It was pouring rain when we woke up this morning so we thought we might as well have a bit of a lie in and head out a little later. We were on the road by 10:30 heading towards Stonehenge. The sky was overcast and it was windy.  I had told Richard that we would get out at the carpark and head through a tunnel under the roadway to get to the stones. When we arrived at our destination, it was totally different. We had to board a bus  and ride about five minutes to the stones. Did I remember this wrong from my trip with Mom and my sister Val there in 2007?  I had to check this out and I asked a guide what the scoop was. He confirmed my memory by saying that this new arrangement had only taken effect within the last six years. Phew!! I thought that I was really losing it!! Anyways, I am sure that you are more interested in the actual stones than my memories of them so here it goes….

Amazingly enough, they look like every picture that you have ever seen – large, monolithic standing stones in a circle surrounded by a moat-like depression around the exterior. I believe that it is the mystery of how the stones got there and what they mean that keep people coming back year after year. Archaeologists are still studying Stonehenge and are making new discoveries. It is believed that the stones are 5000 years old and may be part of an ancient burial ground. They also still believe that the alignment of the stones definitely have something to do with the movement of the sun. We walked around the stones with our audio guide, took a few pictures and though it did not rain, it was very windy. Again, you can see these pictures and read about it on the Internet but it is really something to see in person.

From Stonehenge we headed to Westbury to see the White Horse and walk the Wiltshire White Horse trail. We stopped at the Railway Inn at Westbury for a bite to eat and while there it absolutely poured and hailed. We were pretty thankful that we hadn’t decided to do the walk first. After lunch we drove to the hill under the White Horse. This white chalk horse is one of 11 horses that were carved into the hills of Wiltshire during the 18th century. There are only eight that still remain. They have had restoration through the years and finally in the 1950’s, the horses were actually covered in cement in order to preserve them for all time. As we were leaving the car, the rain began again and after looking at the very muddy, sloppy trail, we decided that we would not be doing the walk today.

Saddened by this turn of events we turned the car around and headed back to Salisbury. It rained most of the way back and though I wish that we had been able to walk the trail, I know that I would not have enjoyed doing it in this kind of weather. Back at our BNB we are hunkering in for the night to watch a movie and eat the sandwiches that I forgot to take for our lunch today. I guess everything happens for a reason, don’t you think?

 

 

Mr. White Horse….