PEOPLE from various places connected to Winchester's vast and impressive history raised a toast to mark the return of the popular Winchester Heritage Open Days festival.
The festival, which returns for its eighth year, was launched on Tuesday with a gathering of invited guests from across the city, hosted by lead sponsor Winchester College at the school’s in-house museum, Treasury.
The annual heritage festival runs from Friday, September 9 until Sunday, September 18, with a programme of more than 100 events, all free to attend.
Despite its name, centred on the historic city, events take place right across the county, reflecting the ‘whole of Hants’ approach of local organiser the Hampshire History Trust.
Guests at the launch represented a range of venues hosting events for this year’s festival programme, including Chawton House, Hursley House, the University of Winchester and local opera house The Grange at Northington, alongside the Mayor of Winchester, local councillors, Winchester BID and Hampshire Cultural Trust.
READ MORE: Winchester Heritage Open Days schedule 2022: Find all the local history events in Winchester
Dr Tim Hands, headmaster of Winchester College, said: “Every year we look forward to welcoming visitors through our doors for the Heritage Open Days festival, which we are proud to support as the lead sponsor again for 2022.”
Nicky Gottlieb, chair of the festival’s parent organisation the Hampshire History Trust said: “We're really thrilled to launch our 2022 Heritage Open Days programme with the support of Winchester College. Hampshire History Trust believes passionately in championing the county's heritage- and sharing all the wonderful stories it holds.
"The fantastic events of this fortnight are at the very heart of this, and we are delighted that we can deliver another full festival of free events for everyone to enjoy.”
Find out more and book free tickets at winchesterheritageopendays.org.
Winchester College’s Treasury Museum is open to the public seven days a week between 2 and 4pm. Find out more at winchestercollege.org/visit-us.
Alongside organising Winchester Heritage Open Days, the Hampshire History Trust runs the ‘Hampshire Histbites’ podcast channel, spotlighting individual heritage stories from across the county. Histbites runs year-round and is free to all, with over 25 hours of content available to listen at any time. Find out more at winchesterheritageopendays.org/introduction-histbites
The Hampshire Chronicle is also taking part and is opening its office in Upper Brook Street on September 15 from 11am until 2pm for those interested in meeting the editor and seeing a selection of archives. The event is free to attend and no ticket is required. The newspaper is marking its 250th year this month.
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