MUSIC and dancing, interrupted by the occasional whistle of a model steam train and screams of Punch & Judy, will enliven the lawns of the medieval Hospital of St Cross in Winchester this Saturday. 

The occasion is the annual St Cross Fete which records say was first held in 1868.

It is to be opened by the Master of St Cross, the Revd Reg Sweet.

There will be a wide range of stalls and games, as well as train rides and entertainment provided by the Winchester Morris Men, 1st Chandler’s Ford Boys’ Brigade Band and Punch & Judy.

Teas, homemade cakes and ice cream will be available.

Local photographer and food and travel writer, Christopher Caldicott, will be signing copies of his new book Winchester; and his wife and food writer Carolyn Caldicott, who owned and ran the World Food Café in London’s Covent Garden, will be signing copies of her two recent books Vintage Tea Party and Rosehips on a Kitchen Table.

Funds raised will go to the church at St Cross, the Hampshire & Isle of Wight Air Ambulance, the Burma Children’s Fund and the Carroll Centrin Stanmore.

Gates open at 2pm (June 28) and ample free car parking is available in the adjacent water meadows. Entrance for adults, £2.50, children (under 18 in full-time education), free.