22nd of September, 2025 - Hever to the Cotswolds

Set off from Hever this morning, determined that if I missed Canterbury I was definitely not going to miss Winchester Cathedral. Winchester was the capital before London, so lots and lots of medieval links and stories. Let me at 'em.

I drove past Leo's gap year school (Handcross Park) and stopped in to say hello - well, not really - the only person I said hello to was the guy fixing the electronic gate and I think he thought I was a little strange getting out of my car to take a picture with the sign. There was nowhere to stop, so I pulled in to the school driveway and by the time I'd taken the photo he'd fixed the gate, closed it and left, so I was ever-so-slightly wondering how I was gonna get out of there, but before I had even turned my engine on, the gate magically opened by itself with no-one in sight, so I just skedaddled!

It's amazing to me that all of England's "big" cities, Winchester included, have all these tiny little cobblestone roads, with no footpaths so you just have to walk up the middle of the road and the cars go around you. Even in this day and age the towns are built around these magnificent Cathedrals and it is the centre of the universe for that town or city. Winchester Cathedral is huge - as I guess you'd expect the capital's place of worship to be, but funnily enough, not as crowded as Westminster Abbey, so it's easy to get around and see things and actually feel like you're in a Cathedral, not a tourist attraction. It's beautiful though - of course - all the Abbeys and Cathedrals here are.

Lots of gravestones of Vikings and warriors. Good old King Canute and Queen Emma are in one or all of the chests in one section, apparently the chests fell off their pedestals during a fire and everybody's bones got mixed up.

Jane Austen is the last really famous person buried there. She died in 1817 and the Cathedral decided they were all full up and there would be no further burials in 1833. Happy 250th birthday, Jane!

I left Winchester and found my way to my accommodation in the little village of Ewen in the Cotswolds. The drive just got prettier as I went and the little old couple who greeted me are just delightful. They've been running their B&B for 35 years and they're so very, very English. I think she has dementia. Neil did most of the talking and his gorgeous little wife Ellen just kept saying "what do you want for breakfast dear?" then she'd tap the side of her head and say "my memory you know, not as good as it used to be". So sweet.

Had an early night, ready for my assault on Bath tomorrow.