Trip To Milford On Sea

We always try and have a seaside escape before the Easter break, and as it came early this year our trip to Milford On Sea could be the same week as my 27th Birthday, which made it a great excuse for some rest and relaxation! We often visit Lymington which is the next town across from Milford On Sea, but I found the lovely Beach House Hotel online and as they are both dog friendly AND right next to the beach, it was the perfect choice for us. The suite was beautifully furnished in a nautical-meets-shabby chic style and we even had a little lounge with a sofa. The hotel has a beautiful bar and lounge where dogs are welcome and the food was always good, I really highly recommend a visit whether you want a pet friendly holiday or not! 

The beach has a promenade which made it easier to walk along than just the pebbles, and some lovely traditional beach huts, although these are only the few which survived the bad storms a few years ago. They have a  rejuvenation plan to build a whole new beachfront so in a few years it will be looking very different.  There is a view across to The Needles and The Isle Of White on a clear day, this can be spotted from the hotel too! 

I had a scrumptious Full English birthday breakfast which was quite a treat, I don't usually cook it myself as I don't like all the washing up! I had some beautiful cards and presents from my family and friends which had been smuggled along as a surprise, and it was a very sunny beautiful day! We took a leisurely beach side stroll and visited the wild bird sanctuary which lies back from the beach, taking in the first proper springtime day! Mia still isn't quite used to the beach, she runs about like a mad thing and was so excited by all the birds she was shaking! Crazy little werewolf! She did very well considering she has never (I assume) been in a hotel environment before, she liked all the waiters (especialy one who was also from Romania and she loved hearing someone speak the language again! Seriously!) but she just wasn't too sure of the sound of the hotel owners high heels on the wooden floor - my trainers never make that much noise so she isn't used to it! 

 

We found some Alpacas at the nearby Motor Museum who were tucking into a tasty looking veggie feast, which reminded us we hadn't eaten in at least three hours to returned to the hotel for lunch and a birthday Gin and Tonic in the sunroom, it felt much more summery than March! If you fancy a short break in Hampshire I really recommend a stay at The Beach House, you will be very well looked after!

Thanks for reading, have a great weekend!

Katie

Trip to Aldershot Military Museum

Our family New Years Resolution was to make the most of any days off we have to visit a local attraction we haven't been too before - we have a copy of 101 Places To Visit In The UK to get through but we're sticking closer to home whilst it's winter! First on our list was my local Aldershot Military Museum which I haven't visited since I was little, so had no idea what to expect! Outside the museum stands this gorgeously proud War Horse, which I believe was made by my wonderful willow teacher Judith Needham. He rose out of the mist and drizzle to welcome us to the museum, which was otherwise empty because we went very late on a Friday afternoon, but we didn't mind having the place to explore by ourselves! 

Aldershot is known as 'The Home Of The British Army', and even though many troops have now been moved on, the military town still stands as a prominent part of the town. The museum sits in the heart of it, housed in the only surviving original brick-built barrack block left in Aldershot. The museum tells the story of daily life for both soldier and civilian inhabitants since 1854.

The first building we found was The Montgomery Gallery, which used to stand in the grounds of Field Marshall Montgomery's house near Alton. It was built for him to house his war time caravans but was moved to the museum to house some of the collections of field guns and vehicles. This is what I love most about local museums, you are allowed to get close and personal with the exhibits. What struck me the most was the sheer size of these field guns, you could imagine their booming sound as you walked under the camouflage nets.

Outside there are a number of military vehicles, tanks and ambulances from WW1 up to the 1960s. Mum recognised the Bedford ambulance from when she was a little girl! Heading into the main building we received a warm welcome and were given good clear directions on how to discover the different sections of the museum. The first building is filled with collections of domestic and local artefacts, which are always fascinating to me...probably because they're all things I would buy if I saw them in an antique shop!!! There were lots of enamel signs for local businesses which I always like to see, these fantastic fashion adverts from local shops and recreations of a kitchen in the barracks and a local store.

In the John Reed gallery (named after Brigadier John Reed who established the museum in 1984) there are recreations of the barracks in 1890's and the 1950's, and even a recreation of the first married quarters in the barracks in the 1960s! I loved this pile of troops suitcases, I spent some time reading who each one had belonged too! The mannequins certainly made me jump as I walked in, I almost said hello to the chaps!

Got to love that portrait of the Queen! ATTENTIIIIIIION! 

There's plenty of get-involved-attractions throughout the museum for younger (or in our case, slightly older!) visitors, this is why I said we were pleased to have the place to ourselves, we got first-go's on everything! We liked this training jeep simulator the soldiers actually used themselves, although I was a bit confused which was the accelerator - could prove dangerous if I was ever in the field! There was also a tank simulator for you to sit inside, and training tunnels to climb through, of course I tried them all out!

This last structure is The Boyce Building, an original 1930s barrack block originally used by the Regimental Administration Offices for the camp.

I really enjoyed exploring the museum, having lived in Aldershot all my life, after my Grandad moved his family here with the army, I have a very strong connection with the military history of our town. It's always fascinating to see such a collection of local social history items, but I also really enjoyed seeing the military vehicles and finally appreciating the size and power of such field artillery. It also helps you appreciate what our service men and women have done, and continue to do for our country, I highly recommend it for an outing!

Thanks for reading!

Katie

A Quick Trip To Winchester

Hello all! Well, what a soggy Bank Holiday it's been! My day consisted of a lie in, a Channel Four marathon (Come Dine, Four In A Bed - only the finest!), steaming bowls of soup, a quick turn at the gym and now a lazy evening with the candles burning - quite cosy indeed....but where has August gone?!

But at the weekend I was a bit more active and headed to Winchester for a quick day trip so Bruce could pick up his new (old) computer! My Uncle brought his van out for the occasion which is always a novelty to travel in, I still have to get used to sitting so high up, hence my genuine excited/slightly scared face:

After a pretty speedy 40 minute journey we arrived in Winchester, and discovered it had a one way system to rival even Farnham's, but luckily found a suitable spot for the van! Bruce headed off to track down his computer, and me and Uncle G had a wander around town, and immediately we spotted this beautiful original Nestles Milk sign on a lovely little house - I never tire of seeing examples like this!

We grabbed a coffee and decided to sit in the grounds of the Cathedral, which is one of the largest in England, with the longest nave and greatest overall length of any Gothic Cathedral in Europe! I hadn't visited since a school trip over a decade ago so it was lovely to sit and appreciate it properly, there is a very poignant war memorial in the grounds too. We were very lucky with the weather as you can see, a few clouds were beginning to look threatening so we got on the move again, I wasn't allowed in any shops as I'm on a strict budget until holiday!

There seems so many interesting little lanes to explore in town, with lots of sculptures, street art and features to keep you on your toes! I remembered this sculpture from our last whirlwind visit, it's near a VERY well stocked Oxfam book shop where I always find a few bargains! We found a wonderful gallery on Parchment Street, 'Bell Fine Arts' which had a fantastic array of painting, sculpture and prints, something for every budget too, must go back and look properly!

Finally, I couldn't help snapping this gorgeous Blighty Pub as we stopped at the traffic lights, I haven't seen that many hanging baskets in a long time! The red post box just finish off this chocolate box picture doesn't it? I have to come back to Winchester when I'm not on such a tight budget, I want to have a proper explore! Any recommendations for places to visit/eat would be fantastic!

Hope you've had a great Bank Holiday despite the weather,

Katie

Alresford Watercress Festival

This weekend, with weather as lovely has it was, it seemed the perfect time to do something quintessentially British for the afternoon! The Alresford Watercress Festival celebrates the towns history with the crop, which has been grown in the pure spring water and enjoyed by locals for centuries but only with the introduction of railway in 1865 did it reach the wider population. Today, the mineral rich springs still feed the River Arle offering the perfect growing conditions, and it's still the country's main area of production.

Every year in May, this Georgian town throws a festival to celebrate this crop and encourage food lovers to come for new ideas for recipes, and also to enjoy the farmers market and local producers, we had a great time!

Watercress has been enjoyed as a Super Food for centuries as it's packed full of nutrients and minerals, and believed to have originated in Ancient Greece when Hippocrates used it to treat patients, and the Greek army even ate it before a battle to improve their vigour! But in Britain, it came into fashion in the Victorian era, when it was said to cleanse the blood and it became common in the staple diet of the working classes, hence the nickname 'Poor Man's Bread' as often they had to make do with just the leaves instead of bread. Despite this, watercress was seemingly a 'classless' ingredient though, with the rich enjoying watercress soups and sauces.

Gram for gram, watercress contains as much vitamin C as oranges, more calcium than whole milk and more iron than spinach. Nowadays research suggests it could play an important role in the field of cancer prevention. Inspired to get buying some yet? I couldn't wait to buy some bunches, very reasonably priced compared to supermarkets too, and a far cry from the soggy pre-packed supermarkets option! I've just been eating it raw all weekend, beautiful! If you fancy some recipe inspiration, click HERE.

We arrived just in time for the Morris Dancers, who were stoically carrying on in the heat! I believe these were Border Morris style, a simper looser style with the hats and blackened face originated from the English/Wales Border, but there were also the chaps below, who had the more widely recognised handkerchiefs to accompany the dancing. Both were highly entertaining, good for them for hitting the pub afterwards! The Bell Inn is a Grade Two listed former coaching inn, and is quite the statement on the high street, what an amazing colour! 

We sat and watched the Jazz bands with drink after a some great burgers, Gramps had local ale and I had to have Pimms, complete with watercress garnish naturally! Can we just appreciate my Grandad's summer style here? Fashion icon! It was very VERY hot, wishing I didn't feel such a plonker in hats, I was certainly in need of one! I bought some great local goats cheeses and the best cinnamon buns I've had on these fair shores! What a lovely way to spend a sunny Sunday!

Hope you were out enjoying the sunshine, lets hope it returns for the Bank Holiday eh?

Thanks for reading!
Katie

A visit to Gilbert Whites House (Oh, and turning 23!)

On St Patricks day i turned 23 - Wow! I've still been known to still say "21" when asked my age (oops!)...so i think i need to own up to this quickly

 My 1920s pop-up Birthday Card, complete with Cairn Terrier and Easter Bunnies! - Perfection.

I think I can admit, i was spoilt this year. Really spoilt. I recieved enough books to build a house with!! There's another 2 levels of them under these...I think we'll need to re-inforce our floorboards to cope with this lot!

And Bruce brought me a gorgeous print i'd been admiring in Tunbridge Wells...Yep, it's guinea pigs. You don't often see nice prints of proud, happy guinea's do you? The Victorians had a lovely manner with their pets...i feel a new collection coming on!

For my birthday we visited Gilbert Whites House in Selborne, which I had never been to before but my Dad is an old-hand, he visited it all the time when he was younger and told me to expect lots of interesting curiosities, which sounded perfect!

Gilbert White (1720 - 1793) was a pioneering Naturalist and Ornithologist who lived and died in Selborne, Hampshire. His book "The Natural History and Antiquities of Selborne" composed of his letters to Thomas Pennant - a zoologist of the day. It has been continuously in print since 1789, with nearly 300 editions. I own two different copies of the book myself, and will go into greater detail with a future blog post about this fantastic book!

 Gilbert White's Study - My favourite room in the House.

Gilberts family moved into the Vicarage when he was 7 or 8, and and the time the property would have been a simple "two up, two down", but over the years, the family transformed it into the magnificant house which stands today. A highlight was seeing Gilberts study, complete with un-finished letters, pagemarked books, and of course, a fantastic array of taxidermy!

The museum has the new addition of an exhibition space upstairs for the Oates Collection, which focuses on the lives of two members of the Oates family, who were both pioneers and explorers of the natural world. There is Captain Lawrence Oates (1880-1912) who is best rememberd as the brave Antartic hero, part of Captain Scott's team who attemped to undertake the journey to the south pole, and Frank Oates (1840-1875) who was Lawrences uncle, and who had a passion for the study of wild birds. Both their stories ended sadly, and strangely anough, the day we visited (17th of March) was the same day 100 years ago that Captain Oates bravely walked from the doomed exporers tent with his last words "I am just going outside and may be some time.” - sadly, they never found his body. This thought resonated with me around the whole exhibition which was brilliantly curated for such a small space. Little additions such as faux-glass plate negatives with the fabulous work of Herbet Ponting to place over a light box really made the exhibit special, and I would highly recommend a visit to the whole house!

 Collection of taxidermy birds from the South Pole...mind that Albatross!

As we were in a Naturalist's house, it would have been rude to not appreciate the garden! It has been restored to resemble how it was in White's day, with features and plants of the eighteenth century. A recent addition is this "mound" with a seat made from an old port barrel, a very nice place to sit and contemplate i'm sure! As i was the Birthday girl, I had to sit for the picture. No laughing!

Also noticed this VERY low-growing mistletoe which is quite unusual! See how its actually grown into the tree? A good find by my Grandad - always on the look-out! I love gardens at this time of year...the signs of spring are just starting to appear, but you can still appreciate the more graphic elements of the trees and hedges.

And of course it would have been rude to ignore the Tea Parlor...so birthday cream tea it was! The staff very kindly made us lunch despite arriving after the cut-off point, so a big thank you to them!

If you are visiting Hampshire, i would thoroughly recommend a visit to the Whites House and Oates collection, it'll make you see the little beautiful things around you that little bit clearer!

Have you read "The Natural History and Antiquities of Selborne"? Do you have another favourite pioneer of the natural world? I would love to hear from you, as i mentioned, expect another Gilbert White post in the near future!

Thanks for reading! And thank you Bruce for the lovely pictures!

Katie