St. Mary's Almshouses

The building you can see is part of the St. Mary's Almshouses complex in Chichester, which includes a very old building that was a medieval hospital.

Medieval hospitals served the needs of the sick, the poor, and travellers and were concerned as much with spiritual wellbeing as well as with medical care. Although its role has changed more than once in 800 years, St Mary's is a remarkable survival of a 13th Century hospital. It has kept its ancient buildings and endowments, and is still in use today as an almshouse providing sheltered accommodation for the elderly.

We went over to Chichester this morning and did some shopping and had a fantastic lasagne for lunch (2 for £10) at the Old Cross pub. We then went on to my Dad's for the afternoon and I took him to an appointment whilst Stuart did some gardening for him (and took down one more disintegrated fence panel). We had a short drive through the country after the appointment, but it was more a case of dodge the potholes than a pleasurable drive! The roads are just falling apart round there, but I guess it's the same in a lot of places after the recent weather.

I'm half watching the programme on Channel 4 about astronauts on the international space station. The views from there are so incredible - especially the aurora borealis, but how anyone can bear being in such a small space so high up is beyond me! Certainly an adventure for those who can though.