Hampshire
/hampshire
History
Around 9,000 years ago, during the Neolithic period (New Stone Age) clearances began to appear, particularly in the gravel terraces of the higher ground. These were built on a man-made foundation of large stones that would have required considerable effort to construct. The function of these sites is unknown, but they are often close to sources of raw materials and flint. These sites would have been occupied for much longer than the annual hunting season and may have been an early indication of population increase; with the nervousness and labour of constructing great monuments coming later.
Such sites would probably have been family or tribal locations, significant for social reasons rather than defence, Hampshire Local (hampshirelocal.co.uk). Around 6000 BCE, Britain became an island and inhabitants turned to farming as a means of providing food. New techniques of farming led to the Neolithic Revolution. By 4000 BC, people started building the first known permanent houses on British soil. The question of the origin of the English is one of the longest-standing debates in history, but a consensus seems to have emerged now that they originated from several different waves of people, with various amounts of "Celts",,, and Romans having contributed to their ethnic makeup.
Hundreds of Neolithic encampments from the 6th and 7th millennia BCE have been found throughout England, many near modern-day London, with a concentration being found at Spitalfields and Mortlake. There are also remains of Bronze and Iron Age forts, some of which, like Cadbury Castle in Somerset, have been restored and few traces left on the surface. It is c. The Neolithic Revolution (c. 4000 BCE) saw the development of farming, which may have been introduced from the continent.
Geography
Hampshire is a county on the southern coast of England, with a long coastline facing the English Channel. It is not entirely contiguous: the town of Stockbridge is a part of Hampshire but due to its geography is separated by much of the rest of the county from the rest of Hampshire between it and London. Hampshire has two large seaside ports, Portsmouth and Southampton. Hampshire's county town is Winchester, and the former capital city of Southampton was the most populated city in the United Kingdom until 2001.
The city of Portsmouth has been the largest settlement/town geographically within Hampshire, historically although Gosport provides an economic boost as a port situated at the entrance of Portsmouth Harbour. British burial mounds from this period are impressive, and represent the largest concentration of prehistoric structures anywhere in Europe. The builders of the monument itself remain unknown, although it is designed to be seen from above. Local buses take passengers to towns such as Aldershot, Guildford, Reading and Farnborough.
Settlements
Settlements in Hampshire are listed in the table below. Listings include towns, villages, hamlets and localities, but not major suburbs (which are listed on separate articles linked on the relevant city page). Settlements in the UK are classified as urban or rural, busy or quiet etc., using agreed standard definitions. Below is a map of the settlements in Hampshire, UK. Created to accompany the Wikipedia article List of places in Hampshire, it includes settlements with populations exceeding 20,000.
Town and County Councillors (TCCs) are shown by different colours and figures. As of 2011, there are 97 settlements in Hampshire. The places where they stand are listed in the following table (based on the civil parish and district as used by the Church of England). These are the largest places in Hampshire by population, according to census data. Settlements are listed in descending order of population. There are thirty-seven settlements within Hampshire, which have a status in law as settlements.
Politics
Hampshire is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county that operates a Cabinet-style council, where the leader is appointed from amongst the councillors. Hampshire County Council consists of 84 councillors representing 63 electoral divisions; they meet at the Guildhall, Winchester and are elected every four years. The political composition of the council as at the 2015 elections was: Conservative Party 34 seats (31. 4% vote share); Labour 22 seats (20. 1% vote share). The other major political party represented on the Council was UKIP with 5 seats (4.
3% vote share)──see table below for details. Hampshire contains all or part of four unitary authorities: the cities of Portsmouth and Southampton; and the Borough of Eastleigh. Hampshire's county boundaries usually correspond to those of the ceremonial county, however several places — notably Basingstoke, [Winchester] and Aldershot — are separate entities for various governmental purposes. As such, 'Hampshire'may refer either to the non-metropolitan county (which therefore includes these places) or to the unitary authority; in strict usage it would only be correct to refer to the non-metropolitan county.
The Conservative Party has controlled Hampshire County Council since 2013. Local government takes a different approach than the rest of the United Kingdom with a lower number of councillors and more executive authority being given to an elected member. There have been proposals in recent years to divide the county into two ceremonial counties, with one based around the New Forest area, but with Avon containing the areas of Bournemouth, Portsmouth and Southampton along with the unitary authorities.
Hampshire is included in two of the ten Government Office Regions of England for the purposes of regional oversight and planning. It is also considered part of South East England and is bordered by Dorset, Wiltshire, Surrey, and Berkshire. Hampshire county council is led by an elected council of 63 councillors, who are then sub-divided into six electoral divisions which each elects two councillors. To calculate the county's total population, the 2001 census was adjusted by subtracting the populations of Southampton and Portsmouth.
Emergency services
Hampshire has the largest economy in South East England and its economy has nearly doubled since 1981. It is a centre of economic activity for the region and serves as a local hub for business, government, financial services and tourism. Southampton, Portsmouth and Winchester have large regional populations and are significant retail, commercial and cultural centres. The port of Southampton is the UK's third busiest container port handling over 950000 TEUs (Twenty-foot equivalent units) in 2009 Despite these economic strengths it faces challenges; it has lower levels of employment than other counties in southern England, whilst house prices are lower than much of the South East.
The region's infrastructure makes it a major manufacturer of cars, engineering products,. Hampshire is home to many Fortune 500 companies. Hewlett Packard and Microsoft have their United Kingdom headquarters in Hampshire, both at Round Corner in Farnborough, although HP closed its research laboratories at the Spice Works in 2007. The UK headquarters of Mars, and The Economist are located in Winchester. The county has several major business parks, most notably Chandler's Ford, St Mary's Park (near Basingstoke ), Whiteley Business Park and Hanger Hill (near Aldershot ).
Its largest industry is tourism, particularly associated with Southampton and Bournemouth. Hampshire is one of the most affluent counties in the country, with a gross domestic product (GDP) of 29billion, excluding Southampton and Portsmouth. In 2018, Hampshire had a GDP per capita of 22,100, comparable with the UK as a whole. The main urban areas are Gosport, Portsmouth and Southampton; together with Fareham, they form a contiguous built-up area with an estimated population exceeding 500,000.
Southampton is recognised as one of the UK's leading commercial centres outside London. Hampshire is considered to be one of the most affluent counties in England and the United Kingdom as a whole. For the United Kingdom in 2014, gross domestic product (GDP) was estimated at £793billion, with a GDP per capita of £21,000. Hampshire is one of the most affluent counties in the country, with a gross domestic product (GDP) of 29billion, excluding Southampton and Portsmouth.
Hampshire is a net exporter of financial services; management services, business services and insurance and related activities account for 21. 7% of the county's total GVA. In 2016, Southampton had a GVA of 3billion, the highest of any metropolitan area in the UK outside London. The sub-regional GDP of the Southampton area was estimated at 82. 2billion in 2005 and 109. 1billion in 2015, making it the second-highest of any sub-region in southern England after London.
Hampshire\'s economy is based on commerce and the service sector. Southampton Docks are among the largest in Europe, handling 54million tons of goods a year. Portsmouth is a major naval base which is home to the Royal Navy \'s nuclear-powered fleet and served by HMNB Portsmouth, the largest single-site dockyard in the world with an area of 28 square kilometres (11 sq mi). Portsmouth International Port is used by many commercial shipping lines, such as P&O Ferries.
Hampshire is an affluent county; its gross domestic product (GDP) in 2014 was £50. 7billion (excluding Southampton and Portsmouth, whose GDP is included in the South East region), the fourth highest of the counties and unitary authorities (county councils in Wales) of the United Kingdom. The average income for the. Hampshire is a net exporter of services. The main type of service produced is business services, worth (as at December 2013) 2billion. Hampshire is the largest producer of hardware and software in the UK, with nearly 1billion worth of exports in this sector per annum.
The tourism sector is a major contributor to Hampshire's economy. In 2014, Hampshire welcomed over 14million visitors, injecting 11billion into the local economy. In 2018, Hampshire had a GDP per capita of 22,100, comparable with the UK as a whole. To obtain the population of the unitary authority, Southampton, the excluded population of all other districts was added to that of Southampton. These figures are for the electoral wards of "Gosport North" and "Gosport South and Meon Valley" taken from the 2011 census.
Health
There are four major hospitals in the Reading area, and they are all managed by the Southern Health NHS Foundation Trust. Reading Hospital is a large general hospital in the centre of town, and provides services such as accident and emergency, maternity and paediatrics, as well as rehabilitation for people with physical disabilities. The Royal Berkshire Hospital is a mental health hospital in central Reading on London Road. It was opened in 1839 as the Berks county Asylum.
The county has two NHS hospitals, the Royal Hampshire County Hospital which in a recent pilot (reported in May 2015) became the first mental health hospital to be the location for an air ambulance 'helipad'. The week-long trial began on 30 April 2015. This is due to both the city's proximity to Bournemouth Airport and the need for emergency air ambulances to land somewhere within reasonable distance to Southampton General Hospital. &. There are fewer health inequalities in Hampshire, either side of the city of Southampton.
Life expectancy is two years below the England average, and a similar gap exists for cancer and cardiovascular mortality rates, although respiratory disease rates are lower. There are four Local Health Boards in Hampshire: Basingstoke and Deane; East Hampshire; Eastleigh and Lyndhurst; and Isle of Wight. Southampton City Primary Care Trust serves just the city council area, while NHS South Central serves the rest of Hampshire. The National Health Service (NHS) provides the publicly funded health care within Hampshire.
History
Before the Norman Conquest The region is believed to have been continuously occupied since the end of the last Ice Age about 12,000 BCE. At this time, Britain was still attached to the European continent and was predominantly covered with deciduous woodland. The first inhabitants were Mesolithic hunter-gatherers. Hills, cliffs, and lakes would have been their normal environment, with migrations happening during the summer to allow reaping of trees and bushes for food. There is no definite evidence that these first inhabitants were forced out or replaced by invading peoples but it remains a possibility that they migrated to places more suited to their way of life such as southern Europe where a number of descendants of populations from this period were living during historic times.
Around 6000 BCE, Neolithic settlers arrived from the Iberian Peninsula and began clearing the forests and cultivating the land. The Depletion of Soil Ores (D-O) horizon, which marks the beginning of the Neolithic period, also appears at the beginning of this period. A megalithic observatory site north of Bournemouth on the South West Coast of England is one of only four confirmed D-O sites in England. The structure contains a central stone circle with 80 original stones surviving, in addition to 22 restored ones.
This structure is similar to Stonehenge, but it dates to about 1,000 BCE. The oldest traces of human occupation in Jersey have been found at La Cotte de St Brelade dated to a rock shelter close to the edge of the river Plate, south of La Rocque and east of Saint Ouen's Bay. La Cotte has been dated by pottery shards to c. 6000 BCE and there are some remains of red deer, cattle, and sloe that appear to date back nearly a quarter of a million years but this might be contaminated.
The population was greatly reduced after the Iron Age, and it is believed that this was mainly due to a change in climate. In the Roman period there is no evidence of continuity with the preceding Iron Age inhabitants and much of Britain assumed a "Romanised" appearance, with occupied sites having either paved or tiled floors that have been compared to those found in villas in northern France and southern Britain. Around 2150 BCE, Neolithic settlers arrived from continental Europe.
The use of Iron Age tools by these settlers suggests that it was probably Pre-Celts who inhabited Britain before the arrival of the Romans. It is believed that the tribes of modern-day Wales and Cornwall were particularly advanced in constructing Hillforts. The date of the arrival of the Homo sapiens between 1500 and 1000 BCE is the most widely accepted period of initial settlement, although evidence exists that an earlier wave may have reached Scotland about 2500 BCE.
Green belt
Green belt is a term used in land use planning in England, Wales and Northern Ireland to denote land in which development is restricted because of its environmental qualities. Such areas are designed to retain and improve the environment, for example by serving as wildlife habitat. They are often functionally linked to some other open space policy instrument that allows local authorities to pursue broader economic and social objectives. However, there are a number of policies with similar aims.
The green belt was first drawn up from new town developments in the 1950s and 1960s. West Hampshire District Council suggested that the green belt encircles all four of its boroughs: Basingstoke & Deane, East Hampshire, Fareham and Gosport. But, it added that "the added protection of this green belt is less necessary in more built-up parts of the district. " In 2003 a short length of it was removed near Chineham by Basingstoke & Deane council for housing.
The green belt was first drawn up by the County Council in 1958, and follows the boundaries of the historic counties of Hampshire, Sussex and Surrey. Its purpose is to prevent urban sprawl from encroaching on the southern fringes of Basingstoke, near Mount-batten along the A3; and Winchester, along the A31 corridor. The descendants of these nomadic hunter-gatherers did not build any permanent settlements, but around 5000 BCE began to clear and farm the land.
Hills
The highest village is the hamlet of Wandlebury, which stands at 170 metres (560ft) and has a church standing on a hill as high as 280m. Two London boroughs, Richmond upon Thames and Croydon, also extend into the southeast of Hampshire. The county is generally considered to be more affluent than most other counties in the South East region. South Hampshire had an average gross household income of £61,304 in 2012 (compared to £66,335 for South East England as a whole).
Climate
The major influence on Hampshire's climate is the proximity of the sea. The prevailing south-westerly winds that regularly affect south-east England do not cross the sea, leaving it and Hampshire much calmer. This leads to it being one of the warmest parts of the United Kingdom during summer. The average annual temperature for Winchester, the county town, is 9 °C (48 °F) with an average January daytime high of 6 °C (43 °F) and a cold extreme minimum of −10.
8 °C (12. 6 °F). The average annual temperature is 8. 9 °C (48. 0 °F). Some 1321 miles (2,107 km) south of the Scottish capital, Edinburgh, and 65 miles (105 km) east of the West Country city of Bristol, Hampshire is also one of England's sunniest counties, averaging nearly 1,250 hours of sunshine per year. Hampshire is often said to have "four seasons in one day", the seasons referred to being winter, late spring, early summer and late summer.
Demographics
The average age of residents of the ceremonial county is 42 years, four years above the average age of 39. 7 for England, has a population density of 1,261 people per square kilometre (3,250/sq mi), and a median age of 39. 4; there are 234,825 males and 230,709 females. The county occasionally experiences flooding, notably in October 2000 when severe flooding affected the county after heavy rains. In 2013 it was estimated that about 37 percent of Hampshire's population live in the south or southwest of the county, while 22 per cent live in the former Royal Navy cities of Portsmouth and Southampton.
Ethnicity and religion
In the 2001 census, 89 per cent of Southampton residents classed themselves as being white, 7. 7 per cent Asian or British Asian, 1 per cent black and 0. 5 per cent were classified as other ethnic groups. In the 2011 census, the overall proportion of white people fell to 83. 4%. 14% of residents were born outside of the UK: more than a third of these were born in eastern European countries (notably Poland).
As of 2010[update], 29. 6% of people are Church of England, while 21% have no religion and 7% were Muslim. The 2011 census showed that the city was 72. 56% White British, 2. 58% Black Caribbean, 1. 34% Black African, 0. 97% Mixed-race, and 0. 66% Chinese and other ethnic groups were 3. 15%. Indians (which include those of British descent), Pakistanis and Bangladeshis are the next largest ethnic groups in Southampton. According to the 2011 Census, Christianity is the most popular religion with 59.
7 per cent of the population, with 29. 5 per cent stating no religion. Ethnicity and religion. At the 2011 census, about 89 per cent of residents were white British, falling to 85. 87 per cent in Southampton. The significant ethnic minorities were Asian at 2. 6 per cent and mixed race at 1. 4 per cent; 10 per cent of residents were born outside the UK. 59. 7 per cent stated their religion as Christian and 29.
Air
I did not arrive at this conclusion lightly. You see, Southampton is not a small town with its own airports. On the contrary, it's part of the beautiful area of the UK known as Hampshire, which has no fewer than six airfields to call its own. And despite the fact that one of these was once home to the largest Spitfire factory in Britain during WWII, people are still set on directing them all towards another as soon as possible.
So what are the reasons behind this madness? To find out we need to take a closer look at each airport and consider if they meet the criteria laid down by those looking and voting for them. The Farnborough International Airshow (informally known as Farnborough) is a week-long event that combines a major trade exhibition for the aerospace and defence industries with a public airshow. Held every year in mid-July, it is the largest air show in the world.
The event is organised by Farnborough International Limited, a wholly owned subsidiary of ADS Group. It is held in even-numbered years at locations in the UK and elsewhere. The first four days (Monday to Thursday) are dedicated exclusively to trade, with the event closing with a public viewing on Saturday and Sunday. The airshow is organised by Farnborough International Limited, a wholly owned subsidiary of ADS Group. 5 per cent as not religious.
Sea
Sea transport is crucial to the Island's economy. Despite a tendency for direct ferry routes between the mainland UK and Ireland or France to bypass the Isle of Wight, there are ferries from Lymington to Ireland and across the English Channel, from Southampton to Cherbourg, Le Havre or St Malo in France and Guernsey in the Channel Islands. Sea. is a free online and mobile app for everything you need to know about getting across the Solent.
Whether you are travelling by car, foot or bike or just want to plan a trip for later, with Sea you have all the options at your fingertips. We asked Portsmouth-based developer Andrew Crabb to tell us more about it…. There are several ferry services available from Southampton to Portsmouth, as well as to Lymington on the south coast and to Le Havre, France. The main operators are Red Funnel and Wightlink.
Several car ferry services run from Weymouth via Portland, Poole, Hayling Island and Fishbourne on the south coast. Although most of the county's ferry services are focused on serving the island, Portsmouth acts as a major ferry port for England. Ferries from the mainland and Poole help provide links to the Channel Islands, Ireland and Continental Europe from Lymington, Yarmouth and Portsmouth. Portsmouth is a major international tourist destination. Havant is a seaside town on the south coast and home to the Gunwharf Quays shopping outlet with historical exhibits from the Royal Navy Submarine Museum.
Rail
Railways played an important part in the development of Winchester being the arrival point for both main lines. The first railway to arrive was the Southampton and London line which arrived on 21 July 1840. Winchester played a key role in the development of the railways further south as Parliament decreed that a railway connection had to be made to Southampton. The route decided upon was via Basingstoke (this meant turning at Basingstoke) and this opened on 4 October 1847.
It was named the South Western Main Line. The importance of Southampton Docks as a major international port was greatly enhanced by the coming of the railways. The first railway in Hampshire to be built was in 1839, but it was not until 1847 that a route was completed between Winchester and Southampton, with a branch to Portsmouth which enabled steam packet boats to bring passengers and cargo from London. No longer would they have to unload at port and reload onto 'coaches'or horse-drawn carts before continuing their journey.
It has two railway stations, Southampton Central (services to London Waterloo, Bournemouth and Portsmouth) and Romsey (services towards Salisbury, Exeter St Davids and Bristol Temple Meads). Until 1967 Winchester had a third station, at the now closed Eastleigh railway station. The counties main motorway is the M3 which connects it with London to the west and Lymington in Hampshire to the east. The Mid Hants Railway which runs for 50 miles from Alton to GWR Shed at Sharnford via Alresford, Bodenham, Ludgershall, Medstead & Four Marks and Ropley).
The Weymouth-to-Poole branch line passes through Bishops Waltham and Staverton. Other (currently disused) lines include the Andover–Winchester Branch Line, Chiltern Main Line and Chertsey Branch Line. There are three main railway stations, namely Winchester, in the city, Basingstoke in the north and Southampton Central in the south of the county. There is also an intermediate station at Andover which is on the West of England Main Line operated by Great Western Railway from London Paddington to Exeter St Davids via Reading, Swindon and Bristol.
The county is linked to London by five motorways: The M3, the M27, the M3 and M27 jointly, the M271 and the A34. The M27 was originally built as a bypass of Winchester when it was feared that a rather strangely chosen one-way system would cause traffic problems when the city eventually expanded. The town has two theatres, including the Barn Arts Centre . There are also ferry services from Le Havre to Poole, Cherbourg to Lymington, Caen to Portsmouth and St Malo to Plymouth.
Road
At its northern end, the M3 passes Winchester on its way to London with two exits for the city. At Basingstoke, the M3 meets the M4 motorway, which begins here on its course through Wales and central and south-west England. The two motorways merge, and are known as the M4 to the southwestern outskirts of London. Once the M3 diverges from the main route of the M4 at Junction 12, Heathrow Airport can be reached via Junction 4 (the A4).
The same journey follows further north of west from Junctions 11A and 11B, again for Heathrow Airport. The A34 links Basingstoke, at its western end, to Winchester in the east via Newbury. From the New Forest, passing over the edge of the Hampshire Downs at Stroud, it crosses Cranbourne Chase and passes through Silchester on its way to Southampton. At Basingstoke, two miles further on from Junction 9 of the M3, it intersects with the M4 motorway (Junction 11).
It continues through Hook to reach Andover where a dual carriageway road begins (with a northbound sliproad joining from Junction 12 of the M3). Having crossed the Purbecks, the A35 continues due north into Hampshire and eventually to Basingstoke. The A30 road crosses at Wintringham, a small village in the far north of the county and from there heads east north-east towards Devon. The A31 heads west from its starting point at Alton, opposite Alresford.
Westbound, it crosses the New Forest near Garsdon on its way towards Exeter. The east-west A272 road eventually leaves by a junction with the A35, near Candover in central Southampton. The M3 engages in a concurrency (commonly referred to as a stack) with the A31 for 16 miles from the edge of the New Forest to Salisbury. The region between and around junctions 9, 10, 12 and 13 of the M27 is known as Bournemouth's South Western Arc, a strategic planning area designated in 2004 by Bournemouth Borough Council and Dorset County Council.
Inland waterways
The canal network was expanded into East Hampshire with the opening of the Lymington Branch, a horsedrawn branch of the Basingstoke Canal, in 1834. This short canal was intended to link Lymington to New Milton across land owned by Lord Southampton and Thomas Wiche, but they blocked it at the eleventh hour, and it never reached its intended terminus. However, after a few years of successful operation, an Act of Parliament was passed which allowed the canal company to build an extension across private land to reach their intended destination.
The new route required two locks to be built, which were completed in 1846. Once the Thames and the Avon had been connected at Christchurch in the 19th century, a further canal was proposed to connect Christchurch with the sea at Gosport on Southampton Water. This became known as the Christchurch and livery section of the Grand Western Canal ("Western" being an old name for what is now called the River Avon). It was never completed, but it led to major local canal schemes: the Basingstoke Canal and Andover Canal both followed its intended route, and much of the infrastructure built was later taken over by railways.
Numerous rivers flow through Hampshire, principally in an east–west direction (towards the sea). These are subject to change and tidal effects, but include the River Test (which has its mouth near Southampton), Itchen and Itchen Navigation, River Avon, River Wey and River Blackwater. Despite this, there are proposals to restore a small 13-mile (21 km) section of the Andover Canal as a heritage tourist attraction. The River Itchen, from its source in Hampshire to the Solent is also navigable and is popular with narrowboat users.
Music
The main venues for theatre in the county are the Theatre Royal in Winchester, which seats approximately 675 people and hosts the annual Hampshire Drama Festival, and the New Theatre Royal in Southampton (formerly Mayflower Theatre), which has 925 seats. The Bournemouth International Centre hosts touring theatre productions of various sizes, and also introduced a new professional theatre company into its repertoire in 2006. The Romsey Little Theatre has been going since 1929. The Courtyard Playhouse, which originated in 1971 and moved to its present location on Horsefair Lane in the town centre in 1996, is a small independent theatre providing a venue for local amateur dramatic societies.
Every year, the International Orchestra of Hampshire visits Hampshire schools, giving educational workshops during which children can try out orchestral instruments. The Hampshire County Youth Brass Band was formed in 2000 and has grown to be one of the biggest and most successful youth brass bands in the country. Along with the Youth Brass Band, there are a large number of adult brass bands including The British Airways Staff Band (which is made up of staff of British Airways at their offices in Waterside near Southampton), and The Basingstoke Corporation Silver Band.
Hampshire is also home to many brass bands. The oldest and most famous is the 1st Farnham Scout Group, which claims to the first band in existence. There are five bands that play weekly in Aldershot Garrison The British Legion Band, The Cable Company, The Hampshire Territorial Army Band, the 5th Battalion Mercian Regiment (Cheshire) Band and the Seventh Parachute Regiment (Air Assault) Band. There is also a branch of The Salvation Army located on Frimley Road in Aldershot and their band plays regularly at community events.
Hampshire is also home to the World Saxophone Quartet, who regularly tour and record. The Southampton based bands The Enemy & Dirty Pretty Things have gone on to support Oasis on their world tour & enjoyed great success. Jonathan Jeremiah signed to Mercury Records in 2005 after being spotted in his local town of Aldershot. The main music venue in the county is the 1,000-seat Chandos Music Hall in Basingstoke. The city is additionally location of Basing House, a music and theatre venue located within Basing House.
Annual events
The first Hampshire County Show took place on 28 September 1906, when it was known as the Basingstoke and District Show. The show is held at the bank holiday weekend at the end of July to the beginning of August nowadays. It is one of the major annual events in Hampshire, attracting about 250,000 visitors over two days in 2012, including more than 25,000 students. In 2009, a solar power array was installed on the site to provide electricity for use by lighting and a small number of facilities; its 524 solar panels generate 20 KW which is sufficient to light up all the marquees and some outdoor areas around the showground.
The New Forest is represented in Parliament by two members of parliament (MPs). The MP for the New Forest East constituency is Conservative Desmond Swayne, who won the seat at the 2015 general election. The MP for the New Forest West and Pennington constituency is Conservative (as of 2017) Tim Farron. The former mayor of Poole, Pauline Jerrett, was elected as the New Forest's police and crime commissioner in November 2012. Her successor as mayor, John Baker, was elected to succeed her in May 2015 and took office on 3 June 2015.
The New Forest is a popular tourist destination in the UK, and tourism accounts for more than half of all income generated. The New Forest has around 280 campsites and 250 caravan parks. The area is also home to multiple hotels by national chains. There are around 60 Bed and Breakfasts across the New Forest district, most of which are organic, or have grown organically from traditional farmhouses. Many local pubs also provide accommodation.
The New Forest Show is an annual event that takes place in July and is the largest one-day agricultural show in Europe. It has taken place at the end of July since 1767. The Hampshire County Show also takes place in July, each year in Winchester. Since its inception in 1885, it has been held annually except for 1914–1918 when it was suspended due to World War I, and 1939–1940 during World War II.
A key event in the calendar is annual Hampshire Show (initially the Hampshire Agricultural Society's Show held at end-August), previously situated on the showground adjoining Stubbington House, but now taking place at the county showground at Ardley; a large collection of local produce and live animals are on show. On the last Monday in June, the village of Ellingham holds a goose fair. The feast of feasts for horseracing enthusiasts in Hampshire is the July Cup at Newbury Racecourse.
West Meon aerodrome hosts an annual airshow over the weekend closest to 11 August. The house's main auditorium hosts both musical concerts and dramatic theatre productions regularly. Though no longer used for navigation, the River Wey has been restored for navigation from Guildford to the Thames at Weybridge, and there are plans for a new canal, the Wey Navigation from the A309 south of Guildford to Weybridge. [12. NHS 24 is responsible for administering the 999 emergency telephone number.
Press
There are many newspapers and magazines published in Hampshire. Weekly newspapers are published by Johnston Press, Newsquest Media Group and Northcliffe Newspapers. The Basingstoke Gazette is part of the national series of local papers which are published weekly and includes news from across the county as well as local sports matches. The weekly papers include; the Andover Advertiser, Basingstoke Observer, Bramley, Hook and West Hampshire Extra, East Hampshire Extra, Daily Echo (Southampton), Eastleigh Observer, Fareham Guardian, Romsey Advertiser, Rushmoor Herald, Southern Daily Echo (Fareham & Portsmouth), Southern Times (East Hampshire), Sports Extra (North & Mid Hants) St Mary's (Portsmouth).
Daily newspapers are produced in Southampton (Southern Daily Echo) and Portsmouth (The News). There is also a job and second-hand advertising paper, Exchange & Mart, published ten times a year (most of the publication dates coincide with those of the Hampshire Chronicle). There is a paid-for weekly newspaper for Winchester, The Winchester Chronicle. Bournemouth is home to The Daily Echo, a sister paper of the Daily Echo in Southampton. This, along with Portsmouth's The News and The Portsmouth News, make up the three dominant regional newspapers in South East England.
As well as this, Bournemouth also has a local radio station named Breeze, which broadcasts to the Bournemouth area on 107. 9 FM. A number of magazines are published in the area, including local publications such as Hampshire Magazine, The Winchester Magazine, Sailsbury's Where to Live Guide and The Southampton Magazine, as well as national publications such as Ride Cycling Review. The Southampton and Portsmouth editions of the BBC South Today news programme are broadcast from studios at the University of Southampton in Highfield, Northam, Southampton, as was ITV News South.
Air
Southampton Airport is a public airport in the Borough of Eastleigh within Southampton, England, 3. 5 nautical miles (6. 5 km; 4. 0 mi) south southwest of Southampton city centre, and 24 nautical miles (44 km; 28 mi) east northeast of Portsmouth. It has a CAA Public Use Aerodrome Licence that allows flights for flying instruction and private use, but not commercial scheduled services. The airport was formerly called Ringway Airport, named after the nearby ring road which was part of the historic Southampton-Eastleigh railway line.
It opened as a Royal Air Force station RAF Southampton which also housed several non-flying units and in January 1941 became part of No 31 Group RAF with fighter units. [. There are two main runway intersecting runways (01L/19R and 01R/19L), both of which can accommodate the Airbus A380, Boeing 747 and Boeing 777. The terminal buildings were extensively redeveloped in the late 1990s, with additional shopping, parking and other facilities. Later developments include the construction of a new business centre complex near the north eastern side of the airfield.
The airport was until recently owned and managed by Heathrow Airport Holdings (formerly known as BAA Limited), the holding company of the British airports authority. Since 1 June 2009, Southampton Airport has been owned by Abu Dhabi National Exhibitions Company (ADNEC), which also owns and operates Doha International Airport in Qatar. The BBC moved to new premises in August 2011 and ITV left in July 2014. Press in Hampshire is provided by Johnston Press, the owners of several local and regional newspapers including the Surrey Comet and Surrey Advertiser; Sussex Express, The Argus, Kent on Sunday, and the Swindon Advertiser.
Get around
Hampshire boasts a well connected road network and good connections to other parts of the country. The M3 passes Hampshire westwards, heading towards London and then onwards to the South Coast; The A34 is a trunk road that moves north-south from Basingstoke to the West Midlands via Newbury, Oxford and Coventry;. Only the more remote sections of the Hampshire are inaccessible by public transport. Bus services are limited to the cities and larger towns, and not all these routes are served frequently outside peak times, however rail access is available to most area.
A34 bypasses Southampton arriving at Portsmouth over the Twyford Down turning circle above Winchester to Exeter and the M4, Hampshire Local (hampshirelocal.co.uk). There is a plan for a new dual-carriageway around Winchester known as the 'Winchester Western Bypass'. 6in) of rain falls. Later, it became the world's first 'certified warship'building yard with Britain's Royal Navy and produced a further 82 great warships, including the 1666 Sovereign of the Seas—the last warship carrying the British broad pennant.
Hampshire
I have to say the most exciting place of all when it comes to places in Hampshire is Easthampton and the surrounding land, including a really fantastic view across the whole of the New Forest. It's essentially like looking into an enormous garden with incredible flora and fauna (and yes that includes a lot of deer). It's a stunningly beautiful place which I am convinced must be heaven on earth. Finally, you can also go and visit Portchester Castle.
Reportedly one of Europe's most well preserved Roman forts, Portchester was built around 200 A. D. and interestingly its location was chosen mainly due to the fact that it was close to both fresh water from Purbrook springs as well as salt water from Southampton Water-. Hampshire's most famous son is probably Thomas Hardy. The British author is buried in Stinsford. Jane Austen's house, Chawton Manor, is now a major tourist attraction. Oscar Wilde was born in Dublin (then still part of the United Kingdom) but moved to Portsmouth as a child.
Drink
Surprisingly, the biggest city in Hampshire – Winchester – has precious little to offer for nightlife. Since its 18th century heyday, the ‘Cultural Capital of Europe’ (according to a sign on the wall) has declined into a sleepy small town which emphatically closes up at about 9pm. Apart from the usual pub-crawl through several indistinguishable chains there is little else to be found. {"smallUrl":"https:\/\/www. wikihow. com\/images\/thumb\/a\/a6\/Drink-Better-in-Milton-Keynes-Step-12-Version-2. jpg\/v4-460px-Drink-Better-in-Milton-Keynes-Step-12-Version-2. jpg","bigUrl":"https:\/\/www. wikihow. com\/images\/thumb\/a\/a6\/Drink-Better-in-Milton-Keynes-Step-12-Version-2. jpg\/v4-759px-Drink-Better-in-Milton-Keynes-Step-12-Version. A drink in Southampton can range from high-end night clubs to basic pub bars.
The latter tend to cater mostly to the student population of the city. Night clubs are as abundant as anywhere else in the UK, with some of the best known being Liquid and Havana. Pubs in the county are a fine way to spend an evening, but it is sometimes hard to know which pubs are traditional and serve exemplary beer, and which ones are more modern and serve only the normal run of lagers and cheap knock-off spirits.
By road
There is a good network of motorways from the Channel Tunnel. These lead to London and surrounding areas, but there are also inter-connections which enable you to head towards Brighton and the south coast, or west into the depths of Wessex and Devon. On leaving the tunnel, join the M20, which circles London clockwise. The M3 leads west to Hampshire and bypasses Guildford, Aldershot, Farnborough and Fleet Air Arm Museum. The M25 is a ring road which surrounds London on three sides (north, west & south), joins with the M4 (Bath, Swindon) to make an outer ring.
The A3 gives a route east following the south bank of the River Thames. Road distances are calculated from the centre of the nearest large town; in this case, Folkestone. Distance to London by road is 148 miles, and the driving time on a weekday is about 2 hours on average, with an average speed of 60 miles per hour (97 km/h); allow an average of 3 additional hours for weekends. Driving times from the Channel Tunnel to Hampshire, via the M20, M26, M25 and M3 motorways, are 23 hours in good traffic, though you should allow for longer when travelling during peak hours (M-F 7:309:30 AM, 4:306:30 PM; and all day on holiday weekends).
If you are travelling from the UK via Dover, The Channel Tunnel is the most convenient route. It is close to London and you travel through the Channel Tunnel which bypasses most of coastal France. There are numerous ways of getting to the UK from Europe, including by coach (Eurolines), ferry (DFDS Seaways, Stena Line), train or plane. Wolf Hall by Hilary Mantel was inspired by her time living in Salisbury near to where the real life events of the book took place.
By boat
Portsmouth is an important stop for many cruise liners, with about 25 ships a year calling there. In part this is because of the proximity of Port Solent which offers a safe haven when travelling in the English Channel from or to other European ports. The Queen Mary 2, one of the largest ocean liners ever built and now retired from service, was bound for her home port of Long Beach, California via Southampton until 2006 when she was modified to burn dual fuel.
