We
are now settled into our next club site, this the Caravan & Motorhome Club,
and enjoying the brand new facilities. The camp is packed out, all 136 camping
sites occupied, here more likely to be British rather than the mix of foreign
tourists and British campers to be found at the Camping & Caravan Club site
in Salisbury. From our corner of the park, we can see the tower of the
Cathedral and enjoy the birdlife in the high hedge immediately behind us.
Our last day in Salisbury was spent revisiting the iconic tourist
attraction of the county; Stonehenge. Were we crows we could have flown a six
and a half mile straight line to the visitor centre, although by road it is
somewhat longer. We arrived at about 10 am; the sun was shining, the wind had
abated from the previous day and the crowds were already gathering with the car
park over half full.
During the course of our visit, we were reminded that the centre
has only been opened for four years, so it must have been very new when we last
came. We were also reminded that the standing stones have only been fenced off
in the manner they are today since 1968, which accounts for the fact that Chris
remembers his early visits being very much a hands on affair.
I am sure I wrote at great length about this heritage site when we
called in 2015, so shall not repeat the wonders of it all here, except to say
that today we walked the mile and a bit up to the Stones rather than catching
the shuttle. We then joined the long queues of tourists weaving their way
around the circular path that keeps away would-be vandals, and were glad of the sunny warm day, so
different to that three years ago.
We had passed by the entrance to Stonehenge just two days
ago and seen that the site was to close early that day and remain so the
following; Thursday was the summer solstice and of great significance to spiritual
oddballs. I was surprised to learn that the 9,500 folk who stayed overnight on
Wednesday to see in the sunset the next morning were able to mingle amongst the
Stones, the barriers for tourists removed. Perhaps we should have parked up
ourselves and joined them; there was no cost for doing so, although the thought
of sleeping in a car does not appeal these days.
The museum delighted us as much as it did last time, and for
now there is an excellent exhibition titled “Feast” which reveals what the
builders of Stonehenge cooked and ate. Even more interesting than displays of
the food types are the explanations of how scientists have arrived at this wealth
of information.
We had considered driving back into Salisbury to check out
the Cathedral, however The Chauffeur was not wanting to risk the traffic jams
of the late afternoon, so in the end we limited our further activities to refuelling
at the Tesco Extra in readiness for our departure the next day. Back at camp we
sat about watching our fellow campers sitting about; we inside the van and they
out in the hot sun in various states of undress.
We
drove up yesterday, a trip of more than eighty miles, on a route selected for
the colour of routes on the map rather than the most direct. We passed through
Amesbury, then a short distance across on the A303, then turned north up the
A338 through Tidworth, one of the many defence settlements on the Salisbury
Plain, on up through Marlborough,
Swindon and Cirencester on the A417 & A419, joining the M5 east of
Gloucester then travelling the last ten miles or so on excellent road before
turning west again and coming on into Tewkesbury. Most of the road had been
appalling, the surface bumpy and causing even the best packed items to jump
about in the caravan. Unfortunately there is no really good service centre
along the route we took; we ended up hanging about in a spot best suited to
refuelling than anything else, close to Cirencester, and should have kept our
lunch time to a minimun, because when we arrived at the camp, the available
spots were limited and we settled for a spot further from the amenities block
than we normally prefer. But we do have views of the cathedral and those birds
I mentioned!
On
check-in we remarked on the crowds in the streets as we had come through the
town and were told about the famous annual steam rally that is being held here
this weekend. That accounted for the procession of small steam powered
contraptions that made their way around the camp circuit mid-afternoon,
delighting most, and annoying some, including an extremely irate camper whose
exit was hampered by the slow moving traffic. His performance was as distracting
as the procession itself.
Today
has been more about armchair sports than touring. The Chauffeur was keen to
watch the the British soccer team slaughter Panama in their second World Cup
game, and then to watch the final of the
Queen’s tennis tournament, all of this on top of keeping up with the political
current affairs televised soon after breakfast. Admittedly if we were here in
England for just a few weeks of touring, I would have put my foot down and
insisted television was for night time only, but it is a touring life we have,
not a holiday tour.
After
Andrew Marr had wound up the week’s politics, we headed out into Tewkesbury on
foot, up through the High Street in search of the Tesco Metro to buy fresh
bread for lunch, then over to the river and canal system where we wandered
along the edge, admiring the boats and views.
Records
as early as 1407 show Tewkesbury as an inland port, the rivers here providing
the main method of moving goods around. Up until 1580, Bristol controlled all of
Tewkesbury’s water-borne trade, but in that year, Elizabeth I granted
Tewkesbury the status of “port” allowing the collection of customs duties.
Tewkesbury boats accounted for up to half of the cargo passing through
Gloucester in 1600 and many folk earned their living through the boating
industry.
The
Severn was declared a free river at Tewkesbury by Henry VI and remained so
until 1842 when an agreement to improve navigation was secured. However, early
canalisation efforts had disastrous effects on water levels, emptying the basin
and leaving Tewkesbury Quay high and dry. Interestingly we watched a televison
programme just last night about the engineering aspects of canals and it was
this very matter of controlling reservoirs of water to replenish the flow of
canals that particulary caught my attention.
Only
in 1858, when the Lower Lode lock was built, was water borne trading restored to the quay. The new lock, the
largest in England at that time, and its weir removed twenty one acres from the
Ham, the “island” lying in the midst of the river and canal system which we
traversed in part today. Of course in the end, the viability of the canal went
the way of all other canals, with rail becoming so much more viable
economically.
Tewkesbury
also has a long history of boatbuilding, the first mention is in 1401 when the
town was ordered to provide a boat for Henry IV’s navy. In 1558, when Elizabeth
I came to the throne, there is evidence of an order for a 25 ton pinnace and
thirty years later, the Queen required Tewkesbury and Glouceseter to finance a
manned ship of 80 tons in anticipation of the Spanish Armada. Boat building
continued through the centuries even beyond World War II, but these days the housing of leisure craft at
one of the largest inland marinas in the country has taken its place.
The
Severn Ham is today a Site of Special Scientific Interest and part of a
conservation area. It is periodically and naturally flooded by the surrounding
rivers: the Severn, Avon and Swilgate, and it is the silt brought down by these
rivers and deposited here that makes it so fertile and a haven for wildlife.
The
Ham became an island about a thousand years ago when the Abbey Monks , or maybe
their underlings, dug the Mill Avon. This was a man-made channel off the main
river possibly for defence and to provide a water source to power mills where
the Abbey Mill now stands. The Ham was once owned by the Abbey, then for many
centuries by the local landed and political elite. Today it is owned by the
Town Council and falls within strict environmental guidelines.
Interestingly
horse racing was held here on this sacred site from early in the 1700s. But the
NIMBYs were about even then and the pure and righteous clergy were part of the
opposition that rose against such evil practices, one such a sermon in 1827
entitled “The Evil Consequences of the Race Course”. And still there are voices
raised against gambling and sports events; nothing really changes.
Back
home, we devoured the French loaf which had spent at least an hour with us touring,
poking up out of the backpack. Then
Chris settled down for an afternoon of great excitement, I prepared dinner then
set off on foot by myself to retrace part of our morning’s route and venture
into the Abbey which had earlier been occupied by devout Christians and out of
bounds to heathens.
This
afternoon it was open to all comers and what a lovely church it is, this St
Mary the Virgin, which the town's people saved from destruction during the Dissolution
of the Monastries, by raising £453 in 1539 to buy the church from Henry VIII
to keep it for the parish. It has the largest Norman tower still in existence,
46 feet square and 148 feet high. The organ is also significant in being one of
the oldest still in use in Britain, with its pipework dating from 1610.
The
abbey dates from 1092 although monastic cells had been here since 715. Apart
from Dissolution, the Abbey and Tewkesbury has also survived the nineteen year Anarchy
beginning in 1135 over the succession squabbles of Henry I’s daughter, Matilda
and her cousin, Stephen, then in 1471, the Battle of Tewkesbury in the War of
Roses and again Tewkesbury played its part in the Civil War between Charles I
and his parliament started in 1642. Then there were battles in the town and it
changed hands four times in two months during 1643. A walking trail about the
green areas adjacent to the camp are marked with interpretative panels.
I
was aware we were settling into a greatly historical spot, and today confirmed
all of that, not only from these gems offered all over the town, but also
mirrored in the very old architecture throughout the township.
As
I finish recording the last few days, the sun is still up, the dishes are
washed and stowed, and English soccer fans are satisfied their team has
survived for another round. The steam rally folk have put away their noisy tannoy
system and all gone home, and the abbey bells have ceased their ringing to call
the faithful for the evening service.
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