Social Programme
The Reception on Sunday evening, 25 July and the Conference Dinner on
Wednesday evening, 28 July are provided for all registered
participants. The reception will take place in the cafe area at the
Avenue Campus, starting at 1900 (registration will take place at the
same site from 1700), while the dinner will be held in the Winchester
Guildhall (welcome drink at 1930, dinner at 2000). There should be
about an hour to look around Winchester before the dinner
starts. Accompanying persons are welcome to join in at both events,
but there is a charge to attend the conference dinner (payment can be
made using the registration form).
There is no organised programme of events for accompanying
persons. However, there are many things to do in the Hampshire, Dorset and Wiltshire area. Southampton is known for ocean
sailing and as the home port of the Titanic. The
New Forest,
Isle of Wight, Dorset Coast,
Stonehenge, Portsmouth, Salisbury and Winchester are all easily
accessible. London is about an hour's train journey away, while
Oxford can be reached by train or in just over an hour by car.
If you have a literary interest, Jane Austen is closely
associated with Hampshire, while Thomas Hardy is
linked with Dorset.
Excursions
Here are some of our favourite local places to see.
Salisbury and Prehistory
Salisbury is easily accessible
by train from Southampton. The cathedral is spectacular and has a copy
of the Magna Carta. A little to the North lies Stonehenge and about
twenty miles further to the North West is Avebury, where a village
sits inside a large stone
circle (good lunch spot at the pub in the village
centre). Wiltshire is littered with prehistoric sites: Silbury Hill is
close by Avebury.
Bath
Accessible by train from Southampton. Full of fine Georgian
architecture and, of course, the Roman Baths of Aquae Sulis.
Winchester
Winchester is only about ten
miles North of Southampton, well served by bus and train
connections. The Cathedral and environs are well worth a visit. There
is also a pleasant riverside walk to the South of the town centre,
past the grounds of Winchester College, a famous Public
(i.e. private) School (Freeman Dyson was a pupil here). The Great
Hall has a replica of King Arthur's round table.
There will be about an hour to look around Winchester before the
Conference Dinner on Wednesday evening, 28 July.
Beaulieu and Buckler's Hard
Beaulieu village is at the head of a small estuary and is very
attractive, with a handy hotel/pub in the centre. Just out of the
village is the National Motor Museum and a mile or two further towards
the mouth of the estuary is Buckler's Hard, a preserved Elizabethan
shipbuilding village. From Beaulieu you can get a good impression of
the New Forest if you drive along the road to Lyndhurst.
Portsmouth
Portsmouth is one of
Britain's naval centres. Visit the "historic ships" and
see HMS Victory, Nelson's flagship at the Battle of
Trafalgar.
Dorset Coast
The Dorset Coast has many spectacular sights. The town of Corfe
Castle, with its striking ruined castle on a hilltop, is worth a
visit. In the same area of the Purbeck Hills, the Old Harry rocks,
chalk sea stacks, are easily accessible: park near a convenient pub
and walk out to the rocks, then carry on towards Swanage. Further afield are Lyme
Regis, Lulworth Cove and Durdle Door. Choosing any point of the Dorset
Coast Path and starting walking is unlikely to disappoint.
Isle of Wight
Ferry services run from Southampton and Portsmouth. If you don't have
a car, a nice trip would be to take the train from Southampton, across
the New Forest, to Lymington. The train stops next to the ferry for
Yarmouth on the Isle of
Wight. From Yarmouth you can take a bus to the Needles, chalk
stacks at the Western end of the island. Ignore the Fun Fair and walk
out to the Needles
Old Battery and then up onto Tennyson Down.
hf8@hep.phys.soton.ac.uk
22 July 1999