Putting Winchester on the Map!

Heritage trail supports indie shops

For this year’s Heritage Open Days, residents and visitors are in for a visual treat. From 11th to 20th September a group of Winchester’s independent shopkeepers will be participating in the Support IndieWinch Trail using their shop windows as exhibition space to interpret ‘Hidden Nature’, the theme for this year’s festival.

Alice Duffield, from Eclectic Hound, who came up with the idea said

"we are excited to put together a trail to celebrate that the independent shops of Winchester are open for business following lockdown. The trail is our way of thanking customers for supporting us through these challenging times."

Independent shops are an important part of Winchester’s heritage and their unique nature adds to the city’s character and individuality. Shopkeepers will use the opportunity to express their knowledge and passion for the products they sell. Visitors can also expect to see some exciting collaborations with local artists.

With most festival events taking place online this year, the trail will be welcomed by those wishing to get out and explore some of the city’s history, its varied shopping areas and interesting side streets.

A printed Support IndieWinch trail map will be available from Eclectic Hound and the other participating shops and an electronic version via a link on the @winchesterindependents Instagram page. Those following the trail are encouraged to share pictures using #supportindiewinch and vote for the best window. 

Looking ahead to 2020

“NEWSFLASH - Further to the December update set out below, we are delighted to share we are now able to produce a printed programme and run a box office this year. More information will be shared soon.”

— Becky & Nicky, 14th February 2020

As many of you know there is no central funding for the festival, and the coordinating team are all unpaid volunteers, consequently Winchester Heritage Open Days has been completely dependent upon the two lead volunteers time and availability, as well as the sponsorship and grants from local organisations. This set up has worked incredibly well for the past four years but, we are sure you will agree, it is not sustainable.

Nicky and Becky are not disappearing!

So for the past eighteen months Nicky and Becky have, alongside running the 2019 festival, also been exploring other options with our key partners. Unfortunately, they have not been able to find a robust solution in time for 2020 and so whilst there will still be events next year they will be fewer in number and they won't be centrally organised or promoted. 

Instead next year they will be turning their attention to fundraising for a much needed festival manager and will be seeking widespread support and help with sponsorship, venues, gala dinners and more. This change of direction is essential if we are to make sure we have a sustainable framework in place for 2021 and beyond.

We will still issue our regular newsletters, and so will continue to keep you posted on our progress as well as events. We will also be keeping our website and social media active although, as we are sure you will appreciate, for one year at least, these will be at a much reduced level. We hope to provide a holding page on our website showing which events will be taking place. In addition, the City Council has offered to list events on their pages in 2020. So still make a note of the dates in your diary!

11th to 20th September 2020

Heritage Open Days 25th Anniversary Party

We had such a wonderful time celebrating Heritage Open Days Silver Anniversary.

Last week’s party took place in the beautiful setting of City Mill, and we were joined by Mayor of Winchester and Heritage Open Days as well as many of our festival event organisers and sponsors including Winchester College, Winchester BID, Shentons Solicitors, Hampshire County Council, Winchester City Council and Hampshire Cultural Trust.

To read the full press release click here.

Extraordinary Women of Hampshire

Nearly 400 people voted in the Winchester Heritage Open Days special election, and this morning the City of Winchester Electoral Services duly declared that Josephine Butler, Social Reformer is Hampshire's most Extraordinary Woman.

Portrait of Josephine Butler by George Richmond, 1851 (NPG/Wikimedia Commons/Public Domain)

Not only was Josephine Butler a social reformer, she was also a pioneering feminist, daring to speak out publicly, and achieved huge social and legal reforms at a time when women did not even have the right to vote. She fought hard to eradicate child prostitution and sex trafficking across the world and successfully campaigned to repeal the Contagious Diseases Act which discriminated against prostitutes.

Many Victorians were shocked that a woman would speak in public about sexual matters and, as a result, Josephine was shunned by many of her liberal friends.

Millicent Fawcett however described her as ‘the most distinguished Englishwoman of the nineteenth century’, so perhaps it is not surprising that she was voted as the most extraordinary woman in our ballot.

The other women in the ballot were Elizabeth Bather, Juliana de la Floude, Mary Ellis, Queen Emma of Normandy, Louisa Perks and Tilly Shilling. The full election results can be found here.

Our special election and supporting pop-up exhibition was just one of hundreds of events taking place across the country which celebrated the stories of remarkable women who have brought about change, made a difference or left a legacy that should be cherished. Hampshire is blessed to have so many remarkable women, past and present, who have enriched our lives in some way or who have made a major contribution to society, either locally or at a national level. Many of the names in our exhibition would have been familiar to visitors such as Jane Austen, others such as Beatrice Shilling, maybe less so.

Our aim with both the ballot and exhibition was to enlighten and entertain all ages by providing a glimpse into the lives of the women we chose. It was not a conclusive list and we encouraged visitors to tell us of any other extraordinary women of Hampshire who we may have overlooked and who should be acknowledged.

Volunteer Pauline casts her vote in our Extraordinary Women of Hampshire election. I wonder if Pauline voted for Josephine?!

We would still be delighted to hear via our website from visitors, as we are currently exploring options to make this a permanent exhibition and are also looking for support to produce a book to accompany this very successful and popular exhibition.

We would also like to take this opportunity to thank again Winchester Electoral Services for loaning us the voting equipment, to Smith & Ouzman for kindly printing the ballot papers and to Winchester City Council for funding the exhibition.