Staunton Country Park came as a very pleasant surprise to me as I had no clue it even existed – well, technically, I guess, it actually didn’t until 1987. It is a listed landscaped parkland and forest, encompassing approximately 1,000 acres of land near Portsmouth, Hampshire. The land it covers was actually a grand…
Tag: Portsmouth
Pic of the Month: Doctor Who’s Tardis
I took this picture a couple of years back but truthfully, only really looked at it closely this week. I was visiting Portsmouth Dockyard and had sat down for a quick cup of coffee between ship-spotting. Imagine my surprise when I spied a Tardis in my orbit! As a Doctor Who fan, it certainly drew my…
Regal Ruin – Portchester Castle
Is Portchester Castle a Regal Ruin? Yes says my friend but I am torn for I have climbed its inner sanctum – the great Keep – and it appeared in remarkably good condition! It was here that the most important apartments would have been located although later, it housed prisoners during the Napoleonic wars. Of…
A Beach Hut is a peculiar thing …
Have you ever wondered why The Beach Hut exists and people spend thousands trying to obtain prime huts in key locations? Apparently, reports say there are 23,000 of them up and down our coastline. I keep looking at them, and for me, I just don’t really get it – I don’t understand their allure. My…
South Parade Pier: A shadow of her former self
I’ve lived in Southsea, Portsmouth for a good part of my early life and find the sad demeanour of South Parade Pier a little hard to take. I worked as a student in the gift shop at the Pier’s entrance when the Pier was at the centre of a thriving tourism industry. My brother can…
Country Pub Series: The Bat and Ball, Hambledon
On 31st December 1999, we celebrated New Year’s Eve in style at The Bat and Ball, Hambledon, Hampshire, watching at midnight the first cricket match of the new Millennium as played by members of Hampshire County Cricket Club. Sitting outside with the Hound one Sunday last summer, a cricket match being played opposite, it certainly…
Country Pub Series: The Bird in Hand, Lovedean
After a good walk, climbing the steep slopes of Catherington Down with The Hound, where better to enjoy a quick bite or a glass of wine then at The Bird in Hand, Lovedean … literally a two minute drive away. The staff are very friendly, the service is brisk and considered – but best of…
Four Seasons Series: St Hubert’s Church, Idsworth – 1
St Hubert’s Church, Idsworth, Hampshire – Winter Over the past year, I have been taking photographs of my favourite landscapes or sites at various Hampshire and West Sussex locations – curious to see how they would differ each season. St Hubert’s Church, Idsworth, Hampshire – Autumn I chose this amazing little church for my first set….
Four Seasons Series: St Hubert’s Church, Idsworth – 2
St Hubert’s Church, Idsworth, Hampshire – Winter This is the second set of shots I have taken over the past year of my favourite little church, St Hubert’s Church, Idsworth – the little Saxon church in the middle of the field. St Hubert’s Church, Idsworth, Hampshire – Autumn As soon as I started taking shots from…
Catherington Down – a place of outstanding beauty
When I first moved back to Hampshire, many suggestions were given to me by knowledgeable locals of places to visit. One has became a firm favourite with The Hound and myself – Catherington Down, a glorious rolling hillside in Catherington, Horndean, eight miles south of Petersfield and ten miles north of Portsmouth. Officially, it is…
a3traveller.com 