Tuesday 15th July 2008

Day Two - Winchester

A later breakfast after a good night's sleep and we were in the presentation hall for a talk on today's destination - Winchester.  The city that dates back to around 150BC is most famous today for its magnificent cathedral. Armed with a brief history of the city we boarded our coaches for the day's travel. Girls Preparatory School had just arrived and were able to join us for the day (no jetlag allowed!). Just under an hour took us into the county of Hampshire (Jane Austen country) and the low lying city.  Today is a special day to be visiting the cathedral as it is St Swithun's Day.  Legend has it that the body of St Swithun, who died in the 9th century, was dug up over 100 years later and placed in the cathedral.  Originally Swithun had been placed outside and it was thought that such an important religious figure should be given a large tomb in the building.  On the day the body was moved it began to rain and did not stop for 40 days.  If it rains on St Swithun's Day then we are supposed to get 40 days of rain - it stayed fine! 

On arrival in Winchester we had our lunch outside the West End of the cathedral and then went in to find some of the important historical figures remembered.  Jane Austen is buried in the cathedral, along with William Wykeham, founder of the oldest school in the country, Winchester College. There was the scent of incense in the building as they had just celebrated St Swithun's Day and an organ recital gave the place a majestic feel. There is an interesting display marking the wonderful efforts of Diver Bill (William Walker) who saved the cathedral from falling apart in the 1900s by securing the foundations with concrete, which he took down bag by bag in 14 feet of muddy water. Leaving the cathedral we made our way to Winchester College and for the first time on an ISCA program were given a guided tour of the school by the uncle of ISCA staff member Tom.  What a great tour we had.  It is hard to believe that the place is a school, it is so steeped in history.  An hour remained for a quick tour into the town, up to the Great Hall to see the round table, or into some of the shops along the High Street.

Back to Charterhouse and the chance to play some tennis or go for a swim before dinner.  A great start to the touring program.