Winchester is a beautiful city, home to a stunning cathedral – the longest Gothic Cathedral in Europe. We met a few strange creatures there, but that was because our trip coincided with the Hat Fair (which has nothing to do with hats, although many silly ones are worn). The streets were thronged with Saturday market-goers and performers, as well as little Golems with a foot fetish.

The Cathedral present today was finished in the early 16th Century, but there has been a Christian Church on the site since the 600s. In the 1900s it was discovered that the Cathedral could collapse and sink as the foundations were waterlogged. To prevent this, a deep-sea diver named William Walker worked under the cathedral for 6 years reinforcing the foundations with concrete and brick.

While we were wandering around Winchester Cathedral there was a service for a few Primary schools and the organ was played. It was amazing to feel the whole building just fill with sound, but it did make it difficult for the tour guides! We returned to Winchester a week later to see some of the history that we had missed, but that’s for another day.