Well, it finally happened. My back blew out. I have been in a lot of pain for the last couple of days, so I’ll make this brief, since I need to lay down and not sit up.
We left Winchester and had to do Stonehenge. It was my second time, and Alex’s first time, and just to say that you have been there is enough. We were there at opening, and got to view it before it became too crowded.
After Stonehenge, we headed to Salisbury Cathedral. Two
important ancestors of mine are buried there: Sir Walter Hungerford, and Sir
William Longspee. Hungerford was the First Baron Hungerford, and a prominent
member of the House of Commons. He acquired great tracts of land, manor houses,
and castles through the marriages that he negotiated for his sons, and the two
women he married. He also rose to prominence during the Hundred Years War.
Sir William Longspee was an illegitimate son of Henry II,
and brother to King John. A fearsome fighter, he spent time in the Holy Lands
during crusades, and was suspected of dying by being poisoned. Both he and
Hungerford have nice tombs in prominent places of Salisbury Cathedral.
Also at the Cathedral was one of four original copies of the Magna Carta. Of the 25 Magna Carta Surety Lords, I am related to 14:
Robert de Ros, William de Mowbray, John FitzRobert, John de Lacy, Saer de Quincy, Robert de Montfichet, Hugh Bigod, Robert de Vere, Henry de Bohun, Richard de Clare, Gilbert de Clare, William D'Albini, William Malet, and William Marshall II.
I am also a direct descendant of King John, who sat on the other side of the table looking at the surety Lords, and wondering if he was going to get out of this mess alive.
We exited Salisbury to check in to our country Air B&B, so far in the country that we didn’t have any cell phone coverage. He did have internet, but this part of Dorset is mostly agrarian, and very beautiful, especially near the coast. After checking in, we went to check out Weymouth and Dorchester.
Weymouth is a tourist destination near the English Channel, and very crowded. Not as bad as Destin, Florida, but enough so that we patrolled the street for a while, then headed for Dorchester to kill some time.
In Dorchester, I have several ancestors from the late 1500’s to early 1600’s that were raised here, but the research isn’t very conclusive on exactly where they were from. It is a nice town with lots of history, and worth the visit.
On the 19th, we headed to see the Cerne Abbas Giant. For those not familiar with him, he is a chalk figure on the side of a mountain that nobody seems to know when he was erected. Alex had never heard of him, and I thought a bit of culture would do her good. When we got there, we were sad to report that he is in need of some renovations, and most of the chalk outline isn’t as clear as previous pictures have shown. I will post the picture I found online, the one I took when there, and one with volunteers fixing him up, which happens perio dick ally.
This is what it looked like online.
This is what we saw.
These are volunteers renovating the chalk outline.
This was in a gift shop in Dorchester. The seconds hand of the clock, in the middle, actually spun around. I caught a picture of it at the 12 O'Clock position.
Next we visited the Abbotsbury Swannery. Home to over 700 swans, it was set up in Medieval days by the King to raise these magnificent birds. I had always heard that swans were mean, but if you walk slow, and leave them alone, they will ignore you.
For dinner tonight, we went to a pub within walking distance of our lodgings. It was called the Sailor's Return, and we really enjoyed the food. Interesting picture, of the fellow peeking out of the closet when the sailor came home. Throw in a couple of Red English Phone Booth Pictures in, and the evening was complete!
Tomorrow we check out early and make the trip back to Heathrow to make sure that Alex gets to her outbound flight on time. On the way, we hope to spend most of the day at Windsor Castle and St. Georges Chapel to pay our respects to many of our noble ancestors interred there, as well as QE II and the Duke of Edinburgh.
