Hi Steve,
I was really looking forward to reading Gilbert White’s Letter V, but when I started to read it, I have to confess I had some difficulty understanding the language he was using. For example he talked towards the beginning about hollow lanes. It took me a little while that he was talking about tracks (not roads) that had been so worn and eroded that they were deep, with steep sides. In foul weather, they would quickly fill with mud and water as to become unpassable.
I don’t doubt that there are such roads around today, but they will not be main thoroughfares. The question then became how I can relate that part of Gilbert’s letter to today? I think the answer is to talk today about the main roads into Gosport, of which there are two. Of course, there a number of minor roads that are familiar to locals, but the main routes number only two, and there is a point towards Fareham, where they join only one road, the A27.
I asked ChatGPT if there were any figures on traffic flow, and it reported that upwards of 130,000 vehicles can use these roads each day, with 4-5,000 vehicles per hour being a regular occurrence. As you can imagine, it doesn’t take much in the way of a traffic incident for chaos to ensue. Talks of tunnels or bridges over to Portsmouth have been talked of before, these have obviously come to nothing.
I eventually worked out that Gilbert’s Letter V was endeavouring to describe what Selborne was like, as a place to live. I really am not sure if I am qualified to apply the same question to Gosport and come up with a reasonable answer.
Gosport, like all towns, has its good and its bad parts. It would I think be disingenuous of me to say that all parts of Gosport that have problems are bad. I am, of course, talking about poverty here. There are some parts of the town that approach the nations worst standards of deprivation, and they are not that far from the towns Millionaire’s Row. I don’t think many would argue with that.
The town has taken a number of severe hits since the 1960’s which has seen the closure of major ship builders (including world famous industries), factories that were big employers with a national reputation, and of course the withdrawal of the Navy.
The town retains a vibrant culture, with many people interested in the arts, literary and music activities.
It may not be the best place to live, but I think it is far from the worst (not that I have experienced the worst, so again am not really qualified to comment.
Looking forward to Letter VI which I will read tomorrow now.
All the Best
Bill.
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