Streets of Winchester

Did I fancy a trip to Winchester on Saturday G asked.

The answer was, of course, yes I do.

G is a regular visitor to the record fair held in Southampton but fancied having a mooch around one held this weekend in Winchester.

On the way to the hotel where it was being held G took us on a little detour to show us the offices he'll be working from in October. He works not far from home at the moment and this move will mean a longer working day and two train journeys. 

But we live the station and once in Winchester the offices are a short walk from the station so those things are definitely two pluses.

The offices look to be as good as offices can be, it was the row of houses we walked past I liked the look of.

Castle Terrace is a row of three storey houses and all looked well loved.

When we got to the record fair I decided not to go but take a wander down the road it was in, not one I had walked along before. In just a few hundred yards I saw....

a magnificent wooden front door

stained glass windows in subtle tones

a beautiful letter box inside the hotel

a giant sized pair of pine cones

something which is possibly a griffin?

and a very obliging blackbird who sat on the wall just long enough for me to take his photo.

G left the record pair empty handed this time, which is good in some way as he'll have more money to spend when he goes off to a rock festival in a couple of months time.

It was a beautifully warm day so we made our way to the cathedral grounds where we sat and ate our lunch.

Another hour later we made our way back to the station, retracing our steps the way we had originally come.
Past the Elizabeth Frink sculpture of a man on a horse

to the Age Concern charity shop where we had made a purchase earlier in the day. 
I was very pleased to find a fairly large wicker fish bowl shaped light shade. It's amalgamation of a couple of shades I had seen recently and had been considering as options for our hallway.
I grabbed it as soon as I spotted it and when I showed it to G he said he liked it (bonus) and as it was £3.99 (bigger bonus) I bought it. 
Thing is although it was light it's a bit big and quite delicate and they couldn't find a bag big enough to put it in and so we decided leaving it in the shop and collecting it just as we left was the best option.
S then found her own solution to transporting it home safely.