Quiz Question of the Day: What was Ethan and Jacob's FAVOURITE thing about today?
Was it:
A. Seeing the mysterious standing stones of Stonehenge with their own personal audio guide?
B. Walking through the ruins of a castle on a big hill?
C. Seeing the magnificent Salisbury Cathedral and the infamous Magna Carta?
D. Having to walk through the rain this afternoon/evening and getting wet and cold?
How many of you picked................. D! Yes, that's right, when asked the best thing about today, they answered that it was getting caught in a rain storm as we walked to the station to head home in Salisbury - as well as it raining in Littlehampton upon our return and us having to walk from the station in the rain. Although they did admit that if it hadn't rained that Stonehenge would have been the best thing!
Transport was playing nice with us today - we made good time this morning on the trains - getting into Salisbury in time to pick up "The Stonehenge Tour" that left at 11am. The tour has several options - we took the total package which includes the bus and entry to Stonehenge, Old Sarum and the Cathedral; it also gives priority entry at Stonehenge - so no lines!
We drove out via a short tour of Salisbury itself, walked straight in and collected our personal audio guides. Now I was a bit apprehensive about whether the boys would actually listen to them or not - but they did - happily and even made comment about some of what they were told, although every now and then Jacob would mention what he was hearing about and I would have to point to it, so he knew where it was. We happily wandered the perimeter (last time I was here I touched/climbed on the rocks), managed to get a few photos, sans people (a few others easily fixed with photoshop!) and headed to the gift shop, made purchases and arrived back at the bus stop as a bus arrived!
We continued the tour back towards Salisbury and Old Sarum Castle. This is the site of many settlements - Celtic, Roman, Saxon.... It is a rather impressive hill, that has grooves and levels, drawbridges and which also at one stage had a castle AND a church on the top (these ruins are the church/castle built by William the Conqueror). That there was a castle on top is rather impressive as the top of the hill is much smaller than your average school oval - I would say that it is a circle with a diameter of maybe 200m (if that), and the church sat on the next level down, overlooked by the castle. It was built on/ used for many hundreds of years, but then fell into disuse and became rundown and irreparable until finally Henry VIII sounded the death knell (surprise surprise - that dude has a lot to answer for) when he let them tear it down and use the stone to build something else. An added bonus whilst there was the nearby light aircraft airport - we saw biplanes, gliders, light aircraft, parachute drops....... because it was Sat morning and everyone was out!!! Again, with perfect timing - we arrived at the bus stop as another bus arrived!
From here we stopped at the Market area of Salisbury - where there was a market (Sat, remember!). Having exhausted the supply of food we had brought with us - we found a little cafe tucked in behind the market and had ourselves a delightful Devonshire Tea - with what Jacob says is "the best hot chocolate, ever" (I think he liked the 1/2 can of whipped cream they put on the top of the coffee mug sized hot chocolate). Suitably full we wandered the market and adjacent streets/shops as we slowly wended (is that a word?) our way towards the Cathedral. Now the spire we had seen upon arrival - bit hard to miss actually its 123m tall - but the whole package - what a magnificent church. I have to put this one right up there with St Peter's (The Vatican) and the Cathedral in Siena - impressive - and very light inside - not dark and dingy.
It is interesting to note that Salisbury was never bombed by the Germans during WW2 - apparently this is because they that been given strict orders not to damage the Cathedral - as they used its spire as a marker for their location and could then set the correct headings from there for other places. Good for the Cathedral and the associated war industries (spitfire parts actually) that were made in the area...... inside was interesting as we followed the 'children's map' that was a little like a church treasure hunt. Our last stop was the Magna Carta, one of the 4 remaining copies (the one considered as 'the best') is housed at the Cathedral. The document itself is quite small and the writing on it is even smaller - think font size 8 - but no pictures sorry - due to the fragile nature of the document and for 'security' reasons.
By the time we emerged from the Cathedral to walk to the station the overcast day had 'turned' and it was now pretty clear that rain was going to fall, although it was not clear when - as it turned out, it started when we were about 500m from the station...... this time we weren't lucky, the train was late - but this did end up being useful later. As we departed the train in Portsmouth/Southsea the one direct to Littlehampton pulled in on the other side of the platform - we got off one and straight on to the next - which was good as Jacob had slept on the first train and probably wouldn't have been very happy with hanging around on a station at that point in time. Home we went, with the rain outside not looking like stopping and to a walk home in it - the very "best" part of the day (as voted by the children!)
Was it:
A. Seeing the mysterious standing stones of Stonehenge with their own personal audio guide?
B. Walking through the ruins of a castle on a big hill?
C. Seeing the magnificent Salisbury Cathedral and the infamous Magna Carta?
D. Having to walk through the rain this afternoon/evening and getting wet and cold?
How many of you picked................. D! Yes, that's right, when asked the best thing about today, they answered that it was getting caught in a rain storm as we walked to the station to head home in Salisbury - as well as it raining in Littlehampton upon our return and us having to walk from the station in the rain. Although they did admit that if it hadn't rained that Stonehenge would have been the best thing!
 |
| Some of the countryside on the Salisbury Plain |
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| The city is founded at the meeting place of 5 different rivers |
Transport was playing nice with us today - we made good time this morning on the trains - getting into Salisbury in time to pick up "The Stonehenge Tour" that left at 11am. The tour has several options - we took the total package which includes the bus and entry to Stonehenge, Old Sarum and the Cathedral; it also gives priority entry at Stonehenge - so no lines!
We drove out via a short tour of Salisbury itself, walked straight in and collected our personal audio guides. Now I was a bit apprehensive about whether the boys would actually listen to them or not - but they did - happily and even made comment about some of what they were told, although every now and then Jacob would mention what he was hearing about and I would have to point to it, so he knew where it was. We happily wandered the perimeter (last time I was here I touched/climbed on the rocks), managed to get a few photos, sans people (a few others easily fixed with photoshop!) and headed to the gift shop, made purchases and arrived back at the bus stop as a bus arrived!
 |
| The Heel stone as viewed from the other side |
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| The Heel Stone - looking away from Stonehenge along the "procession path" |
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| Rock in foreground is 'Slaughter Rock' as it looks red when wet |
We continued the tour back towards Salisbury and Old Sarum Castle. This is the site of many settlements - Celtic, Roman, Saxon.... It is a rather impressive hill, that has grooves and levels, drawbridges and which also at one stage had a castle AND a church on the top (these ruins are the church/castle built by William the Conqueror). That there was a castle on top is rather impressive as the top of the hill is much smaller than your average school oval - I would say that it is a circle with a diameter of maybe 200m (if that), and the church sat on the next level down, overlooked by the castle. It was built on/ used for many hundreds of years, but then fell into disuse and became rundown and irreparable until finally Henry VIII sounded the death knell (surprise surprise - that dude has a lot to answer for) when he let them tear it down and use the stone to build something else. An added bonus whilst there was the nearby light aircraft airport - we saw biplanes, gliders, light aircraft, parachute drops....... because it was Sat morning and everyone was out!!! Again, with perfect timing - we arrived at the bus stop as another bus arrived!
 |
| Ruins of castle - this was the main 'public entry' area to the castle if you had an invitation of course |
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| The ruins of the church |
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| View of Salisbury from the summit |
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| The whole top - I'm standing on the edge of one side and the other side is the wall ruins you can see in front of the trees |
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| The 'groove' / gully |
From here we stopped at the Market area of Salisbury - where there was a market (Sat, remember!). Having exhausted the supply of food we had brought with us - we found a little cafe tucked in behind the market and had ourselves a delightful Devonshire Tea - with what Jacob says is "the best hot chocolate, ever" (I think he liked the 1/2 can of whipped cream they put on the top of the coffee mug sized hot chocolate). Suitably full we wandered the market and adjacent streets/shops as we slowly wended (is that a word?) our way towards the Cathedral. Now the spire we had seen upon arrival - bit hard to miss actually its 123m tall - but the whole package - what a magnificent church. I have to put this one right up there with St Peter's (The Vatican) and the Cathedral in Siena - impressive - and very light inside - not dark and dingy.
 |
| 'New Canal' street. Salisbury was "Britain's Venice" with lots of canals - which of course ended up being lots of open sewers. Disease was rife and the smell etc was terrible - so they were all filled in. The name of this street is such to remind the city of its previous 'look'. |
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| One of the gates that takes you into the 'Cathedral' lands. |
It is interesting to note that Salisbury was never bombed by the Germans during WW2 - apparently this is because they that been given strict orders not to damage the Cathedral - as they used its spire as a marker for their location and could then set the correct headings from there for other places. Good for the Cathedral and the associated war industries (spitfire parts actually) that were made in the area...... inside was interesting as we followed the 'children's map' that was a little like a church treasure hunt. Our last stop was the Magna Carta, one of the 4 remaining copies (the one considered as 'the best') is housed at the Cathedral. The document itself is quite small and the writing on it is even smaller - think font size 8 - but no pictures sorry - due to the fragile nature of the document and for 'security' reasons.
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| Had to go to the very far corner of the grounds to get the whole thing in frame |
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| The font. It is full to the brim, with 4 overflow spouts. |
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| The cathedral was hosting a modern religious art exhibition in the grounds and cathedral. I quite liked this bronze which was titled 'Messenger of the Spirit'. |
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| Looking down the cathedral towards the front doors |
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| Garden with many small plaques/markers. As it was originally a Catholic Church this area is best described as the Cloisters. |
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| The cricket that we had to hunt around and find in our 'treasure hunt' - his partner on the other side is a gryphon |
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| Main altar |
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| The cathedra (bishop's chair) |
By the time we emerged from the Cathedral to walk to the station the overcast day had 'turned' and it was now pretty clear that rain was going to fall, although it was not clear when - as it turned out, it started when we were about 500m from the station...... this time we weren't lucky, the train was late - but this did end up being useful later. As we departed the train in Portsmouth/Southsea the one direct to Littlehampton pulled in on the other side of the platform - we got off one and straight on to the next - which was good as Jacob had slept on the first train and probably wouldn't have been very happy with hanging around on a station at that point in time. Home we went, with the rain outside not looking like stopping and to a walk home in it - the very "best" part of the day (as voted by the children!)
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