So many years without posting!

I just wanted to say that I moved away from Winchester in the Summer of 2014, and had some tumultuous times running up to the move, hence the lack of posts during the last years of living there. It is a lovely city and I still live in Hampshire and visit Winchester regularly and I look back on this blog with fondness of the time I lived there.Thanks for visiting!

Cathedral

Getting ready for Christmas

In the cathedral close the Christmas market chalets have arrived and the ice skating rink is in place. The market and ice rink open on 22 November

New shop opening

There have been a few prime High Street position shops that have closed in Winchester, but it looks like we have a new one coming..

I think this is in place of a travel agents that recently closed. The White Company sells nice/expensive bed linen, candles, household items, clothes, predominately in white!

Stained glass in the Great Hall

Westgate & my other hobby

This the Westgate, which I've posted photos of a number of times before. Today a group of us went out drawing around Winchester. Here's my quick sketch of the Westgate!

Morris Dancers

I know, I know, I haven't posted anything for ages! I am alive & so is Winchester.

Here is a photo of some Morris Dancers taken last weekend in The Square

Olympics sculpture

Near the cathedral there is an Olympics sculpture, a little bit camouflaged in this photo maybe

Mucky Duck

So, my last post noted that The White Swan had closed, it now appears to be in the process of re opening as The Mucky Duck.

Selling itself as a sports pub, not sure what that will mean, Sky Sports on full blast? We'll see! At least it's not closed down completely which is always a sad sight to see.

Another one bites the dust?

It looks like The White Swan pub in Hyde Street has closed. I have been in the pub a few times as it is not far from where I live, but I don't think it was as popular as some of the other pubs in Hyde, such as The King Alfred and the Hyde Tavern. Maybe it will re-open, as The Willow Tree has?

More Olympic Torch!

More photos from the Olympic cavalcade that passed by Hyde Street in Winchester yesterday.

Olympic Torch in Winchester!

I was amazingly excited today when the torch came past the end of my road, even teenage son got out of bed for it!

There was a large cavalcade of police motorcycles, bikes, cars, publicity trucks etc and finally the flame, and it passed so quickly! I'm not sure that the person carrying the torch was anyone famous (despite my son saying 'It's Orlando Bloom' !)

If you're feeling terribly bored here's a video of the route from Reading to Winchester, with the last few minutes of it coming through Hyde in Winchester.


torch relay video

Olympics are coming!

 

On Wednesday the Olympic torch passes through Winchester, infact right past the bottom of my road! Here at the Cathedral they are obviously setting up for the arrival of the flame with a number of Olympic Flags. I have been working on the Olympics since 2010, and to say I have Olympic fatigue is not an understatement! However I really am quite excited about the torch coming here and the games themselves, I have even taken the day off work om Wednesday to try to see the torch!

Hat Fair

I'll admit I was away for most of the weekend so did not go to any of the Hat Fair this year, however I do have one quick photo to add to the blog. It has been so wet, it has rained every day in July so far. I remember last year getting slightly sunburnt! No chance of that at the moment. I imagine the weather put off quite a few people unfortuantely.

Wet summer

Last week was wet and rainy, this weekend looks the same and the forecast for next week? More of the same. A photo here of the high street. Note the London 2012 banner, the Olympic torch passes through Winchester on Wednesday! Hopefully the rain will not extinguish it!

Fulling Mill Cottage

On a walk around Alresford, a pretty market town close to Winchester, we came across the very pretty Fulling Mill cottage on the River Arle. It dates from the 13th Century. It fell into disuse as mill in the 19th century and became derelict. It was renovated in the 1950s and is now a private house.

The fulling of cloth was a process to tighten and shrink cloth and mills constructed for this purpose were called Fulling Mills, hence the cottage's name!

Farmers Market at the Cathedral

I've seen the farmers market a few times now set up by the cathedral. I bought some very nice bread and scones and the free range eggs are cheaper than the supermarket

Degustibus

Degustibus? I know the French word 'degustation' means a tasting, but it always sounds a little too close to 'disgusting' to me! Anyway, I'm sure these breads outside Caracoli coffee shop were very nice. On 'google-ing' I discovered that Degustibus are Artisan Bakers based in Oxfrodshire. Raisin, date and pecan loaf sounds nice!

Keeping fit

I think this is part of the Forces Fit who run outdoor military fitness classes delivered by serving/ex serving members of the armed forces. I needed a nice sit down with a cup of tea after the exertion of watching them!

Mayfest

Yesterday was Mayfest in Winchester, a celebration of traditional and contemporary music, dance and song. In the High Street they had a couple of Morris Dancing groups. I think of it as a very traditional English dance, although it's not something I've ever done, nor anyone I know of! There were some other Morris Dancers I featured on the blog back in December 2010. As you can see from the sky it's been glorious weather here most of the week!