Because we had packed up the night before, we arrived for breakfast a little earlier than we had on previous days. There was only one other lady in the breakfast room and we wondered if most of the rooms were empty. We learned that this was due to breakfast being served a little bit later on a Saturday and that guests tended to come down to breakfast at the last minute.

After we had settled our bill, I took a few last photographs of the Cathedral before we set off for Stonehenge, stopping off at a garden centre along the way for a cup of tea. Before we left the garden centre Mr C phoned West Dean Gardens on the off chance that his missing spectacles had turned up. He was surprised and pleased to hear that they had. On learning that we were on our way home they agreed to post them to him.

At Stonehenge we decided to have lunch before walking to the stones. The walk and views were as lovely as usual especially in the sunshine. After enjoying the stones and capturing a few photographs we took a different walking route back to the visitor centre.

We arrived home just in time to freshen up before going out to dinner. Family had invited us so that we didn’t have to bother with shopping. The food was delicious and a good time was had by all.

St Francis de Sales

I couldn’t quite get the angle to frame the moon and the cathedral in the same photograph. I could have done with a bit of time but my companion would probable have got bored and impatient whilst I wandered around for the perfect angle.

The second photo shows the top of one of the trees from the first photo.

This delightful wooden ram is situated above the the Smith England Hairdressing Salon.

The wooden ram above dates from the shop’s former use by Stonehenge Woolen Industries, set up in the early C20th by Catherine Lovibond, with the aim of regenerating the rural economy. The firm continued in business till 1959. *

The ram was recently renewed by Salisbury Civic Society. Situated next to the salon is this wonderful gateway.

*From a signboard on the Smith England building

During my July visit to Salisbury I was rather taken with Roly’s Fudge Pantry’s presentation of Stonehenge. An article from the Salisbury Journal provided more information:

STONEHENGE has had a tasty makeover in time for National Fudge Day which takes place today [June 16, 2016].

Roly’s Fudge Pantry has unveiled what is dubbed as ‘Fudgehenge’ for the special occasion and is made entirely from the shop’s best-selling Vanilla Clotted Cream.

The idea for ‘Fudgehenge’ was dreamt up by former PR and marketing directors, Steven Jones and Sarah Orton the co-owners of Roly’s Fudge Pantry Salisbury, when they observed how many of their customers visited Stonehenge and Salisbury Cathedral.

Steven said: “Stonehenge is one of the most visited tourist attractions in the UK and less than 10 miles away, with many people combining a visit to both the famous prehistoric site with a visit to the cathedral built in 1220. We thought ‘Fudgehenge’ would be an amusing point of interest for thousands of international visitors that will flock past our window this summer on the way into Salisbury Cathedral.”

The model took Sarah several hours to construct with the help of photographs, a sharp knife and cocktail sticks to balance the fudge arches. Now Roly’s Fudge Pantry plans to display the ‘Fudgehenge’ sculpture in its High Street shop window until the end of Augusst.

At the time of the display  Roly’s Fudge Pantry were running a ‘Guess the Weight of Fudgehenge’ competition.

When we visited Stonehenge last year we chose to take a leisurely stroll to the stones rather than embark upon the shuttle bus. The walk was quite peaceful despite the crowds and it was wonderful to see the stones slowly emerging from the wider Stonehenge landscape. I found it interesting to see the stones within the wider landscape and other manmade features that surround the stones.

Breakfast was buffet style and lived up to expectations from our previous visit to the White Hart. After breakfast, we loaded the car and made our way to the Salisbury Museum. We had been disappointed on our last visit to find the archaeological section closed for refurbishment and due to reopen just after we returned home. The museum’s archaeological collection is now housed in the Wessex Gallery and it was well worth the wait. We spent most of our morning browsing around the collections.

We had a cup of tea in the cathedral and visited the cathedral shop before returning to the hotel to freshen up ahead of our journey home. A timely missed turning led us to Marlborough which was the perfect opportunity to stop for a lunch time treat of lemon cake.  We then retraced our steps and picked up the correct route to continue our journey home.

The weather was lovely and I had planned a nice meal on the patio but  Mr C was feeling a little delicate following our previous evenings meal. I had to improvise and think up a dinner for one.

I awoke to the delightful sound of cathedral bells before we made our way downstairs for our final breakfast in Stoberry House. Some interesting conversations took place over breakfast including one involving a couple who were thinking of opening a B&B who were seeking advice from our hostess, Frances, on how best to go about getting started.

We chatted to our host, Tim, as we paid the bill and were thanked for making things easy by jotting down the drinks we had had from the honesty bar. Apparently this is unusual and not doing so can lead to some awkward conversations. We said goodbye to Frances who hoped we would be back. As we left the house we checked out a secret lounge that we hadn’t noticed before. Next time we visit this will be our lounge of choice On the car park as we were getting ready to leave we got chatting to another guest about Shropshire amongst other things.

We headed off to Stonehenge where we found that, as English Heritage members, we did not have to join the long queue. We chose to walk to the stones rather than take the shuttle bus, taking in the landscape as we made our way towards them. We took a leisurely stroll around the stones which I found quite peaceful despite the crowds. Back at the visitor centre, we shared a sandwich in the cafe and I bought a new book about Stonehenge before we made our way to The White Hart in Salisbury.

We checked in and freshened up before walking to the Haunch of Venison for dinner. This turned out to be the culinary disappointment of the weekend. The service and food quality did not match up to that of our previous visit in 2014. I finished the meal joking about taking the upside down mint from the plate that had been placed in front of us. It was only after I had eaten it that I noticed there was a rip in the foil. It left me wondering if this is why it had been placed upside down…

After this less than desirable experience we walked through the cathedral crescent, enjoying the view of the moon as it rose over the roof of the cathedral. We ended up back at the hotel where we enjoyed a drink in the hotel terrace garden whilst watching the sky turn from blue to black.

Mompesson House, ‘The House in The Close’, is a perfect example of Queen Anne architecture and was built for Charles Mompesson in 1701. It is noted for its elegant and spacious interior, especially the magnificent plasterwork and fine oak staircase.

See the important Turnbull collection of 18th century drinking glasses, fine period furniture and charming walled garden with its garden tearoom. Mompesson House featured as Mrs Jennings’ London home in the award-winning film ‘Sense and Sensibility’.

This season we also have a contemporary sculpture exhibition in the house and garden ‘Material Connections across the Ages’. It looks at connections between contemporary sculpture and historic objects. There are pieces made from glass, paper, stone, textile and wood, among others.

A glimpse of two of the artworks can be seen in the first two photographs.  The final photograph is an artwork by Jane Hall and is entitled ‘Lady of the Woods’.

Belly pork and black pudding accompanied by onion mash and red cabbage…

Delicious

More about our visit to the ‘Haunch of Venison‘ can be found at the end of my ‘Salisbury Day Two‘ post.