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It is a truth, universally acknowledged, that a group
organiser in possession of a good following must be in want
of an entertaining and timely day out. 2013 is the 200
th
anniversary of the publication of Jane Austen’s Pride and
Prejudice so we invite you to join in the beautiful and lesser
explored English countryside of the rolling Hampshire
Hills to hear the story of the inimitable Jane, the
pre-industrial England that she described so well and the
book that has spawned generations of young girls dreaming
of their own Mr Darcey.
Please meet the guide at 10.30/45am just off junction 7 of
the M3, some 7 miles south of Basingstoke. The day begins
with time to buy morning refreshments at the old coaching
inn where the young Jane would walk to collect the family
letters. Jane Austen was born in the same year as the Industrial
Revolution for in 1775 James Watt invented the steam engine.
Jane was the daughter of the rector of Steventon in Hampshire,
where she grew up as part of a large family and it is at her
father’s 12
th
century church where the author was baptised that
we begin the story of the writer and the England she knew.
Every memorial bar one in this church has a connection to Jane
Austen. As a young girl at Steventon Jane began entertaining
her family with stories and poems and was soon exercising her
comedy and satire skills with a
1066 and All That
style parody
of existing history books before embarking on the first drafts
of her novels.
The great thing about coaches, apart from the obvious fact of
not having to drive oneself, is that you are raised up above the
hedgerows and garden walls giving you views impossible from
a car. This elevated position really comes into its own on our
drive through exceptionally pretty countryside as we wend our
way to New Alresford. We stop here for lunch in the attractive
conservation area with its gaily-painted Georgian houses and
and shops. It is fitting that Colin Firth, the BBC’s Mr Darcey,
lived here as a small boy.
In the afternoon we take another scenic coach tour en route to
visit the Jane Austen House and Museum at Chawton.
In the 18
th
century it wasn’t uncommon for childless
landowning couples to adopt a distant relative as son and heir
which is how Jane Austen came to live in genteel poverty with
her mother and sister in one of the estate cottages.
Dear God if I ever have to live in poverty let it be of the
genteel sort in a charming house with roses around the door
such as this. At Chawton 200 years ago Miss Austen published
Pride and Prejudice and alas also became ill, eventually dying
at the young age of 41. You’ll see some of her letters, her
writing table, music manuscripts on which she’s scribbled
notes and a quilt she made with her mother and sister. In the
pretty cottage garden you’ll find her donkey carriage. Next
door there’s a pub and a tearoom to buy refreshments before
heading for home at 4.45pm. Or ask us about booking a WI
Cream Tea for your group.
This tour is available daily from mid February until
Christmas and is not suitable for the new extra long
coaches.
Adults & Seniors: £16.95
Coach Mileage: 40 (to and from Junction 7, M3)
20
The Jane Austen Country Tour
City & Village Tours: 0845 812 5000