Southampton - May 23, 2025

Our journey began in Southampton, where our guide Derek and driver Mike provided fascinating insights into the port city's rich maritime heritage. Southampton's docks tell a story of evolution - the Eastern Docks operated from the mid-1800s through the 1920s before reaching capacity, leading to the creation of the Western Docks through land reclamation from the River Test. These newer docks gained eternal fame as the departure point for the RMS Titanic in April 1912.

The Western Docks continue to serve as a major import hub particularly for motor vehicles. but now with containers, they employ hundreds of workers rather than thousands. Our guide noted the recent decline in Tesla imports, reflecting changing attitudes toward electric vehicles in the current market.

Traveling north through Hampshire county, the landscape revealed the geological story of southern England. The area is dominated by chalk downs, formed millions of years ago and carved by rivers during the last ice age. As glaciers retreated northward, rivers flowing south carried debris that literally sculpted the valleys and hills you observed during the journey.

The chalk streams of Hampshire, particularly the River Test, hold special significance. These crystal-clear waters, filtered through chalk, create unique ecosystems supporting diverse wildlife including fish, crustaceans, and insects. The River Test has earned distinction as "the most important angling river in the world," where fly fishing was developed

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The exclusivity of fishing on the Test is legendary. The Houghton Fishing Club, limited to just 26 members with an annual fee of £50,000, has counted King Charles and former US President George W. Bush among its members. This reflects the river's pristine condition, and the value placed on its conservation.

Our journey also included passage through the New Forest (which is not necessarily forest), where ponies, cattle, and seasonal pigs roam freely. The autumn release of pigs serves a crucial ecological function as they consume acorns that are poisonous to other grazing animals. This ancient practice, called "pannage," has continued for centuries.

The New Forest is also considered England's Premier Royal Hunting Ground. Following the Norman Conquest, the New Forest was proclaimed a royal forest, in about 1079, by William the Conqueror. It was used for royal hunts, mainly of deer. Red Deer and Roe Deer are believed to have roamed the Forest in varying numbers since pre-historic times and early man used their skins for clothing, their antlers as rudimentary tools and ate their meat.

The forest also highlighted modern challenges, including Lyme disease carried by ticks, demonstrating how ancient landscapes intersect with contemporary concerns.

For more information about the New Forest, click HERE

This journey through Hampshire revealed layers of English history - from prehistoric monument builders to Roman occupation, Anglo-Saxon settlement, Norman conquest, and medieval development. The landscape itself tells stories of geological formation, human adaptation, and cultural transformation spanning millennia.

Arriving in Salisbury around 9:40 AM, we were given until 11:30 to explore this medieval gem. The city's layout reflects its Norman origins, with roads meeting at right angles to form blocks called "chequerboards" which is a planned medieval town design.

Salisbury Cathedral stands as one of England's architectural marvels, though its location presents unique challenges. Built on marshland where five rivers converge, the cathedral required innovative engineering for its time. In 1915, floodwaters reached significant heights, and even today, the structure relies on hydrostatic pressure from groundwater to maintain stability.

The cathedral's construction spanned 40 years, beginning at the east end and progressing westward which was a typical medieval building practice. At 437 feet long, it represents early English Gothic architecture, though the famous spire was added later, reaching 404 feet (123 meters) in height. This addition caused structural stress, requiring additional reinforcement that visitors can observe by looking upward from the cathedral's center.

Our guide's vivid descriptions brought medieval England to life. The Norman conquest fundamentally transformed English society, with the cathedral serving as both spiritual center and symbol of Norman dominance. When completed, the cathedral would have blazed with color - statues covered in gold leaf against red backgrounds, creating a spectacular display during sunset.

This "shock and awe" strategy contrasted sharply with Anglo-Saxon life. The conquered population lived in simple circular hovels built of wattle and daub (wooden frameworks filled with clay), with conical thatched roofs and central hearths. Seeing the magnificent cathedral would have powerfully demonstrated Norman superiority and control.

The Chapter House, built in perpendicular Gothic style with enormous windows, houses one of the four surviving original copies of Magna Carta. This document, written in medieval Latin and Norman French on stretched vellum, emerged from the conflict between King John and his barons in 1215.

 It

It is currently housed in a small room in the dark and a dim light shines on is as you pass by.  No pictures are allowed.

King John's unpopular rule included heavy taxation to fund unsuccessful military campaigns in France (England once controlled a third of France), arbitrary imprisonment, and cruel punishments. The barons' rebellion culminated in John's siege at Windsor Castle, forcing him to accept terms and conditions that became Magna Carta. This charter established principles still recognized today: trial by jury, property rights, and protections for widows.

The cathedral features several chantry chapels.  Chantry chapels were mostly built from 1300 to the 1530s as places to chant or sing prayers to God for a dead person's soul. People believed that the prayers helped the soul to reach heaven sooner. Both rich and poor people prayed for the souls of dead people, but only rich people could afford their own chapels. When Bishop Edmund Audley built this chapel in 1524, it was decorated with bright colors and small statues.

In the 1540s, as part of the changes in churches caused by the English Reformation, praying for the dead stopped and the statues were destroyed.

There was also a "murder chest" (later called "Armada chests") - secure storage boxes with multiple locks used when banking systems didn't exist. The most elaborate example came from treasure salvaged from a Spanish Armada galleon wrecked near the Isle of Wight in 1588, which transformed the fortunes of those with salvage rights.

The cathedral contains the elaborate tomb of Thomas and Lady Gorges. Lady Gorges, arriving from Sweden at age 15 after a year-long journey, became a lady-in-waiting to Queen Elizabeth I. However, marrying without royal permission led to their banishment to remote Hurst Castle. Their fortunes changed dramatically when they acquired salvage rights to Spanish Armada treasure, allowing them to purchase their way into Salisbury society.

The journey to Stonehenge revealed an ancient landscape shaped by millennia of human activity. Our guide explained how Victorian excavations, while groundbreaking, were poorly documented and sometimes damaged the site. Modern archaeological methods have revealed far more about this mysterious monument.

Stonehenge sits within a larger ritual landscape. The nearby Durrington Walls and Woodhenge provided evidence of substantial settlements, while the monument itself appears to have been primarily ceremonial rather than residential. The cremated remains of about 30 individuals found at the site suggest it served as an ancient cemetery.

Stonehenge represents remarkable prehistoric engineering. The sarsen stones (the large upright stones with horizontal lintels) originally formed a complete unbroken circle - unique among stone circles worldwide for having these horizontal cap stones. Within this circle, five trilithons (groups of three stones) created an inner sanctuary.

The smaller bluestones, weighing up to three tons each, traveled approximately 156 miles from Wales. This massive undertaking required coordinated effort across multiple communities, involving extraction, transportation by land and water, and precise placement. The project demanded specialized roles and sophisticated organization, though archaeological evidence suggests an egalitarian society rather than hierarchical control. 

Stonehenge's alignment with solar events demonstrates prehistoric astronomical knowledge. The monument's design allows observation of both summer and winter solstices, with the winter solstice potentially holding greater significance, marking the moment when days begin lengthening rather than continuing to shorten.

Heel Stone

The heel stone and entrance stones create a "slot" through which observers could precisely track these celestial events. However, the methods ancient peoples used to determine exact solstice timing remain unknown, representing one of Stonehenge's enduring mysteries.

Our guide provided an entertaining demonstration of ley lines using copper rods. Ley lines are invisible energy lines that some believe influenced ancient site placement. While scientifically unproven, these theories attempt to explain why ancient peoples chose specific locations for their monuments. To see Fran demonstrating the use of the copper rods, click HERE

The contrast between Salisbury's medieval grandeur and Stonehenge's prehistoric mystery illustrates England's deep historical continuity. Both sites demonstrate human desire to create lasting monuments - whether expressing religious faith, political power, or astronomical knowledge.

Our visit captured not just tourist destinations, but windows into how our ancestors lived, believed, and understood their world. From Southampton's maritime heritage to Stonehenge's astronomical alignments, this journey through ancient England revealed the enduring human impulse to build, create, and leave lasting marks upon the landscape.