Did You Know?

• The authors of literary classics Watership Down, The Water Babies, Madame Doubtfire and the Little White Horse all lived and wrote in Hampshire, using real places as their inspiration.

• Hampshire’s inhabitants include Men of the Trees, Verderers, Green Men and Old Green Bowlers.

• Hampshire is a county of pioneer journeys: & the first flight in a piloted heavier-than-air machine, and the starting point of both the first long-distance journey in a motor car, and the first all-air journeys in luxurious Imperial Airways seaplanes to Australia and India.

Hampshire’s beautiful countryside, ancient roads, maritime cities, and mercantile wealth have made it a crossroads of cultures and people, with a legacy of intriguing history, events and traditions. A compendium of fascinating facts and a trustworthy companion to travels in the county, The Little Book of Hampshire is an essential read for both those who know Hampshire well and those who would like to.