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Published: July 22nd 2022
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Miguel's last day but luckily his flight isn't until early evening, so we we have time to visit nearby Winchester. This city used to be the old capital of England before eventually London gaining the title, which later became the capital of the United Kingdom. The city of Winchester has a lot of history, dating back to the Iron Age around 150BC. The city structure changed a lot when under Roman rule and this saw expansion; however, the city's stature came when Alfred 'The Great' became ruler of the West Saxons as he and his brother defeated the Danish Vikings at the Battle of Ashdown and he became King of Wessex and established Winchester as his capital. I've written about Winchester previously in the
Hosting Stefano blog, if you would like to read more about Winchester's history.
Unfortunately the rain finally caught up with us, but I think Miguel did very well with the weather during his stay. Like with my previous visit with Stefano, we first visit the
Great Hall to see the Round Table. I decide to not enter since I've been before so let Fiona and Miguel visit whilst I take Jovie to a nearby café to give
her milk bottle and I can have a coffee. I have photos of the inside of the
Great Hall and Round Table in the
Hosting Stefano blog.
Afterwards, we visit
Westgate Museum. I haven't been here before so I am interested to enter. The great thing about the museums in Winchester is they are either free, require a minimal fee or just a charitable donation.
Westgate Museum is housed inside the surviving medieval city gateway and tells the story of this building as well as the Tudor and Stuart history of Winchester.
We then enjoy a walk around the city, showing Miguel the city's medieval architecture as well as the beautiful
Winchester Cathedral. We even find the statue of
King Alfred the Great.
We finally end our time in Winchester with a visit to the
National Trust's Winchester City Mill. This city mill is one of the oldest working watermills in the country with over a thousand years of history. The mill is very informative of its history, which dates back to King Alfred the Great and Mary Tudor. The mill was almost destructed but luckily the National Trust stepped in and restored it in the late 1920's.
It is interesting to watch the mill working again grinding flour due to a restoration plan which has seen the mill doing this again since 2004. The city's mill is also home to a wide variety of wildlife and we notice many trout in the river.
After our tour of the watermill, we decide to head back to the car as we need to drive Miguel to Heathrow airport so that he can catch his flight to Germany. Miguel seems pleased with what he has seen on his short trip and we hope that he'll revisit one day as there is so much more to be seen in England and other parts of the UK. We have enjoyed the adventure too.
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alex waring
Alexander Waring
Winchester
I've recently appreciated how interesting it is travelling in one's own country, and just how beautiful the UK is. Great to see you exploring another part of England Alan. Winchester looks like a very interesting place, and seems well worth a visit. Glad you've been able to assist a tourist in visiting some excellent places in this country, and it seems you very much enjoyed it too along the way! 😊