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Post by spindrift on Jul 22, 2009 19:41:54 GMT
Bixa - It's not Baby's breath (gypsophilia) it's Cow Parsley.. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anthriscus_sylvestrisIt apppears only during the months of May/June. I love to see it. That 'foaming white cascade' is a rambler rose....behind the rose is a small house built on a carrier stream of the river Itchen. It belongs to Winch college. Winchester College take their custodianship of the meadows very seriously. They employ a full time Waterman or maybe more than one. Over the years I have seen them re-inforcing the river banks and generally caring for the land. It's their duty to open and close the water gates and barriers. Years ago there were huge watercress beds in Alresford near where the Itchen rises. The river water looked so clear and clean but the Waterman told me that his dogs had to be sprayed down with clean tap water if they swam in the river due to fertilizer and other pollutants coming from the watercress beds. Now I see that the watercress business seems to have failed at Alresford and most of our imported watercress comes from Portugal! Glad you like the pictures. Fine days for picture-taking are few and far between here!
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Post by lola on Jul 22, 2009 20:56:02 GMT
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Post by spindrift on Jul 22, 2009 20:58:36 GMT
Yes Lola....if you take a look at my Wikipedia link that's exactly what it says! I had no idea it was related to the carrot....
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Post by Deleted on Jul 22, 2009 21:02:15 GMT
More great pictures, it looks like such a relaxing town to live in.
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Post by spindrift on Jul 22, 2009 22:01:48 GMT
It's very relaxing and, after a while, very boring!
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Post by bixaorellana on Jul 23, 2009 4:47:27 GMT
Spoken like the true traveler you are!
Thanks for the cow parsley identification. I totally forgive myself for not getting it, as you can't see the foliage in your (very lovely) photo.
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Post by bazfaz on Jul 23, 2009 6:32:13 GMT
It's a shame the watercress beds have gone. Many years ago I spent a weekend in Itchen and on Monday morning caught the Watercress "Ëxpress" train back to London.
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Post by spindrift on Jul 23, 2009 12:25:13 GMT
Ha ha Baz....you mean you spent the weekend in Alresford! don't you? The Itchen is the river ;D
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Post by traveler63 on Jul 23, 2009 12:51:51 GMT
This is a wonderful thread, and I am loving it. Now, here is another place for me us to explore when we go to England.
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Post by spindrift on Jul 23, 2009 13:36:17 GMT
Please let me guide you around Winchester!
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Post by auntieannie on Jul 23, 2009 20:29:16 GMT
ooh! That meadow is wonderful! it MUST be protected.
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Post by spindrift on Jul 23, 2009 20:56:47 GMT
Annie - it is....if you like that meadow then you'd love the meadows further up the path. And you'd love St. Catherine's Hill and its surroundings which are entirely protected and grazed by sheep only at certain times of the year. It is chalkland with its own indigenous flowers, shrubs and butterflies. You'd better come and visit me
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Post by auntieannie on Jul 24, 2009 19:32:54 GMT
would love to meet you, Spindrift. We're not that far away. One day.
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Post by spindrift on Jul 24, 2009 21:10:37 GMT
We might make a party of it, Annie....
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Post by spindrift on Jul 24, 2009 22:16:54 GMT
I am walking down the Broadway towards King Alfred's statue that dominates the boulevard. All the traffic coming into the city from the east passes King Alfred. This is Alfred of the Burnt Cakes fame. Here we have the Millhouse - please read the plaque below for its historical content. This Mill processed Hampshire's main agricultural products, grain and wool. there's lots more to come, folks....
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Post by Deleted on Jul 24, 2009 22:30:26 GMT
So much history in Winchester. I wonder how they managed to build that mill over the water? It must have a really strong foundation.
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Post by bixaorellana on Jul 24, 2009 23:20:03 GMT
Whooo ~~ yaaaaaay, there is more! Thank you Spindrift!
I didn't really realize until looking at the statue photo how hilly it is around there. Is the town itself in a little valley?
The mill photo is fabulous -- I had the illusion I could see and hear the water rushing along. Have you ever been inside? In that kind of structure, I assume the millwheel is inside, correct? It must be enormous.
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Post by spindrift on Jul 25, 2009 8:58:09 GMT
Yes, Bixa - the town is in a small valley. Soon I'll climb up Quarry Hill which is behind King Alfred's statue (you can see it in the picture) and I'll take a photo of the layout of the town. There is a chart up there at the lookout that shows the layout of the streets in Roman days and that's still the same today! Extraordinary.
When I'm walking up the hill on the other side of town I often recall Thomas Hardy's story, Tess of the D'Ubervilles. At the end of his book he writes of Tess's friends who, the day of her hanging, are walking into Winchester and looking across the valley to the prison at the top of the hill (it is still there today).
I'm ashamed to say that I've never been into the Mill. I must make a point of doing this soon. I've also never been on a tour of the Roof of the cathedral. The views must be amazing.
I'm so glad you're not all bored by this thread which is going to go on.....
Thanks to the kind soul who re-aligned my 'plaque' picture to go next to the mill picture. I tried for a long time to do this last night and couldn't work it out. Instead of choosing the pre-set picture re-size options I'm attempting to re-size them myself. I find the 'medium' option is too small. I've been experimenting with sizes but can't settle on the ideal size for Medium. Can you help please? I have several more pictures (with plaques) coming up and am not sure what to do!
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Post by spindrift on Jul 25, 2009 9:45:07 GMT
Now taking the path to the right alongside the river, I soon come upon this treasured remnant of the ancient Roman city walls. You can see that it was made of flints - two thousand years later flints are still in use!
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Post by mtnag on Jul 25, 2009 13:21:51 GMT
You mentioned Trout earlier. Is this a good place to Fly-Fish?
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Post by Jazz on Jul 25, 2009 20:39:02 GMT
This is a beautiful way to spend time. You are walking me through this exqusite countryside and town as here it thunders and the rain is violent. Perfect! Your photos are lovely and your writing just enough to give a sense of what we are seeing. Thank you, Spindrift.
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Post by lola on Jul 25, 2009 23:04:28 GMT
That green water is beautiful. And what a great statue of King Alfred. I'm surprised more people up on the 4th plinth aren't trying to look like statues.
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Post by spindrift on Jul 26, 2009 10:49:34 GMT
I went up the hill overlooking Winch yesterday and took some good shots of the cathedral and high street with my powerful zoom lens. I'll post them later.
Yes, Hampshire is well-known for its fly-fishing. I was given my first lessons on a carrier stream near the water meadows. I was then sent home to practice by casting onto the lawn, with a piece of red wool tied instead of a fly. There are chalk streams all over Hampshire but the best fishing is on the river Test at Stockbridge and again at Ampfield, near Romsey.
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Post by spindrift on Jul 28, 2009 18:14:00 GMT
Last Saturday being sunny I walked up St. Giles' Hill which is to the east of the city. In the Middle Ages this was the site of the annual St. Giles' Fair, one of the great fairs of Europe. The Hill offers superb panoramic views of Winchester which can easily be seen to be situated in a valley. Here is a view of Winchester College and Wolvesley Castle (in the foreground) through the trees on my way up the hill. Over the centuries Winchester's bishops have lived at Wolvesley. They wielded tremendous power from their fortified and moat-surrounded palace, and entertained many kings and queens. In 1554 a feast was held here for Mary 1, after her marriage to Philip of Spain in the cathedral. Ruins of Wolvesley Castle As previously mentioned the city is still in the same configuration as it was in Roman times and it was laid out in typically Roman fashion with a grid of streets arranged around two main thoroughfares that formed a T-shape. The Romans arrived in 43BC and until 70BC built the town which previously had been an important centre for the local Belgae tribe of Celts from around 200 BC. By the third century AD stout walls had been built to defend the town when barbarian raids became more frequent. The Romans finally abandoned Winchester circa 410AD. In 1554AD Queen Mary Tudor and Philip of Spain married at the cathedral. Behind the cathedral you can see Peninsula Barracks which is near (or on) the site where, in 1682, Charles 11 commissioned Christopher Wren to build a huge royal palace on the site of the old castle (built by William the Conqueror). The shell of the palace was complete and roofed when the king died in 1685 but the project was abandoned and was burned down in 1894. You can see the King Alfred statue looking down the Broadway with the Guildhall on the left with its clock tower and the High Street meandering up the hill towards the ancient West Gate of the old town. A closer view of the Westgate Arch And a closer look at the Guildhall clock tower.
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Post by imec on Jul 28, 2009 18:29:41 GMT
Beautiful spindrift! I love the views of the rooftops with their chimney pots. And thanks for taking the time to add the historical captions.
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Post by Deleted on Jul 28, 2009 19:18:00 GMT
English towns often seem to have more green spaces than a lot of French towns, but I guess it depends on the region -- and the gardening style. Since the French like to chop the branches off the trees regularly, they rarely become as naturally massive as trees that are not pruned the same way.
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Post by spindrift on Jul 28, 2009 20:16:49 GMT
Thanks Imec. I now wish I had included more historical details with some of the previous pictures. As I've walked around Winchester I've become more aware of how special this town is and that I'm privileged to be living in the centre (in fact within the walls) of one of the most important places in England. If the weather stays fine next week, I hope to climb to the top of the Westgate to photograph the high street from the west!
Kerouac, what you say about the trees is oh so true! The French seem to care for their trees in an entirely different manner to the English who let them grow as tall as they like! I prefer our way but I have to say that they tend to steal light from the houses - particularly in the case of my house!
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Post by bazfaz on Jul 28, 2009 20:45:27 GMT
Lovely photo essay. Congratulations. You are one of two people I know who have lived in Winchester. The other is Tommy, who was transferred from a French prison to finish his sentence in Winchester prison.
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Post by spindrift on Jul 28, 2009 21:08:17 GMT
Walking back from St. Giles' Hill the first pub I pass is The Black Boy. The building probably dates back to the 1700s. The Old Chesil Rectory is a fine late medieval timber-framed building on Chesil Street and is one of Winchester's oldest houses, dating from 1450. It is currently being run as a restaurant. Past the bronze statue of Alfred the Great, Winchester's heroic Saxon king, who watches over the city which he rebuilt and made the capital of Wessex. Alfred was buried in Old Minster in 899 and his ghost is said to have haunted the church until his body was transferred to New Minster, founded by his son, Edward the Elder. ref: The Pitkin City GuidesPast the River Itchen again which seems to flow everywhere! And at last I come to the back gate of Winchester College. As the porter is momentarily not in evidence I slip in and take some pictures (but I am caught on the way out!) The following pics are of the College The College was founded in 1387 (on derelict land) by Bishop William of Wykeham to prepare 70 needy scholars for his recently founded New College in Oxford, in order to produce well-educated priests at a time when so many had been lost to the Black Death. (The plague struck in 1348 -50 and again in the 1360s and 1370s).The Bishop could not have imagined that his school would be flourishing, and using most of its original buildings, some 600 years later! Boys used a washing place on the right of this fine medieval quadrangle every day, whatever the season, right up until the middle of the last century! Ref: The Pitkin City GuidesWykehamists of the past rebelled several times against the disproportionate discipline, frequent beatings and poor food. In 1793 they pulled up cobble-stones from Chamber Court, took them up into the tower and threw them down on the staff below. The college has been well-known in the past for its spartan conditions: right up until 1930 the boys went to bed by candlelight, and until 1961 they bathed in tin baths of cold water. Ref: Pitkin Guide
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Post by spindrift on Jul 28, 2009 22:17:53 GMT
This is the front entrance of the pub Baz likes so much - the Wykeham Arms. Many prints are sold of this view; I will buy one before I leave Winchester and I have given many away to friends. You can see the Wykeham Arms from the top of the cathedral. At last there's a chance to photograph some people buying ice-creams. I've been quite solitary on most of my walks. P & G Wells is the oldest book shop in the town and supplies books to Winchester College and Pilgrims' School.
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