Day 2717
Saturday July 11th 2026
Winchester
The Square has got a few sightseers, gazing up at the fire damage on the roofs of the shops. Big news as nothing much happens in this quiet hamlet. Not much happening in the way of coinage either, which is unusual for a Saturday. Oh well, you win some, etc. After 45 minutes, during which I obliterated the lovely sound of the church bells for all those enjoying them, a man who’s been sitting outside The Vine with his wife, comes up – ‘hey, I haven’t got any change but would you like a drink?’ I think about it for a second – it’s a hot day and there are cold lagers all around – ‘Well…cheers. I’ll have something cold…a Moretti? If they’ve got that? I tell you what, I’m finishing up in a bit, maybe fifteen minutes from now and I’ll have it then, if that’s alright.’ ‘Yeah sure, I’ll get it when you’re done.’
He returns to his wife…and I’m still playing well after 15 minutes. In fact, I do an hour and a half. And just as I’m packing up and thinking of this cold pint, this guy and his wife get up and leave! ‘Thanks, that was great’ he says. ‘Yeah, cheers, thanks’ I say. I just couldn’t bring myself to ask him about the pint. The thing is, it would have taken me half an hour to down it and I need to find another spot quickly because I’m not going home with £15.
So, down the road…and there’s no flower seller opposite M&S and no one playing there so I set up, and who’s there wandering about shirtless? None other than that bloke who gave me the £20 the other day. He sits down on the steps a few yards behind me ‘Yeah, we’re gonna have some live music! Thank you, thank you, THANK YOU!’ Yeah, thank you and you’re welcome to part with another nice purple one, as well! No chance today…although I did get given a bottle of Voss water from a woman.
During Here Comes The Sun a man stands next to me. After a minute he says ‘Well, I thought you could have done a bit better than…’ – I couldn’t hear the end of the sentence which was probably a good thing because there’s a good chance it was a negative comment.
A bunch of blokes in England shirts come by – ‘You know any Oasis, mate? Wonderwall, you know Wonderwall, mate?’ (they’re all singing that at the World Cup matches) ‘No, sorry, that’s a bit too new, that one.’
I did an hour and fifteen minutes, then packed up and all I could hear was ‘Oh thank you, thank you, thank you…THANK YOU!’ from the bloke behind. Anyway, that put the total up to 2 3/4 hours. On the way back, I went via The Square and paused for a few seconds before entering the narrow side street next to Three Joes. Well, this was immaculate timing because a bloke from the bar at The Old Vine is suddenly next to me – ‘You’re the guitar player, aren’t you? There’s a pint for you at the bar. I’ll go get it.’ Well, if I’d not hesitated on my way home, I would’ve missed out on that. So the bloke from earlier hadn’t forgotten! I sat on the bench opposite the pub and he brought it out for me, a lovely cold Moretti which I supped very slowly. All’s well that ends well…just about, as the total takings were only £22.90 plus 2 euros for the next holiday fund.