Day 6 - Winchester to Frome
M took an early walk through the Winnall Moors nature reserve before returning to pack up and check out. We left the car at the hotel and explored Winchester, including a look at the cathedral, which we have since learnt is the longest in the world, though it wasn't obvious to us at the time.
We drove on to Southampton and stopped at the waterfront (where the Titanic left from) to watch huge ships being towed by small tugs to start their ocean journey.
Our next destination was Old Sarum outside of Salisbury, though we had a little trouble getting there as we always seems to be in the wrong lane and ended heading off in the wrong direction, and the traffic didn't help, getting caught in a traffic jam along the way.
Old Sarum was built around 400 BC, the massive circular earthworks served as an early defensive hilltop fort. William the Conqueror who built a royal castle here around 1070, and a cathedral followed. Not much of it is left, there are some excavated stone walls and drawings to help you imagine the original buildings and rooms, but much of the stone was removed to build other forts and castles in the area.
We made it to Salisbury Cathedral where we joined the 2pm stonemasons tour, a behind the scenes look at the restoration work being done at the cathedral. The cathedral is home to Britain's tallest spire, oldest working clock, and an original copy if the Magna Carta from 1215. The tour included a visit to the stonemasons' workshop, where they seemed to be working in what seemed to be dusty and potentially unhealthy conditions. After the tour we had time to look at the Magna Carta and wander through the very impressive cathedral.
Finally we drove to Frome, our home for the next 3 nights. We spent a lovely evening with K's Spanish teacher from Barcelona and her friends at one of the local pubs though it seemed they'd lost our food order but made up for it by offering us free drinks.
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