WEEKEND WITH FRIENDS

W/E Aug 2nd/3rd
We’ve just returned from a lovely weekend in Hampshire where we stayed with our friends Roy and Carol. We met them when we travelled to Budapest, Vienna etc on that coach trip, and got on very well. They were kind enough to invite us to their place in Southampton. It was a two and a half hour drive down the motorway to Southampton and we arrived just before lunchtime. Carol had prepared a very enjoyable meal and we shared a lot of laughs as well as a bottle of wine, recalling our coach trip together of several months ago. After that Roy drove us all to the city of Winchester where we spent a pleasant and instructive afternoon visiting local landmarks, and one local pub.
One of the old establishments here is Winchester College which goes back hundreds of years and ranks with Eton and Harrow. The pub at which we enjoyed a pint, featured old Winchester College desks as tables and lists of ancient examination results framed in the gents toilets.
We also visited Winchester Cathedral, a magnificent building with a history dating back over a thousand years. We saw the tombs and memorial caskets of bishops going back to medieval times and earlier. As you can see, the nave and transepts with their vaulted ceilings are quite stunning.
We wandered the streets of Winchester past a monument to King Alfred the Great, and went into the Great Hall, where they have on the wall the so called Round Table of King Arthur. In fact it dates back only to the fifteenth century.
Then we drove back to our hosts’ place and enjoyed a memorable dinner and more wine.
In the morning Roy and Carol took us to the New Forest to see the wild ponies which live there. This place is a mixture of scrubland and forest. Actually it was new at around the time of the Norman Conquest, and was planted to provide hunting grounds for the aristocracy. We saw ponies and foals just grazing along the roadside, and even on people’s nature strips. We visited the town of Romsey and a very old Abbey, again with magnificent architecture. It's also the burial place of Lord Mountbatten.

We spent a little time in a village called Burley, also known as the Witches’ Village because of its association with a coven of witches reputed to have practised their arts there. There are now several shops flogging witchy souvenirs and tatt.
Then we drove on towards the coast to the town of Lymington where the ferries go to the Isle of Wight. After a quick stroll around the waterfront, we enjoyed a seafood luncheon at the Ship Inn.
We had to head home soon so we dropped into the village of Beaulieu to buy ice creams and look briefly at the estate of Lord Montague.

All too soon we had to head home, but we have invited Roy and Carol to come up to Oxfordshire before we leave the UK and are looking forward to returning their hospitality. We are lucky to have made such friends during our stay.