In Keats' Footsteps; Weekly Walk #20

This week I retrace the steps taken by poet John Keats between Winchester Cathedral and the nearby hospital of St. Cross, a walk which inspired his poem, To Autumn, reliving the sights and sounds he might once have felt in the hope of finding inspiration for my own seasonal poems.

I parked in the centre of town and made my way through the bustling market to the Cathedral front. Its majestic energy resonated through happy people buzzing about their day, most attending some sort of event, which I later learnt to be the Symphony of Flowers, flower festival. I made my way through the inner-close, which features lots of old buildings, including the iconic Cheyney Court, the former Bishop’s courthouse, and left under one of two remaining city gates, Kingsgate.

Jane Austen completed her novel, Persuasion along College Street, which I followed towards Wolvesey Castle, where you can go inside and explore its ruins, but I left it for today as lots of children were darting about for a cricket match on the neighbouring field. I turned right down College Walk and right again towards the footpath to the water meadow. It was quieter in the open fields along the waterways, a photographer’s paradise, and I even saw a Swan with her Cygnets; I had to keep stopping myself to ensure I completed the walk.

I crossed a road and continued the way-marked Clarendon Way footpath, and took in St. Catherine’s hill to the right, which rose above the grass, with its ring of trees atop it like a crown. I soon arrived at the hospital of St. Cross, which the leaflet taught me was less of a hospital as we think of it today and more a sanctuary for people seeking food and shelter. I hadn’t realised it was still a working institution, still offering its wayfarer’s dole, a cup of beer and some bread to visitors who request it at the gate. When I found the ticket office locked, one of the brothers kindly offered to find the porter, and trundled off with his groceries to help me out. I felt transported back in time to a humble and charitable land.

Once inside, I admired the historic architecture on my way to the serene garden, where I could easily have spent hours beside the pond, listening to the fountain splash. I also explored the Brethren’s Hall, where the brothers would’ve eaten, and had a look at the old kitchen and cellar, navigating the tiny doorways and stone-steps as if in an old castle.

 

I took the same route back, but detoured on a footpath at Wolvesey castle, which took me alongside the river and back to the bottom of town near the King Alfred Statue, marking the end of my historic, and inspirational day. I’m yet to write more poems, but certainly feel in the mood, and have written one already incorporating Keats’ techniques and style.

If you’d like to retrace Keats’ footsteps, download the leaflet.

All my research came from the Winchester Council leaflet on Keats’ walk and the tourist leaflet from the hospital of St. Cross. More information on St. Cross can be found, here.

My seasonal poem can be found on my creative writing blog, mycosmicshed.blogspot.com.