Swanwick, Hampshire

Coordinates: 50°52′53″N 1°16′05″W / 50.8813°N 1.268°W / 50.8813; -1.268

Swanwick is a village in Hampshire, England, east of the River Hamble and north of the M27 motorway. The village is located within the borough of Fareham and is the site of the London Area Control Centre (LACC) and the London Terminal Control Centre (LTCC) part of National Air Traffic Services Air Traffic Control Centre and also the last remaining example of a Victorian steam-powered brickworks, Bursledon Brickworks.

Swanwick has no real village centre and the only commercial premises of note is the Elm Tree Public House. Since the 1980s, the gradual spread of housing developments has meant that Swanwick has partly merged with the new development of Whiteley although the only direct vehicular access is via Yew Tree Drive (once a bus only route).

Swanwick railway station on the West Coastway Line is approximately one mile south of the village and is nearer Park Gate than Swanwick.

The village's "twin" Lower Swanwick is situated two miles west of the village on the edge of the River Hamble.

Hampshire

Hampshire (/ˈhæmpʃər/, ⁱ/ˈhæmpʃɪər/; abbreviated Hants, archaically known as the County of Southampton) is a county on the southern coast of England in the United Kingdom. The county town of Hampshire is Winchester, the former capital city of England. Hampshire is the most populous ceremonial county in the United Kingdom (excluding the metropolitan counties) with almost half of the county's population living within the South Hampshire conurbation which includes the cities of Southampton and Portsmouth. The larger South Hampshire metropolitan area has a population of 1,547,000. Hampshire is notable for housing the birthplaces of the Royal Navy, British Army, and Royal Air Force. It is bordered by Dorset to the west, Wiltshire to the north-west, Berkshire to the north, Surrey to the north-east, and West Sussex to the east. The southern boundary is the coastline of the English Channel and the Solent, facing the Isle of Wight.

Hampshire is the largest county in South East England and remains the third largest shire county in the United Kingdom despite losing more land than any other English county in all contemporary boundary changes. At its greatest size in 1890, Hampshire was the fifth largest county in England. It now has an overall area of 3,700 square kilometres (1,400 sq mi), and measures about 86 kilometres (53 mi) east–west and 76 kilometres (47 mi) north–south.

Hampshire sheep

The Hampshire or Hampshire Down is a breed of sheep which originated around 1829 from a cross of Southdowns with the Old Hampshire breed, the Wiltshire Horn, and the Berkshire Nott, all horned, white-faced sheep — these were native to the open, untilled, hilly stretch of land known as the Hampshire Downs.

History

John Twynam, a Hampshire farmer, crossed his then-Hampshire flock with Cotswold rams in around 1829. The resultant half-bred rams were compact and blocky animals and from around 1835 were sold into six or more of what were to become the first recognised pedigree Hampshire Down flocks in the United Kingdom.

The Southdowns had long dark brown or black legs, matured early, produced the best of mutton and a fine quality of medium wool. The original Hampshire was larger, coarser, but hardier, slower to mature, with inferior flesh, and a longer but coarser wool. The Southdown had always been remarkable for its power of transmitting its special characteristics to its progeny by other kinds of sheep, and hence it soon impressed its own characteristics on its progeny by the Hampshire. The horns of the original breed have disappeared; the face and legs have become dark, the frame has become more compact, the bones smaller, the back broader and straighter, the legs shorter, and the flesh and wool of better quality, while the superior hardiness and greater size, as well as the large head and Roman nose of the old breed, still remain. Hampshires of the 1890s matured early and fattened readily. They clipped from six to seven pounds of wool, suitable for combing, which was longer than Southdown wool, but less fine.

Hampshire (PAT station)

Hampshire is a station on the Port Authority of Allegheny County's light rail network, located in the Beechview neighborhood of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The street level stop is located on a small island platform in the middle of Broadway Avenue, through which The T travels along former streetcar tracks. The station serves a densely populated residential area and also the neighborhood's small but crowded business district. It is located in an area where bus service is limited because of the hilly terrain.

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