A Rainy Day In Salisbury.

It was pouring with rain when I set out for the train station yesterday morning. There was travel disruption due to the weather but luckily the 10.05 to Salisbury was running on time. From the train window I could see the effects of weeks of rain. Some of the fields had turned into lakes.  On arrival in Salisbury my plan had been to look in the charity shops, but I abandoned that idea and sought shelter in the Wetherspoon’s pub. After half an hour of staring out of the window in there I was bored, so decided on a brisk walk to the cathedral.

World's oldest clock.

It must be one of the most beautiful cathedrals in Britain. The spire is 404 feet tall, a sight to behold. I saw the Magna Carta, one of the most famous manuscripts in the world. It has been in Salisbury since 1215 which pre-dates the present cathedral because work on building the cathedral didn’t begin until 1220. The signing of the Magna Carta by King John marks the beginning of democracy in Britain. Previous to that the king had absolute power.

Another fascinating thing I saw inside the cathedral was the world’s oldest working clock which has been ticking away since 1380. It hasn’t got a clock face but has been chiming on the hour for 640 years. It has ticked about 13 billion times. There are some very interesting graves in there as well. I saw one of a Knight who had fought in the Battle of Crecy in 1346. You could spend hours in there reading about the history of the building.

Here comes the Knight.

I had to go though because I was meeting my friend Odele in the Bishops Mill pub at 1.00. The last time I was in Salisbury it was sad to see this pub closed and abandoned after the Novichok nerve agent attack. It has been reopened now which is great to see. Odele is a friend from the Glastonbury Festival re-cycling crew. I hadn’t seen her since the last Glasto, so it was great to see her again and have a catch up. We had lunch and after a couple of hours the sun miraculously came out, so we had a stroll about the town. We looked in about six charity shops, but I didn’t see anything I wanted to buy. When I tired of the shops, we had another sit down in the Ox Row Inn and chatted about all sorts of matters for an hour or so.

I couldn’t believe how fast the time went by. When we left the pub, it was beginning to get dark. Time to make my way home. Luckily, I didn’t have to wait long for a train and that was the end of my trip to Salisbury. It was nice seeing Odele. I just realised it is only 120 days until we set off for Glastonbury. Bring it on!