MAY 2013

Waterfront Café presents live music from The Magic Tones

16 May 2013

7:30pm – 10:30pm

Enjoy an evening of slick and polished live music, accompanied by stunning views as the Magic Tones perform at the Waterfront Café, based at the foot of the iconic Spinnaker Tower. With a fantastic [...]…

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Other Shows and Festivals in May

June 2013

Alresford Music Festival

8 June 2013

10:00am – 11:30pm

The 4th Alresford Music Festival is on Saturday 8 June! Starting at 10am, the festival will offer an experience you won’t forget this summer. This year we are thinking differently and making it [...]…   More Info

Other Shows and Festivals in June

July 2013

South Coast Proms

5 July 2013 – 6 July 2013

Following the success of the 2011 South Coast Proms, we aim to attract audiences of up to 6,000 each evening. Everyone will have the opportunity to picnic in the grounds of HMS Excellent, the [...]… More Info

Other Shows  and Festivals in July

August 2013

New Forest Folk Festival

30 August 2013 – 1 September 2013

What’s On Show Of Hands – Dean Friedman Feast of Fiddles only 2013 festival appearance Gigspanner featuring Steeleye Span’s Peter Knight Richard Digance – Jez Lowe – Little [...]…  More Info

More Shows and Festivals in August

September 2013

One Night Of Queen

14 September 2013

7:30pm – 10:00pm

In 2000, Gary Mullen won ITV’s “Stars In Their Eyes” Live Grand Final, with the largest number of votes ever received in the shows history. The record of 864,838 votes was more than twice that [...]… More Info

More Shows and Festivals in September

Where to stay in Hampshire

Hampshire Wine School, Eastleigh

 

The Centre is set in a rural secluded area 7 miles south of Winchester with ponds, streams, pastures, playing fields, oaks and conifers. The total area comprises some 65 acres giving scope for many [...]  Find out more

Meon Springs Fly Fishing Experience, West Meon

 South Downs Ballooning Ltd, Liphook

Teamsport Indoor Karting, Eastleigh

Team Sport Southampton Don’t hold back when racing around TeamSport Eastleigh’s 400-metre incredibly wide track, providing ample overtaking opportunities. The magnificent exit corner from the [...]  Find out more

 The Race Centre, Chandlers Ford

 

The UK’s First Race Car Simulation Venues “Experience technology used by leading F1 Teams” The Race Centre is a modern alternative to karting and it’s now available to you in Chandlers Ford in [...]  Find out more

Thruxton Kart Centre, Andover

Bar area with open fires for our lovely Spring weather!

Having re-visited The Queen Inn, St Cross, Winchester on Sunday 7th April, I was really impressed with the results of several weeks of refurbishment. More bar space has been created, always a bit of a squeeze before, casual seating and cleaver use of upturned beer barrels to eat from in the bar area.

Clive Mansell’s pubs always have the same elements, Good Beer, Affordable Pub Food and Entertainment. I see Pubs are still closing at a steady rate of 12 a week and perhaps some pubs just don’t have the right location and facilities to do a “Queen Inn”, but it is such a treat to see Families and their well behaved dogs enjoying some quality time away from home.

Food is important in today’s pubs, and the Queen’s menu caters for all tastes whilst no being so lengthy that it can only come from a frozen bag!

Clive usually has 10 Real Ales available, and whilst beer today is expensive compared to petrol, we know whose fault that is, not the Landlard, you might as well drink something that has not been mass-produced . Clive intends to brew his own beer at the Queen, and this comes on the back of his success at his sister pub the The Fulflood Arms, Winchester. So we have good food, local cask beer and very soon an Outdoor Skittle Alley. The Queen Inn has run a Quiz Night for some years, and this on a Sunday night at 8.45 attracts well over 50 people, who said the British Pub is dead.

Cozy area for eating or just chilling out.

The Queen Inn is well situated for those who enjoy a good walk before relaxing by a fire to warm-up, 2013 being something I hope is not repeated too often.

All set for when we get some sunshine, great family space.

So, want somewhere to take the family this weekend, give the Queen Inn a try.

OTHER  FORTHCOMING EVENTS:

Tuesday 30^th April, Meet the Head Brewer from Green King

Friday 3^rd May, May Bank Holiday Beer Festival.

The car park and the Itchen Navigation with tarmacked footpath running along side.

Winchester now has some of the most picturesque and easy to walk paths anywhere in Hampshire. Nigel Adkins who recently returned to Football management had this to say about part of the walk, “There’s a two-hour walk – St Catherine’s Hill in Winchester, Adkins told assembled media at Reading’s Madejski Stadium. It’s beautiful – I call it sunshine mountain, I normally go out at 10am. I think about all sorts”.

Recent improvements to allow cycling along the renovated Viaduct at Hockley, now part of Route 23, make walking easy; it used to be very muddy before the tarmac arrived! I only saw the car park at Garnier Road for the first time the other day, and that has been much improved.

St Catherines Hill with felled trees in the foreground.

The other shock was to see all the old trees along the stretch from the pumping station, now The Remarkable Group, to Five Bridges Road cut down and awaiting removal to make way for returning back to a meadow, should be an improvement.

Further walk onto Shawford.

Whilst on the walk, why not look into The Queen Inn.

Agentsmart, with over three years experience of finding you the best events in Hampshire, we have compiled some great events this EASTER in Hampshire.

Different to other websites, we split the 100 and more events into 4 categories.

Family Attractions

The main focus is on Easter Egg Hunts, but there are plenty of other things to do this Easter.

Food and Drink

From Beer Festivals to Wine Tasting to Farmers Markets, its all there.

Sports and Recreation

Traditionally Easter has been a mixture of Football and Motor Racing in Hampshire, well we have them both and other activities.

Theatre and Entertainment

Some fantastic productions in Hampshire over Easter.

I took my son for his 41^st birthday treat to the Race Centre at Chandlers Ford, near Southampton. Knowing that I would be a poor opponent I added my grandson (14) to the party and just as well. The two of them got to grips with the technology really quickly, and this is not an enlarged computer game, it really is like racing. After an hour they were getting quicker on each lap, but that was about enough, hardly a fraction of a second between them.

A great day was finished off with lunch at the White Horse, Otterbourne, very helpful staff and excellent food, part of the Ideal Collection. http://youtu.be/T3D6THBaqLw Shot with an iphone, not great quality but it gives you a taste of what to expect. The centre has a bar and seating for those who were spectators.

The Easter Bunny Beginning

The Easter Bunny has been around since the 1500′s in the writings of the Germans. The first edible Easter bunny was made out of pastry and sugar in the early 1800′s, and the bunny was said to lay colorful eggs in the nests that children made out of bonnets.

Germans who traveled to the Pennsylvania Dutch country brought the German Easter Bunny traditions with them to America in the 1700′s.

Evolution of the Easter Bunny

Easter Egg hunts in Hampshire

Slowly the hats that the children piled into hidden nests for the bunnies turned into baskets. These baskets are still hidden around the house and are now used to collect the colored eggs of children as they go on their Easter egg hunts.

See “What’s On” for other ideas

2013 will see the return of Historic F2 in association with the HSCC over the Easter bank holiday weekend who will also bring a number of impressive championships with them including: Historic Formula Ford 1600 & 2000, 70s & Historic Road Sports, Classic Racing Cars, Historic Touring Cars, Formula Junior and GT & Sports Racing

The prize is a weekend family ticket (2 adult passes, either Saturday or Sunday) with accompanied children 15 years and under, going free.

Follow us on Twitter @agentsmart1 and Rewteet to Enter and be in with a chance to win this great prize, entries end on Friday 22nd March, the winner will be announced on the 23rd March and tickets sent by recorded delivery.

More on racing at Thruxton in 2013

Thruxton pit lane 1968

The land was originally purchased by the Air Ministry in 1940 for a three-runway airfield from the Thruxton Manor Estate. They were tested by the Blenheim’s of the No. 2 School of Army Co-operation on 22^nd June 1941. Unfortunately the concrete surface proved too rough, resulting in three tyres bursting causing the opening to be delayed until August while tarmac was laid. It was used throughout the war for many sorties including glider preparation for the famous doomed Arnhem operation and later by the Americans using Typhoons and Mustangs for raids on Northern France.  After D-Day aircraft and pilots from Thruxton were sent to squadrons in Europe which had suffered losses.  Towards the end of the war R.A.F. Thruxton was allowed to run down and finally became inactive in 1946.  The following year the airfield was leased by the Wiltshire School of Flying and it built up a large training organisation. In 1958 the land passed to private ownership after being put up for auction and whilst the WSF continued to occupy it under the terms of the original lease, the perimeter track started to be used as a racing circuit by motor bikes. Soon car and bike events were being held about twice a year.

In 1966 the BARC began negotiations with the owners of the airfield for a permanent base after motor racing ceased at Goodwood. By October 1967 planning was finalised and an ambitious deadline of 1^st March 1968 was set for the completion of a new circuit. With a huge effort from the contractors the whole 2.356mile perimeter circuit was resurfaced, spectator banks built, marshals’ posts constructed, telephones installed and pit and race control buildings built.   The teams worked through the winter, helped by good natural drainage and normal flying activity on the airfield around the construction work. Remarkably the first practice day was held on 2^nd March and the first race meeting 17^th March 1968. The first International meeting followed quickly, when Easter Monday held the first Thruxton Formula 2 race. 4,500 grandstand seats were built in time for that meeting although the last of them were put in place on that Sunday evening!  10,000 spectators paid 10shillings to attend the event which included a Red Arrows display. Jochen Rindt, wearing an open faced helmet and goggles, won the first F2 race that day and completed a hat-trick over the next two years as some of the finest drivers in the world made Easter Monday at Thruxton a famous event.

Thruxton 23rd April 1973. Super Vee

In 1969 Thruxton featured in an historic television broadcast when the very first colour edition of Grandstand, included a special meeting on 15^th November.  The BBC1 ‘Grandstand Colour TV Meeting’ was broadcast on the very first day of colour transmission. A year earlier during a TV meeting, Mini Cooper S driver Ken Costello had a camera strapped in and wrapped in foam rubber but the weight penalty slowed the car too much for him to feature in the results!

In 1970 Rindt completed his hat-trick in the Wills Trophy F2 race, fending off the challenge of drivers like Jackie Stewart, Derek Bell and John Watson in front of a 30,000 strong crowd. But all was not rosy as by the summer of the same year, the use of the circuit was challenged by Hampshire County Council. A public enquiry was held and among those to give evidence in support of the circuit was Graham Hill.  The enquiry lasted 22 days but the decision of the Minister was not announced until March 1972. His ruling was that the circuit could only be used for racing on 21 days each year. Immediately, a small group of local objectors announced plans to continue their attempts to have use of the circuit further reduced. Fearing complete closure of the track, the circuit reached an out of court settlement limiting the racing to 12 days each year, a situation that remains to this day.

F2 start, 8 Rindt, 12 Courage, 22 Beltoise

Thruxton Easter Meeting 1979, my two boys by a TR3, wonder if it still exists?

The racing however, was going from strength to strength, when championships such as European GT, Formula 5000 and Formula 3 made Thruxton one of their rounds. The Formula 2 championship featured throughout the seventies and into the early eighties and in 1984 a significant development was completed at the circuit when the new race control and pits complex was completed.  Three years later the whole circuit was resurfaced and the notorious bump at Church removed. In 1985 Formula 2 was replaced by F3000 and Emanuele Pirro triumphed to be the final winner of the Jochen Rindt Trophy.  The spiralling costs of holding a round of the European Championship forced the BARC to change their Easter Monday fixture to sportscars and then Formula 3 and British Touring Cars.

In 2001 there was again a complete overhaul of the venue with the removal of the famous pedestrian bridge and the building of two tunnels under the circuit allow both pedestrian and vehicular access whilst the track was in use;  something only pedestrians could have done in the past.

Racing continues today with prestigious events such as the MCE British Superbikes Championship, The Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship, The Delphi British Truck Racing Championship, and The CSMA Big Weekend, the latter being the first to bring in side shows and alternative entertainment for those who may not like motor racing!

Check out the racing at Thruxton in 2013

Experience days at Thruxton