Pub closures, Garnier Road closure and viral TikTok

The year starts with bad news for two Winchester pubs. 
The Roebuck Inn, in Stockbridge Road, Fulflood, closes after former staff members take action over unpaid wages. 
Staff say they are owed as much as £2,000.
Bottles of wine and spirits are sold off at cut-price as The Willow Tree, in Durngate Terrace, closes due to soaring energy bills and the cost of living crisis. 
Landlord Connor Godwin says: “It’s sad to close but we had no choice. The industry is dead. I don’t see any pubs lasting apart from the big chains.”
Both pubs reopen later in the year. 

Job losses loom for the Hampshire Cultural Trust. 
The trust reveals that 20 jobs could be cut to reduce expenditure. 
Chief executive Paul Sapwell says: “Staffing is the biggest cost to the business so it’s inevitable that we have to look there to find the savings.”

Papa John’s, in St George’s Street, gets permission to serve food until 3am bnut not without opposition. 
Winchester City Council approves the fast food chain to be open for collection until 1am and delivery to 3am.
Vodka nightclub owner Kalvin Colleymore raises concerns about the impact on the nightclub's security. He says: “Papa John’s is close to us (Vodka Bar) so if people make a mess, it’s more work for our security team. How will the noise issue be policed?”

Netflix TV crews arrive in Winchester to film the latest series of The Crown.
Winchester Cathedral is used as a substitute for Westminster Abbey for Diana's funeral. 
People wait with anticipation to spot the show's stars.
Peter Symonds student Juliet Willman says: “The scale of the production is as I expected. They need the big lights as it will be dark for filming in the cathedral.
Winchester makes sense for The Crown because it fits the time and the architecture.”

February

A city councillor leaves the Conservative party to sit as an independent.
Sue Cook says she decided to resign from the party to work for what is important to residents.
Cllr Cook, who has been a ward member for Twyford and Colden Common since 2015, says: “This will make no difference to my commitment and energy. Some may say I do things a little different but last year I bucked the national trend and came home with a win and an increased majority."

Crowds flock to Winchester Cathedral for the annual pancake race. A total of 26 teams take part with the fastest being the cathedral choristers from the Pilgrims' School. Lane Clark and Peacock LLP's team is the best dressed, with a team of four as an inflatable Father Christmas, the Easter bunny, an elf and the tooth fairy. 

A Winchester Prison officer is jailed for smuggling drugs and mobile phones for an inmate.
Christopher Harman is sentenced to 16 months for smuggling the items to Liam Currell. 

Garnier Road closes for nine months to replace a 100 year old bridge.
The disruption is felt most of all by the Handlebar Cafe, an offshoot of Bespoke Biking in Kings Walk.
The new bridge will meet modern standards but the works will cause months of disruption. 

River Park campaigners suffer a major blow as a judicial review is rejected.
The Friends of River Park are fighting plans to dispose of part of River Park and the redundant River Park Leisure Centre to Southampton University. 
They argue the whole park was given in trust to the people of Winchester in the early 20th century and should not be sold to a private institution.

The month ends with Mayor of Winchester Derek Green's resignation. 
He had been on leave and had not fulfilled any mayoral duties since the autumn. The reasons are unclear.

March

March sees the unveiling of the development partner for Central Winchester Regeneration, better known as the Silver Hill scheme.
The Jigsaw Consortium is announced, with city council leader Martin Tod saying it's "a very exciting day".
The new developer is quizzed by members of the public, with 'meet and greets' held throughout the year. 

A Peter Symonds College pupil starts a campaign in protest at the college's food costs.
Rowan Pike tells the Chronicle that the cost of warm meals sold has increased since the beginning of last year, citing the price of chicken and chips, which rose from £3.70 to £4.30 – an increase of more than 16 per cent.
The college explains that financial support is available in the form of free meals. 

A Chronicle reporter spends an evening with the Winchester Street Pastors.
Adele Bouchard patrols the streets with members of the charity, renowned for distributing lollies to people on nights out.
The street pastors say that lollipops are a valuable tool for calming people down if they get violent, as well as lifting spirits.
At the end of the night, Adele says: “An insightful experience I’d recommend to anyone.”

Winchester's well-known Big Issue seller Kev Collick moves on.

Residents notice as his usual spot outside Tesco Express in High Street is a little bit quieter.
Originally from Cornwall, he started selling the Big Issue in Winchester in 1999.
Winchester street artist Hendog even created a mural of him in a Christmas tree outfit on the old Friarsgate Medical Centre building. 

A car is left for months in the Barfield Close multi-storey car park.
Multiple tickets appear on the windscreen of the Fiat Punto. The Chronicle story is picked up by Tik Tokker Zoe Bread whose video will be seen by more than 2m people as it goes viral.