My travel saga 2012 #8 - Salisbury & Stonehenge
Following in from the Asylum convention, and my bus ride where I finally met up with Jenny was my time in Salisbury.
The train ride was from Birmingham to Salisbury lasted three and a half hours and the first three hours, I stood in the vestibule with my suitcase as the train was pretty full. There were some seats but no room for my now bulging suitcase. It really wasn't bad standing/leaning as I had been sitting for the most part of 3 days. I changed trains for the last leg, and found a seat easily within arms reach of my suitcase. One of my concerns about staying at the B&B I had booked was that i thought I would have to share a bathroom, something I wasn't keen on doing. That concern turned out to be unfounded as I did have a private bath. Whew! And it was gorgeous there. The woman who owns the B&B, Trish, was lovely. I did find out when I arrived that she would only be there for three nights as she was going for a holiday but she had friends coming in for the duration of my stay. The room was a good size and had everything, blow dryer, cupboard, tv, very comfy bed with a good squishy pillow and FREE wifi! And the yard/garden was beautiful, a large expanse of grass with flowers and shrubs bordering it. I spent a lot of my time out in that garden reading,
Anyway, after getting settled, I took a walk around, grabbed some dinner where I talked to a woman who was also dining alone, a woman on a business trip and then I wandered the grounds of the cathedral. It was a nice chance to stand and stare at the outside statues on the cathedral walls without crowds around. The sun was shining the day I arrived and except for brief spots of clouds, remained that way for the duration until today when I left. I did not see one drop of rain.
The first full day, at Trish's suggestion, I took a walk up from the town to Old Sarum, the site of what is believed to have been a prehistoric village/fort, definite traces of a Roman presence and the very visible remains of a Norman castle, cathedral and walled city. The walk took me along the Avon river [a useless bit of trivia - there are several Avon rivers in England and that is because the Celtic word for river was avun and when the Romans asked what the river was called, they were told avun as apparently, they didn't have specific names for individual rivers - so it stuck] and then through some wooded areas until reaching the hill up to Old Sarum. You can see for miles from that hilltop ruin and it is glorious. After exploring the ruins of the city which was a primary residence and stronghold of William the conqueror and also where King John signed or at least set his seal to the Magna Carta, I made it down to the Cathedral and spent the rest of afternoon wandering the downtown area finishing with dinner at a pub.
The next few days were spent site seeing and one evening I took in the evensong service at the Cathedral, as Trish's had told me the choir was beautiful to the ear. She was definitely right. The silly thing was that we were told we could sit in the choir section so we all trooped up there. After sitting for a few minutes taking in the stone and woodwork, five monks (pretty sure they were monks - long black robes, cowled collars, beanie on their head) sat down beside me. I am not what you would call religious in the organized religion sense of the word but I looked up at the ceiling trying to suppress my giggles as I thought if it was ever going to happen, the ceiling should now open up and rain brimstone upon my head. Luckily, that did not occur and I also managed to suppress my chuckles until I left the building.
I took a ghost tour on the Friday night and as I was the only one who had signed up for it, got a private tour around the town which gave me the opportunity to ask questions unrelated to ghosts as well. There are ghost tours offered in Vancouver, in Seattle and in Edinburg all of which I've wanted to take but the timing has never been right but I was in full on tourist mode so this was wonderful fun. The guide was great and clearly enjoyed the tales he was telling of ghosts that have haunted from medieval times.
I did the requisite museum tour and they had a fantastic display about Stonehenge, a place that I fully intended on visiting again. I was going to just bus it up there during the day and walk around the outside that the general public was restricted to but instead, I found a tour advertised on-line which was 5 hours in duration, included a visit to Woodhenge, the Durrington Walls (a very large prehistoric monument/henge where they have found traces if human habitation immediately outside the walls), barrows (burial mounds) and then a tour of Stonehenge after the general public had left which meant the chance to walk among the stones. Luckily, they still had one spot available on the Saturday which I grabbed. We went up in two minivans, 12 of us and on the way, had various homes pointed out to us including the estate owned by Sting. It is such lush green country and we took the road less travelled which meant very narrow tree-lined roads where on occasion, we had to give way to oncoming traffic. The main tour guide was Pat Shelley (I highly recommend hjm) and he was passionate about the information he gave us. He has personally participated in several prehistoric archeological digs and really knows his stuff. The main thing he told us was even with all the evidence, the real use for all of the sites we visited is speculative and changes as more data is collected. The catch-all phrase that he taught us as the use for these sites was that they were for ritual and ceremonial use, meaning, they really don't know.
I had gone on a Stonehenge tour five years previously and while we got to walk among the stones, the guide was not nearly as informative as Pat. This event was an all-encompassing tour of the area, proposing the theories of the uses of the individual monuments we visited and then tying together those uses for a theory of the whole area that being that the Durington Walls area was a gathering place for peoples of England or at least the south & perhaps Wales in the winter to exchange goods and children, fostering or in marriage. Stonehenge, it is theorized was an actual burial or ancestral worshipping site that was accessible by means of the river and as there is evidence that the monument gives the charting of the winter solstice, the people would then know that it would be time to return to their homes and soon begin spring planting. Again, conjectural. Enough of the theory now. I find it fascinating but I realize that it might indeed be dry for you all. The most amazing part of the tour which raised goosebumps on my arms was after we had visited the barrows and then made our way to the avenue, a walkway that would take about 15 to 20 abreast that leads to Stonehenge. The way it was constructed was that you walked up a rise not seeing the monument but when you finally crested the rise, it appeared in front of you, a huge ring of mammoth stones. Pretty awesome! After that and thankfully after the hoards, and I mean hoards of tourists had departed, we got to go into the area of the site itself. The last time I had visited, you had been allowed to touch the stones but that is no longer an option and they have guards around to make certain you don't. There is some rare lichen growing on the stones and the oils and acids from your fingers destroys them so now it is also an ecological preserve in addition to an historical one. Still, even without being able to hug the stones, it was an awe inspiring experience. I actually restrained myself from taking too many pictures of these rocks this time instead focusing on trying to set up some good ones which I think I got.
The day had been amazing, involving lots of history, lots of walking and I was so thrilled that I had decided not to cut my holiday short. Before I had arrived in Salisbury, I was having some major thoughts about flying home early, missing the familiar. That thought was soon pushed away when I discovered that it would cost more for the one way flight than to just stay.
Good thing because the next few days turned out to be fantastic experience. On the Sunday, the two women who had taken over running the B&B for Trish, Jane and Chris, asked me if I would like to join them for a visit to a gardening shop and tea. I jumped at the chance to get a glimpse of the surrounding area where I had thought to visit but found walking there not an option. We had a lovely day, delicious scones with the required jam and clotted cream and then went round to Jane's cottage in the village of Dowton to water her plants. When she said water her plants, I thought she meant house plants. Nope. Wrong. It was the garden, a beautiful English garden she had created behind her charming 16th century thatched cottage. The doorway into the cottage is no more than five and half feet in height and the inside looks like you would expect with large beams overhead. She and her husband have redone the bathroom which is gorgeous but the place has such as quaint warm feeling to it. I felt very blessed to have been invited into her charming home.
I spent much of my time getting to know the two woman over the next few days. They were so warm to me and have had very interesting lives. Jane has travelled lots all over the world and does plan to come to Vancouver at some point (she has me email) and worked in the accommodations industry grading B&Bs and hotels, running a B&B and tea shop and raising two children. Chris is a former school teacher, has run a B&B, has no desire to travel, choosing instead to read about it or watch it on the television much to Janes chagrin who would love to drag her away for adventures and is a very active great-grandmother. They were a delight and very good friends teasing each other relentlessly with a wonderful british touch to the humour which I adored and by the time I left, doing the same with me. They also took my on a drive through the New Forest which is a huge national park now but was originally established by William the Conqueror who kept it as his private hunting grounds. New Forest might be a bit of a stretch. ;)
Monday, i went to Cardiff to meet up with a friend for dinner, a friend I had visited last year. I had completely misjudged how long the train ride as I had originally thought to visit while I had been in Bath but never mind. I was a great day, arriving at about one, having lunch and then playing with my camera in the park called Alexandra gardens situated behind city hall before finally meeting up with Zoe. We wandered around, had dinner, wandered some more, chatted lots catching up, had a drink before I caught my train back to Salisbury.
Tuesday, which was my birthday, was a great day. I had honestly expected to feel rather disconnected - my choice to spend it away from home so no complaints were to be forthcoming from me - but the day started with a fun set of virtual balloons from a friend in Australia, and then a birthday card from Jane and Chris and a little souvenir from Salisbury, ever so sweet. I got tons of wishes via twitter, Facebook and emails as well a phone calls from my daughter and sister. Among those virtual greetings I got a virtual Happy Birthday sung to me as well as a virtual conga line. Haha! I spent most of the day just relaxing and reading with a brief walk throughout town to check out a couple of the buildings that the ghost tour gentleman had told me about. One of the buildings was built by the stonemasons' guild and had taken them many years to get approval for back in the 16 hundreds. After finally getting approval, the masons carved figures into the front of the building which had the heads of the city councilors but the bodies of woman with rather large breasts, a dig at the men for being old women haggling about granting the permission. Sexist yes, but rather amusing nonetheless. After that, I went out for dinner and a quirky play. I had not known in advance that the Salisbury arts festival was in during my visit so that was a bonus. I turned out to be an excellent day and all around fun birthday.
Wednesday, my final full day in the city, Jane and Chris again invited me go join them on an outing, this time to the village of Stockbridge, north of Salisbury I think. It was a fun trip to a very artsy village where we explored the shops and had lunch. That evening, the three of us had Chinese take-away and Jane and I shared a bottle of wine. I really feel I made some wonderful friends in the two of them.
Today, I had to leave but not until 3 In the afternoon. I left my bags a the B&B and wandered again to the city centre, first to find a post office and then just to wander the banks of the Avon river again. I saw about fourteen swans and numerous ducks but what mesmerized me was a mother duck guiding her eleven ducklings up and down the river. I finally dragged myself away and back to grab my bags. Jane insisted on driving me to the bus depot which really was within walking distance. I got a great hug from both Jane and Chris and then was on my way.
This entire 40 day trip has been a fantastic adventure and all that is left is the trip home. I have mixed feeling about leaving but I will be happy to get back to my real life...I think. ;)
Thanks for following me on my travels.
The train ride was from Birmingham to Salisbury lasted three and a half hours and the first three hours, I stood in the vestibule with my suitcase as the train was pretty full. There were some seats but no room for my now bulging suitcase. It really wasn't bad standing/leaning as I had been sitting for the most part of 3 days. I changed trains for the last leg, and found a seat easily within arms reach of my suitcase. One of my concerns about staying at the B&B I had booked was that i thought I would have to share a bathroom, something I wasn't keen on doing. That concern turned out to be unfounded as I did have a private bath. Whew! And it was gorgeous there. The woman who owns the B&B, Trish, was lovely. I did find out when I arrived that she would only be there for three nights as she was going for a holiday but she had friends coming in for the duration of my stay. The room was a good size and had everything, blow dryer, cupboard, tv, very comfy bed with a good squishy pillow and FREE wifi! And the yard/garden was beautiful, a large expanse of grass with flowers and shrubs bordering it. I spent a lot of my time out in that garden reading,
Anyway, after getting settled, I took a walk around, grabbed some dinner where I talked to a woman who was also dining alone, a woman on a business trip and then I wandered the grounds of the cathedral. It was a nice chance to stand and stare at the outside statues on the cathedral walls without crowds around. The sun was shining the day I arrived and except for brief spots of clouds, remained that way for the duration until today when I left. I did not see one drop of rain.
The first full day, at Trish's suggestion, I took a walk up from the town to Old Sarum, the site of what is believed to have been a prehistoric village/fort, definite traces of a Roman presence and the very visible remains of a Norman castle, cathedral and walled city. The walk took me along the Avon river [a useless bit of trivia - there are several Avon rivers in England and that is because the Celtic word for river was avun and when the Romans asked what the river was called, they were told avun as apparently, they didn't have specific names for individual rivers - so it stuck] and then through some wooded areas until reaching the hill up to Old Sarum. You can see for miles from that hilltop ruin and it is glorious. After exploring the ruins of the city which was a primary residence and stronghold of William the conqueror and also where King John signed or at least set his seal to the Magna Carta, I made it down to the Cathedral and spent the rest of afternoon wandering the downtown area finishing with dinner at a pub.
The next few days were spent site seeing and one evening I took in the evensong service at the Cathedral, as Trish's had told me the choir was beautiful to the ear. She was definitely right. The silly thing was that we were told we could sit in the choir section so we all trooped up there. After sitting for a few minutes taking in the stone and woodwork, five monks (pretty sure they were monks - long black robes, cowled collars, beanie on their head) sat down beside me. I am not what you would call religious in the organized religion sense of the word but I looked up at the ceiling trying to suppress my giggles as I thought if it was ever going to happen, the ceiling should now open up and rain brimstone upon my head. Luckily, that did not occur and I also managed to suppress my chuckles until I left the building.
I took a ghost tour on the Friday night and as I was the only one who had signed up for it, got a private tour around the town which gave me the opportunity to ask questions unrelated to ghosts as well. There are ghost tours offered in Vancouver, in Seattle and in Edinburg all of which I've wanted to take but the timing has never been right but I was in full on tourist mode so this was wonderful fun. The guide was great and clearly enjoyed the tales he was telling of ghosts that have haunted from medieval times.
I did the requisite museum tour and they had a fantastic display about Stonehenge, a place that I fully intended on visiting again. I was going to just bus it up there during the day and walk around the outside that the general public was restricted to but instead, I found a tour advertised on-line which was 5 hours in duration, included a visit to Woodhenge, the Durrington Walls (a very large prehistoric monument/henge where they have found traces if human habitation immediately outside the walls), barrows (burial mounds) and then a tour of Stonehenge after the general public had left which meant the chance to walk among the stones. Luckily, they still had one spot available on the Saturday which I grabbed. We went up in two minivans, 12 of us and on the way, had various homes pointed out to us including the estate owned by Sting. It is such lush green country and we took the road less travelled which meant very narrow tree-lined roads where on occasion, we had to give way to oncoming traffic. The main tour guide was Pat Shelley (I highly recommend hjm) and he was passionate about the information he gave us. He has personally participated in several prehistoric archeological digs and really knows his stuff. The main thing he told us was even with all the evidence, the real use for all of the sites we visited is speculative and changes as more data is collected. The catch-all phrase that he taught us as the use for these sites was that they were for ritual and ceremonial use, meaning, they really don't know.
I had gone on a Stonehenge tour five years previously and while we got to walk among the stones, the guide was not nearly as informative as Pat. This event was an all-encompassing tour of the area, proposing the theories of the uses of the individual monuments we visited and then tying together those uses for a theory of the whole area that being that the Durington Walls area was a gathering place for peoples of England or at least the south & perhaps Wales in the winter to exchange goods and children, fostering or in marriage. Stonehenge, it is theorized was an actual burial or ancestral worshipping site that was accessible by means of the river and as there is evidence that the monument gives the charting of the winter solstice, the people would then know that it would be time to return to their homes and soon begin spring planting. Again, conjectural. Enough of the theory now. I find it fascinating but I realize that it might indeed be dry for you all. The most amazing part of the tour which raised goosebumps on my arms was after we had visited the barrows and then made our way to the avenue, a walkway that would take about 15 to 20 abreast that leads to Stonehenge. The way it was constructed was that you walked up a rise not seeing the monument but when you finally crested the rise, it appeared in front of you, a huge ring of mammoth stones. Pretty awesome! After that and thankfully after the hoards, and I mean hoards of tourists had departed, we got to go into the area of the site itself. The last time I had visited, you had been allowed to touch the stones but that is no longer an option and they have guards around to make certain you don't. There is some rare lichen growing on the stones and the oils and acids from your fingers destroys them so now it is also an ecological preserve in addition to an historical one. Still, even without being able to hug the stones, it was an awe inspiring experience. I actually restrained myself from taking too many pictures of these rocks this time instead focusing on trying to set up some good ones which I think I got.
The day had been amazing, involving lots of history, lots of walking and I was so thrilled that I had decided not to cut my holiday short. Before I had arrived in Salisbury, I was having some major thoughts about flying home early, missing the familiar. That thought was soon pushed away when I discovered that it would cost more for the one way flight than to just stay.
Good thing because the next few days turned out to be fantastic experience. On the Sunday, the two women who had taken over running the B&B for Trish, Jane and Chris, asked me if I would like to join them for a visit to a gardening shop and tea. I jumped at the chance to get a glimpse of the surrounding area where I had thought to visit but found walking there not an option. We had a lovely day, delicious scones with the required jam and clotted cream and then went round to Jane's cottage in the village of Dowton to water her plants. When she said water her plants, I thought she meant house plants. Nope. Wrong. It was the garden, a beautiful English garden she had created behind her charming 16th century thatched cottage. The doorway into the cottage is no more than five and half feet in height and the inside looks like you would expect with large beams overhead. She and her husband have redone the bathroom which is gorgeous but the place has such as quaint warm feeling to it. I felt very blessed to have been invited into her charming home.
I spent much of my time getting to know the two woman over the next few days. They were so warm to me and have had very interesting lives. Jane has travelled lots all over the world and does plan to come to Vancouver at some point (she has me email) and worked in the accommodations industry grading B&Bs and hotels, running a B&B and tea shop and raising two children. Chris is a former school teacher, has run a B&B, has no desire to travel, choosing instead to read about it or watch it on the television much to Janes chagrin who would love to drag her away for adventures and is a very active great-grandmother. They were a delight and very good friends teasing each other relentlessly with a wonderful british touch to the humour which I adored and by the time I left, doing the same with me. They also took my on a drive through the New Forest which is a huge national park now but was originally established by William the Conqueror who kept it as his private hunting grounds. New Forest might be a bit of a stretch. ;)
Monday, i went to Cardiff to meet up with a friend for dinner, a friend I had visited last year. I had completely misjudged how long the train ride as I had originally thought to visit while I had been in Bath but never mind. I was a great day, arriving at about one, having lunch and then playing with my camera in the park called Alexandra gardens situated behind city hall before finally meeting up with Zoe. We wandered around, had dinner, wandered some more, chatted lots catching up, had a drink before I caught my train back to Salisbury.
Tuesday, which was my birthday, was a great day. I had honestly expected to feel rather disconnected - my choice to spend it away from home so no complaints were to be forthcoming from me - but the day started with a fun set of virtual balloons from a friend in Australia, and then a birthday card from Jane and Chris and a little souvenir from Salisbury, ever so sweet. I got tons of wishes via twitter, Facebook and emails as well a phone calls from my daughter and sister. Among those virtual greetings I got a virtual Happy Birthday sung to me as well as a virtual conga line. Haha! I spent most of the day just relaxing and reading with a brief walk throughout town to check out a couple of the buildings that the ghost tour gentleman had told me about. One of the buildings was built by the stonemasons' guild and had taken them many years to get approval for back in the 16 hundreds. After finally getting approval, the masons carved figures into the front of the building which had the heads of the city councilors but the bodies of woman with rather large breasts, a dig at the men for being old women haggling about granting the permission. Sexist yes, but rather amusing nonetheless. After that, I went out for dinner and a quirky play. I had not known in advance that the Salisbury arts festival was in during my visit so that was a bonus. I turned out to be an excellent day and all around fun birthday.
Wednesday, my final full day in the city, Jane and Chris again invited me go join them on an outing, this time to the village of Stockbridge, north of Salisbury I think. It was a fun trip to a very artsy village where we explored the shops and had lunch. That evening, the three of us had Chinese take-away and Jane and I shared a bottle of wine. I really feel I made some wonderful friends in the two of them.
Today, I had to leave but not until 3 In the afternoon. I left my bags a the B&B and wandered again to the city centre, first to find a post office and then just to wander the banks of the Avon river again. I saw about fourteen swans and numerous ducks but what mesmerized me was a mother duck guiding her eleven ducklings up and down the river. I finally dragged myself away and back to grab my bags. Jane insisted on driving me to the bus depot which really was within walking distance. I got a great hug from both Jane and Chris and then was on my way.
This entire 40 day trip has been a fantastic adventure and all that is left is the trip home. I have mixed feeling about leaving but I will be happy to get back to my real life...I think. ;)
Thanks for following me on my travels.