For our second outing in the new moho we went off to the New Forest and Salisbury. Lovely site near Brockenhurst with great walks in the woods. Saw lots of wild ponies and foals, cows and sheep. We had a lovely walk through the woods and I loved the tree which from a short distance looked like a sculpture. (No, I hadn’t been on the wine.)

A return visit to Exbury Gardens was lovely and we spent the whole day there. I really like the way the branches of some of the trees grow like a sculpture. The rhododendrons were lovely and we had a peaceful walk round the lake. Microphones had been rigged up to one of the trees and you could listen to the sounds of the tree as it moved and as the moisture ran through the branches to the leaves. Fascinating!

We moved on to Salisbury and were rewarded with some spectacular sunsets. Our first afternoon we walked up to Old Sarum castle, which was also the site of the first Salisbury Cathedral. Apparently the bishop fell out with the nobility so he had a new cathedral built on land he just happened to own. A whole town developed around the cathedral which only took 35 years to build.
There are spectacular views across to the cathedral from the top of Old Sarum. If you go and see it you will be impressed. The following day we visited Stonehenge, spending the day wandering round the henge and walking. Do get there early if you go as it gets really busy. Also suggest you sample the locally made ice cream which is sold there, a nice treat after you’ve walked for a few hours. There’s a new exhibition at the visitor centre which is worth visiting.

We went to Salisbury Cathedral the next day. (Book online to save money.) I loved the cathedral and the font is a very beautiful, reflecting the ceiling and windows. The surface water is very smooth and we were told that more than one person had put down their phone, only for it to disappear under water! You have been warned!

Of course we had to view the Magna Carta. I was astonished at how small it is, approximately an A3 size of parchment with the tiniest writing on it. Of the 63 clauses contained in the document, 3 are still enshrined in our law today. What are they? I hear you ask.

One defends the liberties and rights of the English Church, another confirms the liberties and customs of London and other towns, but the third is the most famous:

No free man shall be seized or imprisoned, or stripped of his rights or possessions, or outlawed or exiled, or deprived of his standing in any other way, nor will we proceed with force against him, or send others to do so, except by the lawful judgement of his equals or by the law of the land. To no one will we sell, to no one deny or delay right or justice.

(Courtesy of the British Library)

As the Magna Carta is in latin there is a helpful translation available to peruse.

Unfortunately there was only space for one person to do the tower tour. I magnanimously suggested that Tim should go on his own and I’d suffer looking round the shops for a couple of hours. (I’d spotted sales in a couple of my favourite shops and was looking forward to some retail therapy.) Imagine my horror when the tour guide informed us that there had been 2 cancellations and that I could join the party to climb 332 steps up to the top of the tower. Well it wasn’t quite the top, we didn’t scale the pointy bit, but it was very, very high. I womanfully gave in to my fate and joined the others in the climb up the tower. It was really fascinating. We could look down into the cathedral, then above the cathedral ceiling as we went higher and higher into the room where the bells are housed. Oh lucky us, the clock struck four and we were all temporarily deafened!

Up we went again and we were able to watch live cam of the peregrine falcons and their chicks nesting. We were allowed out into 3 sides of the parapet and spent some time admiring the view before we descended. Kudos to our guide who gave us a 2½ hour tour and was very interesting and informative. You may wonder why there is a photo of building with a car park on the roof – apparently the component parts for Spitfires were assembled in the factory below.

Great break away and we returned home to prepare for a family visit.