Southampton is a busy thriving city and a major port for goods and cruise ships. Its large harbour is one of the very few in the world that has 'double tides', ie you get two highs and two lows in 24 hours. We've lived a few miles out of this city for nearly 40 years, but I've never done more than visit its shops, cinemas, theatres etc.
Today we went, with a group of others, on a guided tour of the old walls. Like many places, it's seen its fair share of would-be invasions, ups and downs, good times and bad. The old walled city is on the edge of the current main shopping area and today the pedestrianised streets were full of market stalls and music to welcome freshers to the City's two universities.
Our guide was interesting and clearly loved his subject - everything from the statue high above the north gate of George III dressed as a gladiator, to the sanitary (or otherwise) facilities of the medieval castle. Southampton has been a centre of trade, and has close French connections. We were able to visit from of the city's vaults which were mainly used to store the red wine traded from France in return for wool.
In more recent times, parts of the city were totally destroyed by the Luftwaffe in 1940, and of course it was the port from which the ill-fated Titanic set sail. Our guide told a personal story. His grandfather was a ships' engineer, working in the engine room of the large ships which sailed from the port. He was signed on to sail on the Titanic's maiden voyage, but the Irish engineers who had travelled from Belfast to Southampton wouldn't let Grandad and his colleagues onto the ship, saying they had built it and they should have the honour of making the maiden voyage. As our guide pointed out if the Southampton crew had been allowed to sail, he wouldn't have been there today to guide us back into history.
The tour ended at the pub (as all good tours do!). It was an interesting building, but sadly the food, pre-ordered, was very slow to arrive and most of it was cold. I had duck comfit (which was very nice) but the cassoulet with it was very disappointing and I think owed a lot to bottled ingredients which tasted artificial.
Today we went, with a group of others, on a guided tour of the old walls. Like many places, it's seen its fair share of would-be invasions, ups and downs, good times and bad. The old walled city is on the edge of the current main shopping area and today the pedestrianised streets were full of market stalls and music to welcome freshers to the City's two universities.
Our guide was interesting and clearly loved his subject - everything from the statue high above the north gate of George III dressed as a gladiator, to the sanitary (or otherwise) facilities of the medieval castle. Southampton has been a centre of trade, and has close French connections. We were able to visit from of the city's vaults which were mainly used to store the red wine traded from France in return for wool.
In more recent times, parts of the city were totally destroyed by the Luftwaffe in 1940, and of course it was the port from which the ill-fated Titanic set sail. Our guide told a personal story. His grandfather was a ships' engineer, working in the engine room of the large ships which sailed from the port. He was signed on to sail on the Titanic's maiden voyage, but the Irish engineers who had travelled from Belfast to Southampton wouldn't let Grandad and his colleagues onto the ship, saying they had built it and they should have the honour of making the maiden voyage. As our guide pointed out if the Southampton crew had been allowed to sail, he wouldn't have been there today to guide us back into history.
The tour ended at the pub (as all good tours do!). It was an interesting building, but sadly the food, pre-ordered, was very slow to arrive and most of it was cold. I had duck comfit (which was very nice) but the cassoulet with it was very disappointing and I think owed a lot to bottled ingredients which tasted artificial.
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