Heroes

Literary Heroes.

The Vyne has a display on about a ring with writing on that might have inspired Tolkien. I just loved the hat and ears that meant we could dress up for a little while as some of our favourite heroes from literature.

Gandalf meets the hobbits.

Love the ears!

 Historic heroes.

Winchester holds a special place in history as Alfred the Great's capital city. They honoured him in 1901 with a massive statue in the middle of town.

 Having watched Michael Wood (another historical hero of mine!) and his fantastic series shown recently, I knew we had to go and see Winchester just to walk in the footsteps of Alf.

Yeay, Alfred!!

Legendary Heroes.

The round table is alive and well and hanging on a wall in Winchester's Great Hall. Entry to the hall is free, which I love since it means that people can enjoy the romance of Arthur and his fair damosel whose father legendarily gave him the table without it costing a fortune!

 And also enjoy the information freely given by the really rather nice guides that the table was repainted for Henry VIII who, of course, had Arthur painted to look a lot like himself. The man was a legend as well!

Painted to wind up the French. That Henry, eh?

Childhood Heroes.

OK. Teenage hero. I met the works of Bronte, Hardy, Dickens etc when I was a teenager and , yes, I met the works of Jane Austen as well. My Nan who was a great bookworm made sure I had listened to the tapes of Pride and Prejudice and seen the Laurence Olivier version, the better to teach me what life was about. Of course I had to go see her grave in Winchester Cathedral, although dragging everyone off to Chawton to see her home was a pleasure denied me. Shame.

The grave stone is in Winchester Cathedral.

Heroes of the Silver Screen.

James Bond. Yum. And even better as portrayed by Daniel Craig. The Bond in Motion exhibition at Beaulieu has almost every famous Bond car I could mention; the Lotus submarine, the Skyfall Landrover, the Rolls Royce owned by Auric Goldfinger, but there is really only one iconic heroic vehicle that I wanted to see...

Would you like to come for tea, Daniel?

 The Aston Martin DB5. Yes. And they present her beautifully, in a little space with Goldfinger's Rolls and film showing behind, music and lights showing off her classic lines and shining body. Yum again.

And they blew her up in Skyfall. At that point you knew, anything could happen.

Incognito Hero.

Some say he's a robot made on Mars. All I know is he is the Stig and one of the best presenters Top Gear have.

Mythic Hero.

Minerva the goddess of Wisdom. Of course. I am the Mum whose son chose 'Mother Knows Best' as her ringtone. Ha ha. But seriously I love that Minerva has wisdom rather than knowledge sewn up.

Minerva as a Figurehead in Portsmouth Historic Dockyards

Real Life Heroes.

I watched the rescue of the Mary Rose live on TV. I watched as Blue Peter followed every step of the process, and I watched as the ship was raised and placed in her home. They have worked for over 30 years to bring this slice of history back to life and I count them as heroes, especially the lead archaeologist Margaret Rule who taught me that a middle aged woman could be every bit as much a hero as any man. 

The Mary Rose is finally settled in her new home in Portsmouth

 Inanimate Heroes

As in, not people. I love ships and especially ships with a history and none better than Victory. The history and the wonder associated with walking over the same beams as men who fought for their country 200 years ago is amazing. And such an iconic ship.

Victory is having a spruce up, so the masts are shortened and workers are everywhere.