Day out

The weather was lovely. In fact it was the warmest St Valentine's Day for about 20 years. Not a cloud sullied the sky and the winter sun tried its hardest to pretend it was summer. It was too nice to stay in so we made the most of the day and headed for a National Trust property called Hinton Ampner, near Winchester. We had visited this estate before, but that was back in 1994 - and it was worth a return visit.

Unsurprisingly, given the weather, there was quite a throng of visitors but the only time that we really noticed was when we went for lunch.

We started with a stroll around the some of the gardens. These are neat and tidy and dominated by intricately shaped hedges and specimen conifers.

Tucked away to one side is the little Parish Church.  The Gorse Fox noticed that the list of Parish priests started in 1216... now that's continuity.

After a very pleasant spot of lunch we wandered into the main house. At the entrance we were greeted with laminated guides and a set of blue shoe covers. Slipping on the shoe covers we started to work our way through the house. Whilst the basic fabric of the building is very old, there was a devastating fire  and the last owner spent years having it restored and filled with suitable furniture, paintings, and books.

It was an intimate house... not huge and rambling, but a size that you could almost imagine living in yourself. As we wandered on the Gorse Fox had clear memories of our visit from 1994 - though no recollection at all of the upper floor. It turns out that there used to be a tenant, and the upper floors weren't open to the public in the past. That was relief as the Gorse Fox thought that senility was setting in.

Leaving the house we strolled around the south terrace which looked out over the Downs. It really was a wonderful view and beckoned us to walk on along by the ha ha and down the lane, looping back up to the church.

We finished off with a mid afternoon cup of tea and then headed home. Over all, a really nice day out.