First published in ELPAN No.1
The LPA trip to
Winchesterproved to be an eminent success. Six of us met up at
Waterloo station at10:00 am. Soon we were speeding through the
suburbs of South West Londonembroiled in various discussions. Our
pamphlet The Great Conjunction hadbeen picked up from the printers
the night before, so those who had notseen it had a chance to
peruse it. When we arrived at Winchester we noticedthe large stone
placed outside the railway station, and posed for photographsaround
it.
Our first port of call was the Great Hall, where there is an
enormous RoundTable attached to the wall. We also ventured through
to the little gardenat the back of this hall. As we walked down
into the town we tried to takea photograph of the rose which
adorned the centre of a square outside themagistrates court. A
policeman promptly came out and informed us that itfell within an
area in which photography was banned.
We proceeded to the Buttery Cross. Two children had climbed up it
and werewalking around the upper ledge. We gave their parents a
copy of our booklet,and proceeded to the cathedral. On the way we
stepped into the church ofSt Lawrence, as the Bishop is obliged to,
when proceeding to his inauguration.
It was interesting that this church was dedicated to the same Saint
as featuredprominently in the cave at Roisia's Cross, along with
St. Catherine, ofwhom more latter. It did not take long to look
over this small church, andsoon we were in front of the much more
impressive Cathedral. On the groundto the north is the outlines of
the previous cathedral.
Once inside, there are several local people who are only too happy
to stepforward and tell visitors about the building and its
history. Placed centrally,underneath the tower is the tomb of
William Rufus. Around this central areathere is a screen upon which
are ancient chests which contain the bonesof various old monarchs
of England, primarily Saxon.
There is a chantry dedicated to BishopWykeham, the founder of the
college,a collection
of paintings of various monarchs, some of which were defacedduring
the commonwealth, and a Lady Chapel which had some pictures
connectedwith Eton College.
We moved on to the Wykeham Arms, a nearby pub named after Williamof Wykeham. Here we met the
seventh member of our party who had drivendown from the midlands.
This was a relief because we could now put our campinggear in their
car.
We then made a tour of the collegeas twilight descended.
In the unlit chapel, the gloom helped rekindle theatmosphere of the
gloomy middle ages which had given birth to this institution.We
also toured the cloisters which surround a separate chantry in the
middle,a unique architectural feature. Wavell is buried here.
It had started to rain and two of our party decided to return to
London.A third had met up with an old friend and had decided to
while away sometime in conversation. This meant that the four
remaining intrepid adventurescould readily fit in the car, and set
of for St. Catherine's Hill. Unfortunatelywe turned the wrong way
on the Winchester Bypass and had to negotiate severaltraffic jams
till we got were we wanted to be.
Having parked the car we had to walk along the verge in the rain
and darkavoiding the scud from passing lorries. After scrambling
down the embankmentwe found a tunnel under the road, thus making it
unnecessary for us to crossthe bypass. We scrambled up the muddy
hill, and found the clump at the topand then the maze. We traced
our way into the maze and then rested in themiddle.
At 7:49 a firework rocket was set off in the valley below from the
vicinityof the Water Meadows near the college. We do not know who
did this, norexactly why. However we considered it connected with
our own exploits. Wethen took another of our party back to the
railway station, as they didnot want to camp overnight. The car
keys had been locked inside the car,but with a bit of ingenuity we
were able to get in.
Thanks to a delayed train he bumped into our comrade who had been
catchingup on old times with their friend, and so had company on
the journey back.After sampling some ale in a local pub, the
remaining trio returned to St.Catherine's Hill to camp overnight.
The weather had cleared up and in themorning we were greeted by
bright sunshine.
The pamphlet The Great Conjunction is available for £2 (+ 30p
Postageand packing) from Unpopular Books, Box 15,
138 Kingsland High Street, London E8 2NS
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