Soggy Moose Travels : SALISBURY CATHEDRAL AND STONEHENGE

Day 4 I think, well any way we are heading to Salisbury and Stonehenge.

We are up early again and down stairs for breakfast. Yes I had a Bacon Butty. We were out the door and on our way to Waterloo station. We did stop at the Pret and picked up a couple sandwiches for our lunch. At Waterloo Station we are to meet the London Walks trip to Salisbury and Stonehenge. At 0845 Simon the guide appears and collects the fee, for us as seniors we are charged 76 pounds each. The includes the guide fee, train and motor coach as well as all entries to various sites. I think this is rather reasonable and we have done other London Walks and found them to be most enjoyable and full of information.

Soon we are on the train enroute to Salisbury. After arriving at the station we walk to the Salisbury Cathedral making a few stops along the way. The weather is holding off but the clouds are getting darker and there are rumblings of thunder.

The area of Salisbury was originally known as Old Sarum which means “Dry Place”, and rightfully so as the geology of the are has a very high concentration of chalk and allows the rains to soak into the ground making a dry environment. This also contributes to a large amount of flint be found in this area, and one can see where flint was used in the construction of many buildings.

The highlight is Salisbury Cathedral, formally known as the Cathedral Church of the Blessed Virgin Mary, it is an Anglican cathedral and is one of the leading examples of early English Gothic Architecture. The main body of the cathedral was completed in only 38 years, from 1220 to 1258.

The Spire was added a few years later and finished in 1310. The cathedral has the tallest church spire in the United Kingdom (123m/404 ft). The cathedral also has the largest cloister and the largest cathedral close in Britain (80 acres. It contains the world's oldest working mechanical clock from AD 1386 and has the best surviving of the four original copies of the Magna Carta. The original cross which was placed upon the top of the spire was damaged during WWII and has since been replaced. The original cross with bullet holes is on display in the church.

The cathedral is also the final resting place of William Longespee the 1/2 brother King John. Longespee was an advisor to King John for the negotiations of the Magna Carta.

Magna Carta Libertatum (Latin for "the Great Charter of the Liberties"), commonly called Magna Carta is a Charter agreed to by King John at Runnymede near Windsor, on 15 June 1215. First drafted by the Archbishop of Canterbury to make peace between the unpopular King and a group of rebel barons, it promised the protection of church rights, protection for the barons from illegal imprisonment, access to swift justice, and limitations on feudal payments to the Crown, to be implemented through a council of 25 barons.

The Magna Carta still forms an important symbol of liberty today, often cited by politicians and campaigners, and is held in great respect by the British and American legal communities, Lord Denning describing it as "the greatest constitutional document of all times – the foundation of the freedom of the individual against the arbitrary authority of the despot”. A good trip thus far as we have been to Runnymede as well as seeing an original copy.

After leaving the cathedral we board a coach which takes us to Stonehenge. Believed to have been constructed between 3000 BC and 2000 BC, it is the subject of many theories as to its purpose. I feel it was a calendar to assist in the planting and harvesting of crops, and also maybe a healing place and burial ground. To date there are so many theories etc, and yet it is really unknown why it was built and for what purpose. So I leave it to you to examine the theories and draw your own conclusions.

Yes, it is very worth the visit. I like to wonder as to how the stones were transported and placed, yet again there in lies more theories.

We the board the coach back to the Rail Station and return to London. A bit earlier than the previous nights, yet we are tired and ready for food. Again we wander to The Goat and get a favorites plate to share. More than sufficient to kill our hunger. Back to our room for laundry and logs and get a plan together for tomorrow.

Tomorrow we are off to Bletchley Park, home of the WWII code breakers .