Despite the miserable weather that we have all been facing, ten brave souls braced themselves for a visit to Alton.  We assembled for coffee before making our first stop at the Curtis Museum. 
 
The museum was crammed with information using every available space.  As we travelled through history of time starting with the Romans, we learnt about the Hampshire countryside, soil and how it has influenced industry, lifestyle through the ages.  

​After two very informative hours we all deserved lunch.  Once again braving the wind and rain, we strolled down Alton High Street to the Swan for a pie and a pint as the saying goes.  I consider it is worth saying that Alton is a vibrant town, with a mixture of old and new from shops to architecture, steeped in history.

​After our tour of the above we found ourselves in the café / exhibition area, and to the delight of some we enjoyed a small exhibition of art by William Herbert Allen.  Most of his life he worked as an artist which spanned more than fifty years, from the late 1880s to the early 1940s. He became Art Master and later director at Farnham School of Art, whilst also painting thousands of pictures of the countryside around the south of England and the continent. 

Both venues were managed by a group of volunteers, who were most helpful and very informative. Well done Alton!

Our excursion ended about 4pm and hopefully everyone felt that they had a great day out, costing very little.

The day started with seven members first visiting Abbey House, which is formally known as the Official Residence of the Mayor of Winchester.  There are only five cities in the country which retain this facility and Winchester is one of them.  The existing structure was built as a private house in the 18th century, but the site has a much longer history. 

Over the years, the house was allowed to fall into disrepair, and consequently The Mayor no longer resides there.  Subsequent repairs and renovations have made it suitable for many civic and social engagements; it houses the Mayors’ office and is used for cabinet meetings.  The rooms were quite sparsely furnished, but had interesting windows giving a pleasant feel to the house.  The house when originally built had impressive grounds which today is a local park.

The current Mayor of Winchester is Cllr Eleanor Bell and she is the 820th Mayor of Winchester. Madam Mayor was present and greeted visitors during their walkabout and was most obliging in answering any questions that she was presented with.  I requested a group photo and she kindly joined in. 
Our next visit was to Winchester City Museum, which tells the story of England’s ancient capital, the seat of Alfred the Great.
We saw various exhibits demonstrating Winchester’s role in English history from its origins as an Iron Age trading centre to Anglo‑Saxon glory, through to the hunt for King Alfred’s remains.  It explores the sights and sounds of Winchester past and present in the museum’s three galleries.  And of course, there was a section on Jane Austen, Hampshire’s well known author who died in 1817 at her residence, 8 Chapel Street and was laid to rest in Winchester Cathedral.

There is a breath- taking model known as the Winchester Model of the city in Victorian times.  The model was built by former County Planning Officer Roger Brown, who left it as a legacy to the city and its people.  It is a unique record of Winchester from 1870, when the population was less than a third of what it is now, when the magnificent Guildhall was yet to be built, and when it would be another 30 years before the statue of King Alfred would be erected on the Broadway.
By this time we all was in need of refreshments and made our way to the Cathedral Refectory, enjoying a light lunch, a sit down and  enjoyed the glorious sunshine. 
 
It was now 2.30pm and we made our way to the old cattle market to see the vintage King Alfred Buses and Coaches dating from late 1920 to 1967. 
 

To everyone enjoyment we took a free coach tour from Winchester out to Alresford, across to Cheriton and back to Winchester, lasting about an hour.  This was fun as it brought back memories to all of us of one kind or another, plus it was a delight to see over the hedges and view some of the most gorgeous properties in the Hampshire countryside.  This was a great way to finish the day.

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Click on on any picture to enlarge all of them

​The unusually small group who were able to join in this visit were treated to a rare and fascinating sight of some 50-60 large scale models of steam traction engines. All have been faithfully reproduced from actual monster machines now long gone.  In addition, there were the usual collection of fairground and working farm/estate machines plus the two narrow gauge railways.
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Whilst they have many machines awaiting full restoration, all of the above were in full working order and fully steamed up.   Hollycombe is said to be the largest traditional fairground in Britain, and the main steam powered fairground attractions, which included big wheel, golden gallopers, roundabouts, chair-o-planes, swings, etc.  Also on show were a bioscope, haunted house and much more, which were typical of those before WW2 and perhaps during our childhoods.  They certainly brought back many pleasant memories!

I am very sad to say that the guide was a disappointment; he apparently had an abundance of knowledge but was unable to present it. This was a shock to me as I had had several conversations with the guide and did not pick up on any signs.  I can only apologise, but one good thing that the group all agreed on was that Farnham was a very interesting place to visit and would like to return at some stage.
 
A statue of a small boy stands in the gardens where the old swimming pool originally stood.
​​The trail lasted for about 2 hrs and the group then split to do their own thing.