Same Shirt, Different day-2012 Adventures of the "Devonport Wonder Babes"

Tuesday 17^th July 2012 Cholderton YHA to Avebury and return

Overcast, quite warm today.

Spent morning sorting out bags and clothes to take with us to Paris on Thursday as we will leave larger suitcases at St Pancras Station  and just take backpacks.

Then headed off about 12ish heading north to Avebury for our “National Trust site of the day” .  Passed Stonehenge which is just a few miles up the road which looked pretty spectacular as we approached from a hill so looking down on it. Car park full.

Continued on with GPS set to “No Motorways” so meandered through Salisbury Plain along narrow lanes next to the Army’s live firing range ( red flags were up), ammunition dumps,  tank crossings and airfields. All very peaceful !!

As we neared Avebury there is a large chalk horse on the hill, apparently quite a few around here but that was the only one that we saw today.

Arrived at Avebury in time to join a 2pm guided tour by volunteer National Trust guide, Claudine, spent about an hour walking all around the stone circles, early Neolithic dating from approx 4000 years ago. The stones here are local sarcen rock which is the same as the outer rings at Stonehenge. There is an outer ring about one mile in circumference with 2 inner rings, north and south, and evidence of another central stone. Entrance to the rings would have been through 2 gates, north and south, with an avenue of two rows of  parallel stones a mile long  leading up to the south gate. All very impressive.

Avebury Standing Stones

A very large standing stone !!

Then went into the two museums on the site, the first is in the old threshing barn an impressive structure in its own right that has bats nesting in it and the other in a more controlled environment displays artefacts found on the site.

The Manor house which has recently featured in a BBC documentary was also open so we had a tour of that. Different rooms are decorated in  styles faithful to a certain period in the time this building has been inhabited, right up to 1930/40s. You were encouraged to sit or lie on the furniture and touch things (except for the very expensive Chinese handpainted wallpaper in one room)

Avebury Manor, docent explaining bed workings

Caro and Emily try out a bed

Another glorious kitchen garden

Also close to the Avebury stones is another large structure  called Sillbury Hill whose purpose is unknown.

Sillbury Hill

Fine all day except for the last 10 minutes drive back to YHA when heavens opened again.

Spent the evening getting ready to return the car to Heathrow tomorrow and then to stay at YHA St Pancras before catching Eurostar to Paris on Thursday.