On the Back Roads to Devon

After a full day at the Naval Museum we are looking for a B&B somewhere in the New Forest area of Hampshire up the road from Southampton. Out of the blue we found this rather grand Rhinefield Hotel, a little over budget but irresistible. I think fellow traveller Ian slept in the car that night, but we did save a croissant for his breakfast. We intend to meander through the back roads of  Dorset, Somerset and Devon until we drop in on our old friend, Valerie, in Plymouth.

Rhinefield House
A small hotel for one night at $314
breakfast included

Beech trees in the New Forest
A restful place

The New Forest, most of it crown land, is one of the larger tracts, at 946 sqkm, of unenclosed pasture land, heathland and forest in Southern England (thanks Wikipedia) giving rural comfort to 14 million visitors each year. Cattle, ponies and donkeys roam freely throughout the Forest.

The New Forest was created in 1079 as a royal hunting preserve by William from Normandy who had purloined England for himself a few years earlier at a time when the reigning Saxon king, Harold, was a little preoccupied by an upcountry Norse invasion. A conspiracy, perhaps! Had our William, perchance, put his Norse cousins up to it as a diversion? Later chroniclers claimed that dear Bill cleared off all 20 hamlets and farmsteads to create his "new" forest but this is now discounted given the very poor soil which would not support much agriculture.


After a full English breakfast in the understated breakfast hall at the Rhinefield we hit the back ways  to visit Old Sarum on Salisbury Plain. (Once one has visited Stonehenge at a time well before tour buses, hordes of visitors, Interpretation Centres etc, etc,  and once one has walked freely, undisturbed amongst the great stones, why sully that image, so we will give Stonehenge a miss.)

We head North on Forest Rd to the hamlet of Stoney Cross passing under the A31 freeway. Nearby there's an old wartime airfield. As we progress we cast an appreciative but fleeting glance at Swallow Fine Wines (too early, too early we cry). We bypass Salisbury to arrive at Old Sarum castle 75 minutes and a mere 50km from our fine hotel.

Old Sarum: "It's one of England's better kept secrets - Old Sarum is a gem among gems, one of the most spectacular ancient sites in Europe and in the world."  (attribution ZME Science website)

The entrance to the site is surprisingly unspectacular! A small sign saying "Old Sarum Castle" pointing to a steepish laneway up which we proceed to a carpark and a pathway through a large earth rampart. Blessed be us: no "interpretive centre", no coaches, no souvenir stalls just 20 odd cars in a carpark.
 
On the left is Old Sarum today. It is a joy to walk the fields in the sunshine (without hordes), to explore the inner  royal enclosure and imagine the chant of the monks in the cathedral. Listen Here

Just an aside; hill forts are ten a penny in England with 1,300 known sites, the great majority of them in the Southern counties.

On the right is a picture of Old Sarum in the times of our friend William. William built the castle in the inner works where, at a royal conclave, he demanded solemn vows of loyalty from all the notables of England. This drawing is based closely on a thorough, ground piercing radar survey of the entire site. Archaeologists were astounded at the findings and detail revealed.

Observe the outline of the cathedral on the lower left and pictured at upper right on the "excavation".The Lord Bishop of the local counties ruled the cathedral but the Sheriff of Wiltshire ruled the city. They did not get on. Amongst other aggravations, the nasty Sheriff charged stiff accommodation fees on the clergy and charged for water, a commodity in short supply on the hill. Following much fulmination from both camps, the Pope approved the relocation of the cathedral to the present site (now called Salisbury). The common people followed their priests and decamped to the new town. The old town died and was abandoned. The site was left undisturbed for hundreds of years with no contamination from later over-building, much to the delight of our modern archaeologists. Lesson: Don't tangle with the local Bishop

Time to make for Plymouth just on 300km away, a bit of a hop on the back roads. Your author invokes Poetic License to allow for just one stop along the way and reach friend Valerie's home by drinkies time.

We are on the B3212 just past Six Mile Hill when we pass through the peaceful little town of Dunsford. We notice a village fete is in progress at the hall with a small hand written sign advising "EVERYONE WELCOME" tacked outside. We take them at their word. "Let's stop for afternoon tea." We park and walk beside a beautiful small (very small) stream through the gardens to the hall rooms, attracting odd looks from some of the villagers. One younger man seems quite put out "that there be strangers at the fete"! We buy tea and scones and a jar of home made jam. An older gentleman invites us to sit and chat with him in the garden. Delightful.

"Take a peak in our St Mary's Church as you leave" advises our gentleman. We do and discover a most wonderful church, a place of worship since Saxon times, absolutely, charmingly decorated. The medieval sepulchral of the local manor knight, Sir Thomas Fulford, and his lady is stunning. Check  out the chapel here.

Onwards to drinkies with Valerie. And fish and chips, big spenders that we are.

Cheers to all our virtual fellow travelers on this journey,

Bryan and Val