No sleep in today! We were on the
road at 8.15 and heading off to our next destination Bath via Avebury and
Stonehenge.
Avebury was about an hour and a
half drive through motorways and countryside. Since leaving London there has
been a reasonably heavy fog over everywhere we have been. In some areas it was
lighter than other but as yet we haven’t see any sky, be it blue, grey or
black! We parked the Vehicle and headed off with trusty guide map in hand well
rugged up to discover these ‘stones’. Avebury is a Neolithic henge
monument consisting of a large Henge, several stone circles, stone avenues and
barrows around the village of Avebury. The Avebury ring is the oldest stone
ring known to be in existence in the world and is older than Stonehenge.
Excavation studies have shown that there were 154 stones when the Avebury ring
was first built out of which 36 are still standing.
The ancient stones shared the grounds with many lazy sheep! It was with great care that as we walked the trail we avoided the thousands of droppings everywhere.
We finished walking the
trail around the stone ring back at the Old Farmyard which house the Museum
Stables and Barn, the 16th Century Avebury Manor (which
unfortunately was not open today) Gardens, Shop and Cafe. We stopped here for
morning tea of Coffee and Fruit scone with jam and clotted cream. As we headed
back to the vehicle we passed through a gorgeous 11th Century church
of St James with grave sites surrounding it dating back many hundreds of years.
Back on the road once more, we passed through small villages towards our
next destination which was Stonehenge.
Stonehenge seems to be a much better known and
more commercialised site than Avebury with Audio guides giving you a full commentary on
the formation as you wander around. You are not able to get up close and
personal as it is roped off from the public. The ancient stone circle of
Stonehenge is unique; an exceptional survival from a prehistoric culture now
lost to us. The monument evolved between 3,000BC and 1,600BC. It is aligned
with the midsummer's sunrise and midwinter sunset, but its exact purpose remains
a mystery.
From Stonehenge we headed off for
Bath and this was only a short drive of an hour.
We arrived there earlier than
expected so we found the Coach Parking site where we left the Vehicle, grabbed
a tourist map and headed off to have a very quick look around. We managed to
find Sally Lunn’s Historic Easting House and Museum. This is one of the oldest
houses in Bath (c.1482) and serves the most famous local delicacy the original
‘Sally Lunn’ Bun. According to legend, Sally Lunn, a French refugee, arrive in
1680 and established her bakery. Today Sally Lunn’s serve a menu based on the
world famous bun during the day and is open for Fine English food in the
evening. We decided to stop in and have one of the buns
– warmed with cinnamon on top, delicious! The interior of this restaurant was very small and full of charm,
history and character and a lovely place to while away an hour.
The day was fast getting away
from us so we found a local Sainsbury store and grabbed the few supplies we
needed and headed back to the Vehicle so that we could get to the caravan park
before dark. The route the GPS took us on was interesting to say the least –
driving down narrow streets, through small bridges and trying to do an
extremely sharp turn - which for the motorhome was going to be a tad impossible - made for an hair raising drive. The ‘Newton Mill Campsite’
we are staying at joins onto a main road, which would have been a much easier
way to come in had we have known it!
Powered up, curtains drawn and we
were set for the night. A very nutritious meal of Fish Fingers on bread
tonight, but it filled the spot and was made with minimal fuss. We both settled
in for a quiet and early night.
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