To Salisbury

 May 10th. Fine and comfortably warm at around 22 degrees.  

Breakfast at Sainsbury’s this morning.   They know how to make good coffee and I had lovely scrambled eggs.  First adventure was a disagreement with Lady Satnav who wanted to take is to Salisbury via Ross-on-Wye, Newport, Bristol and spend three hours of our day in unwanted territory.   We fought Satnav bravely and won the war, finally aiming for Gloucester because “ Dr Foster went to Gloucester in a shower of rain…”.  No rain today.  It has been wonderful weather so far.    

I think I saw the Malvern Hills in the distance, anyway I did see a sign saying Great Malvern so was satisfied to give a tick in that box.   The Malvern Hills have been on my list since reading The Tanglewoods Secret when I was young.   Coming here to England I can see the sort of woods in which Peter and Ruth played and the trees from which Terry fell and broke his back.   Yes, I do remember the story!  

Then onwards to Newent and the interesting black and white timbered buildings.   I was intrigued to see a sign which said that it was a town in the Forest of Dean.   Wasn’t that where ancient kings went hunting?Onwards and we turned toward Gloucester  enjoying the unique place names, the scenery and at last multiple thatched cottages.

Here we recalibrated Lady Satnav turning towards Cirencester on the A417.  It was such a delight to enter the Cotswolds even though today we were only passing through.  We will be back in a week to spend a couple of days here.   I want to see the England of my chocolate box lids and jigsaw puzzles and judging by the thatched roofs I saw today I will fulfill that dream.   Another box was to see a fox, a squirrel and maybe a rabbit and a badger.   So far only one dead fox and one dead badger:(   

So many interesting things to see.  Neither of us knew that there was an airport in the Cotswolds but then we don’t associate with the owners of private jets!   Large gates leading to presumably large houses.   The names of the towns and villages were intriguing - Perrots Brook, Duntisbourne Abbots….Knowing we are coming back here to start our Cotswolds adventure we merely skirted around and programmed Satnav to take us to Chippenham for lunch.

From Cirencester to Chippenham where we stopped for lunch.  Oh we did enjoy that drive through the countryside.   Bright fields of rape seed and so many beautiful Cotswolds stone buildings.  It is such a splendid honey colour.  

After lunch we aimed for Devizes as Little Sister wanted to call at Pins and Needles, 2B Snuff Street.  

What a cute little town with a central market place where we easily found a car park and walked to the yarn store. 

  My oh my, a whole wall of UK yarns - I had to remind Little Sister of space limits in her suitcase!   We wandered a little further along the street and I spied the sign for a fabric and haberdashery store.   A charming little arcade and we investigated thoroughly before reminding ourselves of time constraints.

And off to Salisbury but unfortunately the A360 was closed for part of the way and we had a very long diversion which while it ate up time provided more delights of thatch and scenery.  

We noticed military installations at one point and I remembered reading that Larkhill Garrison is on Salisbury Plains.   Eventually we had to decide that going to Fisherton De La Mere and also reaching Salisbury in time would not both be possible so we opted for King John and aimed for Salisbury.   Once again we found a car park easily and very near the cathedral.

Oh yes, Salisbury Cathedral is very picturesque and on a sunny day many people were sitting on the lawns enjoying the warmth.   We entered the Cathedral as a service was drawing to a close and enjoyed the organ music before walking down past the reflection pool.   The stained glass was magnificent and abundant on all walls.   Flagstones on the floor had worn etched records of people buried in centuries past.   

The Chapter House is so named because it was used by the clergy for daily meetings when they read a chapter of the Bible and discussed church rules.   

Now it houses one of the four copies of the Magna Carta.  A royal charter of rights agreed by King John when the high ranking and Church leaders attempted to rein in the king’s excesses.   Only four of the original clauses are still enshrined in law today.  According to the guide it benefitted mostly the high ranking and clergy  and King John is said to have tried to overturn it after he signed.  Nothing much changes over the centuries.  The actual document is housed in a small darkened tent shaped room (behind the column in my photo) and being in Latin and very small print it was impossible to read.  The British Museum had commissioned a translation which was displayed on a wall behind.

Around the top of the circular Chapter House is a carved frieze depicting the first two books of the Bible. 

 These were used as teaching aids for regular instruction of the people.  During the Civil War, the Roundheads came and decapitated the people depicted so subsequently a skilled repair had to be made.  The guide mentioned how grateful everyone is that during WWII the Luftwaffe used the spire (the tallest in Britain) for a navigational point and so the Cathedral was not bombed.

The Chapter House was a truly amazing building housing a remarkable document.   I am so very pleased to have seen it.

Then we drove on to Winchester very surprised at the amount of traffic on the road.  But Lady Satnav is clever and we were delivered safely to our accommodation.   Tomorrow we explore Winchester and its Cathedral.