Lots of Old Stuff

Alton, Hampshire was founded in 1640. It’s biggest claim to fame is that Jane Austen walked these streets in between penning pages of women too wealthy to get a job, but too poor to catch anyone worth more than 200 pounds per year. I’m going to skip going to her house, although I do like several movie versions of her stories. I wandered around the town last week, coming upon the church that still bears the bullet holes from a skirmish in 1643. Outside, the cemetery has been converted into green space for the community and these headstones artfully arranged near the wall. I went to the Curtis Museum, a pleasant building filled with geological samples, some weird old toys, and some J Austen memorabilia. Most interesting to me was the rusted “Man Trap” a formidable iron beast used to dissuade poachers from stealing deer and pheasant. The English have got torture down to a science.

The town is full of old people too, pensioners from the look of them. The many charity shops are staffed with white haired ladies, who chat up the regulars over a cup of tea. It is very refreshing to be greeted with a smile and a cheerful “hallo” as few folks walk about with their faces buried in their cellphones.

I’ve got another 4 weeks here in the UK, heading to Edinburgh next, yet another ancient city. I wonder what I’ll come across there.