It may seem a bold statement, but Winchester is the perfect city for an art college: it’s small but packed with culture and creativity.
Here’s our top three treasures of Winchester:
The Hyde Tavern
There are many pubs in Winchester, a good number of them are beautiful, friendly and welcoming to students. But The Hyde has something more. When walking in you’ll notice how such a small pub can hold such a diverse range of customers. Its collection of mismatched yet somehow complimentary art goes along with this. In its basement, you might find something else unusual, from an art performance to a temporary second bar (beer festival) or a vinyl session.
The Winchester Cathedral Bookshop
If you head around the back of the Cathedral and then look over your shoulder, you will see the Winchester Cathedral bookshop. Open all year round, this bookshop sells second hand books at very low prices. Often the boxes are just left outside, unmanned with a donation box. When attended it opens inside to the cathedral where there is so much more, from art books to local history.
The Railway Inn
This one is not hidden as such, but it’s on the other side of Winchester to halls so it normally takes a new student a few months to head over there. It’s a great place not just because it’s a pub which plays live music, but it has a great variety of events. One highlight being ‘Cinema Terriblé’ on occasional Sunday nights, where the ‘worst films ever’ are screened, Entry is just £2.50. Also every Monday night they host Roots Night, an open mic night with free entry.
By Laura Gardner
