Monday 5th May walking in Winchester

Today we set off in the sunshine to explore the Military Museums.  Hardly anyone around at 10.00 am.
The first museum was the Gurka Museum then the Foot Soldiers.

 Occasionally I found the names of people that I recognised from my research.  The area is now private living, pretty nice place to live, if you ask me.

Then The Royal Green Jackets, who fought in the American Wars, Canadian Wars, West Indies and Waterloo.  There is a huge reconstructed to scale model of the Waterloo battlefields and it is huge!

Inside I found reference to the Montagu family, and Bereseford, don't quite know where they all fit into the Ancestry.

 Some information on the Africaan War of 1879, and Rork's Drift where Andrew Durnford fought
And then some on the war zones on Greece and Crete where my father was based early 1940's

  

Around the corner and we found the ruins of the original palace, started by William and then completed by his sons and grandsons.

Inside there was an amazing Family Tree, all done  from King Edward way back in 1300's.

This Hall used to be the Court, and is where Sir Walter Raleigh was sentenced to death, later rescinded.

The stained glass windows are very high and depict all the Kings and important residents.

A more recent Queen Victoria

It is also the home of the Round Table, of the Knights of the Round Table fame, and would you believe it, I have just noticed that it didn't take the photo, probably due to the light. So here is the sign instead.

Along a passageway and I came face to face with my 25th great grandfather, 

Outside we were within the castle walls and not much of the original castle is still standing.  There are tunnels underneath that can be explored.

The Hall is inside this substantial building.  Many re-builds have happened over the years

The West Gate, like a lot of towns they are surrounded by gate at each road leading in.

High Street walking down from the Westgatge

 We stopped for lunch, a sandwich, with each piece of bread twice the thickness that we are used to.  Big meals, you bet.   Then a walk past the Guildhall to another grandfather King Arthur.  He was King, 200 years  before the invasion by William.

  

Westminster was the capital of England in old time.  The streets were laid out then, and except that men walked them then, they only just fit a car, we walked through one street that was less than 6 foot wide, I guess they didn't have town planners way back then.

This is a flour mill run by the waters of the River.

  We walked back home the long way, leg aching, but made it, passed the site of the Wolvesey Castle, and the Bishop's Home.  Pretty stately building.

Our walk home took us through the Abbey again, and past these very old buildings.

Tomorrow it is to Southampton via Bishops Heath, then up to Salisbury.