In reply to the first part of this question I thought I would put up a link to Wikipedia About Eastleigh. This site tells you all about the old railway town and about the Spitfire connection. It shows you a map about where in the UK it is.
Eastleigh is 1hr 10mins away from Waterloo, London, by train; 20 mins from Portsmouth and the ferries to France and the Isle of Wight; 10 minutes from Winchester and right next door to Chandler’s Ford. Southampton isn’t far down the motorway, and from the M3/M27 connections you can access the South Coast and New Forest. So you can see it’s a handy area to live.
Oh, I forgot to mention Southampton airport from where Natalie flies. It’s a handy airport, but like all airports who wants to live under the flight path?
The community of Eastleigh includes a number of social housing areas. It supports a poorer section of the population.
The old houses built for the families of the railway workers are now popular with couples getting on the housing ladder and looking for a comfortable home, as well as people who have lived there all their lives.
At first it may appear an unlikely place to set a novel, but for the story I wanted to tell it was ideal. I needed a poorer town with lots of travel connections.
Older people remember Benny Hill, who lived in Eastleigh and worked as a milkman. This comedian was especially popular in America but not my cup of tea. He died in 1992. Whatever you think of him, he was a claim to fame for the town.
More to my taste is Colin Firth but we will come across him later in a Winchester blog.
Politicians have brought Eastleigh into the limelight for the wrong reasons. The recent case of MP, Chris Huhne, held the attention of the public like a tragic soap opera.
There are lots of interesting places Natalie visited and more photos and links to come.
I hope this blog continues to illuminate the book. I’m enjoying the experience of blogging with the readers of Marriage A Journey and A Dog.
Thank You for coming by.
Marriage, A Journey and A Dog 