13 July Salisbury

Bit of an early start today with us leaving Yorkshire at 6.30 for the 5-hour trek to Salisbury in time for lunch. Wendy, who we met 3 years ago on our Asia/Australia Cruise, lives on an estate on the outskirts of Salisbury with her daughter Sam. They have a 4 bedroom freestanding home overlooking Laverstock meadow with the river Bourne meandering through the estate .10 of them share part ownership of this picturesque setting. She also has a lovely garden. We have been treated to such wonderful hospitality that we may not want to leave.
Sam is very refreshing, passionate about nature and took us on a nature ramble naming plants, wildlife and historical aspects of the area. It is amazing she doesn’t do this full time as she could take tour groups around. I have encouraged her to consider it.
Salisbury is a medieval town dominated by their Cathedral, which is reputed to have the tallest spire in England. 5 Rivers meet in Salisbury. The Bourne, Avon,Nadder,Wylie and Ebble.
After a lovely lunch we proceeded to Stonehenge. I guess in some circles it is who you know. . Wendy is a member of the National Trust so all 4 of us sailed through without needing to pay. How can I explain Stonehenge. Quite eerie really, a prehistoric monument created by an ancient people who mapped the course of the sun and moon to build it. There are burial mounds dotted around the landscape. The large stones are called Sarsen Stones transported 30 km from Marlborough and the smaller stones are Bluestones transported from the Preseli Mountains in Wales 385 km away. The area is very windswept but seeing Stone Henge was a must see for us. We are also having to now deal with Buzz’ burgeoning celebrity status. We hope this does not become Buzz Mania. Sam reckons we need to put him on facebook to satisfy his fan base.
In the evening we went out to dinner with an extra addition, Diana, who was travelling with Wendy on our cruise. Great to catch up with her again. Our dinner venue was called the Haunch of Venison, a medieval inn that now would not pass the building code. We have never seen such a lopsided building but it has stood since the 1600s so it was built to last. The other claim to fame is a mummified hand. The one in the restaurant is a fake; the original is in the local museum. We believe the owner of the hand lost it while cheating at cards. We of course had the haunch of venison, not that we got a haunch, more like a couple of fillets but we can now tick the experience off. The last thing was playing Pooh sticks on the Avon River.