After breakfast we headed to Stonehenge for which we had pre-booked tickets, arriving earlier than our ticket time but were able to go in due to the low number of visitors. I have never seen Stonehenge’s car park so quiet.

We booked in and collected our ticket to visit the stones (most of the site is open access). It was was refreshingly quiet, I put this down to no coach tours or travelers from abroad. It was a delight to be able to view the stones without large crowds. This more than made up for me not being able to visit them as part of my birthday celebrations last year.

The walking route has been changed since our previous visit and does not automatically take you past the Cursus. The new walk leads to a signboard that indicates several points of interest (and the amount of time needed to walk there) We chose the path to the Cursus before walking along it rather than retrace our steps.

Whilst viewing our surroundings a school group turned up and it was lovely to hear the school teacher instructing his pupils on how to walk and behave as they walked through the field full of cows. At one point as we walked along the path near to the Cursus, two bulls were having a head-butt tussle directly across the pathway in front of us, causing us to pause until they had moved far enough away from the path so that we could continue our walk to the stones safely.

It was amazing to see the stones so quiet, The first time I visited from school many years ago when I didn’t really appreciate what they were or the fact that at that time I was able to stand between the stones and look up at them. The sun. was playing on the stones turning them from grey to white. Back at the visitor centre, we enjoyed a picnic lunch from the cafe, eating it outside at one of the picnic tables.

After our visit we returned to Sherborne where we spent too much money in the cookshop before enjoying a slice of Dorset Apple cake accompanied by Elderflower Presse at a pavement table outside the Three Wishes Cafe. We then enjoyed a quiet moment soaking up the atmosphere on a bench overlooking Sherborne Abbey.

For our last night in Sherborne we dined in the hotel. Ben, who had been serving us during our stay, said his goodbyes as he would not be serving breakfast in the morning.

When we awoke we found that the weather was wet so we decided to visit the Royal Signals Museum. The museum is situated within Blandford Forum military camp meaning we had to sign in and show photo ID. I was signed in by a former Gurkha who gave me precise details for getting to the museum and about what to do with the temporary passes when we left. He then helpfully advised that photography was allowed inside the museum (but not outside) without me having to ask.

The museum is excellent. It tells the story of military communications from semaphore to cyber. We had a cup of NAAFI tea before leaving the museum and depositing our temporary passes in the designated place.

As we headed into Blandford for lunch at The Georgian Tea Rooms the weather improved. I chose Dorset Apple Cake for lunch because I had not seen it available anywhere we had previously eaten. Afterwards Mr C visited a nearby second hand bookshop. Whilst he was browsing I noticed a book; “The RSPB Guide to Birdsong With CD” which I couldn’t resist buying. I have been enjoying the birdsong in my garden recently and have not been able to identify the birds from their songs so the CD will help (I hope). Mr C came away with another two military books to add to his collection.

Next port of call was an English Heritage property called Fiddleford Manor. It was very interesting but rather brief so we had time on our hands.

We opted to visit Sherborne Old Castle which had a lovely atmosphere and is an idyllic setting above the New Castle. As we were leaving, we got chatting to the member of staff manning the kiosk and he told us of other English Heritage properties nearby, one of which was Farley Hungerford Castle. I mentioned that, when we had visited there many years ago, I had felt a presence (not unpleasant) as I walked down into the chapel. To which he replied ‘yes there is’ and proceeded to tell me of (orb activity) that he had witnessed over the tombs when he worked there. Going on to say that the orbs acted differently, sometimes more animated depending on the visitor (captured on CCTV). He also advised that several people had witnessed a ghost dressed in black. Things that make you go “Hmmm”…

We returned to the hotel but, before chilling out, I went for a brief walk into town which upped my step count for the day. We dined in The Green for a second time and found it rather quiet for a Friday evening. The waiter advised that we should visit the Cross Keys for a drink as it had re-opened that day after being closed for a while. I thought it had a nice atmosphere but Mr C wasn’t so keen he would rather have been in a traditional pub.