Test Valley District, United Kingdom Travel Journals & Blogs

Traveler Europe 2023
- Show trip
- Add to bucket listRemove from bucket list
- Share
- Jun 20, 2023
- ⛅ 21 °C
- Altitude: 174 m
- England Burghclere Whitway 51.328152, -1.35880651°19’41” N 1°21’32” W
Day 60
Highclere Castle and Home to Casa Burget
June 20, 2023 in England ⋅ ⛅ 21 °C
The next morning we called Home James to take us to Highclere. We enjoyed the introduction and guided tour of Highclere and the included lunch was good but too much food for us. Home James took us into Newbury where most of hotels were booked and we finally settled on the last room at the Chequers Hotel: the Honeymoon Suite! The room was initially hot and Nancy was feeling that a basic boring North American style hotel with aircon was looking pretty good instead of quaint English ones. We were to find out later that England was experiencing the hottest June on record. We both agreed that Highclere was worth a visit; it is unfortunately not easy to get to unless you are driving. The next day we had a smooth trip into Heathrow thanks to finally learning to say "yes" to being disabled and requiring a ramp. Plane travel with West Jet was uneventful and we arrived home safe, sound and travel worn. Jan stayed at Casa Burget for three days before going back home.Read more
0 likes
Traveler This Has to Stop.
- Show trip
- Add to bucket listRemove from bucket list
- Share
- Aug 25, 2018, 2:29 PM
- ⛅ 17 °C
- Altitude: 66 m
- England Test Valley District Mottisfont 51.040788, -1.55023551°2’27” N 1°33’1” W
Day 25
Mottisfort
August 25, 2018 in England ⋅ ⛅ 17 °C
Second stop of the day.
How do you top Jane Austin?

Well Mottisfort Abbey was pretty close.

We found out what Saturday on a Bank Holiday is like. The carpark was a feral jungle and we only got in because Bernadette jumped out of the car and told a woman that was our spot. Check d afterwards and al the tyres and paint work was OK. Go Bern.

House is built on an old abbey and was left in good nick to the National Trust in the 50s.

Great gardens and river runs through the grounds. Usual crowds of kids rolling down grass and lots of small boys picking up stones.

Had a lovely time.Read more
Traveler Love the tree.
8/25/18Reply
1 like
Traveler This Has to Stop.
- Show trip
- Add to bucket listRemove from bucket list
- Share
- Aug 24, 2018, 2:05 PM
- ⛅ 16 °C
- Altitude: 52 m
- England Winchester Winchester Cathedral 51.060762, -1.31368951°3’39” N 1°18’49” W
1
Day 24
Winchester cathedral
August 24, 2018 in England ⋅ ⛅ 16 °C
Very interesting church, no big towers or spires but does have bells, dont know where.

In the middle of a £22milion restoration. 11 of that is from their National Lottery, what could we have done if we hadn’t sold ours off.

The present church was started bt the Normans but there was one on the site since the seventh century. Been changed and restored many times over the years. One of the best stories I’ve stolen from Wikipedia. Memorial to Walker is in the cathedral.

“Restoration work was carried out by T. G. Jackson in 1905–12. Waterlogged foundations on the south and east walls were reinforced by diver William Walker, packing the foundations with more than 25,000 bags of concrete, 115,000 concrete blocks, and 900,000 bricks. Walker worked six hours a day from 1906 to 1912 in total darkness at depths up to 20 feet (6 m), and is credited with saving the cathedral from total collapse.[24] For this he was awarded the MVO.[25]”

He definitely deserved it.

To make the day Bern stumbled on Jane Austen’s grave as she died in Winchester. It’s also got KIng Cnut and Edgbert of Wessex along with a host of not very famous kings. They aren’t pulling in the £8 a time though.

Excellent place. Then onwards for some more driveing in the rain and some side trips through supermarket carparks (thanks Karen) to a small market town called Alton.

Tomorrow Jane Austen day.Read more
Traveler A cathedral to behold, so much to look at.
8/24/18Reply
Traveler Stunning!
8/26/18Reply
2 likes
Patrick Leary Pat's Cycle Tour - 2016
- Show trip
- Add to bucket listRemove from bucket list
- Share
- May 16, 2016, 8:35 PM
- ☀️ 14 °C
- Altitude: 58 m
- England Test Valley District Andover 51.20646, -1.4783351°12’23” N 1°28’42” W
Day 2
Andover - Hampshire
May 16, 2016 in England ⋅ ☀️ 14 °C
Route from London was past Heathrow, then onwards into the country. Pushed further than planned. Weather was good, "make hay when the sun shines" as these okes would say.
Lesson 1 - make sure baggage is properly secured
Lesson 2 - make sure the straps don't go into the rear wheel
Wildlife - Fox
Roadkill - Rabbit / Hedgehog / SquirrelRead more
Pedal Africa Safe journey Patrick, look forward to following your adventure
5/17/16Reply
1 like
Traveler This Has to Stop.
- Show trip
- Add to bucket listRemove from bucket list
- Share
- Aug 25, 2018, 4:01 PM
- ⛅ 17 °C
- Altitude: 42 m
- England Test Valley District Stockbridge 51.113708, -1.48806351°6’49” N 1°29’17” W
Day 25
White Hart Hotel
August 25, 2018 in England ⋅ ⛅ 17 °C
Did we say it was Bank Holiday weekend?
Accommodation was a bit tight so Bern lashed out on a more upmarket hotel in a place called Stockbridge.
Great hotel, very nicely put together. Building on the site since 12th century. The pub has been updated a littel
Parts were originally the Brewhouse for the church next door. Our room overlooks the old cemetery, very atmospheric.Read more
Traveler Excellent place. Agree with the atmospheric
8/25/18Reply
Traveler Good choice Bern, I am pleased you are in charge of the money, mark has not got a good record.
8/25/18Reply
4 likes
Traveler This Has to Stop.
- Show trip
- Add to bucket listRemove from bucket list
- Share
- Aug 24, 2018, 11:48 AM
- ⛅ 15 °C
- Altitude: 45 m
- England Winchester Winchester Bus Station 51.061628, -1.31050751°3’42” N 1°18’38” W
Day 24
Winchester Town
August 24, 2018 in England ⋅ ⛅ 15 °C
Decided to continue the “Very Big Churches Tour of England” so headed to Winchester.

Decided to use their Park and Ride as we’d had a look at some of their streets.

Terrific scheme, carparks on periphery, bus to middle of town every 7 minutes and all for £3 for 6 people.

This assumes that you have a local debit card or coins that you have not given away to the barmaif the evening before.

Ah, the Interweb. Eventually it was all doen online and the next time we go it wont take longer than the bus ride.

Winchester is one of the nicest towns we’ve seen. Great Hight Street with fantastic array of old and ancient buildings, buskers, market going on.

Where the Thai ladies cooking the street food came from will ever remain a mystery.

Enormous Guild Hall, couple of Alms Houses, an old type Hospital that still gives out traveller benefits, a working watermill at the bottom end of town and the Cathedral in the back. Nothing not to like.

Bern has voted it “BEST TOWN YET” in capitals.Read more
Traveler Looking forwards to all the pics
8/24/18Reply
2 likes
Traveler France and GB
- Show trip
- Add to bucket listRemove from bucket list
- Share
- Jun 1, 2024, 5:27 PM
- ☁️ 18 °C
- Altitude: 86 m
- England Winchester District Compton 51.022696, -1.33937451°1’22” N 1°20’22” W
Day 27
Winchester
June 1 in England ⋅ ☁️ 18 °C
Wander around city. Cold today
1 like
Wanderinghands July 2017 - United Kingdom
- Show trip
- Add to bucket listRemove from bucket list
- Share
- Jul 24, 2017, 10:35 PM
- 🌙 14 °C
- Altitude: 185 m
- England Basingstoke and Deane District Highclere 51.32668, -1.3605651°19’36” N 1°21’38” W
Day 21
Downton Abbey morning
July 24, 2017 in England ⋅ 🌙 14 °C
We left Oxford on a breezy, cloudy, cool morning after having a lovely chat with our hosts - Pauline & Peter.
We arrived at the castle after driving in along a long driveway and parking in a field and there it is just like you see in the series except that there were a queue of people waiting for entry standing along the driveway.
It is a wonderful experience as everything you see from the moment you arrive is as you see in Downton Abbey series.
The castle is amazing inside with masses of paintings and massive tapestries and the outside lawns and gardens are sprawling. It also has many family photo's scattered in every room which often include members of the royal family.
It is a credit to the castle that during the filming there were no changes made to the actual home. I will be revisiting a few episodes to check out the scenery indoors and out.
We were able to visit several rooms on the ground floor and first floor and then exit through the basement area, aka servants quarters. You could not access the second floor or towers.
The family live in the house beside the castle and actually still spend a lot of time in the castle, particularly when entertaining.
The only disappointment is that you can't take photo's inside.
The exit off the property is an even longer drive out of the grounds. This property is 5000 acres!!!

Phil - Wendy saved the best till last. This was the best castle we went to in the trip. Yes, all of the others had something good going for them, but this was a stand out. Seeing pictures in many rooms, of the way they used it in the Downton Abbey series, really gave you a good insight, as to how it would have been back then.
The place was huge, and also seeing pictures of the children brought up in the castle, makes you think that a game of Hide & Seek could have lasted days.Read more
0 likes
Europe 2018
- Show trip
- Add to bucket listRemove from bucket list
- Share
- Jul 12, 2018, 10:00 AM
- ⛅ 17 °C
- Altitude: 184 m
- England Basingstoke and Deane District Highclere 51.3266, -1.3602851°19’36” N 1°21’37” W
Day 22
Highclere Castle, Newbury, England
July 12, 2018 in England ⋅ ⛅ 17 °C
Today started with our visit to Highclere Castle. It was impressive to walk towards it with the blue sky in the background but, as we have frequently found on this trip, it wasn't as large as we expected. We toured through all the upstairs rooms you see on the show, including some of the bedrooms, and the inside was even more luxurious than you see on TV. The servants area downstairs has been turned into an exhibition for the finding of King Tut's tomb. An earlier Lord Carnarvon from the castle was a co-discoverer of this. We wish we could include photo's of the inside but photography was not allowed. We did walk down the main staircase!Read more
1 like
Traveler Ireland and The United Kingdom
- Show trip
- Add to bucket listRemove from bucket list
- Share
- Sep 9, 2017
- ⛅ 16 °C
- Altitude: 87 m
- England Test Valley District Penton Mewsey 51.210567, -1.52114151°12’38” N 1°31’16” W
Day 21
Hampton Court Palace, England
September 9, 2017 in England ⋅ ⛅ 16 °C
The last place we visited on our 6 day London Pass was Hampton Court Palace. The building of the Palace began in the 1500s by Cardinal Thomas Wolsey, he was a favourite of King Henry VIII. The King seized the Palace when Wolsey fell out of favour. Numerous Monarchs have lived in the Palace and redesigned and extended on the original design. It is an enormous Palace with beautiful grounds with numerous manicured gardens. Not only could you do an audio tour but they also had an interactive tour with historic parts played by actors. We travelled onto Andover for our accommodation tonight.Read more
1 like