Winchester cathedral

This morning, we started clearing my mother's room at the care home. The staff were all very supportive and going out of their way to offer us their condolences and share  memories of her.

This evening, we cycled into town to join a guided walk on "Winchester in Stone" presented by a retired geologist and now cathedral guide. Most of  Winchester's  finer buildings are built from limestone, although there is a little Portland stone and red sandstone at the Guildhall, while King Alfred's statue is on a plinth of  Cornish granite. The older, vernacular style of wall construction, still much in evidence, used flints and clunch ( chalky material )which were rendered with plaster and whitewashed. 

This is a view of the south side of the cathedral. The original lower part of the wall was built by the Normans in 11th century using  blocks of Quarr limestone,  easily imported from the Isle of Wight, via the Solent to Southampton, and then up the River Itchen to Bishopstoke (Eastleigh) and then by cart to Winchester.  The flying buttresses were added in the  early 20th century  and made from a different, more workable, limestone  to help stabilize the  cathedral when it was beginning to  sink.   
The interior of the cathedral contains  Caen limestone which is well suited to being carved,but we didn't look inside the cathedral today, and continued our walk in the high street.
It was a beautiful summer's  evening, and we were glad of the  opportunity to have a break.