Alfred the Great
Winchester’s most famous son is Alfred the Great. Alfred (Aelfred) became ruler of the west Saxons after he and his brother defeated the Danish Vikings at the Battle of Ashdown. In 871 at the tender age of 21, Alfred was crowned King of Wessex and established Winchester as his capital.
We are on our morning stroll to visit the Winchester Cathedral. What a lovely walk it is in such a moist picturesque city. Ah! Costa Coffee and they were giving Starbucks a run for their money for that first cup of morning coffee.
This street artist had the most amazing sand sculptor, and one had to restrain from reaching down to pet 'Rosco". By the way this sculpture was done on a sheet of canvas.
We didn't purchase a roll of bread, but the smell was delicious. The second photo is of a typical slate rock roof, but the green moss highlighted its grandeur.
We must begin with a photo of the Winchester Cathedral, which is and always has been the heart of England.
It is of course more famous than the song and lyrics of Petual Clark with her recording in 1966. 
"Winchester Cathedral, you're bringing me down;
You stood and you watched as my baby left town"
"You could have done something but you just didn't try
You didn't do nothing, you let him walk by
Now, everyone knows just how much I needed that boy
He wouldn't have gone far away if only you started ringing your bell
Yeah".
"Winchester Cathedral, you're bringing me down"
But, I admit to first hearing of its name from Petual, and now here is the Cathedral in all of its glory.
The buttressed Cathedral of Winchester, and this street view gives dimension to its vastness. One is held in awe!
Again, Errol had again arranged for our group's private tour director.
This view is from the entrance of the Cathedral looking East to the Altar. One remark that raised our antennas was our Guide's comment, "if you think this Cathedral is spectacular, wait till you get to Wells". His comment certainly made us our minds wonder in expectation.
Taken from the front row with the Warden's lectern on the left noting the expansive dimension of the depth behind the lectern.
We'll now leave the Cathedral to meet King Arthur and his Court at the Round table at the Great Hall.
They are still discovering the extent of the Original Great Hall, as this dig shows just outside the exhibit
Mary Bruce, Rosemary Chandler and Joan Knowles are supervising the 'Dig'. It was warm down in the pit, where the guys were working; and that may have been attraction of these 'Supervisors'.
This edifice has been reconstructed, and it is difficult to image its size. Unbelievable! You'll notice the round seal high on the wall as compared to the it viewed within the Great Hall.
Kyle and Garrett allow you a perspective of size, where they are standing under the arch of the Ancestral Wall. On the right is the ancestral tree, that covers the arch and wall where they are standing.
Of course Queen Victoria is still ruling, and here she is holding court over all things.
Randy somehow messed up with the Queen, and it cost him his head. Sorry about that ole Chap, but you guys from Oklahoma seem to learn the hard way.
I'll call your attention to the stones in the walls. It is a chert, or flint, as we would call it. This is and was a common building material. We've seen it at St Mary's, the Winchester College and again here at the Great Hall.
The Chandler Travelers are gathered at the Great Hall. Too, observe the flint stones in the wall construction.
Great day in and about Winchester, the Cathedral and the Great Hall. Tomorrow we'll travel to Bath, the ancient City the Romans called Aquae Sulis.
Come on Willie sing us another verse, and we’ll move on down the road to Aquae Sulis.
Norm & Dottie