Diary Of A Busker Day 2536 Saturday May 3rd 2025 Winchester.
As I was coming into the high street, Casandra said ‘Gareth’s working his magic at the moment’ – and he was, at The Buttercross…well, he hadn’t started his act yet, he was just starting to get people to stop. I think this takes him the same amount of time as his actual act!
There was no one at The Square so I set up. The temperature was much cooler than yesterday, so much so that I kept the jacket on.
A couple of young blokes walked by, one making out he was donating but when he opened his hand there was nothing in it. He looked at his mate and laughed. I said loudly ‘Very funny…very funny!’ but they didn’t look back at me, which was probably a good thing.
Not many people came up…one person did, which broke my concentration and Cavatina fell apart so I started a different song when the visitor had left. That bloke who came up a while back to tell me the Gnossienne was like torture to him, he walked past. I really don’t like the look of him, he’s not friendly looking at all! I waited a few seconds till he’d gone behind me then looked back at him and he was looking at me before he disappeared from view. I had half a mind to go into his favourite but decided not to, as I don’t want any grief because you never know, he might come back and hassle me, and some days I’m just not in the mood for it.
The coinage wasn’t up to much; no tenners, fivers and certainly no twenties – I had them all yesterday. What I DID get was a half pint of Guinness, courtesy of a tall young bloke who came over from outside The Eclipse, where he was dancing with his girlfriend to a couple of my numbers. He came over and asked me if I would like a drink and I didn’t want a pint, as it would take me too long to drink, so I asked for a half pint.
I packed up after two hours and five minutes. The last song was Waterloo Sunset and near the end a man who I see a lot – don’t know his name, stopped for a chat…
‘Waterloo Sunset, I haven’t heard that for awhile.’
‘No? I’ve just started doing it.’
‘That reminds me of a friend of mine, Irene, who was a famous model in the 60’s. She died a month ago but still looked stunning – she was very tall with long blonde hair. She knew everyone in the 60’s – she knew The Beatles before they were famous, Mick Jagger, she went out with Scott Walker.’
‘Really? I’m a big Scott Walker fan!’
‘Yeah, and the marquis of Bath, although she wasn’t one of his wifelets! Frank Sinatra – he came over to see her. He had all these men with him and they were all carrying guns – the Mafia. She said to him “You don’t need all that over here!”‘
‘And she lived in Winchester?’
‘Yes, and she was 79 but still looked really striking, I mean, you couldn’t miss her. Really tall, still with her long hair.’
‘So I MUST have seen her, mustn’t I?’
‘Oh yeah, you would have. Irene Dunford her name is. A shame.’
‘You mean when people die?’
‘Yes, she was a lovely person. 79.’
‘I know…it IS sad when people die.’
He then asked me what my favourite Beatles song was…
‘Happiness Is A Warm Gun’, I said.
‘Mine’s Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds.’
‘Another John one!’
‘Yeah, Sgt. Pepper – a really memorable time that was.’
‘Yeah…although it’s definitely not one of my favourite Beatles albums. I think a lot of it’s quite dated now. There’s other one’s I like a lot more.’
‘The White Album.’
‘Yeah, that’s my favourite…and Revolver. I mean, they’re both all over the place but the White Album’s mental!’
‘George Harrison said his favourite was Rubber Soul.’
‘Yeah, I know. That’s a lot of people’s favourite. That’s where they started to get a bit more experimental.’
‘Whenever I see a Beatles band and they ask if anyone requests anything, I always say Revolution Number Nine!’
When I was on the bike on the way home I was trying to work out who this woman was and I think I know. I DO remember seeing a very tall woman with long blonde hair. She was very thin, as well, which I think most models still are when they get older. If it’s who I think it is, she’d had quite a bit of work done to her face and always had quite a severe fake orange tan. I don’t remember ever seeing her with anyone else and don’t remember ever seeing her smile and I’m not 100% sure but I don’t think she ever donated. Anyway, if I see her again, she’s either not the right person…or I’m seeing a fucking ghost!