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When we got to our B&B last night, two guys rode in on their push bikes and it turned out they had ridden from Sevenoaks - near Bodiam Castle to Quidhampton. They had super duper bikes and managed to get there in the same amount of time as it took us to drive and sight see!
Funnily enough, they were off in the same direction as we were going, ie towards Cornwall. They were also going to Stonehenge.
We decided to visit Salisbury Cathedral first, it is an amazing building, and has the tallest spire in the UK. We would have liked to have done the tower tour, but that took too long and we had a couple of other things to do, including visiting Stonehenge and Old Sarum.
We did take a tour of the Cathedral and the woman who took it was excellent and very knowledgeable. She showed us the highlights including the new font which was dedicated in 2008 to mark some long standing anniversary. The water reflects the church beautifully and you could spend all day just taking photos of reflections. Apparently the church has had a couple of major renovations including about 1750 when they took out all the stained glass and painted over the wall and ceiling decorations and then in the 1800s they came back thru and tried to reverse these changes. So most of the stained glass is quite new and some very recent, including the blue window behind the altar which was put in in the 1980s to commemorate those who have suffered religious persecution. Our guide did show us the oldest window which is a geometric design. In the 1800s some new windows were designed based on this fragment.
The church is vast, and well worth a visit. Apparently the reason the area around the church is so vast as well is because it was built on a swamp! Our guide dipped a stick down a hole near the middle of the church and you could see the water is only three or four feet below us! The building was started in 1220 AD. Salisbury itself is a lovely town, though we just had a very quick look as we had places to go, things to do...
So, we set GPS lady to take us to Stonehenge, and didn't think we would go to Old Sarum as while were driving to Stonehenge, we could see Old Sarum on a hill over to the right of us. Our drive to Stonehenge was a lovely peaceful country road, until we go to a manic roundabout which it almost seemed as if it would be impossible to cross, however we did manage to find a break... And drove straight thru to Stonehenge. They are currently building a huge visitor centre about a mile from the actual site, very modern. At the current site it is all a bit temporary and ad hoc. But you get a free audio guide which is quite helpful. Because of the way we had come, we didn't get to see Stonehenge from the road until we were there.
It was a glorious day, and as we walked up the path to the site, it became apparent, just how many people visit!!!! There is a constant stream of people. You travel for the first part on a track, and then about a third of the way around, the track widens and you can walk where you like, however you are further away. I went to Stonehenge with my parents in 1978, and I do remember that!!! There seem to be quite a few things I've forgotten, and of course, in those days you didn't take photos like we can and do now! I'm not sure how close we got to the stones... Being so far away, though, you lost some sense of scale, and I did think it might have been good to have some sort of scaling thing. Though that would probably spoil the effect!!!! It was amazing to watch how slowly the traffic was moving past... And we were very pleased to have avoided it.
We decided to go on to Old Sarum, and GPS lady took us back across the dreaded Stonehenge roundabout, for which we were grateful. Old Sarum is the site of an Iron Age fort and the original cathedral was built there, however, the cathedral was moved to the Salisbury plain as this was a better site. There is an airfield near Old Sarum and lots of little planes taking off. We saw eight sky divers as well. And another nice car...
Back into the car and we are off to Gunnislake... Haven't had lunch yet and it was about 3pm...
Anyway, instead of following our noses and going back to Salisbury we followed GPS lady's directions and where did she take us????? On the horrid road past Stonehenge.... and it was even slower than when we had been watching it from Stonehenge! We were going at most 4 miles per hour and it took us 40 minutes to get to a clearer run. Part of the problem is the road changes from single to double lanes and back and then there had been an accident up the road somewhere. I did get a photo of Stonehenge from the road, as we were travelling so slowly...
We had to go straight to Gunnislake as we were running really late and still hadn't had lunch. We ended up stopping about 5 pm at a stopping place for something to eat, then got lost again trying to get off the motorway and onto the A road we needed, somewhere we have forgotten... We are slowly getting to understand GPS lady, DON'T listen to everything she says!!!! By the time we got here it was about 7.30 and we were met by Sharon the owner. She showed us the unit, it is lovely, I love the bedroom with a seaside theme, and the browns and neutrals of the lounge kitchen are lovely too. Sharon left us some lovely chrysanthemums and scones, jam and cream.
We went up to the local pub and had dinner and a pint of local lager. I had pork loin with mushroom and tarragon gravy, or was lovely. Then we had to get to bed!
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