Salisbury and Tisbury 11th/12th April 2007

We drove to Salisbury today and visited the cathedral. The cathedral was very impressive but not as ornate as some we have seen. The oldest working clock in England was out of order! We had lunch in the cathedral refectory. I thought I recognised someone and plucked up the courage to ask. It was Cherry Till from Gravesend grammar, who had moved to Wiltshire 10 years ago whereas I had left the school nearly 15 years ago.
We did a little shopping and then drove to Stonehenge. They provide a nice tape recording so that you can take your time understanding all the stones. The only barrier to the stones now is a rope so although you can't touch the stones you can get quite close and enjoy them.

Thursday 12th April 2007

Our last day today and so we settled on a walk from Tisbury. The A303 was closed so all traffic was diverted along the road we wanted so our 10 minute drive took about an hour. The village was quite nice. We walked along lanes and through farms and eventually to New Waldour castle which was originally Cranbourne Chase school but is now apartments. We then continued to Old Waldour Castle - ruins set on a hill which had been used in Robin Hood - Prince of Thieves. The next part was through woodland and we sat for a biscuit and watched a buzzard. We got back to Tisbury at about 3. We looked in the village for a teashop but had to make do with an icecream from the co-op.

Bush Farm CL, West Knoyle. 9th April 2007

We only had a 30 minute journey to reach our new site. This was Bush Farm CL at West Knoyle. We were pitched in a small woodland clearing overlooking fields containing Wapiti (Elk) and Bison and surrounded by bluebells. We had a trip round the farm in the afternoon, (they also had rheas, prairie dogs and raccoons), and bought some Bison steak for dinner! We slept to the sounds of Eagle owls (on the farm) being replied to by Barn Owls.

On Tuesday we went to Stourhead (NT). We walked across the Estate and out onto agricultural land, we followed footpaths and green lanes and headed towards White Sheet Hill, an ironage hill fort. It was lovely and warm -even on the hill.

As we walked around the escarpment we noticed that the grass was covered in black caterpillars. We then headed back towards Stourhead passing a memorial to some airmen who crashed on the hill during the war (about 5 miles) We then walked around Stourhead Gardens which were lovely as the Rhododendrons were in flower.