Keeping the Heritage Open Days flame alive!

Did you know that our YouTube Channel has more than 30 videos, including recordings of live streamed events? Why not watch one of the talks today.

• A House Through Time: a fascinating and engaging interview with historian, Melanie Backe-Hansen

• The English Language in Hampshire and in Yorkshire’: a great story for this year’s English Project lecture

• The Stories Behind Winchester's Place Names: a brilliant and interesting webinar by Dr Eric Lacey

• Winchester Muse & Hidden Nature: a beautiful and very moving poetry tribute to Sue Wrinch

• The Problem with Statues: an informative webinar by Dr Niall Finneran exploring the politics of contested commemoration

• Rebecca Rideal speaks with Professor Ryan Lavelle to discover more about Alfred the Great, the most acclaimed of all the Anglo-Saxon king

You can also, every Wednesday from now until the new year, enjoy a brand new podcast exploring local and national history, as well as some heritage delights.

Click Here to view all the episodes!

Hampshire HistBites, our very own podcast channel, is now in its second season and we have been talking to local historians and dramatists to discover more about Winchester Cathedral, Queens and Empresses of England, letter writing, postboxes and theatre.

Watch, listen and enjoy!

And don't forget to tell your friends.

Hampshire businesses feature in heritage films

Thanks to sponsorship from Winchester BID three short films exploring the history behind some of Hampshire’s businesses have been created specially for this year’s Winchester Heritage Open Days.

Sonder Films in Winchester

‘Behind the Business’ has been produced by Sonder Films, an independent film production company established in 2017 by Winchester friends, Joel Barney, Oscar Ferguson and Ozzi Sanderson. Based in both Winchester and London their work specialises in branded content, music videos and documentaries. 

Their heritage video features The Hampshire Chronicle, one of the oldest local newspapers in England, Carter Marsh & Co, Fine Clocks & Watches, and The Winchester Book Shop which holds three floors of second-hand, vintage, antiquarian and nearly new books.

Joel said:

“Storytelling is always at the centre of what we do, and our focus is to create work that is bold, engaging and unique. It has been a great privilege to go behind the scenes of these three very different businesses and to share some of their incredible history.”

Hampshire’s Chalkstreams

The idea behind the two other films has come from Kyle Alexander, the creator of The Winchester Guidebook.

Working with local cameraman, Finn Ducker, Kyle chose this year’s festival theme of Hidden Nature to uncover the fascinating relationship between Winchester and its chalk geology.

The films focus on two of the region’s finest food and drink suppliers, ChalkStream Foods on the River Test and wine producers, Exton Park.

Commenting on how this year has presented its problems, Kyle added

“but what a great opportunity we’ve had to get out into nature and create something truly unique. These two exceptional businesses are not normally open to the public, so Heritage Open Days viewers are in for something special this year I think.”

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. 

Local Poet Remembered in Heritage Open Days reading

One of the online Heritage Open Days events which will take place in September will be dedicated to the memory of Sue Wrinch, local poet and organiser of the Winchester Loose Muse group, who died suddenly in July. A Hidden Nature reading will take place online and will feature 10 local poets. 

Members of Loose Muse Winchester were shocked and saddened by the news of Sue Wrinch’s early death in July. Sue set up this monthly gathering in 2015 and booked a dazzling array of women poets and fiction writers to inspire members and provide a safe space for local women writers to share their work in open mic sessions. Her enthusiasm and commitment provided a wealth of opportunities for developing writers.

Poets at this year’s online reading will be inspired by the theme of ‘Hidden Nature’ and each poet will read a poem of their own as well as one of their choice from Sue’s published collections Down by Wild Water (2015) and Stained Lips (2020). The event will be a tribute to Sue’s leadership and generosity by fellow poets who will always remember her with gratitude and affection.

Nicky Gottlieb of Heritage Open Days said: “Sue previously organised a number of events for Winchester Heritage Open Days using the HODs themes including ‘Extraordinary Women’ and ‘People Power’. She inspired poets to produce wonderful new work and put together several vibrant performances for us at venues around the city.” 

Jenny McRobert who is organising the event said: “We are honoured that a number of well known poets and writers will be joining us to read including Liz Berry, Rebecca Goss, Susmita Bhattacharya, and Claire Fuller. Also featured are local laureates Kathryn Bevis and Isabel Rogers.”

The Hidden Nature reading will be live streamed on Sunday 20 September at 2:00pm. Places must be booked.

We're going digital for 2020!

The organisers of the Winchester Heritage Open Days festival are delighted to announce that this year's 2020 festival will be going ahead, with free events and local stories at its heart. 

Since 2016, Winchester’s Heritage Open Days festival has grown to become an important event in the local calendar, with thousands of visitors attending the programme of events.

This year, with the uncertainty surrounding when cultural events will be able to run once more following the Covid-19 Pandemic, it has become clear that the traditional format of the festival will not be possible in September. The focus this year will be digital.

Commenting on the decision to focus on digital events this year, Festival Director Nicky Gottlieb said, 

“We are enormously grateful to all our sponsors, supporters, volunteers and event organisers who have helped the Festival grow to become the success that it is. I am sure that there will be people who look forward to the events every year and will be disappointed by our decision not to hold events in the usual way this year. 

However, it is important the festival is safe, is inclusive and does not add further cost or burden to businesses and organisations who at this time are getting back on their feet.  Whilst we hope one or two organisations may be able to hold some in-person events (in line with government guidance at the time of the festival), our focus will be on encouraging digital events. We do this with the expectation that this year’s festival will be smaller. 

We are working hard to plan for a digital festival this September, and this will include our very own podcast channel. We very much hope to welcome all our events and visitors back in the usual way in September 2021.”

Further details on the programme for the 2020 Digital Heritage Open Days Festival and the launch of our podcast channel in August will be released in due course.