Day 37: Winchester, St. Cross, Shawford, Eastleigh

This was a very wet, blowy day. Also gorgeous and long. I loved it all.

I set out straight from my door and headed down the Weirs of the Itchen below the High Bridge. River on the left, medieval city wall on the right.

Alongside the old bishops' palace

wall. Then over the Itchen and into the Water Meadows. The Romans redirected the Itchen into channels here in order to grow hay for their animals. Today that system has not changed.

At the end of the Water Meadows, below St. Catherine's Hill, is the Hospital of St. Cross and its church. Built between 1132 and 1136 as an almshouse to feed 100 needy poor a day, it has served as a refuge for the poor ever since. There are still 13 lay brothers who live and work there, and pilgrims are still eligible for their dole of bread and ale.

There was a traffic delay on the footbridge.

...but I arrived in time for the 10 AM Matins service in the cathedral. It's a beautiful place, and I was one of three non-brothers taking part. The church was beautifully decorated for the harvest, but I took no photos of the magnificent interior. It would have been disrespectful.

After getting my stamp and dole of bread and ale, back on the Way along the Itchen all the way to Eastleigh.

The rain made the colors more muted, and at times the otherwise crystalline river looked cloudy from the raindrops, but it was an absolutely beautiful, albeit muddy, walk.

I overshot the path for a bit and ended up on the Hockley Viaduct before retracing my steps. Cool art on the pavement looked deceptively like a Camino shell, but was very clearly a flower in retrospect.

Met and spoke with Camilla from Shawford for about 30 minutes. Shes a surveyor and her husband works in Montenegro.

Lunch of Halloumi fries and squash soup at the Bridge Inn in Shawford.

The next stretch of the Itchen had some much deeper areas where under most circumstances I would have stopped and swum. Not this time.

South of Shawford I stopped to talk with an older man doing something in a field... maybe filling mole holes?

He's Irish, had 5 sisters who all moved to New York, and he loooooves to talk. When my ankles began to lock up, I excused myself and moved on. Like Camilla, he sent me off with "I hope we run into each other again soon!" Same here.

By the time I got to Eastleigh the rain was coming down hard, and I was pleasantly footsore. Tendinitis was in check, but I was happy to get in the train for the 8-minute trip back to Winchester. It was a 12-mile day.

Walked into Winchester just as the Cathedral was transitioning from graduation to Evensong. The people who worked there could not have been kinder once I told them I am a pilgrim. They let me in for free, gave me my stamp, and escorted me to the Chapel of St Swithun, who is a pilgrim's saint.

The delightful James picked me up later and cooked me a great dinner. More delightful conversation on many topics. After some robust discussion about my walking home on my own, he kindly escorted me back to my place across the historic center of Winchester. The rain held off, and the wet streets reflected the light onto the trees, walls and shrubs. I love Winchester.

All told, a very memorable day.

Ever grateful for the gifts that this Camino time continues to give me.

PS: