Stonehenge, Bolsover, & Bath

July 18-20, 2013


You may remember me telling you that we bought two English Heritage passes, which allow us to see over 400 hundred historical sites in the United Kingdom....well we are putting them to good use. Our most recent history lessons included a trip to Stonehenge and Bolsover Castle.


                                   


Set among miles of pastures and rolling hills Stonehenge towers over the countryside of Amesbury, England. There was not a single building nearby, no visitor center, simply a tent with souvenirs and an ice cream truck. I thought this was odd considering its notoriety. We could see it from the road as we pulled into the parking lot packed with cars and tour buses. After receiving our audio guides we circled the prehistoric rock formation listening to all the theories of Stonehenge as we pondered the unanswered questions of how and why it was built.





The more entertaining theories where that Merlin the magician used his powers to move the rocks here, that is was built as a symbol of someones great wealth and power, or that it was constructed by aliens. I think that it was used as a seasonal calendar based on the information about how the stones line up with the sun during the summer and winter solstices. The rocks are massive, much larger than we had imagined. Considering it was built in 3000 B.C and is still around today I believe that is has served many proposes.

Bolsover Castle Entrance 

                                         

Twilight Room Ceiling

Next we visited Bolsover Castle the first one we have seen that was not built for battle. It was the Cavendish family's vacation home during the 17th century. Weekend guest were allowed to indulged their senses through music, food, and art. The little castle has been restored to represent Mr. Cavendish's taste; each room had a fireplace made of marble or granite, the ornate detail went from floor to ceiling visible in the mock medieval arched ceilings and the detailed murals. One of my favorite places was the Venus garden, complete with a deep fountain located in the middle inside the fountain were secluded love seats and intriguing statues.  It was implied that this area could have been used for erotic adult parties.

Ross got inside all 12 fireplaces

Archway framing the countryside 

The Venus Garden 

During our visit we watched a classical dressage performance with three highly trained horses illustrating Haute Ecole, which is the highest form of dressage. These horses all about 25 years old had been trained all their lives to preform airs above the ground. This style of horse training was originally used to prepare the horse and rider for battle giving the rider an edge during war. Today it is practiced simply to show talent and skill of both the horse and rider. I had never seen anything like it before, the animal moved with such grace, very assured of itself as it was subtly directed by the master rider. It looked as if the horse was posing for a picture each time it set back on its hind legs and proudly exposed its chest. Pictures were not allowed during the show so we asked to snap a few after the performance.









                                                                                                                                                                    

A fountain built inside the canal that surrounds the city

Before leaving England to tour Ireland we stopped for the afternoon in Bath. The city has a very unique charm about it. It comes from a combination of old stone facade buildings, the Romanesque architecture, and the pristine canal that surrounded the city like a mote. We spent the afternoon popping in and out of quaint boutiques and cafes. We shared a Cornish pastry, which is like a hot pocket filled with leeks, potatoes, and beef, toasted to perfection.



















































To our surprise the town was laced with Courage ale history with a number of bars using Courage in their name; although no one served the ale anymore. We were told the name given to the pub when it opened had to remain the same by law.









                                                                                                                                                                                   







Bath and the Wiltshire countryside have been some of the most scenic places we have visited. The tranquility radiates from even the animals we encountered; one instance occurred when we pulled over to see a horse and it walked right up to us, reached its head over the fence, allowing us to pet him. For the night we parked in Longleat National Forest. Before bed we walked to Heaven's Gate, a stunning outlook, where we watched the sunset over the hills and into the horizon.