It was an early start to the day as we gathered together at our meeting points for the coach. Once we arrived at UWE we were missing just two people –Nahaul and his brother who had accidently boarded the UWE bus bound for Wales! A quick phone call resolved the confusion and we were all aboard the BISC bus bound for Stonehenge and Salisbury Cathedral, with 20 regions/countries being represented amongst our group of 53.
En route, we drove through beautiful countryside and saw lots of rolling hills as well as sheep and cattle grazing in the fields. Tony, our wonderful coach driver gave us an interesting and detailed history about the Monmouth Rebellion, and as we drove through the pretty village of Philip St. Norton we stopped to see the George Inn, a grade one listed building where battle tactics of the rebellion were reputed to have been discussed. See http://www.thegeorgeinn-nsp.co.uk/history.htm for more of a detailed history.
The countryside led us onto Salisbury Plain where we arrived at Stonehenge –the most famous stone circle in Britain. There were mixed opinions about Stonehenge. Impressive as it might be, it is after all just a stone circle, and most certainly one of the most photographed ones at that! We all made our way around the circle at a leisurely pace. The Spanish girls even made an amateur video production whilst there, while others posed for their photo with the famous stones in the palm of their hand!
After buying postcards, mugs, guide books and other trinkets from the gift shop we headed back to the coach and drove to the city of Salisbury. The sun continued to shine all afternoon as we had free time to get some lunch before our guided tour of the cathedral. Hannah and May sat outside at The Mill for their lunch, and enjoyed the warmth of the sun whilst munching on a pub lunch. Others explored the Market Square and the pretty streets of Salisbury. Some were even inspired to buy some knitting needles and wool from the market, having just learned to knit at the BISC Knitting Afternoon earlier in the week!
At 2.20pm we gathered together at the Cathedral for our guided tours. The Cathedral attracts some 600,000 visitors each year and it is clear to see why so many people visit the building because it is truly spectacular. We saw the oldest Medieval clock without a face and the newly built font where you could see amazing reflections of the ceiling. The tour included a visit to the Chapter House and the Magna Carta –an English legal charter, written in Latin, originally issued in 1215. The cathedral had some quirky features, including being built on very shallow foundations, plus the central columns were not 100% straight when you looked up, because of the weight of the tower. The cloisters were filled with sunshine and the Cathedral cat was popular with the visitors. The guides were excellent, and particularly helpful with giving the correct answers for the quiz sheets issued in the morning!
Once back on the coach we watched the sun set as we headed back towards Bristol. There were a lot of correct quiz answers and 3 people scored 12 out of 12. The deciding question ‘What was the name of the pub in Philip St. Norton that we passed through in the morning?” was correctly answered by Anett from Hungary, who was the proud winner and owner of a special Salisbury Cathedral mug. A good day out was had by all, and we look forward to the next BISC trip to Oxford on 14th March.
