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| leaving Canterbury, via London, arriving Salisbury |
We left Canterbury under overcast skies, taking a bus to Ashford as the rail lines were being repaired, eventually catching a Southwest Rail train to London. In Ashford waiting for the train we met a very friendly lady, Sheila Webb, from Canterbury who lived in Chartham from 1976 to 1998 and knew Jean Cutting's mother in Chartham Hatch (small world). Sheila was instrumental in establishing a bike path and walkway along the Great Stour River in Chartham and told me about the Adopt-A-Tree program in the No Mans Orchard, in Chartham Hatch, which greatly interested me. She was very helpful in getting us on way as we dragged our luggage through the tube at St Pancras station to Waterloo where we caught the train to Salisbury. From London the train travelled through the green, verdant and rolling English countryside of Sussex, Hampshire and into Wiltshire county. As we approached the city I craned my neck to get my first glimpse of the the town of New Sarum and the soaring tower of Salisbury Cathedral through the already heavily leafed trees lining the track. It was sprinkling and cooler than Canterbury when we hailed a cab to take us to our little loft studio near the center of town. Once we were settled and with the sun trying to come out we headed to Market Place where a typical English fair, in honour of St George's Day was in full swing. There were all sorts of local food stalls selling mead wine, cheeses and jams, a Punch and Judy show attended by a mass of screaming children, jesters, singers, morris dancers and pony rides. We stopped in the old Guildhall for cream tea and scones before walking a short distance to the cathedral grounds, the skies darkening and rain now starting to fall. We explored this beautiful 800 year-old cathedral for a few hours, home of one of four surviving copies of the Magna Carta sealed by King John in 1215. I poured fascinated over this ancient document, written on calfskin in abbreviated Latin. As it was Sunday we stayed to attend Evensong, a lovely service of evening prayer with the choral sung by the Lay Vicars. Tomorrow would be another full day - we were off to Stonehenge, Old Sarum and then back to the Cathedral for a fascinating tower tour. But first some fish pie and Bill's beer for dinner! gws
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| breakfast, #64 St Edmunds, Salisbury |
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| Punch and Judy, Salisbury market square |
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| Medieval entertainment and morris dancers, Salisbury |
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| High Street Gate, approx 1327, with 14th century knight in armour |
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| Salisbury Cathedral |
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| Marie in the cloisters |
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| model of Old Sarum |
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| Sir John de Montacute, Steward to King Richard II, died 1389 |
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| colours to those who served in the Wiltshire Regiment |
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| Medieval clock, from 1386, world's oldest working clock in existence |
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| reflecting pool |
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| 600 year old Pheasant Pub |
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| Afternoon tea at the Guildhall |
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| the Poultry Cross, 15th century |
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| Marie and Sheila, Ashford station |
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| #64 St Edmunds, Salisbury |
