Day 2621
Tuesday November 4th 2025
Winchester High Street, the Buttercross.
First time back in eight days, after the Parisian holiday, and I’m hoping the enforced break from playing will be beneficial for my arm problem, and along theses lines I’m hoping that easing myself back into playing with the Squier will be better for my arm than the more taxing 12-string, but we’ll see. I’m also hoping to capitalise on the publication of my most recent letter to the Hampshire Chronicle, to mark my 15 years out here on the streets (below).
It got off to a good start – I arrive at the top spot just as someone else was leaving AND I sold a CD before I’d even set up. While parking the bike an older man (meaning one in his 70s) comes up and asks if he can ‘buy a CD, and would it be alright to talk about you in a lecture? I teach at the university.’ I naturally assume he’s read my Chronicle letter – I ask him but he doesn’t respond to that, he just says he’s in a hurry and he just wants to buy a CD. Fair enough, that’s a £9 profit straight away!
First song, or piece rather, is the Gymnopedie, which I manage to mess up – I should have started with an easier one! Then Su turns up just after I start La Vie En Rose and starts her usual filming and once again, as so often happens, I’m amazed certain people seem to suddenly appear when I happen to be playing “their” song, or a song associated with them. When I’m done that one, Su asks if I can play The Shadows and starts humming Apache, which weirdly enough I was going through at home before I left for the holiday.’I’ll give it a go but I haven’t done it in ages.’ I go into it but it’s well dodgy and doesn’t get much better. Su says ‘Can you do the dance?’ ‘The dance? I can barely PLAY it, Su! And can you please not film me doing this one, I’m terrible!’ She stops filming me – I mean, that’s the last thing I want to be up on the dreaded social media.
The weather is fine – the forecast said there’d be rain at 2 o’clock but it never happened. It was mainly sunny and the temperature was up from the last time I was out. It was 14, 15 degrees and hardly any wind so the hands were fine and I was able to do a full two hours. The coinage was good – a total of £51.51 which included three fivers and a “two CDs for £15” sale to a nice older couple on holiday. Two people walked by saying they’d seen the letter and although they didn’t contribute, I’m convinced at least some donations (and possibly at least one of the fivers) was due to the letter. Unfortunately, my left arm doesn’t seem to have recovered, as whenever I rested it, the pain was back with a vengeance, which is very worrying so I might have to see the doctor about it.
My letter in this week’s Hampshire Chronicle (Thursday October 30th 2025) accompanied by a photo with me and the white Gretsch taken in The Square just after the Priestgate incident.
Thank you for 15 years of support (the Chronicle’s title)
As I mark the 15th anniversary of my busking career, I would like to thank all the kind people of Winchester and further afield for keeping me alive with their kind donations.
During this time I have been praised and vilified, sometimes in equal measure, for performing the same songs year after year. I have also been immortalised in a variety of ways; I’ve been painted into high street scenes by prominent local artists, sketched, been the subject of many university projects, and most recently, I’ve had my image depicted on both the outside and inside of the new St Clements Surgery. As a simple street performer, I could never have hoped to reach such heights.
In the same respect, I would also like to thank the man who recently, upon seeing my album propped up on a big flowerpot outside a popular Winchester restaurant, remarked “Can you please not put your stuff on our property. I AM one of the managers.” We all need to be brought down to earth sometimes, however briefly.
I closing, I would like to offer my best wishes and kindest regards to my myriad of acolytes, devotees, disciples and worshippers. Excruciatingly humbly yours,
Marvin B Naylor,
Greenhill Road,
Fulflood,
Winchester