Supporters of Hampshire History Trust thanked at coffee morning

The coffee morning, which took place on November 9 at the High Street restaurant, saw a large crowd attend. 

The trust was set up to promote the county’s diverse history and to run free and low-cost educational projects. It runs the successful Winchester Heritage Open Days event, which sees scores of events occur across the city each year over 10 days in the summer.

John Pilkington, the trusts' patron, gave a speech and thanked those who attended. 

John Pilkington and Richard North (Image: Kimberley Barber)

He said: "The next open days event will be the ninth and hopefully the biggest." 

John was one of the first modern travellers to retrace the Silk Road from Venice to China, and has also walked the 1,600-mile Royal Road of the Incas through the Andes of Ecuador and Peru.

The adventurer has written books and shared his experiences with more than 1,000 audiences in six countries as well as featuring in BBC Radio 4 programmes such as From Our Own Correspondent. 

John also spoke highly of award-winning historian, broadcaster and television presenter Dan Snow, who has also become a patron, and he urged people to sign up to the new Friends of Hampshire History Trust membership scheme. 

Supporters at Rick Stein Winchester (Image: Kimberley Barber)

Richard North, trustee at Hampshire History Trust, said he was pleased to see so many people turn up in support. 

He said: "We are thrilled to have so many people here today, it just shows the strength of support we have for the Heritage Open Days.

"We are very grateful to everyone for their support and we are excited about plans for the next year, this includes our expanded friends scheme, which people can find out more about online. There are so many benefits to becoming a friend of Hampshire History Trust." 

For more go to hampshirehistorytrust.com/