The Ham Nomads

8 Sep 2014. <GB-ENG> Salisbury, Wilts —

Today dawned foggy. We drove southwards, and tried to find a Park and Ride near Salsibury. They were all height-restricted, so we had no chance. Nearby was an English Heritage site, Old Sarum, so we decided to drop in there. This is the site of a Norman castle, and the original two cathedrals in this area. We explored this site — it needs a lot of imagination to fill out the gaps in the physical record, but it is a most important early Norman site in England.

The two earliest cathedrals can only be seen in their foundations, but this gives you a good idea of their layout and size — huge! Old Sarum was built on the chalk base that underlies this whole area, so it would have been a magnificent sight in its prime. For financial reasons, the bishops set up a market town near Sarum, and this became Salisbury. They moved their cathedral from within the castle to the heart of their market town, beginning its construction in about 1220. The old cathedrals were robbed of stone to build this new cathedral, so we decided to continue our exploration of Old Sarum by going in to the town and visiting this new cathedral.

The girls at Old Sarum told us where we could find a park in town, so down we went, and parked in a shopping centre, which gave us 3 hours of free parking - enough to do what we wished.

We walked into the city alongside the River Avon, and came to the market square. There were a few things we wanted to do here — the first of which was to pay our vehicle tax (aka registration) for the next year, which can be done over the counter at the post office. Well, we found the post office, and did the deed! £230 for the year, and they no longer give you a tax disc (as of September 1 this year), so we hope we don't run into any problems in Europe! Then we walked around the city's streets, finding (by chance) a camera shop.

As you remember, Warren bought a new lens for the camera a few weeks ago — well, its front dimensions were different from the old one, so his various filters wouldn't fit — so he went in and bought a new polarising filter and a UV filter, as well as a new lens hood (the one he had wouldn't clip on quite properly). Now he's a happy boy!

We then went down to the cathedral, which is most impressive. Not quite in the same class as York Minster perhaps, but still a stunning sight, and larger (and older) than anything we have in Australia. We wandered the place, and went into the Chapter House where its major treasure is exhibited — the best remaining copy (of only four) of the Magna Carta. This document, forced upon King John by his barons in 1215 is one of the seminal documents in world jurisprudence, is on open display in the cathedral.

After taking in the sights of Salisbury, we then left and drove north towards Stonehenge, which we will be visiting tomorrow (about three days after Barack Obama!). We found a layby well off the A303, only about 5 miles away from the visitor centre, and here we will spend the night.

Distance driven — today, 54 miles ( 87 km ); to date, 7,294 miles ( 11,739 km )