The First Thing You Should Do...

I often tell people that the first thing you should do when you arrive in a new city in the UK is to find a walking tour, especially one led by guides who are members of the local tourist guide association. I would have done that in Southampton, but we arrived in the late afternoon on a Sunday and the tours are only offered on Saturday and Sunday mornings. So, two days before we were to leave Southampton, we took the Southampton walking tour. Some of the information we had already found from other sources, but there were a few things that I learned that I thought I'd pass along.

At the top of the Bargate (the main gate to the old town circa 1180) there is a bell that would be rung at curfew. I learned that the word curfew comes from the old French "cuevrefeu" meaning "cover fire". In medieval times the curfew bell warned people to cover their fires for the night, to protect their homes (and their neighbors' homes) from accidents. If you were outside the gates when the curfew bell rang, you were an "outlaw."

Our guide, Christine, told us that she had the keys to the city, and it turns out that she did - or at least that she had keys to some pretty fabulous places not open to the public. The first place was Catchcold Tower.

Its name was coined by the guards who had to man the tower. Originally, the harbor came up to the tower walls. Guards in Catchcold tower carried hand-held cannons (!) and accidents often occurred. In fact, the town gunner, Harmon Smith blew himself up in 1453.

In the mid-18th century, Southampton became a spa town when Frederick, Prince of Wales, went swimming there. He said how wonderful and life-giving it was. He was dead within a year; so much for that theory. People still came, however to "take the waters." Among the things the waters were said to cure were eczema, constipation, leprosy, rheumatism, palsy, rickets, jaundice, scurvy, yellow fever, barrenness in women, feebleness in young females, and rabies. Best not to tell Robert Kennedy, Jr. or he'll be importing it into the US.

Another key got us into Castle Vault.

A little backstory here: Henry II married Eleanor of Aquitaine in 1154, which meant that he was not only King of England, but he also controlled a lot of France, including the wine-growing region of Bordeaux. As a result, Bordeaux wine, aka claret, became very popular. It was imported through Southampton and low boats would bring it to shore at low tide. The King took every tenth barrel of wine for himself and his household and that became known as the King's "prise." All of the King's wine was stored in Castle Vault then shipped to his other castles around England. Southampton is said to have more vaults than any other English city.

During WWII, this vault and many others across town were used as air raid shelters. You can see the outline in the ceiling where temporary walls were built to give women and children some privacy during the air raids.

As we passed the Titanic Pub, Christine told us the story of the Slade brothers. In 1912 there was a national coal strike and many of Southampton's people were unemployed so when the Titanic arrive in town from Belfast, where the hull was built, lots of people applied to work on her, including as crew members. The Slade brothers were three from Southampton who were hired to work aboard when she sailed. The day she was to sail, they went to the pub to have one last pint before starting work, but when they left the pub, there was a slow-moving land train that blocked their path. By the time they got to the ship, the gangway had been pulled and they were unable to board. Others had been chosen to take their places, so they were forced to go home an tell their mother that they had lost their jobs. Five days later, when the Titanic sank, their bad luck didn't seem so bad after all.

We made our way closer to the water to another vault to which Christine had the key.

It's the most ornate vault because it dates to 1327 and belonged to King Edward III, whose face decorates a ceiling arch.

Also on the walls were busts of his wife Queen Phiippa,

his son, Lionel,

and daughter Joan.

It's theorized that this vault was later used as a pilgrim's shrine. It was also used as an air raid shelter and it was considered a good shelter to be assigned to because the pub next door had a jazz band, and they would come down and play during the air raids.

Our only stop by the sea was at the Mayflower Memorial. Though most people in the US know that the Mayflower set sail from Plymouth, that's not the whole story. The Mayflower and her sister ship the Speedwell set sail from Southampton. When the Speedwell sprang a leak, the two ships put into Dartmouth harbor where repairs were made. Once again the two ships set sail but several days into the voyage the Speedwell sprang a leak yet again. Apparently, at the time, it was rumored that the captain of the Speedwell was responsible for causing the damage that caused the leaks because he didn't want to sail that dangerous route at that time of year. Anyway, as we all know, the Mayflower made the crossing. The city of Southampton erected a memorial to those pilgrims who sailed to the new world and founded Plymouth colony.

Our last stop was a vault located on the High Street, down a steep set of metal stairs.

It, too, had been an air raid shelter during WWII. Christine read us an account of one woman's experience during an air raid. Her husband was on duty as an air raid warden so she and her son went down into the vault for shelter. No sooner had she gotten there than the building was hit by a bomb and part of the ceiling collapsed. A water main was also hit and the shelter started filling with water. Her husband and others started frantically digging to get to the people who were trapped as the water level started rising. At one point it had reached her chest and she heard several people talking about whether they should shoot her to spare her the horror of drowning. (Can you imagen?) At last, they broke through to her and the person who pulled her to safety was none other than one of the Slade brothers.

We walked back up the High Street to St. Michael's Church. Christine told us that in medieval times, St. Michael's square had been a busy fish market. Over time, the members of the church found the smell unbearable and demanded that the building be torn down. It was, but was done carefully, stone by stone, and reassembled about 300 meters away where it still stands.

It was a really interesting tour and though there were about 20 people participating, Christine was able to answer all our questions and maintain her sunny demeanor through it all.