An Eco-light Trail, Bracing Walks And Jane Austen: How To Get Festive In Hampshire

From Christmassy Regency houses and steam train rides to the best grub and places to stay, here’s how to have a high time in Hants this winter

It is raining and blowing a gale as I flash my UV torch around, searching for lights in the darkness. There, a bright red spider web; here, some luminescent fungi; now a twinkling tortoise, Timothy, sheltering by the wall. I am exploring the gardens of Gilbert White’s House in Selborne, Hampshire, which is holding a light trail with a difference this month.

Gilbert White (1720-1793) is considered the father of ecology, one of the first people to observe living creatures in their own habitats, rather than studying dead specimens. He discovered the role of earthworms; developed the idea of the food chain; and identified species including the harvest mouse, noctule bat, chiffchaff, wood warbler and willow warbler.