|
The
large County of Hampshire can never quite seem to decide if it belongs with
the southeastern Counties such has Surrey and Kent, or whether it is part of the
western group along with Devon and so forth.
In truth, of course, it shares some characteristics with each region,
while having aspects of its own which are unique.
The three large towns of this County are Portsmouth, Southampton, and
Bournemouth, all on the Coast and very different in character. Portsmouth will always be primarily
associated with the Royal Navy, (a publican in a hostelry near the Harbour
has on show a collection of over one thousand different naval caps), while
Southampton is the great commercial shipping centre, from where the greatest
liners in the world, the Queen Mary and the Queen Elizabeth, used to
depart. Bournemouth, on the other
hand, has always been a holiday resort, especially suited for sea bathing
because it has ‘half tides’ which means the sea never recedes too far down
the beach, (which is, by the way, sandy!).
Inland lie other important centres, such as Winchester, once the capital city
of England; Basingstoke, which never
seems to stop growing, and has rather unkindly been referred to as the town
with more roundabouts than anywhere else; and Aldershot, where the British
Army still rules in all its might.
But not all Hampshire is towns, far from it.
In the New Forest you can walk for miles and not see anybody except perhaps
the occasional pony, and along the banks of the Hampshire Avon, you might be
lucky enough to spot a kingfisher.
The Isle of Wight is also part of Hampshire.
When I first visited it as a boy, they had what almost seemed like toy
trains, two or three carriages pulled by an engine that appeared to be a
close relative of Thomas the Tank Engine.
When I went back more recently, all these had gone – replaced by
second-hand London tube trains. Perhaps it was all they could afford, as my
aunt said to me when she saw my very first motor car.
|
