Give It A Go: Stonehenge & Salisbury

Due to the prevalence of students who are new to London, international and otherwise, UCL student union organizes several months of opportunities for people to take advantage of the many sites and activities nearby, called Give It A Go. It's such a British phrase that I kind of love it. Give It A Go is also a chance for students and societies/clubs to meet up and test each other out before any membership dues have to be paid. (I went to an walk in Regent's Park during the first weekend after school started to get to know the Photography Society, for example.)

Since Stonehenge is one of the items on our list of London and Beyond goals for this year, I was excited to see that the Hiking & Walking Club was hosting a trip to the monument and nearby Salisbury for just £16 per person. This is an absolute STEAL considering we would pay at least that much for train tickets to Salisbury and would have had to figure out a tour to Stonehenge in addition. UCLU organized charter busses that left from campus at 8:30 am on Saturday, October 26.

Beforehand, Joe and I did a little preparation. Several weeks ago we caught Secrets of the Stonehenge Skeletons, a new documentary about the history of the site narrated by Jim Carter (Carson from Downton Abbey), on BBC4. Joe had also watched several other features on the creation and implications of the configuration and filled me in.

Because this trip was organized by the Hiking & Walking Club, the plan was to take the coach to Stonehenge, spend an hour or so walking around, and then hike the 10+ miles into Salisbury, passing other, smaller sites on the way. Joe and I were completely prepared for this itinerary, including bringing backpacks with snacks and wearing our hiking gear. What we were not prepared for was the fact that neither of us managed to get more than 3 or 4 hours of sleep the night before (going to bed before midnight is not our pattern here) or how biting the wind would be, making 40 degrees feel severely colder.

The site is in the middle of the countryside, quite alone in a field. It is encircled by a pedestrian path that, at times, gets quite close to the outer ring of standing stones. We were shocked that we got within about 30 feet at one point. 

We were also basically freezing, as we'd under-dressed in preparation for 10 miles of hiking. When we learned that we could skip the hike and head into town on the coach, we decided that would be best. Instead of spending 4+ hours trudging through the cold, damp fields, we spent 3 hours eating Thai food and reading in a Waterstone's bookstore and then visited Salisbury Cathedral.

It was too cold out to stop anyone to take our picture. Selfie it is!

The most interesting thing about the cathedral was the different types of art used to decorate the interior. The building was completed in only 38 years, unheard of for most cathedrals, and is therefore almost entirely in the English Gothic style of the early thirteenth century. The spire, which was added about a century later, is the tallest standing church spire in the UK.

The interior of the cathedral, surprisingly, included some rather modern art pieces, including drawings and paintings from not only the last century, but the last 50 years. The tapestries that covered the many altars (and several other pieces as well) were made of quilted clothes and included raised embroidery such as I have never seen in a cathedral. 

The Altar of St. Lawrence, who was martyred on a burning grate.

The bus ride back from the south west was about two hours. Afterwards, Joe and I decided to take advantage of a Saturday evening in Bloomsbury (UCL's neighborhood) by stopping in at the twin establishments of Euston Tap (for craft beer) and Cider Tap (for cider, obvi). Joe was even able to pick up some bottles to take home (and to encite jealousy in his beer geek friends back in the States). I have been thrilled by the availability of cider all over London; not only does every bar serve cider, but many have multiple options that are standard on their printed menus plus guest flavors. Cider Tap, however, is unique; it is the only place I have ever seen that serves cider exclusively and includes not a few, but over two dozen different varieties. Since both bars are owned by the same people, Joe and I can even order separately from the one each of us prefers and then join up in one of the bars with our drinks. A lovely English end to an English heritage day.