The Royal Naval Air Station HMS Daedalus has been closed for several years but remains in use for leisure gliding and as the base of a HM Coastguard search and rescue helicopter.
With commanding views of the Solent and across the The Isle Of Wight, Lee seafront quite rightly was packed with families and people enjoying the beach nearly all year round. From Browndown right the way along as far as Hill Head in the west you would be hard pushed to find a spot to sit and enjoy yourself.
Lee-on-the-Solent is the home to the Hovercraft Museum which houses the world's largest collection of rare Hovercraft including some of the earliest and largest. It can be found on the main road along the seafront and hosts an open day every summer.
Further towards Gosport is the area known as Browndown. It is a former naval firing range and makes an interesting walk in summer. There are many old relics to explore, and it's not unknown to find large jellyfish washed up on the shore.
A short walk from the High Street in Lee is the Lee-on-the-Solent Tennis Club. It is a popular spot with locals and features a small bar, a gym (with squash facilities) and tennis courts.
Lee is also home to many pubs such as the Old ship, Bunpenny, Wyvern and the Inn by the Sea.
click here to read more about Lee-on-the-Solent at the Wikipedia website
Stubbington Hampshire
Stubbington is a large Hampshire village which is located between Southampton and Portsmouth on the south coast of England. It is within the borough of Fareham but is part of the parliamentary constituency of Gosport.
Both Stubbington and neighbouring Crofton were mentioned in the Domesday Book (the 11th century UK census) as small districts belonging to the estates of Titchfield Abbey. During the 19th century, Stubbington engulfed Crofton and the small fishing village of Hill Head. The Crofton name still remains in the name of many local facilities, such as the Crofton School (secondary) and Crofton Old Church.
At the start of the 20th century, the village still consisted of just a few dozen cottages and farms. By 1939, the population had risen to around 2,500 and a number of small shops had opened surrounding the village green. This remains the central focus of the village to the present day, with a war memorial situated on the central village green.
The 'Crofton Old Church' at Crofton is one of the oldest known inhabited sites in the area. It is thought to date back to the reign of King Alfred in the 9th Century. A new church (Holy Rood) was built in Stubbington which took over the function of Crofton Church in 1878.
click here to read more about Stubbington at the Wikipedia website
Hillhead Hampshire
Hill Head is just south of Stubbington and is a popular, select residential area with beaches and coastline suitable for dinghy sailing and all water sports. With 164 beach huts, it is a popular beach area but there are
are still parts that can offer seclusion. The harbour is home to a small number of yachts and the Hill Head Sailing Club.
The shore at Hillhead overlooks the Solent and offshore, between Browndown and Lee-on-the-Solent (to the east) the remains of a prehistoric forest are still occasionally exposed by low tides.
Hillhead is excellent for walkers and it forms part of The Solent Way, a 60-mile long-distance coastal walking route.
click here to read more about Hillhead at the BBC website
Titchfield Hampshire
Titchfield is a village in southern Hampshire, by the River Meon. Close by lie the ruins of Titchfield Abbey, a place with strong associations with Shakespeare, through his patron, the Earl of Southampton.
The first people mentioned as inhabiting the area were a Jutish tribe, the Meonwara. St Peter’s Church, Titchfield, was established in about 680, so it is one of the oldest churches in England. The Domesday Book in 1086 mentions "Ticefelle": with a mill, a market and farms. It was a successful community, though tiny by today’s standards.
Premonstratensian canons founded Titchfield Abbey in the 12th century, dominating the village and its surroundings for 300 years. Henry VIII dissolved the abbey in the 16th century, giving the property to a favoured politician, Thomas Wriothesley who turned it into "Place House" and took the title Earl of Southampton.
When Place House fell into disrepair, local people took materials for their houses. Evidence of this can still be seen in walls, foundations and inside buildings. The Bugle Hotel, for example, has a big fireplace with a stone beam of ecclesiastical design.
Place House is now under the care of English Heritage.
Just outside Titchfield is one of the offices of the Office for National Statistics. This office was set up in 1959 to conduct the 1961 Census.
Titchfield was one of the major ports on the south coast in early medieval times, being in a secure position on the River Meon. Now, however, the river serves little purpose other than as a place for a quiet country walk, with access to the Titchfield Haven National Nature Reserve.
Sometimes plays are performed in the Abbey: a local favourite is a Midsummer Night's Dream by William Shakespeare.
click here to read more about Titchfield at the Wikipedia website
Fareham Hampshire
The 2001 Census found Fareham to have lower than average unemployment and crime with house prices higher than average. The population of the borough was estimated at about 111,000 with an average age of 40.3 years.
Fareham is situated at the north-west tip of Portsmouth Harbour where the River Wallington joins.
The town has a recognised and documented history dating back to the Norman era. Originally known by the name of Ferneham (hence the name of the town's entertainment venue, Ferneham Hall), Fareham's location was determined by the ford of Fareham Creek at the top of Portsmouth Harbour. The ford was also the location of the Bishop of Winchester's mills; the foundations of these mills were subsumed in the A27 near the railway viaduct. Commercial activity continued at the port until the 1970s, and continues to this day on a smaller scale. By the beginning of the 20th century, Fareham had developed into a major market town.
click here to read more about Fareham at the Wikipedia website
Locksheath Hampshire
Locks Heath is a western residential suburb of Fareham, in the south of Hampshire, England. It lies to the east of Sarisbury and Warsash, to the west of Titchfield, and to the south of Park Gate and Swanwick.
In the past, the most important local activity in this area was the growing of strawberries. Although strawberries are still grown in the area, much of the land once used is now covered with houses. Because of the nature of the plots of land, which were once the strawberry farms, many of the houses are built in relatively small estates. The mixture of old and new gives Locks Heath a unique character, and there are numerous references to strawberries in the area, one such example is 'The Talisman' Pub, 'Talisman' being a variety of strawberry.
click here to read more about Locksheath at the Wikipedia website
Warsash Hampshire
Warsash is a village in southern Hampshire, England, situated at the mouth of the River Hamble, west of the the area known as Locks Heath. Boating plays an important part in the village's economy, and the village has a sailing club. It is also home to the Warsash Maritime Academy, part of Southampton Solent University, which provides training for Merchant Navy Officers from around the world.
click here to read more about Warsash at the Wikipedia website
Alverstoke Hampshire
Alverstoke is a village, now within the boundaries of Gosport, Hampshire, England, that encompasses land stretching from Haslar to Stokes Bay. The village lies within half a mile of the shore of Stokes Bay and near the head of a creek which extends a mile westward from Portsmouth Harbour. Fort Gilkicker, a nineteenth century coastal battery fort, is located just to the south of Alverstoke, on the west end of Stokes Bay.
'Alverstoke' is a corruption of the name Alwara, a former Lady of the Manor, and Stoke, a settlement on the area of Alverstoke known as the Marsh Ground. Alverstoke is mentioned in the Domesday Book as Alwarestock.
Residents of Alverstoke are sometimes called "The Alverstocracy" by Gosportonians in a tongue-in-cheek fashion, due to the perceived higher social status of the area.
click here to read more about Alverstoke at the Wikipedia website
Gosport Hampshire
Gosport is a town on a peninsula on the western side of Portsmouth Harbour opposite the city of Portsmouth, to which it is linked by a pedestrian ferry.
Until the last quarter of the 20th century it was a major naval and military centre associated with the defence and supply infrastructure of Portsmouth Harbour. With the decline of these activities, many of its fortifications and installations, such as Fort Blockhouse and Palmerston Forts like Fort Brockhurst, have been opened to the public as tourism and heritage sites, with extensive redevelopment of the harbour area as a marina.
Stokes Bay and the Solent are popular areas for yachting. Other tourism sites in Gosport include the Royal Navy Submarine Museum based just outside of Fort Blockhouse, the Explosion! exhibition, the Gosport museum and Little Woodham.
click here to read more about Gosport at the Wikipedia website
|
|
Fax: 023 9255 0647
