Although it is officially known as New Alresford, it is just call Alresford by the locals (it's pronounced Allsford). This looks slightly hazy as it was taken through the car windscreen
we parked in the town, and walked up the hill to the street we lived in. When we moved in, the houses were newly built, with bare front gardens
this was our house. It hasn't change much ....... there is a new front door, and the garden has been altered - they have dug up my lovely lawn!
this bookshop looked as old and dilapidated 30 years ago ....... and I think it is still selling some of the same books!
the Swan Hotel, where for some weeks I went with my two neighbours Jo and Jane, for a restorative glass of wine after we had been at a keep fit class. Why do I mention this? Because we passed the end of our street to walk down into town to the hotel. We probably expended more energy walking to and from the hotel than we did in the exercise class!
this used to be the Post Office. At that time, we had two dogs, and one of them, the spaniel Honey, often went for a walk to town with me. She knew all the shops that she was allowed to go into ........ some of them may have had "no dogs" signs, but that was generally disregarded. She didn't like going into the chemist shop, and we eventually decided that it was because she mistook the pharmacist in his white coat for the vet! She also growled somewhat threateningly at a man who dared to stand next to me in the Library - she was very protective of me (we won't mention the time she nearly got through the dog guard in the car to attack a policeman who had leant on the car while explaining to me that there was a diversion in operation!)
I used to spend many a happy Thursday morning at the WI market which was held in the Community Centre, usually going home with another plant for the garden, bought from a very knowledgeable chap who sold the plants very cheaply (and cake may have been purchased as well)
I don't think I was ever in this pub, but Malcolm says that I was!
one of several smart new shops
and I think you can guess what this one sells
lots of the houses had amazing hanging baskets
this house is called The Fulling Mill. The stream that was used to full the woollen cloth runs underneath the house. The main drawback with the house if that everyone stops to take photos, but then the advantage is that from the windows you can see .......
......... swans
......... cygnets
........ and ducks
there are so many wonderful houses .......
........ that I bought a lottery ticket, in the hope of buying one
but as you can see from this photo of a house in the estate agents' window, I would need to win an awful lot! (click on the photo to enlarge it if you can't read the price in the bottom right hand corner)
this used to be a little restaurant, where I briefly had a part-time job ........ I had been seduced by some beautiful (very expensive) cushions in the posh interior design shop, and realised that I had better earn some money to replace what I had spent, or we would have been eating beans on toast for the rest of the month!
I was amazed to see that this little children's clothes shop was still going strong - I had a part-time job there as well, but I think I spent most of my wages on posh clothes for Stuart (not that long ago he confessed that he didn't like the beautiful French clothes, he would rather have had a track suit!)
so, talking of Stuart, this is the first school he went to in Alresford
he was there for a year, before he moved up to ........
the Junior School
fortunately the pupils hadn't yet returned from the summer holidays, so I was able to sneak in to take photos
when we left Hampshire and drove to Cambridgeshire, we stopped at the school Stuart went to. Reading the sign, it appears to have gone somewhat upmarket
but the buildings looked the same!
and so on to East Hatley, which consists of one street
how inconsiderate of the present owners of our house to have such a high hedge, so I couldn't get a better photo as we drove slowly past
there is slightly more in neighbouring Hatley St George ........ but the Post Office is only open a couple of mornings each week
I used to go to a regular coffee morning in the village hall. We would end the morning with a little raffle - I think most of the prizes were what had been won last time, and had then been put in the next one!
the sign may say village, but at most it is a hamlet
there hasn't been much food on the blog this week, so let's put that right. There were several new cafes/coffee shops in Alresford, and we chose this one to have lunch in
I knew we had picked a good one when my tea arrived
we had asked for one sandwich to share ...... and were delighted when we were given a plate each, with our own little cup of crisps and some salad
when we were in Winchester, we popped into a café next to the Guildhall for a cuppa. I didn't take a photo of the café, and the Guildhall is so big I had meant to cross the road to take a photo, but forgot. So here is a photo of its grand entrance
we were only going to have a cuppa, but when Malcolm went up to the counter to order, he saw that they had a special offer on cheese scones with chutney, so of course we had to share one
the Long Barn is just outside Alresford. We were going to sit outside for lunch, but it was threatening to rain, so we sat inside which was the right choice as there was a short, very heavy shower (I think we had a shower one other day, but other than that the weather was glorious)
Malcolm had mushrooms in a creamy sauce on toasted ciabatta, topped with bacon
I had mascarpone and blueberry pancakes, also with bacon. Malcolm thought bacon with fruity pancakes was strange, but it was delicious. I shall need to recreate this!
I'll be back tomorrow with a last report on our holiday (and maybe even a Friday cake!)