Hamble-le-Rice

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Hamble-le-Rice
The river is home to yachts and wildlife
Hamble-le-Rice shown within Hampshire
OS grid reference	SU479066
District	Eastleigh
Shire county	Hampshire
Region	South East
Constituent country	England
Sovereign state	United Kingdom
Post town	SOUTHAMPTON
Postcode district	SO31
Police	Hampshire
Fire	Hampshire
Ambulance	South Central
European Parliament	South East England
UK Parliament	Eastleigh
List of places: UK • England • Hampshire

Coordinates: 50°51′25″N 1°19′15″W / 50.85694, -1.32084

Hamble-le-Rice is a village in the Borough of Eastleigh in Hampshire, UK. It is best known for being an aircraft training centre during the Second World War and is a popular yachting location. The village and the River Hamble also featured in 1980s the BBC television series Howards' Way.

1 Location
2 History
3 Aerospace
4 The River and Environment
5 Fuel terminal
6 Transport Links
7 People
8 External links
9 References

[edit] Location

Hamble-le-Rice is located in Hampshire on the south coast of England in the UK, to the south-east of Southampton.

It is bounded by Netley, Butlocks Heath, Bursledon, Southampton Water and the River Hamble.

[edit] History

Although previously known as "Hamble", "Hamelea", "Hammel", and "Ham-en-le-Rice", the village's official name is now Hamble-le-Rice^[1]. The name "Hamble" is still in common usage.

[edit] Aerospace

Hamble-le-Rice was the home of an aircraft training centre during World War II for planes including the Spitfire, the Lancaster and the Wellington. The south airfield has long since disappeared^[2] and the north airfield has been partially developed as housing, the remainder overgrown and owned by house developers Persimmon.

Today, Hamble-le-Rice retains a large interest in the aviation industry with the Hamble Aerostructures factory, now a subsidiary of GE Aviation in Kings Avenue being the single largest employer in the area, the workforce far outnumbering that of the BP terminal^{[citation needed]}.

[edit] The River and Environment

Hamble-le-Rice is a yachting mecca: the nearby River Hamble is often packed with yachting traffic and during the summer the whole village is crowded with people out enjoying the water. The village and its river are one of the many locations that made up the fictional village of Tarrant in the BBC television series Howards Way, shown weekly on BBC1 in the late 1980s.

Hamble-le-Rice is home to a common, a variety of estuary wildlife, and other scenic walks.

[edit] Fuel terminal

This WWII Anti Aircraft emplacement on Hamble Common protected the fuel terminal and jetty (both visible in background)

A pipeline runs under Southampton Water from the Fawley oil refinery which supplies the BP fuel terminal at Hamble. This fuel terminal was used to supply PLUTO, during the Invasion of Europe in World War II^[3]. The PLUTO pipeline started at Sandown on the Isle of Wight and was supplied by ship from Hamble^[3]. The jetty at this fuel terminal was extended in 1943/44 so that more ships could be loaded simultaneously^[3].

Fuel is regularly transported by road tankers this depot, as well as by pipeline to major industry and airports. Markers showing the route of the pipeline can be seen at various points in neighbouring Botley.

A disused branch line runs from the terminal to the Portsmouth to Southampton railway. This has subsequently been converted into a scenic walk.