Tag: winchester

Winchester, High Street – Friday 11th October 2024

The second Waterstones in Winchester is located in an attractive two-storey shop in the High Street, but I have been unable to find out the history of the building, although from the mosaic tiling at the entrance, it was once a branch of Hatchard’s Booksellers. 

Winchester High Street 11th October 2024 (1)

Winchester High Street 11th October 2024 (1)

The Winchester Bollard Project

Since 2005 there has been an ongoing project to decorate bollards in the city.  Starting with 16, there are now apparently 28 bollards, but we only had time to spot a few as we didn’t have much time left on our parking, but some of them were being touched up, so it’s good that they’ve lasted so long.  Here are three – Da Vinci’s Mona Lisa, one celebrating Winchester’s Roman heritage and one for Queen Elizabeth II’s Diamond Jubilee in 2012.

Various shots of Winchester

Top row  – Winchester Guildhall, built 1875.  An ornate clock on the Lloyds bank building.
Middle row – Ghost signs for Nestle Milk on a former shop.  A channel of the river Itchen located in Abbey Gardens.
Bottom row – Winchester’s Coat of Arms.  The statue of King Alfred the Great. 

 

Winchester, The Brooks – Friday 11th October 2024

Winchester is a cathedral town in Hampshire which was, once upon a time, the capital of Wessex and the seat of King Alfred the Great, for whom there is a statue in the town.  Today, remnants of Winchester’s historical significance are everywhere, from its preserved medieval walls to the mighty cathedral that dominates the skyline.  It is also home to Winchester College, the oldest public school in the country.  There are two Waterstones in Winchester. The first we visited is located in a modern shop in the Brooks Shopping Centre.

Winchester The Brooks Map

Winchester Cathedral

The city’s Gothic cathedral, which was built between 1079–1532, is one of the largest in Europe with the longest nave in England, and the author Jane Austen is buried there.  The cathedral came within the brink of collapse in the early 1900s, but was saved when a diver called William Walker carried out repairs on the foundations of the cathedral to stop it from sinking into the ground.

Borrowed Breath

Some of the pieces from an exhibition called Borrowed Breath by sculptor Laurence Edwards, part of a set of fifteen inspired by Winchester Cathedral’s west window.

Currently reading:  Frankie by Graham Norton