England: Salisbury

From Brighton, we changed our base to Salisbury, one of the best-preserved medieval towns in the UK. Its economic base was wool. Unlike many other towns/cities, Salisbury seems to have changed little over the centuries. We attended an evensong in the cathedral, mostly town folks. To my surprise, I rather enjoyed the experience.

One day trip from Salisbury was to Stourhead House and Garden. We invested in a Royal Oak Foundation membership which gives free entrances to National Trust properties. Stourhead was built with the Hoare's Bank fortune which financed slave trade and New World plantations. While the house at Stourhead was not particularly impressive, the landscape garden with all the rhododendrons was very enjoyable. Per National Trust website's direction, we used an on-demand bus to get to the site, our first experience.

From Salisbury, we visited Stonehenge. We took the public bus and had a walk around the area, bypassing the tourist shuttle and ticket office. John was rather excited; I was less impressed, especially sinceI just came from the Minoans.

The Salisbury Cathedral has the tallest church steeple in the UK at 123 meters (404 feet).






The River Avon runs right through the center of town.




On the Train to Stourhead


The train passed through some typical English countryside.


Some photos outside and inside the Stourhead House






The Stourhead Landscape Garden, rhododendrons in full bloom, was amazing.


Temple of Apollo Viewpoint.


Pantheon Temple








A view of the lake.






One more rhododendron photo.

First below is the mapy.com map we constructed to plot our Stonehenge walk, starting and ending at the bus stop in the upper right. We ended up not following it to the letter, but just making the map was educational.


Off the bus (1st below) and walking through Durrington Walls Neolithic Settlement (2nd below) and Woodhenge Neolithic Timber Monument from 2500 BC (3rd).






The path towards Stonehenge.


And there it is. First below is the view from New King Barrows which are about 1 mile east of the Stonehenge Stone Circle. Second below, a bit closer.




Almost there. Personally I am happy to approach on foot from a few miles away.




This is as close as you get for free.


These folks are as close as you get if you pay.


Not much left to do after visiting the Stone Circle except to head back towards the bus via the Cursus Ridge Neolithic Burial Mounds




Bonus Woodhenge Pano with les deux SL.


One evening we had some small plates and a real ale at Wetherspoon's Pub.