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Today we were heading down to Winchester for the day. We were introducing a friend and her children to Treasure Trails. Always handy to take people under your wing for their first time as the trail writers can be a little sneaky with some of the clues … tucking them away in hardest to find locations.
When Jon and I had been down to Winchester previously, we’d tried to park in the town centre. Not only was it expensive, the car parks were often difficult to access, tucked down one way streets. This time we decided to park in the Park & Ride. We followed the directions from the A34/M3 and ended up in the Barfield P&R. It was a bargain. £3 to park for the day and get the bus into Winchester! Buses ran regularly so it was only 5 mins or so before we were heading in the city. The bus stop was right outside the Guildhall so very easy to find. Pick up was across the road.
We decided to do the Winchester City & Castle Treasure Trail and would get to see some of the city as well. It’s a city packed with history and some fantastically old building. The Cathedral is a highlight but the Great Hall and Tower are also well worth a visit. If visiting in the run up to Christmas, the Christmas Market is must-see … but try and avoid the weekend as it’s crazily busy.
This trail took us around the city, down the lanes and a new place for Callum and I to walk through were the Peninsular Barracks – where the city’s military museums are housed. That’s somewhere we need to go back to visit. The clues on this trail were fairly straight forward although one of two did take some accurate counting and working out!
Thankfully, our friends enjoyed the Treasure Trails and have gone on to do several more whenever they visit new places.
We dived into M&S to buy sandwiches and a drink for lunch and sat out on the grass in front of the cathedral. Nothing better than lunch with a view!
We weren’t ready to head back home yet and as we both had National Trust Membership, we decided to explore Winchester City Mill. The mill was still working and fascinating to see this in operation … but not somewhere to go if you had a fear of spiders. The cobwebs in the rafters were think. I don’t think they’d ever been cleared!
Time to head home. Again, just a 5 mins or so wait to catch the bus back to Barfield. Journey home as straightforward although a queues were long to join the roundabout above the M3 / A34 junction as this road wasn’t traffic light controlled.
