Marlborough has a twice-weekly market in the High Street which is one of the widest in Europe and lined on both sides with characterful old buildings housing a large selection of quality shops. The Merchant's House - one of the finest 17th century middle-class homes open to visitors in England - is also to be found here and contains a wealth of period features, paintings and artefacts.
We arrived at the campsite on one of the hottest days of the year so managed a little relaxation in the sunshine.
We had seen a series of TV programmes on the makeover of Avebury Manor so we wanted to visit it and see it at first hand. Here I am in the garden. The sundial didn’t work because you could move it around on its axis. One of the rooms sported the new very expensive Chinese hand painted wall paper. In the programme the wall paperer slightly smudged the paper – ooops!
Detail from the wallpaper
Sue on the mechanical exercise chair on which the lord of the manor would have huffed and puffed. It’s a Georgian design that concertinas up and down to mimic the riding manoeuvre — as if you were having a little jolly ride across the park on your horse. Sue didn’t get very far.
| Hand painted wall | Wall detail |
The gardens are well worth a visit. Not being an avid gardener I was very impressed with the layout and variety of plants.
Globe thistle
Avebury is a Neolithic henge monument containing three stone circles, around the village of Avebury. It contains the largest stone circle in Europe and is one of the best known prehistoric sites in Britain.
St. John the Baptist, Mildenhall (pronounced Minal) began life around 804AD and it is thought that some of the original stones are in the present church.
In 1816, twelve members of the parish, men of wealth and influence, realised 'that the church was deeply in decay'. Under the guidance of the Rector they decided to refurbish the interior. A master carpenter and stone carver designed and built the shoulder-high pew stalls, the matching pulpit and reading desk and the gallery.
On the campsite we met two chaps who were visiting crop circles in the area. I asked where they were and off Sue and I went. Arriving at a nearby car park there were 5 German cars and a Dutch car, so crop circles are a very popular tourist attraction in Wiltshire.
Here we are in the ‘crop circle’. This only had a few small circles in it.
| Dutch lady with dowsing rods – feel the energy | Small circle with the centre untouched about 2 metres across |
This is an aerial view of the above crop circle. Photo taken from a computer monitor.
The reason for visiting Marlborough was to attend Graham and Jean’s Ruby Wedding celebration at the golf club. We had a really good time. Neil and Jennie, also invited, came to our caravan for afternoon tea before we went to the ‘do’. They kindly gave us a lift. Thanks.
Crofton Pumping Station was built in 1807 to provide water to the summit of the Kennet and Avon Canal. On the left is the boiler which is huge (outside they had a spare one of these). On the right the chimney. The pumping station is still in working order and they fire it up occasionally – it uses huge amounts of coal.
Close by is Wilton Windmill - the mill is the only working windmill in Wessex and was originally built in 1821 . The mill was in operation for 100 years, with the introduction of new steam mills and fast production of cheap bread it became unwanted, was abandoned and then fell into disrepair. However the mill was finally restored in 1976, by a team of dedicated volunteers.
And finally…….Graham and Jean came for a meal after their very successful weekend.
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