New Forest
We briefly visited the Winchester Cathedral, famous from the popular song of that name, but also Jane Austen's final resting place, as she lived her last years there. The cathedral has many other interesting features, which we did not have time to study in detail, especially memorials to the inventors of some early safety equipment.
One unique feature of Winchester is the little chapel of St Swithin in the photo to the left. It is built above a gateway, across a street, so while you are praying upstairs the traffic is moving underneath you.
Our tour that day also took us to the New Forest, to the south-west nearer the coast. In the Forest is the village of Brackenhurst, where a hospital for wounded soldiers, largely New Zealanders, was set up during the First World War. A memorial for them is in a chapel in the local church, and Marilyn keeps a watchful eye on it.
Those who died there are buried in a special war cemetery:
Near the Messents' home are several other village homes; this one is right next door to Marilyn and Michael - a favourite of ours - the thatched rooves are spectacular.
The next morning we went for a stroll through the neighbourhood to see the fields, village homes and the beautiful level countryside in that part of Hampshire.
It was great to spend a couple of days in this rural atmosphere; we even had a bit of time to pick blackberries behind Marilyn and Michael's house. This swan was living on the river that flows through the middle of Winchester.
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