Diary Of A Busker Day 2497 Friday February 14th 2025 Winchester.
Back home after my glorious day in Chichester yesterday (haha). It’s just as cold and windy but at least there’s no train fare to diminish the profits. I’ve managed to stitch the strap on the guitar case and it seems to be holding, which is good because if one of those straps breaks while I’m on the bike, it could send me off balance and I’ll be dead!
The Buttercross is taken and there’s a market stall on the corner outside Starbucks so I go up the high street a bit and set up at my old favourite, opposite The Body Shop.
It’s 5 degrees and windy and it doesn’t take long before my fingers (especially the ones on my left hand) are freezing. I was going to give up after an hour because the coinage was terrible but I thought I’d better soldier on a bit longer and I’m glad I did because just after the hour had ticked by, a man dropped in a £20 note! He was tall, bearded, wearing shades and a furry hooded coat. Wow, a £20 note – this hardly ever happens and often, like today, saves the day. Hallelujah! The next half hour was as bereft of coinage as the hour before my saviour came by but I’m not bothered as, with the £20, the total is £29, which is good enough.
Just before I packed up, the bloke who was at The Buttercross came by – ‘The Buttercross is free now, so you can have that if you want, mate.’ I packed up and headed up the road and when I got to the Buttercross, I stopped and thought about if I should set up or carry on home. The thing is, I’d have to take at least half an hour and warm up somewhere – probably opposite in Nero’s, then come back out and set up, like in Chichester yesterday, and it’s too tempting to just go home. Anyway, while I’m pondering this dilemma, posh Sarah appears – ‘Are you alright, Marvin?’ ‘Yeah, just deciding if I should set up – I’ve been down the road for an hour and a half and I’m freezing!’ ‘Go home’ she says. It’s an order I’m only too happy to obey.