It is strange that now I am in UK, I have not been exploring this country much. I seem to be in overseas more than in UK during my day off. I was waiting for winter to go away. Spring is here alas and I have planned a series of day trips to explore the English jewels.
Salisbury is a small quaint town. After buying Stonehenge tourbus ticket, I walked along Millroad to visit the famous Salisbury Cathedral which was built around 1220-1258. It is not as large as Canterbury Cathedral but it certainly has the tallest spire, largest cathedral close and cathedral cloisters in UK. It has the best preserved copy of only four surviving original Magna Carta (historic agreement between King John and his barons in AD1215) and unique 13th century stone frieze of bible stories in the Chapter House. Inside the cathedral is Europe's oldest working clock (AD1386).
I had to walk all the way back to the Salisbury rail station to board the Stonehenge tour bus (£18 for tour bus plus admission fees to Old Sarum and Stonehenge). The bus stopped at Old Sarum first. It was a short walk through the field to reach the Old Sarum, which is a huge rampart that dates back to 500BC. It was a hill fort in Iron age and later occupied by the Romans, Saxons and Normans. It become an important city by the 11th century. During the reign of William the Conqueror, a castle, royal palace and cathedral were built here. Due to shortage of water supply, the cathedral was moved in 1219 to a new setup which is Salisbury. Slowly, Old Sarum was abandoned and became ruins. One does have to pay to enter the castle ground but on retrospective, exploring the ruins at cathedral site is quite adequate. Next stop is Stonehenge. Since it was a bank holiday, there were throngs of tourists. There are many others who were just content with watching from far outside the fence and snapped photos from there. Stonehenge is an array of stones arrangement which coincide with the axis of midsummer solstice. Located on a bank and ditch, there is Heel Stone, Slaughter Stone (named such due to the horizontal lie, the stone changed to red colour), Altar Stone, Bluestone Horseshoe, 5 massive sets of Trilithon horseshoe and outermost of Sarsen Circle of massive vertical stones It is protected from visitors by another smaller fence but the view is still majestic and mysterious...It is worth paying the admission fees because of the excellent audioguide. There are a lot of hypothesis for the reason why it was erected. It might be a calender, an observatory to study stars movement or religious reason. The most amazing mystery is perhaps how the ancient people bring such heavy and massive stones all the way here. The bluestones were brought 240 miles from Preseli mountains in Wales and the Sarsen stones were cut from hard rock in Marlborough Downs 20 miles away. There are many mind boggling questions but despite all the uncertainties, Stonehenge remains to be one of the most popular tourist attraction. I was exhausted and went up to the bus to sleep. By the time I reach Redhill, it past 10pm. Really really tired...but I could not sleep because had to complete my e-filing for income tax ...
Today is such a day. Typically long day stuffed with sightseeing to the brim, I was completely exhausted by night. I did not sleep well because I woke up every hour worrying being overslept. Slept about 3 hours before woke up at 5 am to get ready. The nearby train station is about 20minutes away by foot. Not surprisingly, I was all alone. I boarded the earliest train to Bath at 6am.
Bath is a beautiful city. To my dismay, I discovered that my camera was not fully charged with battery life of merely 20%. I had to use my mediocre Samsung hand phone to snap most of the photos L The centre of attractions is just a stone throw away from the rail station. Since I arrived before 9am, I walked past the Parade Gardens along the River Avon to the famous Pulteney Bridge. Then I walked back to the High Street and then Cheap Street to reach the The Roman Bath Museum. The Roman Bath is a fascinating site. It is the only hot spring in UK. There are three natural springs around the Bath Abbey and the Romans built a complex of bathhouses which can be seen here. The museum has excellent audio guide which is inclusive in the admission fee of £12. Even Bill Bryson gave his comments and opinions in the audio guide. As I entered from the reception hall, I was greeted by the grand view of Great Bath (King’s Bath). Next is the terrace that surrounds the top of the Great Bath with fine sculptures of Roman Emperors. There are exhibitions about the Roman people who lived here in the past (their occupation, daily life and death ie: graves and tombstones), the courtyard of Temple of Sulis Minerva (ruins and reconstructed altar), how the Roman worship their Goddess and convey their anger and dissatisfaction through “Curses”. There is a Sacred Spring which overflows to the Roman drain. The suites of Roman Baths in the East Bath are interesting in which there are ruins of changing room, hot room (like a sauna) and Cooling pool. Before leaving I drank a glass of spa water in the Pump Room...it is quite salty hence I did not finish drinking it. Next is the Bath Abbey which has a long standing history back in 757AD. It was destroyed at 1066 before reconstructed at 1090. It became ruins in 15th century but later was completed in 1611 by order of Henry VIII. It is also the last medieval church being built in England and has the second largest cllection of wall monuments after Westminster Abbey. After a short visit to the Abbey, I walked towards The Circus to see the magnificent ring of 30 houses. Nearby is the Royal Crescent, an impressive semircircle terrace of Georgian houses situated next to Royal Victoria Park. Without much time to spare, I headed toward the rail station to board train to Salisbury.
Salisbury is a small quaint town. After buying Stonehenge tourbus ticket, I walked along Millroad to visit the famous Salisbury Cathedral which was built around 1220-1258. It is not as large as Canterbury Cathedral but it certainly has the tallest spire, largest cathedral close and cathedral cloisters in UK. It has the best preserved copy of only four surviving original Magna Carta (historic agreement between King John and his barons in AD1215) and unique 13th century stone frieze of bible stories in the Chapter House. Inside the cathedral is Europe's oldest working clock (AD1386).
I had to walk all the way back to the Salisbury rail station to board the Stonehenge tour bus (£18 for tour bus plus admission fees to Old Sarum and Stonehenge). The bus stopped at Old Sarum first. It was a short walk through the field to reach the Old Sarum, which is a huge rampart that dates back to 500BC. It was a hill fort in Iron age and later occupied by the Romans, Saxons and Normans. It become an important city by the 11th century. During the reign of William the Conqueror, a castle, royal palace and cathedral were built here. Due to shortage of water supply, the cathedral was moved in 1219 to a new setup which is Salisbury. Slowly, Old Sarum was abandoned and became ruins. One does have to pay to enter the castle ground but on retrospective, exploring the ruins at cathedral site is quite adequate. Next stop is Stonehenge. Since it was a bank holiday, there were throngs of tourists. There are many others who were just content with watching from far outside the fence and snapped photos from there. Stonehenge is an array of stones arrangement which coincide with the axis of midsummer solstice. Located on a bank and ditch, there is Heel Stone, Slaughter Stone (named such due to the horizontal lie, the stone changed to red colour), Altar Stone, Bluestone Horseshoe, 5 massive sets of Trilithon horseshoe and outermost of Sarsen Circle of massive vertical stones It is protected from visitors by another smaller fence but the view is still majestic and mysterious...It is worth paying the admission fees because of the excellent audioguide. There are a lot of hypothesis for the reason why it was erected. It might be a calender, an observatory to study stars movement or religious reason. The most amazing mystery is perhaps how the ancient people bring such heavy and massive stones all the way here. The bluestones were brought 240 miles from Preseli mountains in Wales and the Sarsen stones were cut from hard rock in Marlborough Downs 20 miles away. There are many mind boggling questions but despite all the uncertainties, Stonehenge remains to be one of the most popular tourist attraction. I was exhausted and went up to the bus to sleep. By the time I reach Redhill, it past 10pm. Really really tired...but I could not sleep because had to complete my e-filing for income tax ...
The Great Bath
Stonehenge
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