Welcome to Things to do in Hampshire This Weekend 22 January 2021!
At the beginning of the year I turned my regular Friday Instagram Stories recommendations into a blog post for the new year.
Every Friday I’ll be sharing five things across Hampshire for you to do, eat or visit. And, as you can imagine as the current National Lockdown wages on and we’re confined to our homes, this is increasingly more challenging.
But, I’ll be bringing my own interpretations and everything suggested will of course be compliant to the Government restrictions we are adhering to.
The aim is to provide a little bit of inspiration to brighten these grey winter days and give you a little joy when your spirits might be low.
Take a look at this week’s suggestions…
Things to do in Hampshire 22 January 2021
This week, Things To Do In Hampshire 22 January 2021, I’m focusing on Hampshire’s online offerings.
While you are Hampshire based and in a National Lockdown, your online adventures can stretch further afield and offer some variety to your usual internet viewing.
It’s time to put those viral sea shanties and dance videos down! I for one am very guilty of mindless scrolling, even more so in lockdown when I’m looking for any kind of distraction. Even I have to admit perhaps I’ve watched those ‘Is it too much?’ dog videos yes, a little TOO MUCH!
If you blink and miss an hour or two on social media, here’s five ways to use your time online a little more wisely. A curated collection of online adventures which not only entertain but give your mind and soul some nourishment too.
And, these are all things you can do from the comfort of your own home completely for free.
1. Experience Museum’s From Home
Here’s a selection of Hampshire Museum’s online offering for you to enjoy…
Heritage Museums
- Chawton House is the home of early women’s writing and has lots of wonderful online resources to enjoy.
- Jane Austen’s House Museum is the most treasured Austen site in the world, and her main home in Chawton Village.
- Gilbert White’s Museum is a house and gardens in Selborne, he famously built the Zig Zag Path over one of the Hampshire Hangers. It’s a great walk, if you don’t live locally give it a try when restrictions have eased. And, in 2020 it was the 300th birthday of Gilbert White.
- View the Gilbert White’s 300th Birthday online festival celebration videos
- Do the Gilbert White’s virtual tour
- Click the ‘House and Garden’ tab to learn more about the estate – you can even flick through Gilbert White’s orginal manuscript
- Download scavenger hunts and things to do for all ages from the Gilbert White’s educational pages
- Visit Gilbert White’s Museum website
- Milestone’s is a living history museum in Basingstoke celebrating Hampshire’s diverse history.
Naval Heritage Museums
- The National Museum of the Royal Navy has museums across the UK but its HQ sits in the historic naval town of Portsmouth. If you’re into naval history, or just perhaps want to learn more it has some great resources online.
- The Mary Rose Museum is the home of the wreck of Henry VIII’s favourite ship.
- The Diving Museum in Gosport is the only dedicated diving museum in the UK full of quirky artefacts to intrigue young and older minds.
Other places of interest
- Whitchurch Silk Mill is a carefully looked after as an industrial heritage museum in East Hampshire.
- Winchester City Mill is looked after by The National Trust and is in the very heart of Winchester City Centre.
- Netley Abbey is near Southampton and looked after by English Heritage. It isn’t a museum but instead a set of open ruins and it does have a great audio tour to listen while walking around it or at home.
And, don’t forget there’s plenty of international museums to explore online too…
2. The National Trust
The National Trust really is a National Treasure and the gift that keeps on giving, even in lockdown.
It’s wholesome and just the kind of nourishment my soul needs right now.
Here’s some things you can do with the National Trust in the National Lockdown…
- The gardens are open, so consider yourself very lucky if you have a site you can walk to and enjoy
- Go behind the scenes at different National Trust locations – explore from your sofa at home with these online virtual tours
- Try one of the National Trust’s Vegetarian and Vegan Recipes
- Spruce and tend to your garden this winter with tips from the National Trust
- Join in with the #NTChallenge and take a photo that fits in with this week’s theme and don’t forget to share it to Instagram of course!
- If you have small children keep them entertained by downloading some of the National Trust’s beautiful Peter Rabbit activity packs
3. Hampshire Cultural Trust
A curation of Hampshire’s museums, music, theatre and art is curated and shown on the Hampshire Cultural Trust website.
Its extension, the Culture on Call website, highlights different exhibitions, artefacts, stories and activities that you can enjoy in the National Lockdown.
Visit the Culture on Call website
Visit the Hampshire Cultural Trust website
4. Try something new with Hampshire Libraries
Did you know Hampshire Libraries offer free beginner classes in a range of topics? From fitness to arts to getting help learning a language, there’s plenty of things you can try out.
You do need to register with the library first before being able to book onto any of the courses.
There’s also a series of courses that charge a fee too. But, I think it’s brilliant that you can try lots of things for free to see if you like it. Plus, the fitness is a great shout too offering classes for all kinds of levels, families and seated work outs. I love its inclusivity.
Keep your eye out for useful courses under the Knowledge and Skills section including – coping with home schooling, beginners first aid and he art of mindfulness.
Visit the Hampshire Libraries Online Course Webpage
5. Top Ways To Keep The Wanderlust At Bay
I miss travel. I’m sure you do to. At this stage it’s not even international travel that I miss but, a trip to another city and that feeling of exploring somewhere unfamiliar.
This suggestion I think will be marmite. Some of you won’t be interested in what you can’t have and others will love researching for your next trip. Even if you don’t know when that is.
And, to those of you who went to Dubai recently for ‘work’ well, you’re not welcome here, no one has time for your skullduggery and blatant disregard for the rules.
This suggestion is not to encourage a trip but to safely relieve some of the inevitable cabin fever we all have, and scratch the travel itch. Exploring and travelling at heart is where I’m most happy, confident and free.
Here’s a list of top ways to keep the wanderlust at bay.
Things to do in Hampshire This Weekend
Cor blimey this National Lockdown is making these Things to do in Hampshire posts a real challenge. Things To Do In Hampshire 22 January 2021 edition is focused on online things to do but you’ll find lots of walks and other ideas by browsing the blog and in previous editions of this series of posts.
January Week 1 focused on Hampshire walks.
We were in a Tier 4 at that stage so you’ll have to discount poor Marwell Zoo, which has now temporarily closed.
January Week 2 focused on Hampshire walks with takeaway’s and essentials from zero waste shops.
While The Yard has temporarily closed, the walks from here are still spectacular.
January Week 3 focused on Hampshire food from takeaways to delivery to click and collect.
There’s an incredible amount of local businesses to try, still forging a way through the lockdown.
Please do check all of the suggestions as restrictions have changed and local businesses have adapted their hours and offerings or temporarily closed too.
Let me know if you decide to try any of these suggestions in the in the comments below.
For guidelines and what to expect from this blog post every week, read the first in the series…
THINGS TO DO IN HAMPSHIRE THIS WEEKEND | 1 JANUARY 2021
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