WALK REPORT These photos give you a good impression of what the Stonehenge and Salisbury walk feels like when attempted in wet conditions. Despite the mud and rain, Lassona and I had a grand day out, and I came home with a new and improved route for this walk. 12 miles, 20 pics:

1. As you can see, not a lot of sun around today.

2. Lassona on the train to Salisbury. We’re eating breakfast baguettes.

3. Stonehenge, where we start our walk. This is one of the outlying standing stones.

4. Uprights and lintels.

5. Stonehenge in miniature.

6. Lassona’s niece specially requested a shot of her jumping over Stonehenge. Eight takes and I still couldn’t get the picture – I think we gave up after this!

7. An earthworm on the path from Stonehenge to Springbottom Farm.

8. Lassona and the horses of Springbottom Farm.

9. Moss on a tree trunk near Lake House.

10. Snowdrops. Photo by Lassona Williams.

11. At Durnford Mill, the path crosses the fast-flowing River Avon.

12. A waterlogged tree next to the mill.

13. This is the lane that leads from the mill up to Great Durnford village. Photo by Lassona Williams.

14. A few minutes later: indoors at the Black Horse pub, Great Durnford. That’s my pint on the mantlepiece – we’re waiting for lunch to arrive.

15. Lassona tried the rump burger with new potatoes.

16. Outside the pub after lunch, Lassona got chatting with this very proper gentleman who had been dining alongside us. Photo by Lassona Williams.

17. Leaving the village behind as we climb onto the ridge that will take us south into Salisbury.

18. Nightfall and we’ve arrived in Salisbury. The Christmas tree is still up.

19. This is what you want at the end of a 12 mile walk in the rain: sticky toffee pudding at the Haunch of Venison pub in Salisbury town.

20. Comparing muddy boots on the train home. Lassona’s designer Wellingtons did a good job!

You can do this walk too. Check here for upcoming dates.

Thanks for reading. If you liked the photos, please leave a comment.

– DW

Don’t care to scroll? Click anywhere on the montage to advance down the page. Then just keep going!

We caught an early morning train out from London to Salisbury, then a bus up to Stonehenge. This map shows our route back to Salisbury. The numbers on it correspond to the photos that follow.

1. That’s Rafi (Hamburg, Germany) on the left and Brad (Boston, Massachusetts) on the right. Taken on the train out from London Waterloo, about 9am.

2. Stonehenge, cold and somber when we arrive.

3. The capped vertical stone on the left is all that remains standing of the tallest trilithon. Above ground, it’s 22 feet (6.7m) tall. Below ground, it goes down another eight feet (2.4m).

4. Photo ops: here’s Brad.

5. And here’s Nadine, who’s listening in to the free audio commentary. You may recognize her from an earlier walk.

6. One curious sarsen – the Heelstone – stands apart from the other rocks at Stonehenge. It may have served as a landmark during processional marches along The Avenue, an ancient track which leads up into the heart of the stone circle from a point on the River Avon two miles away.

7. Brad feeding a horse near Springbottom Farm. We’re on our way to lunch now at the Black Horse pub in Great Durnford.

8. Me and some horses at Springbottom Farm. Photo by Brad Hepburn.

9. Giant oaks and autumn leaves on the path above Lake House. The pub is a 15-minute stroll away downhill.

10. Sitting down to lunch at the Black Horse in Great Durnford. Nadine and her pint …

11. Rafi had a bacon cheeseburger.

12. Gargoyle or hunkypunk? Exterior wall detail, Middle Woodford parish church. We’re back on the road after lunch, with just four miles to go until we reach Salisbury.

13. Then it started getting dark. Here’s a particularly spooky stretch of the path just outside Salisbury.

14. Rafi’s backpack. Being from Hamburg, he’s a St Pauli fan.

15. Target in sight! As night falls, we make out the 400-foot spire of Salisbury Cathedral, dead ahead.

16. Finally, we fetch up at the cathedral. Walk complete. Time to hit the pub!

If you’d like to try this route out with us too, email me at david@englishcountrywalks.com for details on upcoming dates, etc.

Questions/comments?

Some important discoveries of the day:

a) Stonehenge itself is a bit of an anti-climax. It’s just so crowded with tourists and hemmed in by busy roads that the majesty this monument once had has been lost. Still, EVERYBODY coming to England for the first time wants to see it, and that’s why I decided to try it out as a destination.

b) Salisbury Cathedral, on the other hand, is truly awe-inspiring. We were lucky enough to get there just as a service was happening, and although I’m not a religious person, I had to agree with Mai that sitting listening to the hymns echo through the massive nave was a magical experience.

c) The Sunday duty manager at the Salisbury bus station is an honest man. I did something very stupid and left my camera sitting on the floor of the bus terminal, only realizing 30mins later at the cathedral. Leaving the others, I rushed back to the station, sure it had been nicked by now. But I was undeservedly lucky that morning – the station manager had seen it and was keeping it safe for me at his desk. I could not contain my admiration for this guy, not to mention my relief at having my beloved camera back.

So, thanks in part to the good-hearted staff of the Wilts & Dorset bus company, here are some photos from our walk. 25 shots in this set.

1. 7am: Aleks in our flat in Camden, preparing sandwiches for a picnic lunch at Stonehenge.

2. Coffee for breakfast on the fast train from London to Salisbury. Aleks and Mai are studying a Wikipedia page on Salisbury Cathedral that I printed out to bring along.

3. And here it is for real. According to Wikipedia, Salisbury Cathedral is now the 29th highest church in existence, but back when it was built in 1315 it was the tallest building the world had ever seen. The spire reaches a dizzying 404 feet – not bad for a medieval skyscraper. Photo by Mai Mochida.

4. This is a shot Mai took of me in the grounds of the cathedral. Happy, ’cause I’ve just found my camera! Photo by Mai Mochida.

5. Here we are setting off on our country walk. This is Thuan taking a photo of the old stone bridge that crosses the River Avon on the outskirts of Amesbury.

6. The river had very clear water. Here are two geese swimming in it.

7. The view back down the farm track to Amesbury.

8. Rolling farmland on the path to Stonehenge. That’s Mai and Lucas in the foreground – Thuan and Aleks are further ahead.

9. A thatched cottage near Wilsford.

10. Just under three miles left to Stonehenge. But it was a long three miles! Photo by Mai Mochida.

11. Aleks stops on the path to have a chat with a horse.

12. Mai and her walking stick. Getting close to Stonehenge now …

13. We’ve arrived! This is the view of Stonehenge from the pedestrian walkway that rings the monument. It’s a shame, but you can’t get very close to the stones any more.

14. Zoom shot of the stones, with the noisy A303 road visible in the background, which must be one of the busiest two-lane highways I’ve seen in England. The constant roar of the traffic really detracts from the experience of visiting Stonehenge.

15. A moody shot of Stonehenge. The morning was beautiful but just as we arrived here the clouds rolled in and the temperature dropped.

16. We had a late picnic lunch in a tatty tourist area near the entrance to Stonehenge. This starling wanted our sandwiches!

17. Ha ha very funny. Adolescent humor on a road sign at the entrance to Stonehenge. Photo by Mai Mochida.

18. Here we are on the road from Stonehenge back to Amesbury. The scarecrow-like figure on the left is Mai, who is using her walking stick to rest her arms (see next shot).

19. Mai with her walking stick and some apples we’ve just picked from a nearby tree.

20. There were some interesting flowers by the roadside on the route back to Amesbury – this is a close-up of a plant known as Aaron’s Beard, or Rose of Sharon (Hypericum calycinum).

21. From a quick look through my Royal Horticultural Society Encyclopedia of Plants and Flowers, I think this is a Dahlia ‘Coltness Gem’, but not entirely sure. Can anyone help identify?

22. Now it’s late afternoon and we’re back in Salisbury. The town is full of half-timbered buildings like this one.

23. Spotted these ridiculous mannequins in a shop window in Salisbury, on our walk back to the train station.

24. Heading home. A sunset shot I took from the train window leaving Salisbury.

25. Back at London Waterloo station – Mai still has her walking stick! Getting it home on the Tube was a bit problematic …

A big thank you to Lucas, Thuan, Mai, and Aleks for joining me on this walk. I learned a lot and now have some ideas on how to improve the route. Once I’ve worked things out, I’ll add the trip to my autumn schedule.

Thanks for reading! Leave a comment if you like.

DW