Tea or Coffee?

A snap from the cafe at the Hospital of St Cross

St Cross

A photo of the Hospital of St Cross is England's oldest continuous almshouse, which houses 25 'brothers'. The Norman church dating from 1135 in the photo is all that remains of the original Hospital.

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.

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.

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!

Click here to view thumbnails for all participants

St Cross Stores

I'm not sure when St Cross stores closed, but I think it must have been a while ago now, the sign still remains.

Back Street St Cross

Pretty houses on Back Street in St Cross

Allotments

I'm not sure if allotments are just a British thing or maybe they have them all round the world? An allotment is a small piece of land, often owned by the local council or another community group that people can lease for gardening, usually for growing food or flowers. These allotments are in the St Cross area of Winchester. They appear to be very popular and there are usually waiting lists to get one.

St Faith's Primary School

What might have been... my first attempt at moving to Winchester began in 2006 when my company was relocating to Hampshire. We found a house to buy in an area of Winchester called St Cross, and enrolled my son at the local primary school and this is it - St Faith's Primary School. It seemed like a lovely little school, with only around 140 pupils aged 4-11. Alas it was not to be, the house purchase fell through and due to it being a company relocation we had almost run out of time and could find nowhere else suitable (or within budget!) in Winchester, so we ended up moving elsewhere and my son never did go to school here! After 4 years of living 'elsewhere' we finally made it back to live in Winchester, but by then he was too old for this school and our new house was the Hyde area of Winchester and not St Cross!

St Cross Hospital

This is the chapel of St Cross. St Cross is not just a church, it is an almshouse (England's oldest) and houses 25 'brothers'. You can apply to become one and come to live here if you like. Criteria = male, over 60, single, no longer employed, low income. Interested? Click here

St Cross

This is the view of St Cross taken from St Catherine's Hill. You can see St Cross Hospital England's oldest  almshouse. It was founded between 1132-1136 by Henry de Blois Bishop of Winchester . 25 brothers live here and you can still receive the Wayfarer's Dole (a small beaker of beer and a morsel of bread) when asked for.