Exploring Winchester, England
After a fairly good night of sleep, I opened my eyes to the cathedral across the path. This is just the sight one needs to get motivated for a day of exploring. When planning trips, I always look for us to stay right in the thick of the action. We like everything to be walkable. Even with this being my goal, I had no idea our accommodations were so close to the cathedral.
As we prepared to head out to breakfast, hubby realized he didn’t have his sunglasses. I rarely wear them, so it’s not a thing for me… but he ALWAYS has his on so we needed to figure out where they were left. We went back to the restaurant from last night.. just outside, we got to enjoy this street musician for a bit. Oh… and the glasses weren’t there. We walked through the entire afternoon and figured out they must have been left somewhere in the hotel. While he went and looked, I asked the gentleman at the hotel desk… and he had them!!! Crisis averted!
Hungry for breakfast, I looked up what was the best gluten free location. “Cafe Monde” was number one. With three separate seating locations, we chose upstairs. The downstairs was pretty small, outside was slightly too chilly… upstairs was small but very cute. We slid into a table for two and ordered cappuccino!
What a fabulous meal! Barry got pancakes and I had a smoked salmon omelette. He has no idea what he’s missing with his dislike of seafood! The plate was filled… can’t believe I didn’t take a picture! That’s really not like me… I even got to have g/f toast! Perfect start to our day.
Finally time to visit the cathedral we had only seen from our room… as we approached, we noticed that, like yesterday, many people picnicked amongst the tombstones. Today, we noticed a gentleman using one as a back rest. I guess being around these stones day in and day out, you don’t think of the fact that they are signifying people who have passed on. Did he catch me taking a photo of him? haha
Standing outside the cathedral entrance, this statue of a “Tommy soldier” stood right in the center. Placed in honor of the Kings Royal Rifle Corps, it was fun to see this after visiting the Rifle Museum yesterday!
In the Green Jacket Museum, we learned about this elite infantry group. They preceded the Rifles. With deployments all over the world, they were highly trained. The Museum had so many artifacts from these two groups of soldiers.
Though on first look, I thought this cathedral was much like the others… I quickly noticed a few unique areas. Like Bath Abbey, the floors and walls were vaults for the dead.
So far, every cathedral I’ve visited have been on one floor. There maybe a higher level but they are completely separate floors. Winchester Cathedral has a few steps leading to a slightly raised area. Walking up the steps and toward the back of the cathedral, I realized this is the area we see from our window!
The most unique aspect of the particular cathedral… the Great Screen. Thought to be built betwen 1455-75 and carved from limestone, the beautiful artwork was restored in 1899. Such fine detail in these carvings.
Bright and airy… this cathedral is definitely more beautiful on the inside than the outside appears. It seems that little has been done in regards to upkeep or restoration of the outside. Inside, the chapels and worship area are immaculate.
The River Itchen is a waterway built in the 1700’s to allow barges to get supplies to Winchester from Southampton. It also serves as guard against flooding in the area. Not far from this photo, I learned (AFTER I left) that there was one of the oldest working wind mills. That’s something I would love to see… maybe I’ll have enough time in the morning but we really want to get to the ship!
We followed the river along the High Street and then turned down Bridge street. Our goal was to stroll the same path Keats walked when he lived in the area. In the few months he was a resident, he walked a two mile path every single day. On one fall afternoon, the turning colors and peacefulness of the area, inspired his works called, “To Autumn”
Season of mists and mellow fruitfulness,
Close bosom-friend of the maturing sun;
Conspiring with him how to load and bless
With fruit the vines that round the thatch-eves run;
To bend with apples the moss'd cottage-trees,
And fill all fruit with ripeness to the core;
To swell the gourd, and plump the hazel shells
With a sweet kernel; to set budding more,
And still more, later flowers for the bees,
Until they think warm days will never cease,
For summer has o'er-brimm'd their clammy cells.
Who hath not seen thee oft amid thy store?
Sometimes whoever seeks abroad may find
Thee sitting careless on a granary floor,
Thy hair soft-lifted by the winnowing wind;
Or on a half-reap'd furrow sound asleep,
Drows'd with the fume of poppies, while thy hook
Spares the next swath and all its twined flowers:
And sometimes like a gleaner thou dost keep
Steady thy laden head across a brook;
Or by a cyder-press, with patient look,
Thou watchest the last oozings hours by hours.
Where are the songs of spring? Ay, Where are they?
Think not of them, thou hast thy music too,—
While barred clouds bloom the soft-dying day,
And touch the stubble-plains with rosy hue;
Then in a wailful choir the small gnats mourn
Among the river sallows, borne aloft
Or sinking as the light wind lives or dies;
And full-grown lambs loud bleat from hilly bourn;
Hedge-crickets sing; and now with treble soft
The red-breast whistles from a garden-croft;
And gathering swallows twitter in the skies.
Along Keat’s Walk, we came across this tree. It’s hard to tell but the flowers look just like the leaves only they are white. Green leaves, white leafy flowers.
More beauty along the way…Wisteria grow everywhere in this region.
Just outside the area of the Walk, is the Wolvesey Castle, also known as “Old Bishop’s Palace”. Originally built by the River Itchen in 970. It was the original residence of Bishop of Winchester. As can be seen in this photo, the walls, arches and basic structure or solidly built.
This photo shows and original attempt at plumbing. The ditches on the top right run all through the property. The “rooms” were clearly marked… meeting halls, pantry, dining area and where the loot was kept! It was also noted (on plaques posted) that royalty and politicians would use this castle throughout the years. They would travel with a staff of 50-100 and even bring their furniture with them! Set up a home, live in the castle and move on… then the next resident would move in.
This gives a different perspective of the grounds. Something that struck me… in Tahoe, we have “old Tahoe” homes made of knotty pine… of course the homes/structures are nowhere near as old as the relics we see in England, but they are definitely part of the short history. In our area, people buy up the homes, not because they appreciate the mountain home… but because they want the land. Any historical value is destroyed and new, modern homes in their place. It strikes me as respectful to honor history by keeping it in view of the people. Reminders of years past…
With all of this sightseeing, we worked up quite a thirst! Hubby saw “Wine and Spirits” on the door, which caught his eye, but from the street it didn’t really appear open. The Wykeham Arms is an 18th century pub… we tried the arched door and it opened. Inside, we saw lots of people. We found our spot!
The old time pub was filled with locals and visitors, On the other side of the wall, it appeared there was a good restaurant. A steady flow of people came in to eat. The walls and ceiling were covered with hanging mugs. Also, hanging from the ceiling, a series of canes.
My favorite part of this bar (as can be seen in this grossly over exposed photo!) is that the bar tables were old school desks. Two desks facing each other just like back in the day, when we were kids. Such a cute idea!
Sitting at the desk took Barry on a journey down Memory Lane… We sipped our drinks, he had beer, I had bubbly. Hubby kept flashing on times when he sat in this very style of desk. He pointed at the hole at the top right of the desk and said, “this is where our glue went”… then noticed the indentation where pencils went. The tops still opened up… they were empty but could have held school books like in the old days.
Walking back into the present after reminiscing about the past… we headed up the street. Talking, laughing and checking out the neighborhood, we soon realized we had no idea where we were going. Opening up Google Maps, we saw there wasn’t a convenient way out. We needed to turn around and go back out the way we came.
Apparently, we had circled around and made it back to Kingsgate. This medieval gate was built in 1148. Originally, this was the castle entrance.
Continuing on, we found ourselves on the other side of the cathedral. The cars parked on the perimeter were conducting business inside the cathedral. This area is basically not open to the public other than to use the footpath to pass through.
You know me and arches… the last section before the entrance side of the cathedral, was lined with arches. I had to be quick… but I was able to get a selfie of us walking with the arches in the background! Getting close to our hotel, we began to feel a few raindrops! First of the trip…
Once the clouds parted… maybe an hour and a half later, we headed off to dinner. Passing down “The Square”, we saw a woman turning the posts lining the street, into artwork. About half of the posts had been painted, all in unique styles and colors.. What a cute idea.
Referring to itself as the oldest pub in England, we ducked in to take a look. As their website mentions several gluten-free items, this was the place for me tonight. Just off of High Street, it’s fun to check out places you find in alleys!
Starting with a cocktail, we chose the “Bartender’s Favorite” which is a Banana Old Fashion. It sounded a little odd… made with “Discarded Banana Peel Rum” so definitely a little different. It was really good though. For dinner, hubby had mac and cheese and a sirloin steak. I enjoyed slow braised pork belly. Pretty good evening… now it’s time for bed. We have to rest up for a busy day! It’s ship boarding time!!!
