Stonehenge

Travelogue: The First of August, 2006 - Stonehenge

This morning, the Bergquists discovered Stonehenge. Our trip began slightly earlier than planned. Our route is to take us along a back road that was suggested by my friend, Angie that avoids the motorway. It wends along the back roads all the way down to Salisbury along roughly the same route as the M3 Motorway, but it stays to the smaller villages and towns.

It does take a bit longer (it took us three hours to get down to Salisbury and only an hour-and-a-half to get back) but the scenery is just lovely! About two hours into our drive, we pulled over in the small town or Hartley Wintney to have a pop, review our route, and stretch our legs. It was a lovely little pub and a really quaint little village. There was even, apparently a road rally going on for the local residents.

After our break, we were off again, headed toward the southwest. When we hit Basingstoke, we decided that rather than stay on the A-Route through town, we'd hop up onto the Motorway and get through town a bit faster. It was a good choice because it gave us the opportunity to see the cattle drive.

Where but here in the UK could you see a farmer who has a heard on both sides of a major motorway with his own bridge between them? Here, the farmer is using a scoop-loading tractor to drive the cattle across the bridge.

After a quick stop to snap a couple pictures of the cattle drive, we were off again and headed into the Salisbury Plain (Which is more of a hilly lowland than a plain, but who am I to point this out?) where our first stop was Woodhenge. Unfortunately, it was at Woodhenge that I learned a bad "feature" of my camera. It does not warn you while taking pictures that there is no card in the camera. It was not until I was half way around Stonehenge that, when I went to check a picture I had taken of my folks, that I found-out there was no card in my camera. Luckily, I always carry a spare. I loaded it and off I went, taking the pictures at the link above for all I was worth.

It was a great day to see Stonehenge. The temperatures were calm if the winds weren't. It was a blustery but not an unpleasant day. The clouds that threatened rain all day long never carried-out those threats. It stayed pleasant and breezy all day.

After visiting Stonehenge, we tried getting to Salisbury cathedral but by dint of following the signs that reputed to point the way to the points of ingress, we were unable to find any way to actually get to it so we settled for looking at the impossibly tall stone tower from behind a wall a couple hundred yards from the cathedral itself.

All-in-all, it was a lovely trip to the west and when we got back around 18:15 last night, we were all tired, but glad that we had gone to visit these world heritage sights. It is unfortunate that we didn't get further west to see the Rude Man, but one cannot have everything. Perhaps next time the come to visit.

I hope that wherever you are today, your day is pleasant and breezy.

Don Bergquist - 01 August 2006 - Thames Ditton, Surrey, UK.