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Singing, singing, buttercups and daisies – Tuesday

Singing, singing, buttercups and daisies – Tuesday

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We wasted a half-day today! It was, however, unavoidable. We left home at 9:30 AM and arrived at 12:30 PM after 3 hours of driving. That's the problem with travelling it has to be done to get anywhere but it could be better spent exploring.

The weather of late has been constantly cool, and raining for a lot of the time, but then last Monday, 21st May, good weather was suddenly forecast for at least 3 days so we booked some accommodation and left home on Tuesday, 22nd May for Wiltshire.

We had a clear run as far as the M25 and although there were no visible problems we started to see electronic signs displaying a message 'M4 junctions 6 to 10 long delays'. Guess what road we were planning to use for the next part of our route? We kept going past these signs and eventually decided that if we could see traffic queueing on the M4 slip road we would try an alternate route.

There was no queue on the slip road so we took a chance and went on to the M4 at junction 4. There were no signs of problems by the time we reached junction 6 and to cut a long story short by the time we passed junction 10 traffic was still flowing freely. There were no problems at all and I can understand why drivers tend to ignore such signs which seem not to be turned off once the problem has been cleared.

We arrived at Avebury under a clear blue sky with temperatures forecast to be around 75F. We didn't come for the stone circle but we did come partly for the stone West Kennett Avenue and partly to see inside Avebury Manor which has recently been restored. The restoration of Avebury Manor by the National Trust was the subject of a series of programmes on BBC television and it was very, very interesting so we were here to see for ourselves.

However, first things first! West Kennett Avenue starts from Avebury stone circle and winds across the landscape to the Sanctuary. It was originally lined with large stones of the sort which are to be seen in the stone circle but only some now remain.

This is a picture which I took on our previous visit in October 2011 which does not really show it to best effect.

So after lunch we walked along West Kennett Avenue to the lower end. This is what we saw this time.

Don't those buttercups make a difference? They show up the path along the Avenue very well apart from looking beautiful in their own right. There are also daisies in there somewhere but they aren't easy to see at a distance.

There is an old english folk song called "Strawberry Fair" of which the first two lines are:

As I was going to Strawberry Fair
Singing, singing, buttercups and daisies

Mid-June is probably strawberry time and buttercups and daisies are still in flower at that time but the first flush of Buttercups and Daisies appear towards the end of May.

Having reached the bottom of West Kennett Avenue we had also reached the path that went up and over Waden Hill to Silbury Hill so we just had to go to the top of Waden Hill to see the view of Silbury Hill.

We are just above the top of Silbury Hill at this height and looking a little left of Silbury Hill we could also see West Kennett Long Barrow which we have already featured on the web site. Even the standing stones which mark the entrance are visible at the left-hand end.

We went back down Waden Hill to the end of the Avenue and passed one of the locals looking a bit sheepish. Well you'd probably feel sheepish if you were seen wearing a thick wooly coat on a hot sunny day.

From here we went back to Avebury to look inside Avebury Manor. For the restoration it was decided to restore each room at a different time in the Manor's history, from the age of Queen Elizabeth I to the eve of World War II, and it is one of the few National Trust properties where visitors can touch, handle, sit in and lie on the furnishings.

This shows the Dining Room, with hand painted Chinese wallpaper, in the Georgian era.

The Victorian kitchen with one of the visitors, whose name shall remain anonymous but which starts with "A", leaning nonchalantly on the Dresser and she didn't even do the washing up.

This is a rather opulent bedroom, part of the Queen Anne Suite, and,yes, you could lay on it if you wanted although it would be nice if you took your shoes off first.

Then, of course, some of us have to start taking liberties on the Chaise Longue in the Withdrawal room.

We finally decided it was time to head for our hotel in Marlborough but, on the way, as we were passing the Sanctuary we were going to stop for a look.

This is where the Ridgeway starts and heads off to Ivinghoe Beacon in the Chilterns which I wrote about in the Blog – http://localhost/deoprrssw/?p=170

This is the signpost at the start of the Ridgeway, and it's a long walk to Ivinghoe Beacon,

and just across the road is the Sanctuary which was begun in about 3000 BC. The the site was constructed and modified in a number of phases, with eight rings in total (six wooden post rings and two stone circles) but, sadly, it is now just a set of concrete markers.

We went off to the Castle and Ball Hotel in Marlborough, where we were staying, for an evening meal and to prepare for our expedition tomorrow which features a lesser known historical monument and even more buttercups.
 

Oxon-Hants-Wilts: A non-view, a smithy that isn’t and horses for courses.

Oxon-Hants-Wilts: A non-view, a smithy that isn’t and horses for courses.

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Day 1 – Sunday 16th August 2009

We left home around 10:00 AM to start our next trip with a weather forecast for the next four days as 'Sunny Spells' or 'Partly Cloudy' depending on which forecast one chooses.

Our first destination was Boars Hill near Oxford which, we learned, gives wonderful views over the City of Oxford. We arrived there just after mid-day and found somewhere to park which, I might add, is not an easy task. A very short walk brought us to open ground with a rather narrow view between distant trees – but not of Oxford. We followed an obvious footpath along the side of the open ground which brought us to a lane lined with houses on both sides. No view there then. We didn't want to spend much time here so decided to give up at this point and continue our journey.

We discovered when we got back home and were able to do a little more research on the Web that we probably should have gone across the open ground and beyond the distant trees to reach more open ground. Ah well next time perhaps.

Our next destination, southwards, was Waylands Smithy which is not a blacksmiths as you might imagine but a prehistoric long barrow in Oxfordshire. It used to be in Berkshire but the county boundaries have since been moved.

This site is associated with the Saxon god of metalworking, Wayland, who apparently still inhabits the mound and is ready to shoe a horse. The horse had to be left at the mound alone for a short period, along with the payment of a silver coin. On returning the horse would have been shod and the payment would have disappeared.

We didn't have a horse with us and so weren't able to test the theory.

Waylands Smithy is near the Uffington White Horse and, luckily, there is a National Trust Car Park on White Horse Hill which is where we stopped. Getting to the monument involves a walk of around a mile and a half along the ancient Ridgeway path with beautiful views over the Oxfordshire countryside (it used to be the Berkshire countryside) which are very reminiscent of those in the Sussex Downs.

Having found the monument we had a good look round and this picture shows the large stones at the entrance to the barrow with the barrow mound running off to the right.

There are four stone chambers in all although the roof to the entrance chamber is long since gone leaving it open to the sky. I did squeeze into one of the side chambers (they're not very big) and photographed the opposite chamber.

We set off back along the path to White Horse Hill because we wanted to see Uffington Castle and before you get too excited I should point out that Uffington Castle is a hill fort not a stone-built castle. The Ridgeway path is very well marked as you can see and the hill fort is the obvious mound on the horizon.

The fort, shown below, consists of an outer bank on the right, a ditch and a higher bank on the left protecting the interior space. You can see from the distant view that we are up fairly high and, yes, the views are quite something on a nice day. You may also notice a strange upright device in the picture and, no, I don't mean Amanda but the thing she's leaning on. That is an Ordnance Survey Triangulation point used in mapping.

We started off down back towards the car park but stopped on the way first to look at Dragon Hill, the flat topped mound below, where St. George is supposed to have slayed the dragon although what precisely the dragon was doing on top of the mound isn't clear.

There were no dragons around today.

From this same view point we could see part of the Uffington White Horse. Its age isn't known but it is believed to be pre-historic and it is the oldest of the white horses in this country. One very strange aspect is that there is no clear view to be had from anywhere in the surrounding countryside and the best views are obtained only from the air engendering the supposition that it was intended to be seen from the air.

The hind legs are on the left with the main body running left to right just below the horizon, one fore leg on the right with the neck slanting upwards from that.

This is how it looks from the air (No I didn't take it).

Finally a view of the village of Uffington from the hill and horse which take its name.

That was the end of this day's sightseeing and we drove from there (Oxfordshire/Berkshire – nearest town Wantage) to our hotel in Andover in Hampshire. That was a bit of a surprise (the hotel not the drive)! The hotel was one of the Olde English Inn chain owned by Green King in Suffolk who are brewers and we have previous experience and knowledge of some of their hotels.

The Bull Hotel in Long Melford, not far from us, is very old (timber-framed Tudor), very well cared for and a bit expensive. The White Hart in Coggeshall, also not far from us, is also a nice hotel and a bit expensive. We have stayed at the Castle and Ball in Marlborough which, while not up to the standards of the previous two, is still pleasant enough.

The Danebury Hotel in Andover is described by Green King as a 'Townhouse Hotel' which, to me, evokes a particular kind of image, is also old, as it was once a coaching inn, but the trouble is it looks old, and uncared for, at least from the outside. Downstairs it's divided into a large public bar and a Pizza Bar which is used for breakfast. Our room was a bit of a contrast being very large with a very large, comfortable bed, good quality white bed linen in pristine condition and showing no obvious signs of wear. There was also a large bathroom with bath and shower cubicle and a separate toilet with wash basin all in good condition. The general appearance was that of a room which had recently been decorated and well maintained.

More of the hotel later. Tomorrow is another day.