20 Things I'll Miss About Winchester.

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; 

1. 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.
   
   
2. 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.
   
   
3. 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.
   
   
4. 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.
   
   
5. 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).
   
   
6. 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.
   
   
7. 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.
   
   
8. 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.
   
   
9. 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.
   
   
10. 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.
    
    
11. 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!
    
    
12. 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.
    
    
13. 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.
    
    
14. 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.
    
    
15. 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.
    
    
16. 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.
    
    
17. 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.
    
    
18. 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.
    
    
19. 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.
    
    
20. 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. 

Family Is Underrated.

“Where are you going?” Sebastian asked, suspicious.
“Just going to ask my Mum something...” I said back, lying through my teeth.
“You’re going to tell her I was picking my nose, aren’t you!”
“No.”  I smiled, like butter wouldn’t melt.

“Sebbie! Stop picking your nose!” My Mum shouted back into the lounge to Sebastian who had been picking his nose.

The above is an excerpt of just one of the many stories that always come out when I hang out with my Mother’s side of the family. We can’t have been more than six at the time, but Sebastian without fail always brings up this story, ratting on me for being a tell tale. It’s one of the tamer stories and there are plenty that are wonderfully embarrassing and telling of the child I used to be. One that Sebastian’s Mother (my Aunt) always brings up, is a story of me running through her back door only to trip over her door mat and then reprimand her for leaving her door mat there.  I was a clumsy kid, what can I say.

Anyway, the point of writing this wasn’t to embarrass myself with stories of my childhood, but to remind myself of how important family is. I’ve never been particularly close to my family, not in the way some girls were when I was at University. I know they’d be there if I needed them and I called them often enough. My Mum is a worrier and my Dad’s far more black and white and laid back about everything. Still, things have been a bit shit at the moment (as times sometimes are) and it makes me think about how long it was since I saw either of them.

I live in Winchester, which is probably a good 3 hour train journey to Kent where my Mum is, so I haven’t seen her since Christmas. My Dad’s in London, so he’s a little more accessible; Easter Sunday was the last time I saw him.

Sebastian, my cousin (older than me by 6 months) also lives in Winchester now as he came to University here the year after me. Having Sebastian in town is quite nice, considering up until the age of about 9 he was almost like a the brother I never had.  We went on holiday with his family and my Dad every year, he came to my birthday parties and we always spent Christmas together. Whilst I don’t see him very often now, when we do catch up for a drink it’s nice. His parents came down from Surrey yesterday to visit and I went out for dinner with them all.

Seb’s Mum and mine are identical twins, so hanging out with Sebastian’s Mum makes me feel closer to mine. I know that sounds really lame, but I miss my family sometimes, so what?
Anyway, we drove out into the country and ate dinner at a cute little riverside pub then they dropped me home. Although not a massive excursion from the mess that is my life currently, it was nice to be occupied and have my brain focus on other things aside from work, my MA, my need to move house, my lack of money and the recent end of my relationship.

It’s my birthday at the end of the month, and I’m determined to see my family and enjoy it. It would be very easy just to work and wallow in nothingness and then blame everyone but myself for a crap birthday but it’s no one’s responsibility but my own to get on with things and make things good. After all, why shouldn’t I?

Graduation; Long Live Class of 2014

“Enjoy your moment...” Jude Davies smiled to me, as I shuffled up next to him on the Cathedral stage.  Remember this moment, I said in the back of my mind; remember this moment and don’t trip.

Tuesday 14^th October was my Graduation day and let me tell you, it’s been a long time coming. Whilst I enjoyed my prom, back in Secondary school, and I had fun – Graduation was my prom. I was far more excited to go into the Cathedral that day than I was to take a bus ride to The Weald Of Kent golf club.

As a congregation, we stood with our shaking hands listening intently to the man whispering our instructions – where to go, how many steps to take, shake with your right hand, don’t forget to smile, don’t panic, don’t trip. With a group of more mature ladies before me in the graduation ceremony, I felt a little more at ease – I’d get to see them do it first so no excuses to screw up. My beautiful friend, who my boyfriend still refers to as Dolphin, was before me on the list too so the excitement within me bubbled for her as she walked to Jude and then as her name was called, to Professor Dame Mary Fagan (DCVO) at centre stage for a quick handshake before being then ushered off stage left to receive her Diploma packet.

Tentatively I stepped forward wincing as the gentleman at the stand called out my name, my full name; Alexandra Guinevere Brookman (pipe down). Right, left, right, left and I heard something I didn’t expect. A little cheer came from the back of the longest nave in the UK and I smiled – my parents, my grandmother and my partner were faces in the crowd that I couldn’t quite make out, but I knew they were there – I could hear them.

“It seems you brought your fan club with you.” Dame Mary Fagan said, shaking my hand.
“It seems so.” I nodded, positively glowing.

Having returned to my seat, my eyes welled up a little. As they read off our names, I couldn’t have been more proud. Proud of my friends for getting through everything that they did, proud of myself for giving the best that I could and proud of my family for supporting me and travelling all the miles to see me graduate.

Getting tickets for my family was a pain – I know some of you will roll your eyes at this, but my parents are divorced and both respectively remarried so that’s four parents before I even think about anyone else. I asked for four which was the maximum ticket allowance for my graduation slot, and told my Mum and Dad that they would be invited (given that I was guaranteed two). When four came in the mail a few weeks before grad, my heart sunk – I wanted my partner to be there, but what about my parents partners, or even my grandmother? Long story short, I sunk to a new level and emailed the graduation organisers playing the ‘divorced’ parents card to see if I could weedle any more tickets – eventually, after no reply, I decided that I was being silly. I’m sure there were other people who didn’t get as many tickets as I did, so I just needed to count myself lucky and make do – luckily both parents understood that I would invite my partner and my grandmother, along with my Mum and Dad to keep things happy and neutral in both camps.

After the ceremony and an emotional ‘clap-out’ from the staff and dignitaries in attendance, I managed to snap a few pictures with friends who graduated the same day, and then it was off to lunch. Returning to River Cottage for a post-graduation meal was the best choice I think I could have made, given the difference in tastes across my family. Having been to River Cottage in it’s opening week, I was pleased to return again but on this occasion with a new menu and at a different time – River Cottage feels different in the day time, in a really nice way. The atmosphere is still sophisticated, clean and happy but there’s a relaxing chilled-out vibe spreading across both floors. They were busy, but definitely not packed – possibly just a standard mid-week lunch time. I didn’t manage to catch our servers’ name, but she was delightfully laid back and more than happy to engage in banter with my Father who thinks he’s just hilarious.

If there was one thing less than brilliant at River Cottage, it would be that there bar was super-understocked. Maybe they just got hit with a big rush and hadn’t anticipated it, but it did create an awkward repetition of “Oh I’m sorry, we’re actually out of that” and “Oh, we’re also out of that too...” Still – River Cottage shines in all other aspects of hospitality.

Waiting three weeks for pictures to come through the post from Official Graduate Photographer Tempest is going to be the longest wait of my life, just because I know there are so many other family members who would love to see them and needless to says selfies with my friends probably just don’t cut it. It’s a week after graduation now and the pictures online have just about stopped surfacing, but then again it was Grad Ball on Friday so I’m in the midst of another surge of photos – some flattering, some not so. Another night of dancing like we knew our lives would never be the same. 

My friends and I have come so far in, what has turned out to be, three very short years. We’ve traded our BOP outfits for our Grad Hats and we threw them into the air with what can only be described as cliché happiness and panic that they might land in a puddle. Although it was raining on the day, that didn’t matter too much - it was annoying before hand, but after it was quite refreshing. The nerves and stress got to me so much, for some reason, that as soon as I was on my own and walking into the Cathedral the sight of my my ex-housemate Demi and my ex-coursemate Sarah turned me to jelly and I couldn’t stop the tears. I’m not even too sure what happened, but full blown ugly-tears happened and that was before the ceremony!
(Even in the term ex-housemate/coursemate makes me feel weird.)

As each person I knew took to the stage, received various screams and shouts from the audience, I couldn’t help but flick mentally through the pictures I had tacked on my university walls of my freshman halls and every room since then – so many different faces painted as so many different jungle animals, not to mention toy story characters as well as bloodied and beaten ‘emergency’ cases and multiple Halloweens to boot.  Over the three years my friends and I have forged a team of rebels and bohemians who can take on pretty much anything and I am so proud of us for coming out the other side of University a better group people. Now I get to look back at the photos surfacing online from this week of us in our glad rags holding our heads up like heroes for our parents to take our pictures.

I distinctly remember looking through the haze of people milling about in their post-graduation glow to my Gracie, who has achieved more than any of us this year, and hear her say to her proud Dad who was snapping away with this fancy DSLR “I just want to go and take pictures with my friends!” – I took this prompt as my cue to bomb her photo.

Speaking of parents, I was reintroduced to Demi’s parents who have always been so generous and lovely, to Sarah’s mother who smiled at me and shouted “Oh, the famous Lex!” and also Brett’s Mum who told me I was “a very brave girl, indeed” for choosing to wear the shoes that I did. The shoes were actually a last minute decision; black pair of lace heels that everyone told me were too high for the occasion – I stand by my decision and I rocked it.

As I draw this mammoth post to an end, I know this is going to be an incredibly morbid thought but it has to be said.  If the time comes when you and I aren’t close anymore, not like we are now, please know how important you all are to me.  Let’s tell our children about all the silly things we did with all the crazy people and show them the pictures to prove it. Thank you to all my friends, my family and everyone in between.

Although what we’ve had this week may have been the end of an era, it was the start of an age.

All the photos used in this blog are courtesy of my friends and I - particularly Sarah White, Katy Loveless, Demi Snape, Mr.Snape, Grace Latter, Mr.Latter and others.
Long Live (We Will Be Remembered) by Taylor Swift.  (Skip to 1:45)

Review: Dinner at River Cottage Canteen

Winchester seems to have a vast number of new restaurants popping up left-right and centre; Cote, Rick Stein and Wagamamas are all set to move in. The most recent, opening just last week in Abbey Gardens, is Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall’s River Cottage Canteen.

 

Having been invited to eat at The Cottage for a pre-opening dry-run, I was very excited to see what they’d done to a building that I’d seen stand empty and unused for so long.

Upon arrival we were met at the door by charming waiting staff who escorted us to the perfect table overlooking the predominance of the restaurant. What was in danger of being a very cold building has been draped in the most beautiful rope lights that show bare filament glowing yellow; the light and candles bounce off white walls and creates an atmosphere of warmth and happiness which is only accentuated by smiley, chatty staff who are happy to advise and suggest dishes. 

Our waiter, Henry, was friendly, happy and knew everything that he should have. His personal recommendations were useful throughout the night and made the whole experience more personable.  It was really nice to go to a nice event but there be an undeniable chilled-out feeling; no one was stressing out or panicking or hovering. 

The menu was larger than expected seven dishes to start, seven for mains, three sharing boards and the choice of six side dishes. Unfortunately (for me) I don’t eat fish and the menu was quite fish heavy, but for anyone else I imagine having the choice was wonderful – everything I saw coming out of the kitchen, including Fish, looked wonderfully presented and very generously portioned. I had the beef brisket which was delightful and still so wonderfully pink in the middle and James has the Wild Boar Chop which needs a steak knife but is beautifully cooked none the less.

 On a wall near our table was a little chalk board which sported the local produce companies – it was nice to know, really nice actually, that people care where their food is coming from. If anyone has seen Hugh’s River Cottage television show, you’ll know how hot he is on local and responsible sourcing. Brimfield’s vegetables is just one of the companies that River Cottage is sourcing produce from – Brimfield’s sell all different kinds of fruits and vegetables as well as a vast variety of bread and eggs (sourced locally and ethically) and have set up shop in Kingsworthy, so not far at all! 

Other flavours and food stuffs that seemed quite popular throughout the River Cottage night were pumpkins and squashes; peppering the menu with autumnal flavours as well as apple and elderflower flavourings stocking up the bar in their own Apple & Elderflower Champagne, Apple Mojitos and more. 

Whilst on the subject of the bar, I’d like to jump-up-and-down praising River Cottage for sourcing local ale too; not just local ale but Saxon Bronze - a local ale made by one man entirely on his own.  Steve used to work for the Flower Pots Brewery in Cheriton that has given us Gooden’s Gold, Perridge Pale and more. Now, he works on his own at his King Alfred’s Brewery in Winall, Winchester brewing his ales less than two miles away from River Cottage.  His Saxon Bronze is so popular that he sometimes struggles to keep up with the demand, other times he has enough spare time to whip up some of his Winchester Pale Ale which is equally as well received. 

Dessert was probably my favourite part of the night – I don’t often eat desserts, but when I do I like to choose carefully. Spoilt for choice at River Cottage we shared the Lavender Pannacotta that came with autumn raspberries, wood sorrel and vanilla shortbread AND we also had some salted caramel ice cream on the side. Salted Caramel by Jude’s Ice Cream is also a cleverly sourced product – Jude’s is from Winchester and there are currently six magnificent flavours. For a company started by one man, who named his company after his wife, they’ve done miraculously! The pannacotta was perfect; again the portioning was huge (I am NOT complaining) and we could only just finish. The lavender flavour was just right and was far from the overwhelming soapy taste you can sometimes get. 

Overall, I had a wonderful time. The guests all seemed happy and excited to see what was in store for them and that’s one of the nicest things – locals being excited about local business that use local produce.  Would I go back? For sure, I’ve already booked a table for my Graduation day so my parents and grandmother can enjoy it too. My Nan’s very opinionated so we’ll see what she makes of it!

So, to everyone at River Cottage especially Henry, Becky and Mark – thank you for a wonderful night. We’ll be back soon and we’re telling everyone how great you are.

Hair Modelling at L'Oreal ID Artist Auditions, for Caroline Schmitt.

Thursday 19^th June, 2014.
It’s six o’clock in the morning and my alarm is going off. I only fell asleep five hours ago. What is going on?

This morning, Caroline Schmitt is coming to pick me up at 6:50 for two and a half hours of hair plus half an hour of make up before a two hour drive to Bristol for her L’Oreal ID Artists Audition. It’s her audition, you say. What’s that got to do with me? I’m the Hair Model. 

‘The ID ARTIST program is now in its 10th year and is one of the most sought after development and educational opportunities for passionate, inspired hairdressers with an eye for fashion and unique creative expression. ID ARTISTS are coached by some of the industry’s biggest names on how to create the latest catwalk looks, cut and colour techniques, product innovation and the latest L’Oréal Professionnel seasonal trends.’

L’Oreal has created the best talent development program in the hairdressing world, aiming to find nurture and develop hairdressing talent through a unique mix of industry lead education sessions combined with unique hairdressing opportunities.

Having had my long brown/blonde hair dyed a copper/red brown the day before, I had been instructed not to wash it – Caroline had loaded my hair with a ‘very strong mousse’ so that when it came to styling it the next day, everything would just be a little more mouldable. Mouldable? Yes. That’s what I mean, I’m just not sure if it’s a word. 

Anyways – After arriving at the Guillaume Vappereau Salon in Otterbourne, Winchester, Caroline set about readying my hair. I won’t pretend to know, or even understand, how she created what she did especially the masterpiece that was hidden at the back; all I know is that it certainly took a while. Four bun-rings sewn together, plus two full sets of hair extensions went into the look, and my-oh-my did it weigh a lot. We’d dyed my hair to match the extensions, so it all looked natural and some of my friends who have seen the photos actually believed it all was actually my hair. I’m not sure where they think I keep the extra locks? You couldn’t hide THAT much hair in a top knot! It was all pinned in with bobby-pins/Kirby grips and multiple cans of hairspray. 

 Getting to the Radisson Blu in Bristol, where the auditions for the L’Oreal ID Artist Programme were being held, was a little hair-raising (see what I did there?) Caroline is a multi-talented hairdresser, award winning actually – French Champion, European Champion and Bronze Medalist in the World Championships, but driving is not her strongest suit. In her French car, driving at least 30KM over the speed limit at all times, we made the two/two and a half hour journey in a mere hour and fifteen minutes. She literally cut our journey in half with her ‘french’ driving.

As if the speeding wasn’t enough, I had to make the journey with a couple of extra pounds attached to my head which wobbled every speed bump and every corner we swerved. 

Here are some pictures from the day; I hope they can do most of the talking, mainly because my head still hurts from where the structure was attached. I think the look was worth it in the end, but boy was I glad to get rid of it at the end!

 

The dress, Caroline made herself, based on this year’s catwalk and looks she liked from Vogue, she styled a Primark dress into the white creation that has received so many compliments. The Black Swan-esque make up was inspired by Alexander McQueen’s catwalk and was applied by a lovely girl who had to deal with me earlier on in the day – me in my morning state, before we left Winchester. 

Overall, I had a really good experience. With various language barriers and strange eyebrow wear, the day was full of nervous laughter and congratulations for Caroline when she was accepted into the programme. The judges said they ‘were happy to end their search for ID Artists with Caroline’ – high praise indeed, but of course she deserves it. 

Congratulations again Caroline, I hope I did you proud.