Visit to an English pub - Ovington, Hampshire.

[spindrift]

The Bush at Ovington is a 17c English pub. It is hidden away in a tiny village a couple of miles from the market town of Alresford,Hampshire. It is delightfully situated near to the river Itchen. The Itchen rises in the equally small village of Kilmeston not more than 5 miles away. The Itchen is a chalk stream well known for its trout fishing.

It's nicer to visit The Bush on weekdays when it's quiet but today being a perfect sunny day we braved the crowds and had Sunday lunch there.

The approach to Ovington

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[imec]

Oh, this is great! The pub is my favorite thing about England - nothing like it anywhere in the world. This is a very pretty one - love the little garden in the back. I can almost taste the perfect pint of real ale they would undoubtedly serve. (and a little bag of pork scratchings too!)

Thanks spindrift - what a perfect Sunday post! (and it's still afternoon here so as I lie here with my eyes closed, listening to the birds it's just like I'm in that little garden)

[spindrift]

After lunch we crossed the bridge and walked by the river

Did you notice the young trout?

[spindrift]

Imec - yes....there's really good ale at this pub. Some of it is made locally, perhaps at the Flower Pots Inn at Cheriton! I do wish you could have been with us

[spindrift]

I have forgotten to include these pictures

Looking out and in the same window.

[bazfaz]

Absolutely gorgeous.

Have you been to Itchen Abbas? There is a pub there that I stayed at decades ago.

[spindrift]

I must know every town and village in Hampshire I know Itchen Abbas well. It's very close to Ovington. Did you stay at The Old Trout? ;D

[bazfaz]

Hmmm. I don't remember the name.

It was just an ordinary pub to look at, with a couple of rooms above. The dining room had about 5 tables. The food was good (for the early 60s) but nobody talked. Even we had to speak in low tones (and for my ex that was purgatory.

[bixaorellana]

So beautiful ~~ I looked at the whole thing three times before replying!

Spindrift, thank you for this. I know whenever I babble on about my unfulfilled Anglophilia everyone rushes to say negative things about the weather. I don't care! If I could have one single day such as the one you so beautifully illustrate above, I'd be happy.

I love how you compose your pictures and their wonderful clarity that makes me feel as though I'm there. After this and the Winchester thread, I am in love with the River Itchen and the country around it.

[Deleted]

So green and lush! It's easy to forget just how nice and relaxing it is to go to a good English country pub. You've really bought it to life, Spindrift. Thanks for the pictures.

[spindrift]

Bixa - I'm sure you'll come to Hampshire one day and see it all for yourself.

Deyana - yes it is green and lush. May - September must be the best time of the year.

[tod2]

Aah! Such joy in viewing those lovely photos! I spotted some old cider bottles on the windowsill of the photo titled"Looking out and in the same window". I have the same ones on my window ledge in my bar here at home! If I knew how to post a photo I would send it along with my reply but I don't so !!
Thanks again for all the winderful photos of Winchester as well.

[spindrift]

So they're cider bottles! I wasn't sure.
We were sitting at the table at that window.

[auntieannie]

I am jealous! you are barely two hours away and you have gorgeous weather whilst we've had grey days and rainy days one after the other!

[traveler63]

Spindrift what a wonderful set of pictures which just boggles my mind and is exactly how I have pictured England. I am so in love with the countryside. U. S. is beautiful and has every type of wonderful landscapes and natural places. However, there is just something about the green that is uniquely different that anything I have so far seen here.

[lola]

Beautiful, Spindrift. Thanks!

[mtnag]

:)The stream is beautiful. What I would give to fly-fish that piece of water. Your pictures are wonderful and I bet the pub is great. Thanks for sharing

[spindrift]

Yes the pub is great. It's especially nice in winter when a wood fire is lit in each room. There are no bright lights or music and what could be better than chatting with a dear friend in this atmosphere? Good food too.

[Deleted]

Very lovely. The pictures of the river in particular,the young trout, and my favorite,the bridge,worthy of a painting. Thanks for these SD,hope you and your daughter enjoyed your lunch together. Wish I could have taken my mother to such a lovely spot. You did it for us

[tillystar]

Oh that looks like a place I could pass a very happy afternoon

[BigIain]

What a gem of a thread I have just found. Its a pity that pics connot also capture the sounds of the English countryside and a gently flowing river. This one is up there at the very top of the photo-thread charts now for me.

[Deleted]

I am hoping that it will be easier to rummage around the older threads now that the countries are better organized. There is a lot of good stuff on this site, if I do say so myself.

[spindrift]

Oh! I'm glad everyone likes the thread. I'm now encouraged to take pics when I visit pubs.

[bixaorellana]

Mar 29, 2010 7:55:52 GMT BigIain said:

What a gem of a thread I have just found. Its a pity that pics connot also capture the sounds of the English countryside and a gently flowing river. This one is up there at the very top of the photo-thread charts now for me.

Yes, this is such a lovely thread, and so beautifully put-together, too.

BigIaian, do look around more, which as Kerouac says, should be easier with the new sub-boards. You'll see that many threads incorporate video along with the photos and narrative.

Anyone who would like to try the techniques Spindrift has used in this thread, please go to Reply 1, here.

[BigIain]

I do look around at the pics threads when I find some time. I shall have to start making more time. This one makes me sad not to be able to visit old English country pubs like those which surrounded me in KL and Berkhamsted. Scotland has very few good little places like this one.

[gertie]

Yes, please, more pics of pubs with information on where and such! I so hope to visit a few on my next visit to England. Those are wonderful pictures and I do love seeing the lovely swans floating with their fluffy babes and all the lovely old touches. Thank you so much, Spindrift!

[spindrift]

Gertie - there are lots of old and atmospheric pubs in Hampshire....pleased you like the thread.

[Deleted]

I enjoyed this thread once again as the lovely season arrives across Europe.

[komsomol]

I read that a lot of pubs are disappearing from the villages and a lot of people just go to the bottle shop and drink at home or in the street. Is it mostly older people in these pubs?

[bixaorellana]

What a treat to see this again.

Is that true that pubs are dying away?

The customers in Spindrift's wonderful photos look like a young bunch. Spindrift, in the OP you said you "braved the crowds" to go there on a sunny day. Are the crowds tourists or locals?