Culture, arts and sport

Winchester Cathedral	William Walker

Due to Hampshire’s long association with pigs and boars, natives of the county have been known as Hampshire hogs since the 18th century. Hampshire has literary connections, being the birthplace of authors including Jane Austen and Charles Dickens and the residence of others, such as Charles Kingsley. Austen lived most of her life in Hampshire, where her father was rector of Steventon, Hampshire and wrote all of her novels in the county. Hampshire also has many visual art connections, claiming the painter John Everett Millais as a native, and the cities and countryside have been the subject of paintings by L.S. Lowry and J.M.W. Turner.  Hampshire is also the birthplace of explorer Lawrence Oates and entertainers Peter Sellers, Benny Hill, Carl Barat and Craig David.

Pompey Bands and venues from the 60′s

Hampshire’s relatively safe waters have allowed the county to develop as one of the busiest sailing areas in the country, with many yacht clubs and several manufacturers on the Solent. The game of cricket was largely developed in south-east England, with one of the first teams forming at Hambledon in 1750. Hampshire County Cricket Club today is a successful first class team, captained by Dimitri Mascarenhas, with their home ground being at The Rose Bowl, Southampton.

Hampshire has several association football teams, including Premier League side Portsmouth F.C. and the now Coca Cola League One side Southampton F.C., which have traditionally been fierce rivals. Portsmouth won the FA Cup in 1939 and 2008 and Football League title twice, in 1949 and 1950, but have spent much of the last 50 years outside the top division and at one stage spent two seasons in the Fourth Division (the lowest division in senior football). Southampton, meanwhile, won the FA Cup in 1976, reached the final in 2003 and spent 27 unbroken years in England’s top division (1978-2005).

Aldershot F.C. became members of the Football League in 1932 but never progressed beyond the Third Division and on 25 March 1992 was declared bankrupt and forced to resign from the League. A new football club, Aldershot Town, was formed almost immediately and were promoted from the Blue Square Premier Division (highest division outside the Football League) into Football League Two of the Football League in April 2008.

Thruxton Circuit is Hampshire’s premier motor racing course with the National Motor Museum being located in the New Forest adjacent to Beaulieu Palace House. The Farnborough Airshow is a popular international event, held biennially.