15 July: Hampshire

Today is Hampshire Day, because it is the feast day of St Swithin, an Anglo-Saxon bishop of Winchester.

1. Given that the county day is St Swithin's Day, it is fitting that it was a Hampshire man who was the first man to use an Umbrella in London. He'd been inspired by the parasols women used in Persia. All the same, people thought he was a nutter at first, walking around with a portable roof. Hampshire is also regarded as the birthplace of modern fly-fishing, wind-surfing and bird-watching.
2. One of the things Hampshire is famous for is watercress. The crop has been commercially grown there since the 19th century when watercress farms sprang up by streams and springs like the Arle in Alresford. Arlesord became the watercress capital of England and supplied the London market by means of the "Watercress Line". The county still grows most of the nation's watercress and a Watercress Festival is held in Alresford each year.
3. Hampshire also produces sparkling wines, which in blind taste tests beat vintage Champagne. Hampshire’s chalky soil is similar to that of France’s Champagne region.
4. Portsmouth's Spinnaker Tower is designed to look like the sail of a yacht. It was built using 1200 tonnes of structural steel, which weighs as much as 12 blue whales, enough concrete to fill over five Olympic swimming pools, and enough reinforcing steel to wrap around the Isle of Wight twice.
5. The term "Sweet Fanny Adams" or "Sweet FA" meaning absolutely nothing originates in Hampshire. Fanny Adams was an unfortunate young woman who was brutally murdered by solicitor's clerk Frederick Baker in Alton. Not long after, new rations of tinned mutton was introduced to sailors in Portsmouth. They didn't like it much and suggested Baker had done a Sweeney Todd on poor Fanny and this was the result. The term evolved to mean anything worthless. Hands up those who thought "Sweet FA" meant "Sweet F**k All"?
6. The world's oldest surviving bowling green is in Hampshire. It's the Southampton Old Bowling Green, first used in 1299.
7. Winchester Cathedral has the longest nave, longer overall than any Gothic cathedral in Europe. In the early 20th century it was in danger of collapsing as it had been built on watery silt and the foundations were crumbling. A Royal Navy diver named William Walker saved the day by spending up to 6 hours a day in water depths of 6 metres reinforcing the foundations with concrete and bricks. It took him 6 years. He was rewarded with an award from King George V, a memorial inside the cathedral and having a nearby pub named after him.
8. Hampshire on screen: the county is home to Highclere Castle, better known to many as Downton Abbey. Before that, it was a location for Jeeves and Wooster starring Hugh Laurie and Stephen Fry. There's also the 118-year-old Handyside Bridge featured in the Harry Potter films as the boarding point for the Hogwarts Express.
9. Portsmouth's football team hold the record for being FA Cup champions for the longest time. They held the title for 7 years. This was because they won it in 1939 and the competition didn't take place again until 1946 because of the second world war. Portsmouth was given the responsibility of keeping the cup safe. It was moved around the city before ending up at the Bird in Hand Pub, where it was kept under the landlord’s bed each night.
10. Famous people from Hampshire include writers Jane Austen and Charles Dickens, and more recently, Neil Gaiman. Isambard Kingdom Brunel, painter John Everett Millais, former prime minister James Callaghan, Elizabeth Hurley, Clare Balding, Chris Packham and Benny Hill are all from Hampshire. 

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