Glad to see we have a southern posse in the F&C section
I will throw this out for next year , How about a weekend / long weekend on the Isle of Wight ?
"
The
Isle of Wight a
county and the
largest and second-most populousisland in England. It is in the
English Channel, about 2 miles (3.2 km) off the coast of
Hampshire, separated by the
Solent. The island has resorts that have been holiday destinations since
Victorian times, and is known for its mild climate, coastal scenery, and verdant landscape of fields,
downland and
chines.
The isle was owned by a Norman family until 1293 and was earlier a
kingdom in its own right.
[6] The island has played an important part in the defence of the ports of
Southampton and
Portsmouth, and been near the front-line of conflicts through the ages, including the
Spanish Armada and the
Battle of Britain. Rural for most of its history, its Victorian fashionability and the growing affordability of holidays led to significant urban development during the late 19th and early 20th centuries.
Historically part of
Hampshire, the island became a separate
administrative county in 1890. It continued to share the
Lord Lieutenant of Hampshire until 1974, when it was made its own
ceremonial county. Apart from a shared police force, there is now no administrative link with Hampshire, although a combined local authority with Portsmouth and Southampton was considered,
[7]this is now unlikely to proceed.
[8] Until 1995 the island had
a governor.
[n 1]
The quickest public transport link to the mainland is the
hovercraft from
Ryde to
Southsea; three ferry and two catamaran services cross the Solent to
Southampton,
Lymington and
Portsmouth.