Christmas Trees

Around the corner of the Deans Garden I saw a lot of Christmas trees in pots. I remember during the Christmas Market they had Christmas Trees like this dotted around, could these be the same trees? Could they stay alive in a pot that long?

Skinner's Horse

At the Armed Forces fun day at Peninsula Barracks last Sunday there were a number of military re-enactment societies including Skinner's Horse. This was a unit of the British Indian Army founded by Colonel James Skinner in 1803. After Indian independence the regiment became part of the Indian Army.

Give & Gain Day

Last Saturday was Give & Gain Day which is the UK's national employee volunteering day. The scheme gives employees a unique opportunity to make a difference to the communities they live and work in. Shepherds Down Special Needs School in Compton, to the south of Winchester, was able to benefit from this as it was given a new lease of life by employees from OM Property Management who manage a number of properties in Winchester and Hampshire.

The volunteers armed with paint brushes and overalls spruced up the school's resting area and Woodland Trail made up of gazebos and wooden animals, giving the area a touch of colour. (L-R Luke Phillips, Emma Darch, John Benjamin, Lisa Terry, Mark Lancaster, Michael Udonwa, Esme Mcmenamin.) As the school spends 90% of its budget on staffing costs it has little left to undertake this type of project itself, so I am certain it was appreciated by the school and pupils.

Royal Logistics Corps Band

Yesterday there was an Armed Forces day at Peninsula Barracks. It was a beautifully hot and sunny day although I did feel sorry for the Royal Logistics Corps Band who were playing in this heat!

Pillars

Peninsula Square in Winchester used to be an army barracks although it was originally destined to be a palace for King Charles II. It is now private housing. I think it would be a beautiful place to live, but rather expensive.

Lord Lieutenant

This is the last photo from the military parade and flag raising ceremony held this week. The servicemen reached The Great Hall and were presented to the Lord-Lieutenant of Hampshire, Dame Mary Fagan. The role of Lord-Lieutenant began during Tudor times as monarchs had no standing army and relied on noblemen within each county to organise men and arms for the defence of the realm. These days the role is to be the Queen's representative in the County, which includes making arrangements for all Royal visits to Hampshire and representing The Queen by presenting certain honours, medals and awards, and inspecting troops etc. The modern Lord-Lieutenant’s role is unpaid and non-political.

March via Westgate

Parading through Winchester passing by the Westgate on the way to The Great Hall.

Army Band

More from the Army Band of the Adjutant General’s Corp as they lead out the 80 servicemen through the High Street

Navy, Army, Air Force

The military march through Winchester High Street on Monday en-route to the Great Hall

Military Week

25th June is National Armed Forces Day and all week Winchester is embracing its military heritage with a number of events which began yesterday. Here are the Army Band of the Adjutant General’s Corps who played in the city centre outside the Buttercross before leading 80 servicemen to the Great Hall to where crowds gathered along with the Mayor of Winchester and Lord Lieutenant of Hampshire, Dame Mary Fagan for a flag raising ceremony

Ice Cream

I featured an ice cream van a couple of weeks ago on the blog, and the other day I saw this more traditional looking ice cream seller outside the cathedral. If you look closely you can see he has a bell instead of the ice cream tune to attract attention!

View from garden

Another photo from the Dean's Garden which had an open day last weekend. As the weather has been pretty grey and rainy here this last few days I thought it would be nice to post of photo in the sunshine as a reminder that it is almost July!

Gazebo

A gazebo in the Dean's garden that recently had a open day.

Dogs

I see more and more dogs every time I'm out in Winchester, this Sausage Dog puppy was extremely cute!

Under wraps

One of the most beautiful and most photographed buildings in Winchester is not looking that great at the moment, it's Cheney Court. I don't think there's anything wrong with the building, probably just some general up keep seeing as it dates from the 15th century! This was how it looked during the snow

View from Deans Garden

This is the Dean's view from his garden, I'm sure he doesn't mind viewing his workplace from his garden in the same way that we might!

Deans Garden

On Saturday the Dean of Winchester opened his usually private gardens to the public. The gardens are lovely and so is the building itself.

Faces and Arms

Here is a closer view of the Westgate, one of Winchester's 2 remaining city gates. The gargoyles heads that you can see on each side are above the former portcullis, out of their mouths would have come the chains which were used to raise and lower the drawbridge. The shields, to the left are the coat of arms of the United Kingdom and to the right the city of Winchester

Southampton University Band

There always seems to be something happening in Winchester, and yesterday the Southampton University Concert Band were playing in front of the Cathedral. The students playing aren't necessarily studying music at the university, the band is more of a society within the university. They played a couple of Vaughan Williams pieces whilst I was there and were very good.

Clarendon Way

Clarendon Way passes through Winchester, it is a 24 mile walk joining the two Wessex cities of Winchester and Salisbury. This is near the start of the walk in the St Cross area of Winchester. Clarendon Way is named from Clarendon Park on the eastern edge of Salisbury.

Queen Inn

This is the Queen Inn in the St Cross area of Winchester. It always looks lovely to sit in the garden at the front - though I haven't done it myself yet! The pub has been in existence since before 1860.

Ice Cream van

Summer is on its way, I'll have a 99 please

In the UK these ice creams with a flake are often called '99s' - according to the Internet they are called this because many ice cream sellers in the fifties were Italian. In the days of the monarchy in Italy the King had an elite guard consisting of 99 soldiers. Subsequently anything really special or first class was known as "99".

Cathedral buildings

This is Church House in the Cathedral Close. It's a 17 th Century  3-storey, three-gabled stone building with an old tile roof. The building is currently used as the Cathedral's Diocesan offices

St Cross

A pretty house on the corner of Back Street & Cripstead Lane in the St Cross area of Winchester

Cup of tea at St Cross

On a recent walk to St Cross we stopped by St Cross Hospital and had a cup of tea at their teashop. You can get food and drink for free at the Hospital of St Cross, an ancient tradition here is that anyone who asks for it is given the Wayfarer's Dole, a small beaker of beer and a morsel of bread.

St John's Church

 

In St John's Street is St John's Church. On one wall was this fascinating statue.

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The Black Bottle

The latest edition to the 'Black' chain, it's the Black Bottle, a wine bar, that opened a couple of weeks ago. I did try to go in for a drink, but it is closed on Mondays and Tuesdays. The building dates from the 1800′s, and has a number of different rooms including white wine rooms and red wine rooms, I'm not sure if they segregate you depending on what you're drinking!

Wines by the glass are dispensed through machines that hold 8 bottles of wine, that are operated through a card system. You buy a card, loads it with however much money you want, insert it in the machine, grab one of the 3 different sized glasses 25ml taster, 125 ml, or 175 ml. The idea is that you can try the taster on a few different wines, then once you have found a wine that you like, go to the bar and buy a bottle. Interesting concept, but I never really trust vending machines..!

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Black Boy

Just around the the corner from the Black Rat Restaurant is the Black Boy Pub. The building has been on this site since 1750 and has been a pub for the last 200 years. The pub has a very unique interior with different rooms with collections of stuffed animals, spindles, pipes, jars of weird things, knick knacks and general odd stuff on display. It's one of the most popular pubs in Winchester and was recently reviewed in the Telegraph newspaper

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Black Rat

This is our Michelin Star restaurant of Winchester the Black Rat. I pass by it every day on the way to work, but haven't yet eaten here. The Black Rat became a restaurant in 2007 and received its Michelin star in January of this year. Parts of the building date back to around 1550 and it has been a pub since 1770. The Black Rat is a part of a little 'Black' chain within Winchester. There is a Black Boy pub and recently opened Black Bottle wine bar.

Theme Day - Under Construction

City Daily Photo's Theme this month is 'Under Construction'. Perhaps it's wishful thinking, but I am hoping that some time soon this building will be 'under construction', as it appears to have been like this for ages. This is Chestnut Mead in Kingsgate Road in the St Cross area of Winchester. Last year, after 4 years of previous attempts, plans were finally approved to turn this large Victorian house into a four-bedroom home and three flats. The plans split the local community, with around 30 residents objecting and a similar number backing the scheme. Most of the objections were due to the fact that 2 extra houses would be built in the garden. But a year later there are still no signs of work and it just looks rather run down. The house next door has been refurbished and is looking pretty good!

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