Among peers

Eleven friends of COUNTRY LIFE pen a love letter to their small, yet oh so distinctive patches of the British Isles, from the big skies of the north Norfolk coast to the street art of Belfast, from the glens of Perthshire to the Exe estuary in Devon via the apple orchards of Herefordshire

Rural Britain looks peacefully idyllic, but dig deeper and you’ll find a dark and complex history. Corinne Fowler takes a country walk in Hampshire and into the nation’s colonial past.

Nos 66 and 66a, Chelsea Square, SW3

Gin, witches, regicide, boats, nudists, an Egyptian curse, Spitfires, the invention of windsurfing and more writers and vineyards than you can shake a fishing rod at: this beloved English county has it all. Here are 13 stories you may never have heard about Hampshire

Kings, cobbles, secrets, superstition and literary fire power–Winchester has had it all in spades for centuries and is as desirable now as it ever was, says Jason Goodwin

For those who prefer not to follow the crowd, we reveal some of the best, but relatively undiscovered places to enjoy in the country’s chicest region