There are a million and one things that I will miss about Winchester. I’m not even relocating far away - I’m just heading to Southampton which is the next city over. Winchester couldn’t be more different though, and it’ll be those differences that I notice when I wake up to a train going past rather than the bells of the cathedral.
So, in my last week of being a fully fledged Winchesterite, I’m doing lots of reminiscing and waxing lyrical about the city I’ve spent the last four years of my life in. Here’s a short selection of the long ol’ list things that I will miss about Winchester;
- Winchester in the Summer.
Winchester in the summer is so ridiculously picturesque, it’s almost annoying. Cathedrals and beautiful architecture book end every street and the people are so unique, it’s hard not to be inspired and intrigued by the people that flock into town for things like The Hat Fair. - Cathedral Grounds.
Speaking of people flocking; the Cat Grounds seems to have some sort of magnetic force field which attracts anyone and everyone in a two mile radius, making them lay out on the grass and sun-worship. Families with small French Bulldogs called Gloria and a thousand foreign students, rocking their bright orange NCS T-shirts. - Locals.
This sounds strange, but you do learn to recognise certain Winchester faces even though you may never interact with them. There’s the man who often sits outside either Costa or ASK Italian who set his feet on fire not too long ago. There’s the older gentleman who busks with his steel guitar, playing the most beautiful Ice Cream Truck melodies that fill the air of the high street. The blonde woman, that crosses my path every week day; no idea who she is, or what she does, but she’s always walking the opposite direction to me around 930 every morning and she always smiles. - Maya from Starbucks
Beautiful Maya; she knows my coffee order and I sometimes get her free stuff from Lush. She’s always happy and smiling and only once have I ever seen her hungover and even then it was still somewhat endearing. - Jack from Costa
There’s a guy who works at Costa who’s saving for an MA in Cognitive Neuroscience. How cool is that? He tried to talk to me once like I didn't know what ‘synesthesia’ meant or like I didn’t quite get what ‘cognitive’ meant, but aside from that he’s interesting and he’s always nice to me when making my Peach Ice Tea to go (with an extra pump of Peach Syrup). - Sainsburies on my doorstep
Although this has become an expensive habit, the staff at Sainsburies regularly see me rushing across the round at 7:49pm to stock up on Monster, carbs and Italian meats before they close at 8pm. Will I ever learn to go before closing? Probably not. Do they still ID me? Never; which makes me feel hella old. - Sunday Markets
Winchester is famous for it’s markets; there’s a huge billboard at Waterloo Station at Christmas advertising Winchester’s Nordicesque Christmas Market and the rest of the year, Winchester alternates between the weekly fresh fruit and food markets to the Sunday markets. Sunday Market’s alternate between Arts & Crafts markets where you can find amazing things, including none other than my person favourites Remnant Black and Noah’s Arts & Crafts, and Vintage & Antique Markets where I can always find something to convince myself I need. - My Bath Tub
Working for Lush, it’s an occupational hazard that you may fall in love with your bath tub. I’m moving from my two bed in Winchester to a room in a Young professional house in Southampton where my house-full of things must go into one room and there are only two showers. No tub. I have made this decision because of purely financial reasons and unfortunately the bath became something I couldn’t keep. Friends with baths, I will be inviting myself to your house for bathing on a semi-regular basis, hope you’re all okay with this. - KKB Sundeck
Although I only visited the deck a couple times, each time was wonderful. Good smoothies, always catches the last of the summer evening sunshine, and a great view of the uni and the trees beyond. You forget you in the centre of a city when you’re surrounded by so much green. - Wolvsey Castle Ruins
Continuing on with the theme of green…
Wolvsey Castle Ruins are the perfect place for a picnic especially when the Cat Grounds are full of freshers and small children who don’t understand that I just wanna soak up a little sun and talk with my friends. People seem to forget it’s there, which is quite nice when you remember, but also it’s another good spot for the last of the summer evening sunshine. - The Cathedral ‘Spot’
Staying on the idea of finding your own spot in the sun, my friend Cassi introduced me to her Winchester Sun Spot recently; third bench in from the right behind the Cathedral (where the majority of the christmas market stall usually are erected) - it’s so warm there; it’s sheltered so you never get the chill of the breeze, and you’re in direct sunlight for the most of the day so it’s the perfect place to top up your tan with a book or grab a quick coffee and soak up your recommended daily allowance of vitamin D on your lunch break! - Fruit Market Lady
I want to say her name is Jane, something like that; Jane, or Kate…something short and simple which coincidentally is a lot like her. She’s just a woman, no more than 5’5 who works on the fruit and veg stall in Winchester, but boy does she have some pipes on her. She’s got that “Two punnet’sa raspberries for a pand!” down perfectly - the Winchester high street soundtrack would be lost without her shouts peppering the street. - Yasmin from the Co Op
Yasmin doesn’t even know my name and that is absolutely fine. Every day after work, I’d get off the train at Winchester station and head into the Co Op. She was always there; hair and make up always impeccable, but in an effortless way. We bonded over sarcastic eye rolls at crazy customers and we wallowed in misery about how the days seemed neverending. - Winchester Coffee Lifestyle
I know this must sound strange, but because Winchester is so small and because there are so many coffee shops, it’s very easy to fall into what I call Winchester Coffee Lifestyle. Meeting friends for coffee becomes a regular, if not daily, occurrence because everyone is so busy but they’re more than happy to stop for 1/2 an hour for a coffee. - The White Company
I’ll miss The White Company store in Winchester because I worked for TWC in London and the stores, the scents and the high thread count sheets remind me of a really good time in my life. Except the time that a bottle of Wild Thyme Room Spray ended me in A&E but that’s another story. - Bar Girl/Bar Owners
I worked in four bars in my time in Winchester, which was again a really good time in my life. Whilst I wasn’t a massive fan of the hours, the people I met and the silliness that took place made up for that. Winchester has many many bars and pubs, but most of them are owned by the same people; Jane owns The Mucky Duck, The Corner House, The Green Man and I’m sure something else, at the time Colin owned The Exchange, Alfie’s, The William Walker and then of course, David has The Black Bottle, The Black Rat, The Black Boy and now The Black Hole. When you work in hospitality in Winchester, it is very likely that at some point you will end up working for one of the aforementioned. They all come with their own pro’s and con’s but bar work’ll bring you an interesting lifestyle you can’t quite decide if you like or not. - Knowing every third person on the street
Having worked in hospitality in Winchester, your world becomes smaller.
Having lived in the city centre, your world becomes even smaller.
You begin to realise that you recognise faces of almost everyone around you, if not you know them personally. This is good on one hand, because you’re never too far from a friendly face, unfortunately on the other hand, this also means you're never too far from a not-so friendly face. I like knowing people and saying Hi in the street, but I’m not a fan of the Wessex Whisperers spreading my business around. - University
Winchester University has been my centre of education for the past four years, so it’s no wonder that I’m going to miss it. The buildings themselves all hold sensitive and scandalous memories (that belong not just to me, but also my many house/course mates) it’ll be interesting to see how I feel about it in a few years. Not to mention of course the lecturers; crying on Vanessa, a near-miss car crash with an unnamed American Studies lecturer and of course two unforgettable weeks in Vegas as part of the American Studies course. - Prison, Hospital, Law Courts, Melbury Lodge
I don’t know whether it’s because Winchester used to be the capital of England, or whether it’s because it’s not too far from London, or even simply just because it’s a well established city but Winchester is well equipped for everything. If you need inspiration for your Creative Writing degree, it’s all right there waiting on your doorstep. I’ll miss that about Winchester, but I’m sure I’ll find new inspiration. - The friends that have become family.
Of course, this is going to sound a little soppy, but it’s true. I met some life long friends in Winchester, some I speak to everyday and some I don’t speak to for weeks but when I do, we pick up right where we left off. My Aunt always used to say to me ‘It’s the friends you meet at University that you keep for life, not those you meet at College…’ - and she couldn’t have been more right. People who I thought were my best friends in College, I haven’t heard from in years. The girls and guys I met in my years in Winchester will always be with me, even if geographically they couldn’t be further away.
