Wednesday in Eling, Hampshire

Originally I had intended spending the day in Winchester, where the Hampshire Records Office is located, but I decided to take the morning off, since I was feeling totally washed out.  I think Ange was quite disappointed because we were planning to all go.  But Paul was quite pleased, since he had "plenty to do at home".

What I didn't realise was that I was just about to get a virus, so whilst I was tired from all the travelling, in less than a day, I was feeling quite ill with a 24 hour (thankfully) virus.

After lunch however, we visited Eling which is an unspoilt village not more than two miles away on the River Test on the edge of the New Forest.   The water is very brackish since it is at the end of the Solent (Southampton Water) which is tidal.  The water is so clean that its water is used to clean British bank notes.

Eling church of St Mary the Virgin

My Henbest ancestors (William Tucker married Christian Henbest of Bramshaw in 1724) lived in Eling in the 1500 and 1600s.  The main industry was flour milling.  There has been a mill on the site for 900 years, and with a short break, it is still working today.

There are many beautiful walks around the village and its environs.  Here is Ange walking through the graveyard.

To cross the estuary, non-locals have to pay a one pound toll.  However, since we had Paul with his disabled sticker in the car, we did not need to.

The photo shows a local and his dog who had been talking to the toll collector.  The latter was camera shy.

We walked through the village to a couple of nice pubs but they were shut.

Here are Paul and Ange outside one of the pubs.   Like John, Paul can get around so much more easily now that he has a power wheelchair.

The village is very pretty.

So much different from Totton, its near neighbour.  The latter used to be an even smaller village than Eling, but has boomed to become quite a big town.  It is a commuter suburb of Southampton, even though it is outside the boundaries of the city council and is in the New Forest administrative area.