Day 1 – Winchester to Alton
Catherine dropped me off at Hungerford Station bright and early and I caught a train to Reading, then picking up my connection to Winchester.
Arrived at the Cathedral around 8:40am when it was just opening.
There were few around, and no one demanding payment, so I took the opportunity to go in for free and take a selfie next to the shrine of St Swithun.
St Swithun was Bishop of Winchester from 852 to 863. He was initially buried in the churchyard but then moved to an indoor shrine in the Old Minster in 971. Later his body was split, with his head going to Canterbury and some other bits elsewhere. Later, 1093, his shrine was moved to the new Norman Cathedral being built next door. The shrine was demolished during the Reformation, and just a replica remains nowadays.
The reception staff arrived a few minutes later and I was able to collect my Pilgrim Passport as well as a Cathedral sticker which they use in place of a stamp. The lady said that a few people collected the passports.
I left to start my walk, but decided that the most important immediate task, given I’d already been up a few hours, was coffee and cake, which I had next to the Church of St Lawrence on The Square.
It was then onto The Pilgrimage which for the first day and a half was generally following St Swithun’s Way. A pleasant walk out of the city, crossing under the A34 and M3 to Kings Worthy, where stopping at St Mary’s Church I was able to get the first proper stamp in my passport.
On past Martyr Worthy and Itchen Abbas where I stopped for photos of their churches.
I then crossed fords, passed watercress beds near Tichborne, and arrived at New Alresford around lunchtime, where a beer seemed appropriate.
Later, at a garden centre near Four Marks, more tea and cake then onto Chawton and past where Jane Austen lived from 1809 until her death in 1817. She apparently came to live in the area due to bad health. She is buried in Winchester Cathedral.
Arrived in Alton around 6pm – tired and somewhat weary and stayed at the Alton House Hotel, having covered approx 21 miles in 9 hours. Had my evening meal in a local pub.