Blogs from Hampshire, England, United Kingdom, Europe - page 2

Yesterday was a perfect day. Up on time (a miracle) we parked up at the station in Bridgenorth We then re parked when we realised we'd parked as far away as it was possible to park from the station itself. We got on our steam engine in our own compartment for the day and off we went. We (ash) heat a great time filling in the kids eyes spy booklet they gave us and spotting milk horses, wool dogs and ham cats out of the window ? Our first stop was Kidderminster for a wander round. Ash had to be pulled away from the box of free VHS tapes in the 'antiques' shop and Seth developed diabetes and a green face from the ridiculous lolly he persuaded is was a good idea.,...we had a cuppa, escaped ... read more

So, with our inner cravings satisfied, albeit temporarily, we continued our journey to Boscombe. This took us through some pretty countryside until we reached the urban sprawl of Bournemouth. Serena the SatNav deftly directed us down numerous identical looking roads and round a myriad of roundabouts, until we reached the genteel leafy green of College Road, where lay our destination and home for the next three nights. This was the first time we had seen John and Jane's pad which they bought when they retired and moved down from Surrey. And very impressive it was too. Allocated our bedrooms we dumped our stuff and with John as guide, set off for the beach, which is first seen from the clifftop as a breathtaking sweep of golden sand and invitingly blue sea, stretching for approximately 7 miles, ... read more

130719 - New Forest, Hampshire First time out in the Bongo for a test trip out to the New Forest in Hampshire. We had some fun and games trying to figure out what to pack, we're a bit rusty on this travelling thing, it's been 10 years since the days of Oz and New Zealand camper-vaning after all! In the spirit of past adventures and taking us all the way back, we bought a box of Australian Shiraz, only a bit fancier than goon! A short drive out of West Sussex via Petersfield and the South Downs and we’re in the New Forest heading for Burley. On our trip, we come across a very, very posh, one-percenter posh Polo Club in Cowdray, Midhurst. Not to feel too out of place, we park the Bongo next to ... read more

Miguel's last day but luckily his flight isn't until early evening, so we we have time to visit nearby Winchester. This city used to be the old capital of England before eventually London gaining the title, which later became the capital of the United Kingdom. The city of Winchester has a lot of history, dating back to the Iron Age around 150BC. The city structure changed a lot when under Roman rule and this saw expansion; however, the city's stature came when Alfred 'The Great' became ruler of the West Saxons as he and his brother defeated the Danish Vikings at the Battle of Ashdown and he became King of Wessex and established Winchester as his capital. I've written about Winchester previously in the Hosting Stefano blog, if you would like to read more about Winchester's ... read more

Part 3 The trip so far has been great, but we like the sea side so we set a course for the home of some more old friends and a long overdue catch up. A few years back our friends Dana and Paul bought a Pup in Pevensey Bay, they’re not on the Brit Stop list but that didn’t matter to us. We didn’t call ahead so it was a picture to see Danas face when we pulled into the car park. Luckily it’s a big car park, on a bit of a slope so we had to park right outside on the level bit. Useful for Paul if he wanted to check the guttering from our roof, ha ha. We had a very pleasant evening with great company and great food. Pevensey is a bit ... read more