Winchester part two. Still here despite storm Bert’s attempt to get rid of us the last couple of days.

We came here for two reasons, one we had never stayed here before and two it was ideal for visiting friends from here. So a plan was hatched for three visits out from here.

First trip out was to near Reading to visit some friends who are into the Hot Rod scene which is how we met a long time ago. We have been meaning to catch up with them for ages but one thing or another it never happened. It’s our fault really because we’re never in one place for long enough not like most people who have a base.

I was really looking forward to seeing Andrew Chris and Sam their son and of course seeing the hot rod collection and more. They had also been building a new home which we had seen photos of last time we saw them, which was actually six years ago we managed to work out. How time flies.

The house was fantastic as we knew it would be and with a big garage in the garden to house his and her hot rods. I was in heaven as we toured the garage and the latest bike build in another part of the garage.

After drooling over the garage we then went off down the road to see Sam their son who runs his own repair shop which sees a hot rod or two through its doors. At the same premises is a collection of lock ups which house more old cars and bikes and other machinery. We had such a great day with them catching up and the garage tour was great.

We left when it was dark which was not ideal because I have trouble driving at night with the other cars lights etc. But it was worth it.

A couple of days later I had planned to go out on my bike on a twenty five mile ride which was a loop around some back roads. This also took in a detour to a building called the Grange which I wanted to get some photos of.

I had looked at the route on line and studied the google map so had an idea where I was going. But it meant stopping, reading the directions and then going off and stopping again in a mile or so or if I was lucky a few miles. The more I remembered the less times I had to stop. So I stopped a lot.

The Grange is a grade one listed neo classical mansion built in the 1660’s and is owned by English heritage. It’s used for weddings and concerts, that’s if you have lots of money. How much? only from £1350 per person. They do all the organising but drinks are extra.

It was so nice being there with no one around, shame I could not get a look inside. Back on my bike I headed down the driveway where countless carriages would have gone up and down when people used to live in the Grange over the years.

Shortly after leaving the Grange I stopped at a junction to look at my directions and yes I was lost, somehow I had missed a turning, probably going too fast. I set off then realised that way was not right so looked on google earth to see where I was and where I should be. I had was a mental block and decided to head up a road in which I thought was the right direction.

After a mile I came across a sign saying road ahead closed, surely a small bike could get through. There was a diversion which took me down a small road and then I saw a Bridle way which I thought if I took that, went down through a wood I would be where I wanted to be. It all worked out ok and I was back on track.

I finally got back to the campsite and had done 28 miles instead of 25 so not too far out my way and more interesting maybe.

We needed two new tyres on the car and there was a tyre shop in Winchester so I booked online and paid for the tyres. How much? That’s eight tyres I have bought in the last six months. Can anyone lend me a pound.

To get over the shock and before I ran out of money I needed to get a pint down my neck so the next day we planned on going into Winchester. Nikki caught the bus in the morning and I decided to walk in. I don’t like wandering around shops. I met her in a coffee shop.

Surprisingly she had not bought anything but told me she had seen a nice jumper but could not justify the price. How much? £550 she replied. I said it’s a good job she didn’t buy it otherwise she would have to take it back.

While in WinchesterI wanted to sell my old phone so walked into a phone shop/ repairer and asked How much? £110 cash now. Deal I said. We had already decided that if I could get £100 for it I would be happy. It was only sitting in the cupboard getting older and worthless.

So with £110 pound in my pocket and a pub in my sights off we went and nearly three hours later my phone money was all spent on some beer, wine, food, lunch coffee and cake and the bus fare home.

Out of the pub and up to the bus stop and not long to wait for the bus and no crowd. Driver was a happy soul, or I am sure he would be if it was Xmas or perhaps that was what he was so miserable about, the thought of all those people out there enjoying theirselves while he is taking them home. It was his career choice.

Back at base we slept well. The next few days were cold with even a little bit of snow. Luckily that didn’t last and I think we got off lightly to what some of the country got hit with.

While I was lost on my bike I went through a small town called New Alresford and thought Nikki would like it so we decided to go there and have a look around. It’s only five miles away so we drove there and parked up and walked up one side of the street and down the other. It’s a proper old town with a street market on a Thursday, we went on Friday so missed the market.

There is also a railway station which does steam train rides called the Watercress line. The train is all geared up for doing some night runs at the moment and the train and carriages are all decked out with lights. I wanted to get some photos of the old carriages and the station because it’s a lovely old building and has been left and restored that way.

I walked up towards the end of the station and all the gates were locked. A guy asked if he could help me. I said I just wanted to take some photos so he let me in. Really nice of him. So I had the whole station to myself to take photos.

As we walked back to the car we looked in estate agents windows to see what we could not afford. How much? You need a big bank balance to live around here I can tell you.

We passed St John’s baptist church which looked nice in the sunlight and a lovely row of old cottages.

This last weekend we were supposed to go to visit some friends in Andover. I came down with a bug so Nikki went in her own while I just slept and felt horrible. I am feeling a bit better now and Nikki had a great time so all was good.

And as I started doing this blog today our heating has packed up. Great! just as it’s starting to get colder. My first thoughts were after trying different things to see if I could find out what’s wrong with it were. HOW MUCH is this going to cost. I will tell you next time I post on here. We leave here to head for Devon in two days where hopefully I can get it fixed. I need to get my jumper and gloves out for now.

We left Grafham water site and I headed for the M1, M25, M3 towards Winchester. Nikki went a different way to avoid the motorways. Surprisingly all the motorways were flowing really well even with the roadworks and being down to 50mph. So a good journey and made good time.

The first afternoon is always a lazy one after a drive, so we just chilled out and decided to go into Winchester the next day on the bus. It saves the trying to find somewhere to park stress, and more importantly if we decide to have a drink in a pub we can both have one instead of more decisions as to who is going to have a drink and who is going to drive.

The bus stop is a five minute walk away and costs just two pounds each to hop on and hop off where ever you like. We hopped off in the town/ city and wandered up the high street through the street markets and wished we had not had lunch before we came out. Reason being a lot of the market stalls were food from all over the world and I was starting to dribble.

I wanted to get some photos of the cathedral so back through the food stalls and down a small alleyway led us to Winchester cathedral. All decked out with poppies ready for Remembrance Day.

Winchester cathedral was built between 1079 and 1532. Thats years not the time. At 170 metres long it’s the longest medieval cathedral in the world. We didn’t go inside and one side had scaffold up so pictures were hard to get.

As usual before getting here I had done some research and I found a pub I wanted to visit. I know that you’re thinking no surprise there. The pub is called the Black boy and I just had to go there to see the inside. Full of memorabilia and stuffed animals and all sorts of weird stuff. And some nice real ales and wine for Nikki.

To get to the pub we had to go through the street market again only this time we could not resist the tempting offers and opted for a samosa each off an Indian stall. And yes it was very nice. I also spotted a lovely old clock in the high street, well to be honest it wasn’t that hard to miss being so big but was high up and looked fantastic.

The pub did not disappoint. A proper old pub with beams and small rooms dotted about, a mish mash of furniture and the decor was so interesting. The barman told me he had worked there for a few months and still sees stuff he hasn’t seen before. To be honest I could have stayed in there for the evening and I think if they did food I would have but it was only 3pm and we had to get back to home to eat. The food stalls on the market would have shut up by the time we left the pub.

We decided to catch the five pm bus back to base. What a mistake that was as the bus stop was full of students catching their bus home. From Winchester the bus goes to a small town called New Alresford and not a lot in between. So I thought the bus would stop just down the road out of Winchester to let off all the students even though it’s only a ten minute walk why would they walk when they can save their legs and travel for free with their student pass. I was wrong, they were all going to New Alresford.

It was dark now and not knowing when to press the bell to get the bus to stop for our stop Nikki asked a young girl next to her if she knew the route. She didn’t but another young girl behind us said she did and will press the bell for us. As the bus stopped I thanked her for helping the aged. We know to stay in the pub longer now so all the students have gone home and the bus will be quieter.

A couple of days ago we had a walk up Morn hill which is next to the huge cemetery. Morn hill is where there used to be some camps during the First World War. Now it’s just fields and a nature reserve but there are some information boards and reading them you relized how lucky we are and how hard it must have been for those poor soldiers. Many who lost their lives.

Yesterday I went out on my bike. There is a cycle route called the South Downs way which goes from Winchester to Eastbourne. It’s about 100 miles. No I didn’t do it all but I did some of it being off road and some on the back roads away from the traffic. The first time out I did 16 miles and yesterday 24 miles.

I went to Hockley railway viaduct via back roads and cycle route 23 The viaduct sits near to the M3 and still has one of the old signals on it. The walls to it are high so you can’t see over the top but at one end is a barred piece so you can see below.

After leaving the viaduct I went on some back roads which took me through a lovely old village called Easton and then on through Avington estate onto some off road trails. Past some sheep which looked like teddy bears but sounded like sheep. Past a couple of nice looking pubs. The bike handle bars went strange then pulling towards the pub but I resisted and managed to get them in a straight line.

I passed an old house I would love to own with all the grounds and barns. Just need a lotto win and time to get it done up. Then we could move in. The nice pub is only a mile away also. Off to get a lotto ticket now.

So that’s us for almost the first week here. We are here for another two weeks. Tomorrow we are off to Reading to see some friends for the day. They are into the Hot Rod scene also so we will be talking a lot about cars. The sun is actually shining now but it’s cold.

After leaving York we headed for Carsington water. A site near a big lake which I was hoping to bike or walk around while we were there. The site is set above the lake on a small hill and is in a pine forest. All very nice but the pine needles get everywhere.

The site was not very busy when I arrived and I parked up, then realised I was close to the play area. Ok I thought it’s the end of the kids holidays that’s why it’s quiet. I was wrong.

The next day more family’s came and that meant more kids. Don’t get me wrong I don’t mind kids but I hate the screaming and shouting. Maybe I am just getting old. It will be fine I said to Nikki we are out in the day and we’re only here for a few days. We survived although only the last two days were silent. The clocks going back helped.

We went for a walk from the site to the visitor centre. We were hoping for blue skies but it was all Misty. So Misty we could not see the other side of the lake but in a strange sort of way it was nice.

The visitor centre was really interesting and there is a small island off the lake you can walk to. As it was Halloween it had a theme and they had made a great effort to entertain the kids for Halloween.

On the island were some sculptures which had holes in so you looked at the view through them to get a different perspective. These were probably really good when they were first built but since then the trees and bushes have all grown up so the view from most of them is a waste of time. I found one which was good and made a nice photo.

The next day I planned on biking around the lake which is 8 miles around, I would have gone around twice or more to make it a nice ride. But my plan was scuppered due to 10k run and a half marathon going on around the lake so I still went out on my bike but up in the hills and back roads avoiding all the runners and traffic.

Out and about I came across a pub with an unusual name. I do like pub names and often wonder how they got their name. This one made me chuckle.

Our friends Kevin and Sheryl were staying on a site about ten miles away and originally came from this area so know it very well. They told us some nice places to visit but we would have needed to be in the area for a few weeks to see them all. It is a lovely area though and we will be back.

Chatsworth house is not far away and Kevin said there is a lovely farm shop there. Chatsworth house is a very famous royal house but at £35 each to go in we gave it a miss. But we did go to the farm shop and managed to spend nearly fifty pounds.

Kevin and Sheryl picked us up one morning and we went off for a tour of the area. They showed us where they used to live etc and the little surrounding villages where Kevin worked as a local policeman. Now when ever we meet up with them it normally involves an early doors pint. The pub just five minutes from where they were staying was the choice this day. And another funny name for a pub.

All too soon we had to leave the campsite and move on to a CL about two and a half hours away. A CL is a small five pitch campsite. The reason for us choosing this one was we had to take the camper to have the heating fluid changed in Wellingborough. And this was about 40 minutes away. But that meant we had to leave at 7am to get there to avoid the main traffic. We could have stayed at the place that was doing it so I messed up there. Unusual for me I know.

We were at the CL for two days so had a drive out on the second day to a viaduct I had found while doing my research.

The Harringworth viaduct is the longest masonry viaduct in the U.K. It is 1275 yards long which is actually 1.166 km. It has 82 arches, some 60m high and each arch has a 40 ft, 12 metre span.

It is built with 20 million bricks, no I didn’t count them. 20,000 cubic yards of concrete, 19,000 feet of cubic stone. Some brickwork is lime so 37,543 cubic yards of lime, 5,826 cubic yards of barrow lime which is used in the concrete and mortar. The first brick was laid in March 1876. I bet you never knew that.

After we left the viaduct we came across a lovely old town called Uppingham so had to park up and have a stroll around. Some lovely old buildings and a lot of well to do people. I loved the old bakery.

The next day we got up early and headed for Wellingborough to get the heating fluid changed. We were last there five years ago and the staff are so professional. A real old school service which sadly you don’t get at a lot of places now. We left there just before midday and headed for Grafham water where friends run a campsite.

Again the campsite is near a huge lake which sadly I have not had time to get around on my bike or walk so that’s another reason to come back here. This site was built on what was once a hunting estate for the Oliver Cromwell family.

It’s a small village and again has some lovely old houses but a real community feel. So much so it has a small village shop which is like a prefab shed and next to it looking more like a shed is the village pub. Not so much a funny name on this one, Grafham trout just a funny building. Of course you have to support the local community while you’re there and how could we walk to see the pub and not go in. It’s impossible. And if it was closed that would be bad research on my behalf. A couple of drinks was had to support the local community.

We also went to visit Nikki’s sister Jo from this site and had a nice time catching up with her and her son Ben. She lives in a modern house but a few minutes walk from the front door is a small lake and nice walk.

So today is our last day here. The site is empty as it’s the end of season. We are just chilling out and tomorrow we head off to Winchester. It will be a three hour trip involving mostly motorways including the M25 which I hope is flowing well.