Winchester's location, nestled at the western end of the South Downs National Park and along the course of the River Itchen, offers a blend of city life and natural beauty. It's a city that invites exploration, whether you're wandering its historic streets, enjoying a riverside walk, or venturing into the surrounding countryside.
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Sights & Culture
Hinton Ampner House
A manor house, built in the 18th Century (though significantly remodelled in the 19th) and set in sprawling, well-maintained grounds, Hinton Ampner House is a Grade II listed building, maintained by the National Trust.
During the Christmas 2019 period, the grounds were setup as simple examples of the Aesops Fables, with the rooms in the main house offering a more detailed take. The maintained garden has a number of walks and pathways, and for the more adventurous in the winter mud, the unkempt grounds are also available for walking.
Additional timed tickets are needed to gain entrance to the house, but it is well worth the effort, each room represented a specific fable, with impressive work going into each of the set pieces. A large peacock dominates one room, the tortoise and the hare is illustrated by a tortoise made entirely of winter nuts and a tiny Jack Russel terrier lurks under a table protecting the room from the City Mouse.
The small cafe serves excellent food, with a range of options for vegetarians and vegans, though they tend to get overwhelmed by the demand, our queue time was about half an hour. Several people ahead of us finished off their snacks by the time they reached the register.
Sports & Activities
Marwell Zoo
With Corona making indoor activities less than ideal, I went to Marwell Zoo to catch up with some friends and take my new camera out for a bit of a spin. Marwell's a surprisingly good zoo with wide open tracts of land for some of the larger animals.
I think this was the first time I saw an otter in real life and was surprised by their needle-sharp teeth.
Acrobatically hanging from ropes, the Black and white Ruffed Lemur was a sight.
The Copper Titi Monkey looked sad.
There were also a few more 'normal' animals around the park like the wild Crow.
The Cusimanse are a kind of mongoose, but look and behave quite a lot like the meerkat.
The Zebra were keeping dry in their house.
The Humbolt Penguins get a deep pool to swim in and you can get right up close to them.
The Mountain Bongo with their distinctive stripes explored the muddy fields after the rain.
The Red Bellied Lemur watches with his bright bug eyes.
The Giraffe also kept out of the rain, but didn't stop their lunch.
In the Tropical House, brightly coloured birds ate fruit as we walked by.
There was no song from the warthog.
The two Amur Tigers were prowling their enclosure, occasionally getting close to the glass wall.
Perhaps the most striking animal, the Snow Leopards.
Staring at me, licking its lips, I was glad for the thick glass between us.