First we visited Waterperry Gardens - a Garden Centre and Gardens near Oxford. This was lovely - the weather was OK, not brilliant (windy & coldish) but dry! The NCCPG National collection of Kabschia Saxifrages is here.
We stayed over at Sabine Barns, a B&B located just 4 km from Oxford city centre - just by Farmoor Reservoir. It had original, exposed wooden beams, & free Wi-Fi access but we found it hard to find! Though Margaret had only fried bread and one rasher of bacon I had a full English breakfast. We had an evening meal at the 'Bear and Ragged Staff' - just down the road. Took the Park & Ride (bus lane!!!) to visit the Bodleian Library (Divinity School hall),
We saw the Radcliffe Camera and took a city tour taking in quite a few of the colleges (University, Brasenose, All Souls, Magdalen, Christ Church, St. John's); saw Christ Church, Alice's Shop, William Morris' original workshops, Said Business School, Carfax Tower, River Cherwell. Overall not really enamoured of Oxford - not helped by traffic issues. We also went around the University of Oxford Botanic Garden.
Set off in morning for Avebury ... a Neolithic henge monument containing three stone circles, around the village of Avebury in Wiltshire; contains the largest stone circle in Europe. Constructed around 2600 BCE, during the Neolithic, or 'New Stone Age', the monument comprises a large henge (a bank and a ditch) with a large outer stone circle and two separate smaller stone circles situated inside the centre of the monument.
Its original purpose is unknown, although archaeologists believe that it was most likely used for some form of ritual or ceremony. The Avebury monument was a part of a larger prehistoric landscape containing several older monuments nearby, including West Kennet Long Barrow and Silbury Hill. We went to the museum inside the Manor Grounds and the Village.
We then drove down to Salisbury via Marlborough - stopping in the small delightful town for tea at Polly's Tea Rooms.
The town boasts the second widest high street in Britain, (after Stockton-on-Tees) and is on the River Kennet.
We got to Salisbury and the Spires B&B but I made a bit of a poor job of parking so we were 5 minutes late by the time we had negotiated the one system around the cathedral! That night we went to Cranes at 7:30pm & had a pleasant but lonely meal!
This photo of Cranes Wine Cafe is courtesy of TripAdvisor
The next day after breakfast we covered the Cathedral,
the Magna Carta exhibition,
(Salisbury Cathedral’s Magna Carta is the best preserved of the four remaining original exemplars),
the Salisbury Museum (surprisingly good though expensive) and then we had a coffee in their cafetaria.
We then drove up out of the City, to Old Sarum (Situated just north of the city of Salisbury and west of Castle Road, the mound known today as Old Sarum
has been the site of a Neolithic settlement, an Iron Age Hillfort, a Roman military station, and a Norman palace and cathedral, before fading into history on a final sour note as a "rotten borough.").
The castle remains were impressive and so was the Cathedral.
We then drove up to Stonehenge and after eating a sandwich in the newish vistor's Centre
we walked done the quiet but tarmac covered road to the Henge ...
We enjoyed the site greatly and then got a coach back and set off for Bath (not always by biggish roads!).
We stayed at 4 The Cedars in Bathford - and v. pleasant is was too.
We ate in Yeti Yak Yeti that night - catching the bus into town on a filthy night for weather...
and the next day, after breakfast we moved the car and caught the bus into Town again. This time we queued for the City Bus Tour - seeing a lot of the city which became a spa with the Latin name Aquae Sulis - earlier than AD 60 when the Romans built baths and a temple in the valley of the River Avon, although oral tradition suggests that the hot springs were known before then. Bath Abbey was founded in the 7th century becoming a religious centre and the building was rebuilt in the 12th and 16th centuries. In the 17th century claims were made for the curative properties of the water from the springs and Bath became popular as a spa town during the Georgian era, leaving a heritage of Georgian architecture crafted from Bath stone, including the Royal Crescent,
Circus,
Pump Room and Assembly Rooms. Many of the streets and squares were laid out by John Wood, the Elder and in the 18th century the city became fashionable and the population grew. Jane Austen lived in Bath in the early 19th century. We caught sight of The Royal Crescent, the Circle, The Royal Victoria Park, The Assembly Rooms, The Abbey, Brunel's Castle (a railway viaduct!), and the River Kennet.
We had a coffee and then went to the Roman Baths - we were very impressed with this ... done really well.
We then left and drove up to Paul & Ann's ... then next morning home!
