Birthday Girl

Today is Sam’s 26th and is the custom she has an ‘adventure’ of her choosing, this year it was Wiltshire with Dad.
We set off pretty early, breakfast on the way arriving at the new visitors centre at Stonehenge around 1000, by now Sam was pretty excited.
Booked in we set off on foot along what used to be the A344 but is now no longer in use. Blazing hot it was crowded and you begin to see how it gets 3 million visitors a year.
We loved it, I explained to Sam that up until the mid 1970’s it was possible to walk amongst the stones, touch them and sit on the fallen ones, I remember picnicking there as a youngster.
Having leisurely walked around them, sat a while so Sam could sketch we bussed back up to the visitors centre where Sam was keen to see the new exhibits.
I took the opportunity to re-join English Heritage before we headed of to Salisbury and its museum.
Sam explained that we were going to the museum primarily to see the ‘Archer’ exhibit. The ‘Archer’ is the excavated skeleton of an ancient archer found near Stonehenge, in the event we stayed and covered just about every display and exhibit in the museum.
This meant that we hadn’t left enough time for Salisbury Cathedral so we settled for a walk around the cloisters, coffee and cake in the cathedral cafe and the photo opportunity in and around the cathedral green.
I pointed out ‘Arundell’, Edward Heath’s former home to Sam but although not quite as old as the ‘Archer’ to someone of Sam’s age Ted Heath is almost ancient history.
Birthday dinner and cocktails were at one of the Cosy Club chain, very nice though.
Off to our accommodation, an apartment on a farm almost back at Stonehenge.
A long, tiring but really enjoyable Daughter & Dad Away Day - The first of two.