On this week’s Winchester Now:
- The annual Michaelmas Fair at the Hospital of St Cross takes place this year on Saturday 26th September from 10:30am to 4;30pm. Derek Palmer spoke to Louise Wood, Deputy Clerk at the charity to find out more.
- News-in-brief:
- A major milestone has been reached in a project to replace the water wheel at the historic Winchester City Mill. For the first time in over 20 years, the River Itchen, which flows beneath the mill, has been temporarily dammed and replaced with a narrow flume, so that a new sluice gate can be installed. The water wheel will be replaced in a few months time, with the aim of bringing back flour production.
- Next week is Winchester Green Week, and the city will have a wide array of events, workshops and gatherings. This Saturday also sees the return of the Winchester Green Fair, taking place at the Arc on Jewry Street, from 11am to 4pm, with a range of stalls from charities, groups and organisations enabling people to learn more on sustainability and environmental issues.
- New funding is being made available to help local businesses cut carbon emissions, and energy bills. Firms can now apply for free carbon assessments, and Green Business Grants of up to £3k from Winchester City Council.
- Young people are being asked for their views on the future of a recreation ground. A new multi-use games facility is being created at St Matthew’s Field in Weeke. The council is working with the charity Youth Options, to gather views on its design, and the kind of facilities that families would like to see there.
- A new sensory garden area is being created at Naomi and Jack’s, the local charity which provides hospice care for babies, children and young adults. It will contain small private gardens, giving families a quiet space to spend time together, without being overlooked.
- Winchester’s chief police officer is returning to where she started her career 19 years ago. Chief Inspector Linda Davies has been appointed as the new District Commander for the city. Linda says she’s over the moon to be back in Winchester, and working with communities to keep our city a safe place to live, work and visit.
- Local running opportunities thai autumn:
- NHS Couch to 5k app will gently build-up your fitness over a period of 9 weeks with walking and running, encouraging you to do 3 sessions per week throughout this time, each time with more running involved. If staying motivated to keep going might be an issue for you, you could take part with a friend, or join a local running group, as the support from others who are also aiming to get fitter can be incredibly helpful to stay on track.
- The regular weekly free 5k Winchester Park Run each Saturday morning at North Walls Recreation Ground, can also be a terrific way to kick off your weekend with a run – you’ll get lots of encouragement all round the course by supportive volunteers, and you can go at your own pace, walking and running if you wish, whilst you build up your fitness to running the whole 5k.
- The Boaz Project, which is a charity supporting people with learning disabilities, has a Fun Run taking place on Saturday 26th September at Hill Farm near Sutton Scotney. You can sign-up for runs of 2k, 5k or 10k distances. All monies raised support the charity’s work.
- Winchester Rotary’s annual Clarendon Marathon offers more options for running on Sunday 4th October: you can run a 5-mile race, get together with 3 friends and cover the whole course between you as a relay team, do the half-marathon from Broughton to Winchester, or run the whole scenic marathon route from Salisbury through to Winchester covering 26.2 miles.
