After breakfast we set off for Avebury, taking in Woodhenge along the way. Unfortunately Avebury was a little bit further than we thought. We didn’t have enough time there because we had a timed ticket for Stonehenge at 2pm. The Avebury experience wasn’t helped by roadworks that made access to the main interests difficult. All we had time for was a cup of tea, a quick look at the museum and some of the stones and a brief visit to the book shop (where I regret not buying two books that caught my eye).
As we left to make our way to Stonehenge we briefly stopped to photograph Silbury Hill. Our viewpoint was not from the normal visitor carpark, but from the side of the road. From this viewpoint the hill looked particularly impressive set against the rest of the landscape.
On arrival at Stonehenge we had lunch in the new cafe before picking up our tickets from the kiosk where there was no queuing unlike my previous visits. I have to say I am very impressed with the new visitor arrangements and the re-connection of the stones to their landscape environment. More on this in a future blog post.
After the Stonehenge experience we dropped the car off at the hotel. Mum retired to the hotel to give her leg a well earned rest and Mr C and I strolled to the Cathedral so that we could enjoy the magnificent building in the sunshine (see ‘Back from my Travels’).
As luck would have it our first choice of restaurant was booked up at the time we wanted so we resorted to plan B, ending up in ‘The Haunch of Venison’. This was a perfect venue for our D-Day celebration. A charming young gentleman waited on us and the food was delicious. We found that the waiter was originally from Bromsgrove (not far from us). Along the way he told us that his potential professional football career had been terminated when he broke his leg. After the meal he and Mum (both having broken a leg) were sharing stories and comparing ankle swellings…
After the ankle comparisons we strolled back to the hotel for a nightcap before retiring for the night.
Synopsis (from the book cover):
