Sailors' Retreat

Needed to pay a visit to Hamble today, and in the fading evening light, the famous sailing village and its river was evocative as ever.
Officially it is now known as Hamble-le-Rice, although to most its more simple name of Hamble is still used. And the river, the home to many yachtsmen and boating enthusiasts is still known as the Hamble.
Small wonder that it is recognised as the home of British yachting and its proximity to the Solent puts in the heart of Britain’s most populated sailing waters. There are more than 3,000 moorings on the river, spread over marinas, boatyards, and pontoons as well as piles mid river. Despite its popularity to yachtsmen, it also hosts a variety of boating activities, as well as a bordering nature reserve.
The river was also the location for one of the most popular Sunday evening television series of 30 years ago, founded on business dramas, family traumas, lives and loves of the South Coast's sailing community.
Some dubbed it “Dallas on Sea” as the BBC's answer to the American super-soaps of the period.
The BBC wanted to portray a  'gin and Jag' set of the Solent coast which it saw as providing perfect material for a Sunday night drama – an attempt to epitomise what was seen as wealth, aspirations and glamour of the Thatcher years.
 
The village has also been home to prominent flying, aircraft and aerospace interests but today, with the river ever more vibrant and the number of craft on it reflect the dominance of the sailing interests.