Sunday 17th
August PLYMOUTH - LYME
REGIS -
AXMINSTER - SALISBURY
Another big
travel day today – again, we didn’t really travel all that far, compared to,
say, Rocky to Brisbane, but travel here takes sooo much longer, especially on a
Sunday!
We were all
up just after 7 this morning to have breakfast and clear out the fridge etc
then finish packing our bags. We have very few food items left now, and have
given Glen back the padded, insulated food carry bag he so kindly loaned us. We
were ready just after 8, and as Glen’s train didn’t leave until around 10, we
had a bit of time to kill. We’d completely run out of coffee yesterday, so we packed
everything into the car and walked down to the harbour one last time to find
some for the men (who were feeling its lack!) We found The Boston Tea Party was
open, so went in there for some caffeinated beverages and second breakfasts for
some. Then we walked back to collect the car, dropped Glen off to catch his
train home, and headed out of town.
The Boston Tea Party
Our first destination for the day on the way to Salisbury was Lyme Regis, about an hour and a half away. We travelled through the beautiful rolling hills of the Devon countryside, through lots of pretty little villages, some with many thatched houses. We drove around the south of Exeter and then down into Lyme Regis at about 11.30.
This is a southern seaside town on the Jurassic Coast, which was the home of Mary Anning, the famous fossil finder of the 1800s. They’ve recently placed a statue of her there; I saw the maquette for it in the Bristol Museum just last week. I thought it would be nice to have a break there, look at the statue, perhaps wander on the beaches and look for fossils, and have lunch. Unfortunately, as we drove in, we realised the reality – hordes of tourists everywhere, not a park to be had for love or money, and it was high tide anyway – no fossil hunting for me! We drove through and instantly resolved to add it to our list of ‘thanks, but no thanks’ tourist towns. It really did look pretty, but not worth the hassles involved today.
From here, it was just over an hour and a half to Salisbury. We chose to take the southern route which took us through the Dorset National Landscape and then northeast to the Salisbury Plain. We were on a pretty good road, but were hit by the Sunday curse several times, with traffic lining up to get through roundabouts and pretty little towns with narrow streets. Driving up, we realised how dry the south really is – plenty of places, you’d be forgiven for thinking you were in Central Queensland! We finally drove into Salisbury at about twenty past 3, though we could see the Cathedral’s spire for some distance beforehand – it certainly dominates the landscape.
We were
able to book into our hotel, The Chapter House, right away, once we’d found
parking nearby. We have a room in the Tudor part of the building over the
garden area. Salisbury was hot today (25 degrees) and the room only has a tiny ancient
window, so my heart sank. However, they have given us a big Dyson fan, and it
is pushing air nicely around the room. The hotel is in the perfect location –
right across the road from the gates to the Cathedral Close.
We had a bit of a rest, then went out to explore Salisbury a little. We came to the Cathedral in 2014 but didn’t see anything else, so Lex set off on a walk to the Salisbury Water Meadows, across the river from the Cathedral. I just explored the Close, and walked right around the Cathedral. I’d forgotten how absolutely immense it is. Its spire is the tallest in Britain, at 123 metres. I also admired the many carved saints which adorn the front façade – there’s a whole host of the great saints of history plus some more recent ones, such as an African bishop in 2008 and a statue of Desmond Tutu is going to be added soon.
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