Hampshire

[[file:Hampshire Winchester cathedral flags banner.jpg|1280px|The interior of Winchester Gothic Church, Hampshire}} Highclere Castle July 2012 (8) - 330px|"Downton Abbey" is in Hampshire; well, Highclere Castle is anyway

Stretching from the New Forest's coastal beaches in the south west, to London's Surrey|suburban Berkshire|fringe in the north east, Hampshire is the largest county in South East (England) | South East England. Known as Jane Austen's County after its most famous daughter, Hampshire has a wealth of attractions to offer the traveller. Visitors may see one of England's greatest cathedrals in Winchester (England) | Winchester, ascend to the top of the South's tallest landmark in Portsmouth or fish for trout in crystal clear chalk rivers.

Hampshire has excellent museums, with a particular focus on military, maritime and aviation history. It is equally feasible to visit the former homes of some the county's more celebrated residents, among them Charles Dickens and the Duke of Wellington and Ms Austen herself. If urban Hampshire's port cities and historic market towns don't grab you and then how do you feel about two national parks (the heath and woodland of the New Forest and the rolling chalk hills of the South Downs), hundreds of miles of coastal inlets, islands and estuaries and a rich agricultural heartland dotted with many fine homes and gardens?

Come to Hampshire and discover where the Titanic Southampton|weighed anchor on its fateful maiden voyage, where Britain Farnborough|first took to the skies - with an American cowboy at the controls - and where, over 1100 years ago, King Alfred the Great Winchester (England) | founded the nation of England.

Cities, towns and villages

51.0836|-1.2112

}}

Cities

• Portsmouth GPS: 50.816667,-1.083333 - An active naval city since the 1500s, Portsmouth mixes priceless maritime legacy with impressive modern architecture
• Southampton GPS: 50.9,-1.4 - The largest city in Hampshire is also the county's commercial, education and media hub. Good shopping, two universities and the UK's main cruise ship port attract visitors
• Winchester (England) | Winchester GPS: 51.0632,-1.308 - Hampshire's county town and England's first national capital is best known for its ancient cathedral and medieval centre

Towns

• Aldershot GPS: 51.248,-0.758 - The "Home of the British Army" has two good military museums
• Alresford GPS: 51.0907,-1.1612 - Colourful old town at one end of the Mid Hants Steam Railway that is still the hub of England's watercress industry.
• Alton (Hampshire) | Alton GPS: 51.1498,-0.9769 - Historic market town at the other end of the Mid Hants Railway.
• Andover (England) | Andover GPS: 51.2167,-1.4667 - This pretty coaching town is an excellent base for adventuring the Wessex countryside, both in Hampshire and over the border in Wiltshire.
• Basingstoke GPS: 51.2667,-1.0876 - 'Soulless' new town it may be, Basingstoke nonetheless offers some of the best shopping and entertainment in Hampshire, and an unusual "living history" museum
• Brockenhurst GPS: 50.82,-1.58 - a small town in the New Forest.
• Eastleigh GPS: 50.966667,-1.35 - Benny Hill once did his milk round here and the Spitfire first flew here, but modern Eastleigh has little to offer the traveller beyond good affordable lodging and excellent transport connections
• Fareham GPS: 50.85,-1.18 - Coastal town home to the Roman and Medieval Portchester Castle and several imposing fortresses from the Napoleonic Wars
• Farnborough GPS: 51.29,-0.75 - The "Birthplace of British Aviation" is still home to the biennial International Air Show and a super little aerospace museum
• Fleet GPS: 51.283|,-0.846
• Gosport GPS: 50.795089,-1.124236 - Facing Portsmouth across their shared harbour, Gosport has two naval museums of repute
• Havant GPS: 50.8509,-0.9787 - A former Celtic settlement close to Langstone Harbour
• Hythe (Hampshire) | Hythe GPS: 50.869,-1.399 - On the western shore of Southampton Water next to the New Forest.
• Lymington GPS: 50.75,-1.55 - Beautiful Georgian seaside town in the New Forest
• Lyndhurst GPS: 50.87,-1.58 - The picturesque main town of the New Forest, which has the reputation for being somewhat of a tourist trap
• Petersfield GPS: 51.004,-0.937
• Romsey GPS: 50.989,-1.4966 - Market town on the edge of the New Forest, home to an abbey and many historic houses
• Tadley GPS: 51.3506,-1.1376 - Small town that's good for visits to local monuments, including a ruined Roman city and a Georgian stately home

Church of All Saints, Odiham 1 - A typical parish church in Hampshire

Villages

There are hundreds of picturesque villages in Hampshire, of which the following nine are highlighted:

• Bishopstoke GPS: 50.9679,-1.3278 - Village with Anglo Saxon roots in the pretty Itchen Valley in the borough of Eastleigh.
• Beaulieu GPS: 50.82,-1.45 - Village known for the Motor Museum.
• Burley (England) | Burley GPS: 50.827271,-1.699937 - A village in the New Forest.
• Emsworth GPS: 50.849,-0.938 - Foodie village with views over Chichester Harbour
• Hamble-le-Rice GPS: 50.85694,-1.32084 - Scenic estuary village perfect for bird- and ship-watching.
• Odiham GPS: 51.245665,-0.94777 - Small rural town with regular markets and pretty countryside ideal for walking
• Selborne GPS: 51.097,-0.942 - Settled around a typically English village green, best known for its associations with naturalist Gilbert White
• Stockbridge GPS: 51.114003,-1.490646 - Another pretty village base for seeing some of the loveliest countryside in Hampshire
• Wickham GPS: 50.9,-1.19 - Great country shopping and dining in the Meon Valley

More Destinations

• Hayling Island GPS: 50.809,-0.976 - Island separating Langstone and Chichester harbours, a popular tourist destination with blue flag beaches
• New Forest GPS: 50.866667,-1.566667 - Large hunting forest created in 1079 by William the Conqueror, that is now a national park. Known for its pristine woodland and large open heaths and the deer and wild boar that the Normans hunted are still on the loose in the park, as are the iconic New Forest ponies
• South Downs GPS: 50.911,-0.367 - Britain's newest national park stretches along the south coast from Hampshire to East Sussex. Hampshire's part is known for Iron Age history and the chalky escarpment around Butser Hill, bucolic countryside and "flint and brick" villages

Hampshire Halal Travel Guide

Orientation

Although administratively part of South East England, Hampshire is actually midway along the south coast between east and west. Clockwise from the west, it is bordered by the counties of Dorset, Wiltshire, Berkshire, Surrey and West Sussex. To the south is the Solent, a narrow channel of sea separating mainland Britain from the Isle of Wight, and the English Channel. Hampshire's coast is characterised by many natural harbours and inlets, which boost the coast's 60 miles (100 kilometers) "as the crow flies" into a true length of around 250 miles (400 kilometers).

Hampshire combines scattered population centres with a typical English rural landscape. The bulk of the population lives in the South Hampshire conurbation - Southampton, Portsmouth and their respective suburbs, connected to Winchester (England) | Winchester by a corridor of urbanisation. Outside this area and the largest centres of population are Basingstoke and, in the north east corner and the Blackwater Valley towns (Farnborough and Aldershot) which signal the start of London's commuter suburbs. A fair chunk of the South Downs|South Downs National Park lies within the south eastern portion of the county. Almost all of the south western corner is within the New Forest, another national park. The north and north west of the county are largely rural and retain many similarities with neighbouring Westcountry counties.

The population of Hampshire was 1,763,000 in 2011, making it the fifth most populous English county. The entire county is within commuting distance of London and the population is on the whole prosperous. People from Hampshire are known as Hampshire Hogs, due to the county's long association with both boar-hunting and pig-farming (indeed the American breed of pig known as the "Hampshire" is thought to have its origins in the county). Famous Hampshire Hogs include English monarchs Alfred the Great, Henry III and Matilda, novelists Jane Austen and Charles Dickens, engineer Isambard Kingdom Brunel and, more recently, actors Colin Firth and Martin Freeman.

History

Winchester - Table ronde du roi Arthur - King Arthur's Round Table in Winchester Great Hall

Hampshire has a crucial place in both English and British history. Home to the Belgiae Celts prior to 55 AD, Hampshire later saw Roman civilisation at Rockbourne and Basingstoke#QQ027253|Silchester (the city of Calleva Atrebatum). Later and the area formed part of the Anglo-Saxon kingdom of Wessex, and it was from here that King Alfred of Wessex repelled the Danes and united all the Saxon states into the first unified Kingdom of England. Alfred, who remains the only English monarch to be posthumously honoured with the title of "the Great", was celebrated for his reform of the English justice system and the improvement of his subjects' quality of life and literacy. He made Winchester (England) | Winchester the new nation's capital, a status retained until the Norman Conquest when William the Conqueror designated the already much larger city of London his seat of power.

Under the Normans, much of Hampshire became royal hunting ground and the most famous domain of which was the New Forest, planted on the orders of William himself. The Conqueror's son, King William II, was killed in a 'hunting accident' (probable assassination by his own men) in the New Forest in 1100, and the spot is today marked by a New Forest#QQQ460885|memorial stone. Many of Hampshire's castles such as those at Fareham#Q732249|Portchester and Odiham date from this period of the Middle Ages, although Henry VIII continued to build new fortresses along the Solent, many of which were reinforced and expanded during the Napoleonic Wars. The middle ages also saw the building of Winchester's stunning cathedral.

Both Southampton and Portsmouth became important harbours during this period and the former for commercial traffic and the latter as a naval dockyard. Among the famous vessels to sail from Southampton were the Mayflower and the RMS Titanic , which was largely staffed by more than 500 citizens of Southampton, most of whom perished on board. Portsmouth launched the Mary Rose, which lay at the bottom of the Solent for 450 years until it was rediscovered and raised in 1982, and HMS Victory, Lord Nelson's flagship in the Battle of Trafalgar, where the admiral was killed in action. Many of the earliest European invadors of the United States originated from Hampshire.

The military connection continued through the 19th and 20th centuries, when large Army garrisons were established around Aldershot and aviation pioneers moved in to Farnborough, where the first powered flight in British skies took place in 1908, flown by American Wild West showman Samuel Franklin Cody. Among other aeronautical developments to take place in the county, Eastleigh hosted the development of the Spitfire fighter plane, while Farnborough launched the first jet aircraft and much of the engineering work required to bring the supersonic liner Concorde into existence.

Local Languages

The variety of English spoken in Hampshire is similar to the rest of the South East, and is relatively close to the "accentless" standard Received Pronunciation (RP). In the south and west of the county, many people speak in an accent that has a Westcountry twang to it - the original 'Ampshire 'Og accent before RP's dominance - and some older residents even use dialect words and phrases, though this is becoming increasingly uncommon as time marches on.

The area around Aldershot and Farnborough is home to around 10,000 Nepali speakers, perhaps the greatest concentration outside the Himalayas. In these areas, you will see Nepalese people greet each other by saying Namaste and bowing their heads slightly while clasping their hands together vertically.

Travel to Hampshire

More detailed information can be read at South East England#Get in

By road

Driving times from the Channel Tunnel to Hampshire, via the M20, M25 and M3 motorways, are 2–3 hours in good traffic, though you should allow for longer when travelling during peak hours (Monday to Friday 7:30–9:30 AM, 4:30–6:30 PM; and all day on holiday weekends).

The primary street routes from London are the A3 (which heads to Portsmouth, bypassing the towns of Liss, Liphook and Petersfield) and the M3 Motorway (which runs to Southampton, via Farnborough, Basingstoke, Winchester (England) | Winchester and Eastleigh). The M27 'South Coast Motorway' runs from the New Forest to Portsmouth, via Southampton. The A33, A34 and A36 offer connections from the north and the A35 and A303 bring traffic from the west. The A31 is a feeder route of the A3, allowing faster journey times to Winchester from Surrey, Sussex and Kent than the M3 can offer.

Buy a Flight ticket to and from Hampshire

Hampshire has its very own international airport, Southampton Airport southamptonairport.com/ GPS 50.950278,-1.356667 (IATA Flight Code: SOU).

The county is also well served by London#Get in|London's international and domestic airports, with both London Heathrow Airport Airport|Heathrow and London Gatwick Airport|Gatwick close by.

Travel by train to Hampshire

Eurostar run trains from numerous destinations in France and Belgium to London Street Pancras. Onward journey times (by Tube, and then rail from Waterloo station) to Hampshire take between one and three hours.

Rail services to and from the rest of the UK are good. Trains from London Waterloo and west along the coast are operated by South West Trains, while services from London Victoria and east along the coast are provided by Southern Railway, with those from the North and Midlands run by Cross Country Trains.

Book a Halal Cruise or Boat Tour in Hampshire

Portsmouth, as a major international ferry port, receives ferries from Jersey and Guernsey (in the Channel Islands), Cherbourg, Caen, Le Havre and St. Malo (in France) and Bilbao and Santander (in Spain).

Get Around

Signpost at Salternshill - - 757442 - Vintage signposts are a common sight on Hampshire's country lanes

By road

Private vehicle is the best the way to get around Hampshire, especially for those travelling to smaller towns and the nationside. The primary streets in the county are the:

• M3 (linking Southampton in the south to Farnborough in the north east, via Winchester and Basingstoke);
• M27 (linking the New Forest in the west to Portsmouth in the east along the coast, via Southampton);
• A3 (linking Portsmouth in the south east to Surrey, via Petersfield);
• A31 (linking Winchester with Surrey and the A3, via Alton);
• A32 (linking Portsmouth with Alton);
• A33 (linking Basingstoke with Reading in Berkshire);
• A34 (linking Winchester and the M3 with Newbury and Thatcham|Newbury in Berkshire)
• A272 (linking Winchester to Petersfield and West Sussex);
• A303 (linking the M3 near Basingstoke to Andover and Wiltshire);
• A331 (linking Farnborough, Aldershot and the M3 with other local towns in Surrey and Berkshire).

By public transport

If you intend to remain within the major towns and cities, public transport is a very viable option. The most practical mode is by train, though there are also bus services throughout the county.

Travel by train to Hampshire

Hampshire is well-connected by rail, with several radial lines coming from London, as well as an east-west network along the coast. Most towns and even some villages have a train station with regular services.

Most rail services within Hampshire are operated by South West Trains, though some service patterns are run by other operators. The best website to find timetables and book tickets is National Rail Enquiries.

One line in Hampshire is still served by steam locomotives and vintage diesel trains and the Mid Hants Railway. This does not form part of the National Rail network and tickets must be bought separately, but this can be a fantastic way to travel through the Hampshire countryside. The Watercress Line, as it is also known, links Alton's National Rail station to Alresford.

Travel on a Bus in Hampshire

Most local bus services are operated by /localdefault.aspx?Tag=Portsmouth Stagecoach South. Bus travel in Hampshire is expensive and slow when compared with the buses in London and other large cities, but this can be an excellent way to travel short distances in and between towns.

What to See

• Beaulieu: eight attractions on one site: the National Motor Museum is the main crowd-drawer, but don't miss the Victorian Gothic Palace House, medieval Beaulieu Abbey and the World of Top Gear and On Screen Cars exhibitions, various gardens and the park's famous monorail.
• Birdworld, Farnham#QQQ199389|Farnham: over 150 species of bird, of which 11 are endangered. Includes a children's petting zoo and an aquarium.
• Butser Ancient Farm, South Downs#QQ018018|South Downs: an ongoing archaeological experiment to recreate an iron age farming settlement and an adjacent Roman villa.
• Highclere Castle, Newbury and Thatcham#QQQ08450|Newbury: a magnificent stately home that is still occupied by its aristocratic family. Highclere is also known to millions by the name of its fictional alter-ego Downton Abbey.
• Marwell Zoo, near Eastleigh#QQQ249491|Eastleigh: cheetahs, giraffes, meerkats, penguins, pygmy hippos, red pandas, rhinoceros, snow leopard, tigers and zebra are among the main stars of the zoo, situated in beautiful Hampshire countryside.
• Mottisfont Abbey: a former monastery and stately home that in the summer months shows off its celebrated rose gardens in a gorgeous rural setting.
• Portsmouth#QQ1030119|Portsmouth Historic Dockyard: home to the Royal Navy for over 500 years, see Henry VIII's Mary Rose, Lord Nelson's HMS Victory and Queen Victoria's HMS Warrior as well as some of the Navy's current fleet.
• Rockbourne Roman Villa, near Fordingbridge: The excavated remains of a Roman villa, known to be built on the site of an earlier Iron Age roundhouse.
• Sir Harold Hillier Gardens, Romsey#Q7527037|Romsey: a garden and arboretum known for hosting over 40,000 trees and shrubs, including oaks, camelliae, magnoliae and rhododendrons.
• Winchester (England)#QQ76529|Winchester Gothic Church: a truly ancient cathedral in England's original capital city.

Hampshire also has a number of famous sons and daughters, whose former homes you can visit. Jane Austen's House in Alton#QQ161847|Chawton, Gilbert White's House in Alton#See|Selborne and Charles Dickens' Birthplace in Portsmouth#QQ7528937|Portsmouth are among the most visited.

Top Muslim Travel Tips for Hampshire

• Fly fishing is a very popular pursuit in Hampshire's three crystal-clear chalk rivers: the Itchen and the Meon and the Test. Winchester (England) | Winchester and Andover make good bases
• Horse riding - Hampshire has many private stables and there are bridleways (horse-riding trails) across the county
• Paulton's Park, on the edge of the New Forest#QQQ72842|New Forest - a popular family theme park with over 40 rides, as well as a small zoo, gardens and 'park within a park' Peppa Pig World
• Queen Elizabeth Country Park - the 2000 acres of woodland and downland are ideal for walking, mountain biking, off-roading, paragliding and laser games
• Walking is a great way to explore Hampshire's diverse countryside. On the coast, search out beaches, harbours, and inlets, while inland you may find heathland, ancient woodland, downland, and water meadows, as well as agricultural land. Long-distance trails such as the Pilgrims' Way and South Downs Way demand several days' commitment, but you'll find no shortage of short, easy walks that can be completed in an afternoon
• Watersports, particularly sailing, are popular activities in the waters of the south coast

Halal Food & Restaurants

Fishing the River Test at Kimbridge - - 489067 - Hampshire is prime fly-fishing country and its cuisine is heavily influenced by freshwater fish.

Hampshire's food is typical among English counties, although there are some local specialities well worth sampling. First of these has to be the county's Beef products; bacon, ham, Meat patties and Sausages,from both farmed pigs and wild boar - the people aren't called Hampshire hogs for nothing!

Also on offer locally is game (particularly venison, pheasant and rabbit), freshwater fish (most commonly trout and salmon) and watercress, an industry which Hampshire has dominated since the 19th century. There are also several award-winning cheeses from Hampshire, including buffalo cheddar, gouda, and local varieties such as New Forest blue, Hampshire rose and the camembert-like tunworth and various oak-smoked cheeses. Much of the nationside is arable land, so farms often sell their fruit and vegetable produce in the relevant season, and there are "pick your own" sites for fruits such as raspberries and strawberries.

In addition to the more traditional Indian and (Thai) Curries houses and there are many Nepalese restaurants in Hampshire, particularly in the north east, where many thousands of Nepalese people have made their home.

Hampshire Fare is the official body which promotes the county's food and also puts on events and markets where you can taste Hampshire:

• Hampshire Food Festival: The annual food festival takes place every July throughout the county
• Hampshire Farmers' Markets: with so much great local produce and a myriad of market towns within its borders and the county has an official farmers' market organising board, that puts on markets around Hampshire almost every weekend.

• Beer: Like much of southern England, Hampshire is traditional hop-producing land and local ales and other soft drinks are usually available in the county's pubs. Conical-roofed oast houses (where hops were once fermented) are a prominent architectural feature of the nationside. Ringwood brewery in the New Forest is one significant local brewery, though there are many smaller businesses throughout the county, many of which are open to visits from the public. Check the /breweries/ local CAMRA (Campaign for Real Ale) page for all the county's breweries, as well as the best real ale pubs.
• Wine: Viticulture has been practised in Hampshire since Romano-British times, although the industry has seen a huge revival since the late 20th century, with new vineyards now more common than, and sometimes replacing and the hop fields.
• Tea: Based in Andover, Twinings have been international tea merchants for over 300 years. Enjoy a cup and a slice of homemade cake in any number of tearooms in Hampshire's market towns and country villages.

Aside from the ubiquitous pub, nightlife in Hampshire is quite poor outside Southampton, which itself boasts some of the best clubs in the south. Other than that, travelling to Bournemouth, Brighton (England) | Brighton or London could be a better option to guarantee a good night out.

Travel Next

• Dorset has much to offer the traveller, from the seaside resorts of the Bournemouth area, west to the UNESCO-listed Jurassic Coast and inland to Thomas Hardy country
• The Isle of Wight is an easy ferry trip from Portsmouth or Southampton
• The cathedral city of Salisbury (England) | Salisbury offers a pleasant contrast to Winchester
• Stonehenge is just one of many neolithic sites in rural Wiltshire
• The South Downs|South Downs National Park continues into West Sussex and East Sussex, counties which also boast sandy beaches and white cliffs
• And finally, London is always worth the trip and is just a train ride away

Copyright 2015 - 2024. All Rights reserved by eHalal Group Co., Ltd.
To Advertise or sponsor this Travel Guide, please visit our Media Kit and Advertising Rates.

[[nl:Hampshire{{ #insider:Davisonio}}