During my stay at the Wykeham Arms in Winchester I was intrigued by slots in the dining tables which stated ‘for the cathedral’.

You will notice that the pub has a number of historical themes. Most notably that of Lord Nelson and Winston Churchill. Our long bar as you enter through the iconic curved front doors is named after Nelson, and the smaller bar ti its left Hamilton. We also have two bedrooms named after England’s former vice Admiral and his lady love. It is reputed that he stayed here on his way to Portsmouth. Sadly he didn’t sign the visitor’s book, but we will have to stick with the story regardless.

As for Churchill, he was revered by former license couple of the Wykeham arms, Graeme and Ann Jameson. The far dining room is named in Graeme’s memory. The couple tirelessly collected all of the authentic bric-a-brac you see around the house, and also implemented the Cathedral donation slots you will notice in the tables. This was, and still is, to collect funds to restore the cathedral.  In the 1980’s Graeme created this fundraising idea, and in its first year pledged to match each pound collected with a pound of his own. £30000 was pulled from the coin boxes, and Graeme stayed true to his word. A bond was forged with the cathedral that remains to this day.*

*Information quoted from the hotel information book.

The ‘Post Box’ room is situated above the the old victorian post box which gives the room its name:

Your room ‘The Post Box’ is named after the 1854 Victorian wall letter box over which it sits. As one of the oldest Post Boxes in England, it was probably installed at the instigation of Anthony Trollope (himself a Wykehamist) who was at that time the Postmaster General and also writing his novel ‘The Warden’ in which the local area is strongly featured.

Many famous politicians, military figures who were at Winchester College would have used this tiny post box over the 150 years of its life. Names like Hugh Gaitskell, Field Marshall Lord Wavell, the Nawab of Pataudi and many others spring to mind.

The local Post Office has, for the last 150 years, combined with the local General Stores and Grocers’ Shops to serve the needs of the bustling local community which centres around the Cathedral and the College. Today the tradition survives and still, against all trends, the Post Office and Shop continue very much as they always have done.

Tales of the characters who have run the local Post Office and Shops abound – but I particularly like the story of a local who recalls the story of a Postmaster in the 1920’s who had his life so organised that he could sit on the lavatory, fry his breakfast and keep a beady eye on the Post Office through a wooden hatch – all at the same time.*

*From information in the room

A miracle happened, after picking up my mum, we actually set off on our journey to Winchester on time!  The SatNav was programmed for the Eco route and we were taken through some lovely leafy lanes where the glorious sunshine highlighted the green leaves and pink blossoms. We stopped off for lunch at the Garden Tea Rooms next to Witley Court where I chose a pear and brie sandwich.

A little later we stopped there to visit the Roman museum. The town and the museum were interesting so we will go back and spend a couple of nights in Cirencester in due course. When we had finished viewing the museum we had afternoon tea, avoiding being tempted by naughty cakes.

We then set off on the final leg of the journey to Winchester, finding the Wykeham Arms (where we were staying) without a problem. We checked in and unpacked and had another cup of tea after a saga with milk. We couldn’t see any in the room so I went down to reception to ask for some. It didn’t arrive and when I phoned reception no one answered the phone… Eventually Mr C and fetched some milk.

Much later we found out that a strange looking black box high on the wall was actually a mini fridge and, you’ve guessed it, there was milk inside all along!

We dined in the Wykeham Arms where we all opted for a very tasty Monkfish and Fennel salad and I followed this with raspberry sorbet.