Winchester; Monday, 06 April, 2015

Having done the key sights away from the city centre I was left with today to do a quick lap of the town.

Checked out and with luggage stowed in the hotel I walked the short distance to the restored city mill to have a look round that. The mill was returned to working order around 2005 and is once again using the power of the River Itchen and a water wheel to make flour. Whilst it is quite a fast flowing river, in the centre of Winchester the Itchen is also quite shallow so it’s amazing quite how much power directed water and well-designed gearing can generate.

From the mill it was a short walk alongside the River to Wolvesey Castle, another of the Bishop of Winchester’s palaces to have a look around its ruins and then a quick dive into town to grab a coffee and a light bite.

Then up the hill to the Westgate, the former city gate that is still standing and leads onto the minimal remains of Winchester castle, with just the restored Great Hall and its famous Round Table being the only major elements remaining.

Wandering back down the hill and just before reaching the cathedral I headed into the City Museum for a look around and then across the Cathedral green to have a look inside Winchester Cathedral.

Coming out of the Cathedral I suddenly realised quite how hungry I was feeling so I wandered onto the main high street and stopped off at a pub for a late lunch.

Having pretty much exhausted the key sights of the city centre, and conscious that, as it was the end of a long bank holiday weekend, the trains would be getting busy, I headed back to the hotel to pick up my luggage and wandered up to the station.

I was proved right about the trains as the first to arrive, the fast train into London, was already pretty much full and standing. I decided to give that one a miss as was quite glad as everyone who had been on the platform appeared to be standing as it pulled out.

A couple of minutes later the slower (by 5 minutes) train pulled in almost deserted, so I was able to get a selection of seats to myself for a comfortable ride back into London.