Last Sunday dawned bright and sunny (despite a weather forecast predicting clouds and rain) so I took advantage of the day and scuttled off to Waterloo to get the 9:35 train to Winchester.
I have mentioned travelling by train before, but it really is a great way to see the UK. You peer into the back gardens of London’s populous (often looking a tad too Dickensian for the 21st Century) as you race out of the city at speeds that seem far to swift for what you know is inherently a 19th Century railway.
I am always surprised at how quickly a train will get you out of London and into the countryside. 15 minutes is all it really takes at 90 miles an hour. Look at a map of Greater London and you would think it should take at least an hour to work your way out of the dense habitation – which it would in a car I am sure.
So, the countryside was soon all around me and it is something to see in Southern England. Rolling green hills dotted with farms and small town, and fringed with woods, the odd country house standing serenely on a hill-side quietly commanding its surroundings.
In the middle of this picture is the city of Winchester. Former capital and home to some of the first Kings of England, the town seems to have had an existence of prosperity and solidity, at least as far as the 1800s anyway.
I had primarily come to visit the Cathedral, and on its own it would be well worth a visit. Many of England’s cathedrals were started in the 11th and 12th Centuries in the Norman style, but were often later rebuilt in Early English and Gothic form (often because the earlier buildings had a propensity to fall down). Winchester retains its Norman transepts – despite the original Norman tower… well… falling down). The difference between this architecture and the later Gothic is quite marked. The building also retains much sculpture, often missing from other sites thanks to one Henry VIII and his work to remove the Catholic Church and all its symbolism from the English world. I could wax on for quite a while about the place; the medieval floor tiles, the glorious windows, and rather avant-garde music choices of the practicing organist, but there are other gems to Winchester.
The view from St Giles’ Mount is well worth the climb up the steepish stairs. Looking west over the town the view is rather grand. It is also surprising to look at the 2 images at the lookout and compare what is there today to what was there in 1730. Very little seems to have changed.Walking down from the hill, I wandered down to the river, through the ruins of Wolvesey Castle – the former home to the Bishops of Winchester, and into a quaint little Water Mill cared for by the National Trust. Unfortunately a sluice gate was broken and water wheel would not turn, so I could not watch the millstones grinding wheat.
Strolling up the High Street I made my way to the old West Gate at the top of the town. This is the only ancient city gate still standing and offers another great view over the town – back toward St Giles’ Mount.
My final stop for the day was the Great Hall. Formerly attached to a Castle – destroyed by Cromwell, and Royal palace of Charles II that burned down, it seems remarkable that this building has survived at all, let alone remained in such a fantastic state of preservation for 800 years. Nailed to the wall at one end is a rather gimmicky looking interpretation of King Arthur’s round table, complete with the names of his knights. Made in the 13th Century, it is about as good as gimmick things get I suppose… Although it’s not alone; close by is a rather grandiose, larger than life, bronze of Queen Victoria on the throne and at the other end of the hall are two great steel gates to commemorate the marriage of Charles and 
Diana – looking ever so slightly rusty these days and little used… which seemed appropriate.And so, once more swamped by history I departed Winchester, as clouds gathered from the west, and headed back to London and sunshine.
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