Winchester City Mill, the National Trust-run restored water mill on Bridge Street, has a few days left for people to visit its A Riverside Christmas.
The event has seen the Trust decorate the old mill, according to its website, with “sparkling lights, beautiful baubles and stacks of presents.”
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Senior Visitor Experience Officer Claire Skinner, 30, from Chilbolton (Image: Charles Elliman) Speaking to the Chronicle, Senior Visitor Experience Officer Claire Skinner, 30, from Chilbolton, said: “We’ve had really good feedback from people. It’s been described as a ‘classy’ Christmas.
“We did it [decorated the mill] in a day-and-a-half with our team. There are about eight of us so there are baubles everywhere.”
The visitor experience officer told the Chronicle that one of the stars of the show had been the otter-themed decorations.
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The nocturnal creatures are native to the area and love to devour the River Itchen’s chalk stream trout. Claire continued: “People love the otters.”
The mill also has a second-hand bookshop and cafe, where Claire told the Chronicle people have been sitting to enjoy food and drink and look at the decorations.
She said: “People like to sit in the cafe and look through the glass at the decorations. The cafe has been very busy.”
A Riverside Christmas is a free event, with no booking needed, that will run until Sunday, January 5 at the Winchester City Mill.
The mill is open from Wednesday to Sunday every week, from 10am to 4pm. For information on events, the Trust said to look at their website for details.
For those interested in otters and their sightings, the mill posts updates on their WinchCityMill Otters Twitter/X account.