do this, mainly because this is probably the only time they will find Portsmouth pretty but also because there is a great pub/restaurant on the top of the hill and a resident burger van in the car park. Views from the top are spectacular day or night, with the South Downs to the north and on a clear day all the way south to the Isle of Wight and as far west as Southampton. Portsmouth truly is ugly, only Old Portsmouth manages to retain any character at all, with it’s maze of cobbled Georgian streets leading to the original harbour.
However for anyone interested in ships, from the most ancient to the most modern, the Norman port of Portsmouth is heaven on earth? and also the sea. Here, Henry VII made Portsmouth a royal dockyard by building the world‚s first dry dockyard which, with Nelson‚s tall ship, the intact HMS Victory and the HMS Warrior in the Royal Naval Museum, plus the Mary Rose museum – excellent to satisfy kids‚ fascination with wrecks, makes Portsmouth a must-visit. Don‚t expect too much from Portsmouth‚s sea front. The beach is grey and shingled with a walkway next to it – quite good for watching passing royal navy ships go past but little else. Most sun-lovers end up on neighbouring Hayling Island. However there is a nice little water bus taking a circular route round Portsmouth Harbour, past the 3rd century roman fort of Portchester Castle, which is very well preserved and well worth a visit.
Nursing Homes near Portsmouth Hampshire
AUGUST 7TH, 2010
By ADMINISTRATOR
Hampshire
Approximate Population: 90,171
In the 1887 Gilbert and Sullivan comic opera Ruddigore, the word “Basingstoke” is used as a code word by Sir Despard Murgatroyd to soothe his new wife, Mad Margaret, when she seems in danger of relapsing into madness. Margaret suggests this course of action herself:
“Well, then, when I am lying awake at night, and the pale moonlight streams through the latticed casement, strange fancies crowd upon my poor mad brain, and I sometimes think that if we could hit upon some word for you to use whenever I am about to relapse—some word that teems with hidden meaning—like “Basingstoke”—it might recall me to my saner self.”
First published in 1895, Thomas Hardy referred to Basingstoke as “Stoke Barehills” in Jude the Obscure – Part Fifth, Chapter 5
“There is in Upper Wessex an old town of nine or ten thousand souls; the town may be called Stoke-Barehills. It stands with its gaunt, unattractive, ancient church, and its new red brick suburb”.
“The most familiar object in Stoke-Barehills nowadays is its cemetery, standing among some picturesque mediaeval ruins beside the railway; the modern chapels, modern tombs, and modern shrubs having a look of intrusiveness amid the crumbling and ivy-covered decay of the ancient walls.”
In The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams, just after Ford Prefect has explained to Arthur Dent that they hitched a lift on a spaceship Arthur replies: “Are you trying to tell me that we just stuck out our thumbs and some green bug-eyed monster stuck his head out and said, Hi fellas, hop right in. I can take you as far as the Basingstoke roundabout?”.
Nursing Homes near Basingstoke Hampshire
