Eish! London 14 May

Thursday, 14 May – time to visit Stonehenge … ROAD TRIP 

I must admit that I have been spoiling myself since receiving my first lot of English income. I went and spent £32 on my all time favourite KENZO perfume; and I spent £15 on a double NOW CD (only to find out later that it was £12 at another shop. I’ll have to learn to bargain hunt in this town before spending cash.) As a little trinket I bought myself a luminous orange "SPLENDIFEROUSLY TIGGERIFIC" cell phone cover. Winnie the Pooh always makes me smile, especially Eeyore, I definitely relate to him the most.

The NOW CD was christened on our road trip. Jane, Mary and I headed off in the direction of Stonehenge in the almost early hours of the day; our Inner Circle Tour was scheduled at dusk. VERY EXCITING! I’ve always wanted to walk amongst The Stones and now it was actually going to happen!

Jane was in charge of the car and I was in charge of the map and our picnic and Mary was in charge of the backseat. We set off to "Take That’s Greatest Day" (yes, wedding memories flooded my mind and added to the happy, excitable vibe). I began my map job and checked out the landmarks in the direction of Stonehenge, only to see Jane Austen’s house right there on the map, in brown font and on our road (well, there were a couple of diversions from our road, but it was close enough). I went mad with excitement and so did Mary - Jane, not being an Austen fan at all, wasn’t quite with us - but nonetheless she let us outvote her and we happily headed towards Ms Austen’s final home.

I took a moment of reverence. {You could equate my feelings with those of a life-long Elvis fan who is finally standing at the gates of Graceland: Unbelievable!}I simply couldn’t believe I was standing in Jane Austin’s home, right next to her original writing table; all I wanted to do was sit down and start writing myself. I was standing in a spot that encapsulated all the history, love, innocence, passion, desire, friendship, gratitude and stories from such a seemingly humble lady. Inspirational! On the walls were the framed pictures of the original sketches for Pride and Prejudice, the characters so aptly portrayed by the artist that they were unmistakable. I thought of Persuasions, my personal favourite, Emma, my least favourite and all her others. To be able to write in a time when women didn’t have rights and weren’t blessed with open education. To be able to create works that generations of readers have and will enjoy for decades past and to come. It was really awesome to be in that house. I bought the collection of her books, I had to. How often are you in Jane Austen’s house? Once in a lifetime, maybe.

Another beautiful thing for me was an amazing prayer framed in Jane Austen’s handwriting on her bedroom wall, the bedroom she had shared with her sister Cassandra. An eloquent and inspiring, faith filled prayer so lovingly transcribed. My spirit quietly acknowledged the beauty of her faith, and soared at the timelessness of its nature and relevance to me and my life. It was a humbling moment for me.

After all the inspiration and excitement (that I don’t believe I could ever adequately put into words) it was time to eat. We stopped the car at a petrol / food stop exit off the motorway and sat at a picnic table amongst wild rabbits and the quaint little white flowers that grow in England’s grass. Then, as it does in England, it started to rain. So we quickly finished eating and packed up the remains. Mary bought us some hot drinks before we continued on our road trip.

As it was raining, none of us wanted to go to Stonehenge early or do the Andover walks in Salisbury, so we took the tourism lady’s suggestion of visiting Salisbury Cathedral. There are tourism offices in most towns in England, and it is worthwhile to stop in and hear their suggestions on their area. Most offices are really helpful, and the Cathedral was a perfect suggestion: It has the tallest Spire in Great Britain (123m) and in 1991, the same year in which the 900th anniversary of the founding of the very first boys' choir was celebrated, Salisbury became the first English Cathedral to form a separate and independent foundation for girl choristers. In 1985 the Spire Appeal launched a Major Repair Programme that is expected to be completed in 2015. The cathedral itself was very humbling. I knelt down at a pew and opened my heart. All that I could pray was thanks, thanks and more thanks. God’s houses always have this effect on me. I realise that no matter how bad I think I have it, there are others who have it worse, and whatever stress I have, whatever disappointments, whatever misunderstandings cross my path, He is there. God is with me, goodness and love are there to pull me through: Faith, Love and Hope. I could never have packed up my life and made it this far without them; without Him. I continued to pray for blessings for friends and family. I continued to feel God’s presence in His home. The safety, the strength, the history of survivors, God’s home; it’s always overwhelming for me; it always moves me and my spirit within. Gently kneeling in a pew, eyes closed, spirit praying, mind quiet for once, and saying hello to that place of peace in my soul again. Goodness, strength, love, hope, the presence of something that is beyond mortal and ‘life’ that merely revolves in circles; something bigger, stronger and more purpose-filled. This is what exists for me in God’s home: The point of it all - just to be.

{On the page where I made this diary entry is the quote: "The Lord will watch over your coming and going both now and forever more. Psalm 121:8" It was good to be reminded.}

According to the Church brochure:

"Salisbury Cathedral is the mother church of the diocese of Salisbury, which covers most of the counties of Dorset and Wiltshire. The Church of England is a member of the world-wide Anglican Communion.

The Cathedral was built in 38 years from 1220 and is unique in being almost entirely in one architectural style: Early English Gothic."

The Cathedral has Europe’s oldest working clock (1386) {designed only to strike the hours, the clock has no face and was relocated in a separate bell tower in 1792}, and the earliest surviving complete set of choir stalls in Britain.

Within the Chapter Room of the cathedral, sitting in its glass casing beneath the perfectly geometric architecture of the 13th century building, was one part of the four original Magna Carta manuscripts that still exist today. The Magna Carta represents the foundation of democracy and provides the basis for many Constitutions. Sealed by King John, it established freedom for the church and trial by jury as well as addressing issues between the King and his Barons.

The Magna Carta contains 63 clauses written in Latin on parchment. There are some very interesting ‘rules’ stipulated in the manuscript; everything from tax to alcohol consumption and marriage. Only three of the original clauses in the Magna Carta are still law today. One defends the freedom and rights of the English Church, another confirms the liberties and customs of London and other towns, but the third is the most famous:

"No free man shall be seized or imprisoned, or stripped of his rights or possessions, or outlawed or exiled. Nor will we proceed with force against him except by the lawful judgement of his equals or by the law of the land. To no one will we sell, to no one deny or delay right or justice."

I was thrilled that I was able to see this part of the Magna Carta after missing the one in Lincoln Castle. I could now tick it off on my ‘to do’ list: See Magna Carta - tick √.

The entrance and exit to the Chapter Room is one double door that takes you along a passageway to the Cloisters (the largest of any cathedral in Britain). These Cloisters were particularly beautiful as two large, old trees were entrenched in the middle of the quad, whilst petite, humble, scarlet tulips were scattered in their shadows protectively overlooked by the majestic architecture and stained glass of the cathedral alongside. Walking along the arched passageways takes you out the back end of the cathedral and past all the statues on the outer West Wall. Being South Africans, when we looked at the wall and the statues, we noticed that the newest statue was in a very white, new stone alongside the old, worn, grey stone statues; but this newest statue was of an individual who looked distinctly like he was of Black African / Caribbean origin, to us the statue seemed bizarre and out of place amongst the other statues; especially as the West Front was completed in 1266, and restored in 1876! The irony of the new addition to a place that has housed a founding document on democracy dated back to 1215 was not lost on us.

(www.salisburycathedral.org.uk)

After the cathedral we took to the road again in the haze of misty rain. We passed vast expanses of blossoming yellow rapeseed, grazing animals and the low hills that make up this area of England. We were really excited for Stonehenge, even the turn in weather couldn’t get our spirits down. We arrived at the historic site and made our way to the Outer Circle with our defunct wind destroyed umbrellas. Unfortunately in our efforts to pass time by dawdling around the Outer Circle, we managed to come across a couple of American tourists who asked to take their photo. We obliged and were surprised when they said "America" instead of "cheese". {I was surprised that I was offended and thought: U h, no, as far as I’m aware this is Stonehenge E-N-G-L-A-N-D; but I guess it’s good that they love their country that much.}

We took some snapshots of ourselves and had fun roaming around the Outer Circle in the rain, whilst the clock was ticking down the last minutes of the opening hours for the Outer Circle. Shame, there was one foreign family who had been stuck in a road accident on the main motorway out of London and they arrived with only 10 minutes to spare after hours of traveling. What a frustrating experience for them! Then again, this is England and transport does have a mind of its own. Still, to come so far, for only 10 minutes… such a shame.

At 18h00 we sat in the car in the Stonehenge car park gobbling down the rest of our picnic in the form of ham and cheese and dip rolls; they were really tasty! At 18h30 we made a fast dash to the toilet and then to the Inner Circle Tour beginning. I was incredibly grateful that my booking had been successful and that the tour guide had the book for me that I had ordered online (we were on the ‘no-tour-guide’ option) although I only read the booklet later, because the Stones were too mesmerizing!

To give you a brief bit of Stonehenge info:

It’s an English Heritage site:

www.english-heritage.org.uk/stonehenge

"In 1986 Stonehenge and Avebury were jointly inscribed on the World Heritage list for the outstanding prehistoric monuments at, and surrounding, both sites. The Stonehenge World Heritage Site covers 2600 hectares."

It’s an ancient temple that dates back to about 1600 BC.

The main entrance of the enclosure was carefully aligned to face the midsummer sunrise in one direction and midwinter sunset in the other direction.

The book states:

"The stones were brought to the site from as far away as west Wales (some 240 km) and were arranged in their current setting in about 2300 BC … In their final arrangement, probably some time between 2280 BC and 1930 BC, the stones were arranged in four concentric settings, two circles and two of horseshoe shape. Even after more than 4000 years of decay, these structures can still be recognised today." Page 10

"It is a commonly held belief that Stonehenge was built by the Druids. This is not the case. The Druids did not, in fact, emerge until more than a thousand years after Stonehenge was abandoned." Page 19

The tour leader pointed us back under the motorway to get to Stonehenge on the other side, with very strict instructions that we were not to touch or damage the plant life. We headed towards the Inner Circle…

Wow. Wow. Wow. Wow. Wooooooow! Mesmerising doesn’t even come close to covering it!

What a place! What an atmosphere! It was incredible! Indescribable… {even months later I can’t find the words to aptly do justice to the experience of being there amongst hundreds of tonnes of seemingly indestructible rock, so solid, so earthy, so potently in tune with nature; in an ancient worshipping space. Awesomeness that communicates in the wordless language of an ancient soul…}

Mary stood there staring, smiling, and overwhelmed: "I don’t want to leave. I don’t want this experience to end."

I was standing there thinking: "I can’t believe I am actually here! Somewhere I’ve always wanted to be; always wanted to see; the history, the thousands of years of rituals and seasons; thousands of people who have been here, stood here, felt this… unbelievable!"

Every step I took, from every angle I looked, the rocks seemed different; each angle a different perspective, a different slant, a new possibility. I was experiencing the most basic form of awe I had ever encountered, humbling and inviting, I loved it!

After taking dozens of photos {including the required poses of holding up a stone and posing like a bouncer at the ‘entrance’ of the Stones} our attention was drawn to a couple in their early forties standing in the middle of a circle of battery charged fairy lights, facing each other whilst the tour guide held up a paper he was reading from and another gentleman held up various coloured ribbons. We stopped, everyone stopped. We stood around and witnessed a Celtic Knot Tying Ceremony.

Listening to the couple declaring their love with the most poignantly beautiful and honest vows I have ever heard was magical. One by one each ribbon began to tie their hands together symbolizing honesty, trust, communication, love and the like. Everyone was entranced as the ceremony moved us all to tears. The ambiance, the moment, the setting, the ceased rain; all came together for this ceremony. The sad part was that the man was dying of cancer and the two of them wanted their souls to be married so that no matter what happened, they would be joined forever. They vowed to have their: "Souls connected through this life and all of the next." Even for me, as a singleton avoiding commitment, their sincerity and dedication to each other, their faith in each other and the peace that surrounded them was something to be appreciated and admired. It would be fantastic if more people took love and commitment as seriously as the couple who stood there with open hearts, moist cheeks and exuberant smiles.

I battled to leave the Stones. I battled to turn away from the magnificence of the place. I think we all did; but I guess that’s why we were the ones who had booked the Inner Circle tour instead of doing a drive-by. When we eventually had to leave, my shoes and socks were drenched right through; Lisa’s live-in-my-car-gift umbrella was irreparably finished; and I was once again inspired, hopeful and faith filled. We pumped the music in the car, sang at the top of our lungs, laughed and carried on in high spirits. What an awesome day, and what a blessing to get to share it with friends too.