Amesbury and beyond

We've spent 3 delightful days with Sheila and John Greene (relatives on my mother's side) exploring Amesbury and the Wiltshire countryside.

We took the train from Portsmouth to Salisbury on the 23rd May, arriving in Salisbury in time for a nice cuppa and cake (I added egg & cress sandwiches) in the garden of an English Heritage house in the enclosure of the cathedral. Caroline was in her happy place!! Unlike France, the British understand the necessity of a wee cafe close to a site of significance - we counted 4 cafes (each quite busy) within the grounds of Salisbury Cathedral!!

Once watered we circled our way round the centre of Salisbury looking for the right cycle routes toward Amesbury (the 45) - what a busy week town!! Finally found the track along the Avon toward Stonehenge - good to be separated from the traffic for a while but once on the outskirts we cycled along country roads through the Wallops following the river. The route was windy and a bit up & down but not too bad. More of this to come!!

Loved the many thatched cottages on the way and the traditional English pub nestled on the banks of the river. The day was gorgeously warm so we were quite hot and sweaty by the time we arrived in Amesbury; again with the help of Caroline's Google maps we found the house with Sheila waving to us.

She had a wonderful vegetarian repast awaiting us but suggested we shower and toss our laundry in the machine to make the most of the great drying weather. This we did as we had been only doing hand laundry since Orleans and that never quite gets the clothes sparkling. Washing in, we ate heartily of bread, hummus, onion pie & salad, catching up on family news with Sheila. Our bikes had been causing a few niggles and we knew a service check was in order after 1500+ kms so into the local bike shop we went to spend some time talking with the chap about our requirements. Excellent service. They will be ready for our next leg of this cycling adventure in a week’s time, meanwhile we will explore the Wiltshire & Hampshire countryside.

By the time we returned from the bike shop John had returned from golf so warm greetings over and washing hung out, we got down to some serious planning of our couple of days sightseeing of the area. This was all done while sitting under the umbrella in the garden enjoying evening drinks with a neighbour in the warmth of a beautiful Summer’s evening before drawing indoors for a later evening meal of veg lasagna & salad. We have certainly hit England at just the right time with at least a week of warm weather & sunshine predicted. It was very sad though to arrive at the time of another terrorist attack, this one in Manchester where at least 22 young attendees of a concert were killed. Certainly reminded us to be vigilant and to carefully consider what activities or events we might do when we’re in the larger centres.

It was lovely also to catch up on all the family news and to see photos of Sheila & John's two lads with their families; S&J are very proud grandparents who delight in taking their 4 grandchildren out & about. They have to travel a bit for grandparent duties – to Cambridge for Nick & Caroline, and to London for David & Flo – but it  is something they definitely enjoy doing. Both Sheila & John have their health issues but they are amazingly upbeat, positive people who just get on and do; they certainly kept us entertained with stories during our stay.

Wednesday saw us breakfasted then off into Amesbury town for our 30 minutes massages at the local sports massage clinic where two ex-army women worked on us – wonderful to get some of the upper back aches attended to but definitely in need of a longer treatment at some stage.

After that we did a quick mooch around the shops, got my watch strap fixed & returned for lunch. That over we went to Mottisfont House & Gardens, an English Heritage site in the Hampshire countryside where we enjoyed the lovely rambling gardens and a wander through the house where there was an exhibition of Shell posters from the 1930-50s.  Enjoyed tea, cake & icecream at one of the cafes – needed frequent refreshment as it was very hot (at least 27C) and we often sought shade! We noticed that for a weekday the place was very busy – certainly many more people out & about in the UK than in France.

With Sheila & John at Mottisfont

There was an exhibition of Shell posters

Back at S&J’s place we enjoyed drinks in the garden again before sitting down for a lovely bean chilli with salads …. the evening slipped away gently with good conversation & bonhomie.

Thursday, Sheila had appointments so John whisked us off firstly to Andover train station to buy our return tickets to London/Eridge then he took us on to Silbury Hill & Avebury to explore the sites and learn something of the ancient history.

 
Both sites still remain a bit of a mystery to archeologists but there are plenty of theories to do with ley lines, worship rituals etc. No matter …. One can’t help but wonder at the tenacity of the people that created such huge earth works using no more than deer antler hoes & wooden picks. The sheer volume of material that was shifted and molded into mounds and trenches, the size of the stones that were moved then lifted into trenches dug to hold them is phenomenal. Archeologist believe that they used the trunks of trees from the woodland cleared to roll the 600+ stones from where they lay to their current sites then cantilevered them into place. Certainly many people were involved & I can imagine many died in the process – driven by their faith to create sacred places. During our visit we saw people meditating under the 4 oak trees, others feeling the energy of the ley lines or just hugging a stone. I touched some stones and marvelled at their size but I’m not sensitive enough to gauge any levels of energy … I did note how warm they were but on such a hot day wasn’t surprised by that!

With John Green at Avebury

 

                                

We refreshed ourselves at one of the cafes in the Avebury complex – scone, cuppa and icecream – wandered through the village some more before heading off to Devises to check out the Caen lock system. This is an area of 16 locks designed to enable boats to travel up & down a steep hill - 72m in 3.2km – with the whole lock system in this area of the river totaling 29!!

 

The heat was mounting as we watched a canal boat move through some of the locks so we had to again refresh ourselves in the shaded back garden of the lock keepers café! After that it was time to pick up some spuds from M&S before retreating back to Earls Court Rd for evening drinks in the garden while we waited for the spuds to cook. A lovely meal of baked spuds, left over bean chilli, yoghurt, broccoli salad & yummy dessert of fresh summer fruits.

We spent a bit of time checking emails & determining cycling routes from Amesbury to Sturminster Newton, helped by advice from John who knows the roads in the area quite well. It certainly is going to be a big change cycling in the UK compared to France – no more separated cycleways & flat terrain; we will be truly earning our dinner these next few months of cycling!

Caroline & I then packed up our bag (borrowed off Sheila) in readiness for our week in Tunbridge Wells & London visiting with friends. Useful to have a trolley bag rather than each of us stuffing what we can into our small day packs. We will savour these next few non-cycling days & make the most of exploring part of England we’ve visited before 20 or 30 years ago.

On Friday morning John & Sheila dropped us off at Andover train station for our journey to London then onto Eridge. They were then heading off grocery shopping as Nicholas, Caroline & the children were coming to stay for the long weekend  … busy people.