Botley
Botley Parson
Warner, James
Hallett, Mr
Allington
Hampshire Petition
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WE left Weston Grove on Friday morning, and came across to
BOTLEY, where we remained during the rest of the day, and until
after breakfast yesterday. I had not seen 'the BOTLEY PARSON'
for several years, and I wished to have a look at him now, but
could not get a sight of him, though we rode close before his
house, at much about his breakfast time, and though we gave him
the strongest of invitation that could be expressed by hallooing
and by cracking of whips! The fox was too cunning for us, and,
do all we could, we could not provoke him to put even his nose
out of kennel. From Mr. JAMES WARNER'S at Botley, we went to Mr.
HALLETT'S, at Allington, and had the very great pleasure of
seeing him in excellent health. We intended to go back to
Botley, and then to go to Titchfield, and, in our way to this
place, over Portsdown Hill, whence I intended to show George the
harbour and the fleet, and (of still more importance) the spot
on which we signed the 'HAMPSHIRE PETITION,' in 1817; ...
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Allington
Waltham Chase
Soberton Down
downs
chalk
geology
hazel
sheep
turnip
Warner, Mr
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From ALLINGTON, we, fearing that it would rain before we could
get round by Titchfield, came across the country over WALTHAM
CHASE and SOBERTON DOWN. The chase was very green and fine; but
the down was the very greenest thing that I have seen in the
whole country. It is not a large down; perhaps not more than
five of six hundred acres; but the land is good, the chalk is at
a foot from the surface, or more; the mould is a hazel mould; and
when I was upon the opposite hill, I could, though I knew the
spot very well, hardly believe that it was a down. The green was
darker than that of any pasture or even any sainfoin or clover
that I had seen throughout the whole of my ride; and I should
suppose that there could not have been many less than a thousand
sheep in three flocks that were feeding upon the down when I came
across it. I do not speak with any thing like positiveness as
to the measurement of this down; but I do not believe that it
exceeds six hundred and fifty acres. They must have had more
rain in this part of the country than in most other parts of it.
Indeed, no part of Hampshire seems to have suffered very much
from the drought. I found the turnips pretty good, of both
sorts, all the way from Andover to Rumsey. Through the New
Forest, you may as well ex[p]ect to find loaves of bread growing
in fields as turnips, where there are any fields for them to grow
in. From Redbridge to Weston we had not light enough to see much
about us; but when we came down to Botley, we there found the
turnips as good as I had ever seen them in my life, as far [as]
I could judge from the time I had to look at them. Mr. Warner
has as fine turnip fields as I ever saw him have, swedish turnips
and white also; and pretty nearly the same may be said of the
whole of that neighbourhood for many miles round.
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