LittleBlueRhinos Holiday Page 1996
This year we spent a week in Hambledon,
Hampshire staying in 'The Folly' 
(click
on any of the pictures for a large version) this, as you can see is well
named, being a simple tower of three stories and a roof which could be
reached by a rather precarious ladder. Needless to say, the journey to
the roof was only essayed twice, and not after Phil had taken beer. 
This
is the view from the other side of the valley showing 'The Folly in the
centre right distance -it can just be discerned on the larger picture as
a green mound with a window on it's left side- as can be seen, the countryside
was as pleasant as could be wished and most congenial for walking. Hambledon
was known in the 18th century as the birthplace of
cricket and as such was the cricketing centre of the world. Hambledon village
had a team which would play against 'All England' and frequently win, with
large sums of money being staked on the outcomes of matches. Sometimes
thousands of Guineas (1 guinea = UKP1.05, or in old money 1 pound and 1
shilling) changed hands in an afternoon, and cheating and bribery were
not unheard of. The centre of this activity was the 'Bat
and Ball Inn' 
shown
here, it has been greatly modernised, but still retains a little of the
original pub. This is not an original Inn sign, 
especially
since sometime in 1995, the management chain that owned it changed the
name to 'The Frog and Nightgown' or a similar name and decided to throw
away centuries of tradition for an unknown but doubtless financial reason.
Phil was very cross at this, but by the time we got there, there had been
such a fuss that the name had been changed back and they were playing up
the cricket connection. 'The Bat and Ball' is not in Hambledon village,
but about 3 miles from it and we decided that when the weather was good
we would walk there and have lunch and see the Inn itself. The walk was
a very pleasant one although it was a very hot day, and here is Phil 
on
the highest point of Broadha'penny Down,
the rolling grassland which characterises this part of the country. The
cricket was played largely on a ground by the inn and there is today a
memorial 
to
those times and to 'The Home of Cricket', erected at the turn of this century.
We had a good dinner with some reasonable beer and walked back to have
a well earned rest after about 8 miles walking in the day, not a lot, but
tiring if you are not used to it.
To the South of Hambledon is Portsmouth,
one of the finest natural harbours in the country and since time immemorial
a busy port and for some centuries a major naval base. Here are docked
three ships of major importance, Mary Rose, Victory and Warrior.
The Mary Rose is the only 16th
century warship on display anywhere in the world. Built between 1509 and
1511, she was one of the first ships able to fire a broadside, and was
a firm favourite of King Henry VIII. After a long and successful career,
she sank accidentally during an engagement with the French fleet in 1545.
Her rediscovery and raising were seminal events in the history of nautical
archaeology. Here is a picture of her as she is now, being conserved in
a purpose-built shiphall. 
Victory was Horatio Nelson's
flagship, and it was on her that he died after a great battle -Trafalgar-
which thrashed the French and allowed Great Britain to provide freedom
to all on the high seas, in peace and order for the next one hundred years.
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Here are two views of the figurehead at the prow of the ship, also showing some of the complexity of the rigging required on a fighting ship. |  |
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The starboard guns are shown on the left The ship must have been rolling when this picture was taken. On the right a view of the Stern Galleries, where the Captain would transact the daily business of a warship and of the great fleet that accompanied her. |
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Warrior is a hybrid, last of one
type of ship but first of a new type. She is ship rigged, but also carries
an engine. One of the astonishing things about her however is her armour,
the fighting heart of the ship is encased in 6 inch (150mm.) steel plate,
backed by 18 inch thick Teak planking. She carries breech loading guns,
unfortunately the ones on board are fibreglass replicas. Below from left
to right: the Starboard side, all guns are run in; The breech of one of
the screw-guns; The Stern, showing a much lower stern gallery than Victory.
You can get more information about all these ships and about Portsmouth
Historic Dockyard at:-
Flagship Portsmouth
( http://www.compulink.co.uk/~flagship/Welcome.html )
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On the high ground above Portsmouth are a series of forts, to protect the great port from attack by land. From west to east, they are Forts Nelson, Southwick, Widley and Purbrook, and along with Farlington Redoubt were designed to provide a complete arc of covering fire and mutual support to the north of Portsmouth. One of these forts, Fort Nelson, is a museum and is open to the public. Amongst other things on display is a part of the famous Iraqi 'Super-Gun', shown (left) with Catherine leaning on it, and a mortar with a calibre of 36 inches (925mm.) The shells are shown in front of the mortar and Phil in the picture(centre) shows the size overall. Along the road from Fort Nelson on one of the highest points above Portsmouth is the Nelson Memorial. (right)
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