Winchester Heritage Open Days:
with many different people. Nicky has these
qualities in spades.
‘When I took on the heritage programme in
Winchester, they were keen to think about new
younger ideas that would appeal to all ages and
broaden its appeal,’ says Nicky. ‘I thought it would
be easy, given the huge amount of interesting stuff
that we have here in Winchester.’
The fact was that the Winchester team —
which used to run under the Winchester Open
Weekends (WOW) brand — was winding down,
and in 2015 there were only around six events
offered as part of what was then a four-day
festival. In 2016, her first year at the helm, Nicky
managed to increase this to 40 events, but in
her own words it was ‘a struggle. You have to
remember that local businesses and organisations
have to staff their own events, look after visitors
and so on, so it’s easy to say no.’
Last year, in 2019, the festival hosted 145
free events with 22,000 visits taking place,
including some to fantastic curiosities such as
The Winchester Bindery, a small room inside
P&G Wells on College Street. ‘At the back,
where they have the door with the wrapping
paper on it, is a former stable where Tim and
n ick y got tli e b
Pete Wiltshire do their book binding by hand.
It is like going into Hogwarts, really —
and is super interesting as they still bind or
restore a number of College books there.’
The College has fully embraced Winchester’s
Heritage Open Days. We have unique buildings
and amazing archival treasures acquired over the
centuries. Heritage Open Days are a way for Win
Coll to share its history, open its doors to the wider
community, and help break down the perceived
‘town and gown’ division that is often cited as a
problem with all independent schools. Under Tim
Hands there is clearly a major commitment not just
to opening up the grounds, but also to involving the
staff in talks and in giving financial and marketing
support to the wider programme across the city.
‘Tim invited me to a College dinner, and we started
talking about Heritage Open Days. He was fully
aware of the venture and had also been responsible
for establishing the Magdalen College School Arts
Festival (now the Oxford Festival of Arts), so was
keen to ‘get stuck in’ in Winchester. We seemed
to click and be talking the same language.’
The College committed to a big step-up in
guided tours, and also introduced new events,
including the Quiristers’ Open Rehearsal.
Visitors to the Treasury during the Heritage Open Days
The Wykeham Journal 2019 19