Day 11: Brrrrrr from Wessex!

Note snow on windscreen!

Forgot to mention yesterday that it was bitterly cold in Winchester but it was nothing to what we experienced today.  We ventured out of Motorway Casa Paradiso this morning at about 8.30 to find a thin covering of snow on our Mitsubishi Mirage.  I'm sure the temp was below zero and didn't increase all day.

Our first port of call was Salisbury Cathedral in Wiltshire, which is only a spit-and-a-half from Winchester.  What a magnificent building - well worth the long trek in subarctic winds and snow flurries from the handy carpark, a mere kilometre away.  I mainly wanted to see one of the four surviving copies of the Magna Carta, but the cathedral had many other attractions.  It was absolutely huge, and like Winchester Cathedral, was built in the 13th century.  In this pic below, you'll get an idea of the size from this side bit, (I forget what side bits are actually called - transept? nave?) off the main part of the church.

 There's diminutive little me (relatively speaking) in the centre, standing in front of what looks like a display case for one's best china, but was actually a 15th century tomb.

The Magna Carta is kept in the Cathedral's chapter house, down a glorious vaulted archway.  There was one advantage to the bitterly cold weather - we were the only visitors!  Of course, the MC is encased in glass but it was very accessible and the script was exquisite - it was so neat and tiny - very hard to believe it was hand-written.

Like other major historic sites we have visited, Salisbury Cathedral has a gaggle of volunteer guides anxious to share their knowledge.  We declined a guide's services this morning but she would not be deterred, and followed us about imparting her knowledge anyway.   Appropos of nothing, she said that the representations of God in the wall frieze in the chapter house had to be recreated as Cromwell's forces had destroyed them on his orders. Somewhat recklessly, I commented that Cromwell was "a bit of bastard really." She responded that that sort of language was not used in church but yes, she agreed with the sentiment.  Tres embarrassment - what a coarse colonial I am! 

Next stop: Dorchester in Dorset - Thomas Hardy country.  Our first stop was the Dorchester Museum an eclectic establishment which has heaps of Hardy memorabilia (he was a local) as well as plesiosaur bones, contemporary artworks, ammonite fossils, Roman artifacts and other Dorchester bibs and bobs.  Then another long walk through wind and snow to a 'Roman villa'.  It was actually well worth the trek. Built in about 330 AD, the foundations have been excavated and remain in situ, and the house has been recreated beside it, with the mosaic floors now inside the recreated house.  You can't go inside the recreated house but you can see everything through the glass. 

This pic isn't great but hopefully gives the idea.  And yet again, we were on our own - most sensible people were ensconced in doors.  Our last stop for the day was the Cerne Giant - a huge chalk etching in a hillside about 14 kms outside of Dorchester.  This part of England is very chalky, and many villages have names like Chalkton, Chalk Downs, Chalkington etc.

 

The Cerne Giant is just outside the village of Cerne Abbas.  Originally it was thought to be neolithic, but it's now pointed out that the Cerne Giant was never mentioned in any docments before the 1660s, so is possibly not as old it looks.  Its most imposing feature, as I'm sure everyone knows, is its whopping great donger.  This pic isn't brilliant because the light snow falling intermittently all day makes the etching a bit indistinct. Still, it's pretty damn good for a bit of old grafitti!

       

Forgot to mention that this morning, en route to Dorchester from Salisbury, we saw a sign saying "Roman Villa" pointing down a lane so decided to go and have a gander.  After about 10 kms, we assumed we'd missed it so were about to turn round when we spotted another villa sign, so we kept going.  After about another 5 kms we passed the very pretty thatched village of Rockbourne, and finally another sign saying "Rockbourne Roman Villa this way".   Bewdy!  Except whe we got to the next turn off, with the villa imminent, the sign said "Rockbourne Roman Villa open 1 April to 30 October".  Well gee, thanks for that.

We are now hunkered down at the Dorchester Sydney Arms pub for the night.  It overlooks a major intersection and is very noisy.  Still, it's a pleasant enough room, the barkeep is very nice and the pub food is fascinating because it is truly horrible.   We saw two people today ordering "cheesy chips and beans."  Imagine hot chips covered in cheese with baked beans on top. That's it.  Now tell me why so many celebrity chefs are poms again, because frankly I don't understand it!

 

Love to all. XXX