In early September 2007 I had a two day project management training course in Wilton, the old county town of Wiltshire. I added an extra day onto my visit in order to do some sightseeing.
Just next to the hotel I stayed in was a large car park for the Salisbury Park & Ride system. I’d thoroughly recommend it as it only costs £2 to park all day and there are frequent buses into the busy town centre.
I started by walking to the cathedral. It does have a rather money-grabbing “suggested donation with a turnstile” policy. However, the interior is well worth seeing. There was a tour of the building starting a few minutes so had a quick wander before returning to the tour departure point. It turned out that I was the only person there so I had the guide to myself. Fortunately he was quite an amiable chap and it was nice chatting to him as we walked around the cathedral.
The western end of Salisbury cathedral
Carvings above the main entrance
A medieval clock, constructed around 1385. Early clocks like this were used to ring a bell on the hour but had no face to otherwise tell the time
Looking down the nave to the western end
The vaulted roof
I didn’t know that Salisbury cathedral has one of the original four copies of the Magna Carter so it was interesting to see that.
After leaving the cathedral I had a brief wander around Salisbury’s shopping are and bought some things for a picnic lunch that I planned to eat at my next destination. I caught the bus back to the park and ride then drove to Old Sarum.
There was less to see at this abandoned town than I had imagined. Despite being a Norman royal palace and having a cathedral there is really just the foundations of the two buildings left. Much of the stonework was recycled in building New Sarum, now better known as Salisbury. Most of the population moved to the new town as it had better facilities and Old Sarum became a rotten borough.
Although there’s not much to see at Old Sarum it was still a nice place to sit on the grass and have lunch in the sunshine.
Foundations of the old cathedral
View from the cathedral towards the remains of the royal palace which was built upon an iron age hill fort
After lunch I headed towards home via the Museum of Army Flying. I have to say that I was a little disappointed by this museum. Its displays were excellent but the army support aircraft and helicopters will never be as interesting as, say, a spitfire or a fast jet.
The main hanger, seen from the balcony which has displays on the various campaigns the army air corps have fought in
