| England has many fine, historic and beautiful | | | | doesn't have a Normal church as its focal |
| towns and villages but it would be hard to | | | | point; it has a Norman cathedral; arguably, |
| find a town that could surpass Winchester in | | | | the finest cathedral in England. The setting |
| its beauty.When you think of the | | | | is also perfect. The cathedral has a |
| quintessential ancient, historic English | | | | park-like setting of grass and shady trees. |
| town, what does you imagination conjure up? | | | | In summer the vistor can picnic on the lawn |
| The town would be full of old medieval, | | | | along with the local residents.Winchester was |
| Georgian and Victorian buildings that are | | | | once the ancient capital of Anglo-Saxon |
| nestled into one another. There would be a | | | | England; the other half of England being |
| beautiful winding river running through the | | | | occupied by Vikings. It was one man who kept |
| centre of it. Of course it would have a | | | | the southern half of England free of Vikings |
| beautiful Norman church set in a green. The | | | | and that was King Alfred the Great. He was a |
| roads and lanes would be small and intimate, | | | | local boy, you know. He was crowned king of |
| crammed with delightful shops and | | | | England in the cathedral and lived and died |
| restaurants. What imagined English town would | | | | in the city. You can visit the spot where he |
| not have a king or two buried in the church | | | | was buried alongside his wife and eldest son. |
| grounds: perhaps even a saint or two. And of | | | | He is the only English king to have ever been |
| course it would have a long association with | | | | given the epitaph 'the Great'.You can also |
| artists and writers, beguiled by the town | | | | visit the tombs of other 'minor' kings of |
| charms; and would it be stretching the dream | | | | England in the cathedral.And what about the |
| too far to suppose that world famous writers | | | | saints I mentioned earlier. Well, we've all |
| lived, died and were buried there.If you come | | | | heard about St Swithin's day and how, if it |
| and visit Winchester you may think you are | | | | rains on this day it'll rain for the next 40 |
| dreaming, for the town has all of the above | | | | days. St. Swithin was tutor to King Alfred |
| and so much more.The town is settled into the | | | | and was also buried in a tomb in the |
| soft rolling hills and meadows that are found | | | | cathedral. It'll be no surprise to the reader |
| on the edge of the chalk-downs in the county | | | | now, to be told that there are other, lesser |
| of Hampshire. It would be fair to say that | | | | saints buried within the cathedral.The beauty |
| the county of Hampshire is what most envisage | | | | of Winchester has always attracted royalty, |
| when the think of what the English landscape | | | | the wealthy and famour people of the day. It |
| should look like. And the approach into | | | | has always been a magnet for writers. Keats |
| Winchester on any road is delightful.The | | | | was a frequent visitor as was Anthony |
| River Itchen runs through the middle of the | | | | Trollope; both writer based works on the city |
| town. In fact many tributaries and streams | | | | and its surroundings. Perhaps the most famous |
| run through the town. In medieval times the | | | | writer who lived in Winchester was Jane |
| town was famous for it's cultivation of | | | | Austen who wrote some of the most enduring |
| watercress (the plant is still grown outside | | | | novels in English. Jane Austen was born in |
| of the town). Watercress requires water of | | | | Hampshire and lived most of her life in the |
| exceptional clarity and purity in which to | | | | county. She died in Winchester and was also |
| grow, and the River Itchen's water is crystal | | | | buried inside the cathedral.The items of |
| clear. In fact the river is so clean that | | | | interest mentioned above are just a fraction |
| when you stroll along its banks you can see | | | | of what the visitor can find of interest in |
| the many fresh water trout in the river. And | | | | this city. There is much, much more. Even if |
| I'm not lying when I tell you that you can | | | | the visitor was oblivious to the town's rich |
| see anglers fly-fishing in the middle of the | | | | and proud history and the famous citizens who |
| town! When you walk along the many riverside | | | | live and died there, the visitor could not |
| walks you will also see ducks, moorhens, | | | | miss the incomparable charm and beautiful |
| swans and all manner of wildlife.Winchester | | | | that the city has in abundance. |