Trips

Sun., 6/12/16 – Cheltenham - Bath and Stonehenge
        Today we had our visits to the city of Bath and the megaliths of Stonehenge.  These two sites were the main reason we chose this Grand Circle tour.  We were lucky that the rain held off until we were riding on the bus. While we were at dinner it rained so hard there was flooding on some roads.  Our big bus was not deterred.
        On our way to Bath, we drove through the part of Cheltenham where we are staying for two nights.  Cheltenham racetrack hosts the prestigious Gold Cup steeplechase race.  It has mineral cold water springs and emphasizes education so it is nicknamed the City of Health and Education.  The main employer here is government communications.  MI5 and 6 (British Intelligence) are centered here – “We’re Listening” is the motto.
        We drove around Cirencester, a market town where we will have dinner at a pub tonight.  In 1840 the Royal Agriculture University was established here.  The primary course is in “estate management” – keeping the grounds of the UK manor houses and palaces.  Princes William and Harry play for the Cirencester Polo Club and are quite good.  Charles used to play and was not so good.  He often fell off his horse and had to be taken to the hospital.
        At Tetbury we saw the grounds of Highgrove House that Prince Charles bought when he married Diana.  William and Harry were brought up (sometimes) here.  Charles thinks he is an agriculture and “green” entrepreneur and experiments with new varieties and methods, but most are flops.  He and Camilla (the Gorilla) use the estate now and have a shop called Highgrove Market in Tetbury.  The store sells produce from the estate and tea biscuits, etc.  Liz gave us samples of a ginger butter shortbread cookie from the shop.
        We finally arrived in Bath with the skies threatening rain but were prepared for English weather with rain jacket, rain pants, and umbrellas.  The Romans called the settlement, around the only hot mineral springs in the UK, Aquae Sulis.  Romans were here in 43 CE.  The Bath ruins are located four meters below the current ground level.  The ruins also contain a Temple to the Roman goddess, Sulis Minerva.  Part of the gilded bronze head of Sulis Minerva, which once stood in the inner sanctum of the temple, is displayed in the reconstructed sections of the Roman bath and temple.  12,500 coins have been uncovered in the springs.  The temple was used for animal sacrifices and also contained personal altars built by pilgrims.

Ouch!	Yard decoration
	Sally Lunn's Buns
Model of the baths	Main pool
Hadrian	SPQR - Senate and Population of Rome
Roman drain	Roman drain
Hypocaust
After we toured the Roman Baths with our audio guides, we wandered some in the town center and bought a baguette sandwich and a pastie for lunch and sat outside in a light rain to eat like the locals who have learned to ignore the rain.  We could have gotten official Sally Lunn Bath Buns but avoided all of that sugar.         The Sts. Peter and Paul Abbey was having a ceremonial service and the singing of coronation songs and happy birthday to the Queen.  We could not go in but looked in through the main door.  Before getting on the bus we met Liz’s mom and dad and one of her 20-year-old twin daughters.  It was a nice “learning and discovery.”  All three were happy to greet us and talk with us.	Sts. Peter and Paul Abbey
Sts. Peter and Paul Abbey	Sts. Peter and Paul Abbey - wonderful flying buttresses
Sts. Peter and Paul Abbey - interior	Stonehenge is awesome because it is so mystical.  Research has suggested that the Saracen stones are from the local area and that the blue stones have come from 240 miles away and were moved to this spot.  There are theories of a possible way the stones were transported and raised to a standing position with huge lintels placed on top.  The henge is the bank and ditch that surrounds the stones.  There is no knowledge of why they were placed as they are.  As we viewed the stones, we listened to audio guides and walked the roped off perimeter of them.  We also could see many of the burial mounds (barrows) across the surrounding fields.  It is a fascinating place to stand in front of and contemplate five thousand years ago. Most of the pictures below are presented without comment.
Model
	Finally - we were there
A tenon	Heel stone
	Barrows
Barrows	Traffic headed to a concert - we went the other way, fortunately
On the way back toward Cheltenham, we drove through the town of Avebury where we could see another impressive group of Standing Stones.  There was no place for the bus to stop, but we looked at them through the bus windows.  Southwest England is full of these Neolithic sites.	Avebury
Avebury	Poppies growing wild
Wiltshire countryside	On our way to and from Stonehenge on the Salisbury Plane, through Wiltshire, we saw three of the eight white horses cut into the chalk hillsides. The history of the horses is obscure but they are scratched into the chalk hillside beneath the ground covering grasses.

        We had dinner at the Plough Pub in Cirencester.  We had homemade cottage pie (beef stew with mashed potatoes on top – Sheppard’s pie is made with lamb) and lemon pudding (lemon custard and meringue) for dessert.  It poured rain while we ate. So glad it waited until after we had visited Stonehenge.

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