Bus Challenge No 107!!

Avebury Stone Circle, Wiltshire

“Avebury henge and stone circles are one of the greatest marvels of prehistoric Britain. Built and much altered during the Neolithic period, roughly between 2850 BC and 2200 BC, the henge survives as a huge circular bank and ditch, encircling an area that includes part of Avebury village. Within the henge is the largest stone circle in Britain - originally of about 100 stones - which in turn encloses two smaller stone circles.” English Heritage

Today turned into bit of an epic bus challenge! My journey to Avebury went smoothly: bus no1 into Bath, bus no2 to Devizes where there was time for a quick visit to the market, and to watch the Wadworth Brewery shire horses completing their daily delivery round (see extra collage), then bus no3 across the Marlborough Downs to Avebury, apparently the only place in the world where you’ll find a pub and a chapel inside a stone circle!

After a walk around the henge and the stone circle(some sources say it’s the largest stone circle in Britain, others say in Europe, whilst others say in the world!), we visited Avebury Manor (see extra collage) where we found a sunny bench in the garden for a picnic lunch, before a look inside the manor house. Transformed in a partnership between the National Trust and the BBC, the house offers a very different experience to most National Trust properties. We were encouraged to sit wherever we liked, touch any of the artefacts and even try out the beds!

Then the return bus journey… Our first bus to Trowbridge was diverted due to a road closure which meant as we arrived at our bus stop, our connecting bus to Bath pulled away! Half an hour later we finally set off, but as the bus arrived in Bath, we ground to a complete halt. Due to a serious accident, all roads in and out of the city were gridlocked, it took us 40 minutes to complete the last half mile of the journey! If I hadn’t been so tired, I would have got off and walked, it would have been quicker!! Needless to say, this meant I missed my final connection, but due to the chaos, no buses were running to time anyhow. My return journey took 1 hour and 20 minutes longer than it should have, but I did eventually get home, and my day out in Avebury made it all worthwhile…

Total bus journey time = 5 hours 26 mins
Total waiting between buses time = 1 hour
Total journey time = 6 hours 26 mins

(A backblip as once I got home yesterday, after that return bus journey, I just collapsed in the chair and didn’t move an inch…)