Tuesday 22nd May 2001 Arrived in London early morning and had asked David about spending the night which was fine. Sarah was in Paris for work but David wasn't getting home until 7. So I headed off to the Australian consulate to see if anyone could answer my questions about the importation of the main gauche. Apparently there is no Customs representative in London. The do have one in Brussels though! (coz that's handy). They referred me to the Federal Police rep. He could tell me all about importation of firearms but nothing about edged weaponry. Try the Victorian government rep. Same story. Gave up in the end and decided to bring it back regardless. Headed down to the British Tourism Centre and looked at buses for Avebury et al. The woman in the centre suggested I take one of the Astral Tours which took in Avebury, Stonehenge, Old Sarum and Salisbury Cathedral. The Wednesday Tour was booked so I booked into the Thursday one. Off to Hyde park for a nap and some reading and Journal updating then headed down to Balham to meet David. Wednesday 23rd May 2001 Nothing. Just sort of imposed on Sarah and David an extra day Thursday 24th May 2001 Headed off early to meet the tour at Earl's Court. I'm pretty sure that these tour buses are designed for people under 5'4"! I never seem to have any knee room. Old Sarum Salisbury spire as seen from Old Sarum hill Salisbury Cathedral First stop was Old Sarum. This was an Iron Age fortress that was later occupied by Roman and Saxon invaders. More recently Norman invaders (namely William the Conqueror) established their hold here. In that time in addition to William's castle there was also established a church. Evidently the monks and the soldiers did not play well together as the church was moved within 100 years to (New) Salisbury and rebuilt as a cathedral. Salisbury Cathedral itself was very impressive but still just a cathedral. Many years ago I had heard about the "ABC Tour of Britain". When I asked what the ABC stood for I was told "Another Bloody Cathedral"! Yeah by this stage I was a little jaded with them. However Salisbury cathedral has one of the few extant copies of the Magna Carter (the great charter) that started England on the road to democracy. I wasn't familiar with some of the clauses contained within and they prove just how much this was a document of its time. Such as if you die in debt to a Jew then he has to wait until your heirs reach their maturity before he can press for payment. And if he should die while he's waiting then bad luck. However when coming over the hill to finally lay eyes on Stonehenge was absolutely jawdropping. Now I can appreciate exactly how it dominates the landscape and that people who would have no idea of its purpose would still consider it a sacred site. Though there were far too many tourists there the site was still magnificent. I had misunderstood the descriptions of the fences and was pleasantly surprised to find it reasonably accessible - even though you couldn't go up to the stones themselves. There were shops during the 18th and 19th centuries who would sell "souvenir equipment" (read hammer & chisel) so that you could take away your very own piece of history with you when you left! Stonehenge Proof I was here Stonehenge From a postcard magnificent! From Stonehenge to Avebury. While Avebury does not boast the stone cross-lintels of Stonehenge the site itself is huge: so big that the town has (sadly) been built inside the circle. Most of the existing stone have been destroyed over the centuries; some for building material, some because they were not christian and therefore "needing to cleanse tha landscape". Some years ago the remains of a 15th century "butcher" or "carpenter" were discovered under one of the stones. It is believed that he was trying to knock down the stone when it fell, killing him. I was just disappointed that I couldn't have stayed here longer. The feeling was fabulous and very different to Stonehenge: just amazing. At Avebury you can actually go up and touch the remaining stones and get an idea of what it may have been like before the encrochment of modern man. Avebury from the air The ditch around Avebury Arrived back in London and into the Sahftbury Ave STA and got my ticket changed for a return on Monday. That's less than a week away. Went back to Sarah and David's and collected all my gear and caught the train to New Cross Gate to stay with Tom & Tova for the remaining few days.