We leave Bath and drive to Salisbury arriving just in time to grab the last two tickets for a tower tour on this Saturday at 1:15pm. We had a nice light breakfast in the cloisters before taking an 11:15 tour of the cathedral floor given by the usual volunteer docent. We have found these volunteer tours to be very informative and quite fun as all of the tour guides are passionate about their subjects and eager to share their knowledge and love of their local cathedrals.
This tower tour was one of our best as it took us to the underside of the spire which is quite unique. The climb of 332 steps was nicely broken up into five stages which allowed the tour guide and others to rest and catch their breath while we were given great information about the history and building of the cathedral at each stop.
Third stop was in the bell tower.
From the base of the spire we were able to go out three of the four doors to view the surrounds from small balconies. The fourth balcony was closed as Peregrine Falcons were nesting on it.
After touring the cathedral, Sandy took another self guided tour of a home museum, Mompesson House, an 18th century home located in the cathedral close which reflects the classic Queen Anne style of that period. It was the filming site of Mrs. Jenning’s London townhouse in Sense and Sensibility.
Mompesson House.
Jim was unable to do this tour as he had received a phone call from our rental agent while we were in the bell tower advising us that we had another water leak in our Boston home, the 3rd leak in 12 months. Jim was on the phone to our upstairs neighbor, who was in Vermont for the weekend, our tenant who was home and a local contractor who accepted the responsibility of checking out the cause of the leak on Saturday afternoon and repairing the damage over the next two weeks.
Ivo, the contractor, traced the source of the leak to an upstairs shower mixer valve. At the time of this posting everything has been repaired and painted and paid for by the upstairs neighbor. Thanks Rick and Elaine. Sandy feels that 87 Beacon. Street is crying for us to return home.
We leave Salisbury in the afternoon headed for an overnight stay at The Hollies Hotel in Martock. We were unable to find an acceptable Airbnb in this part of Dorset so settled on a three bedroom serviced apartment in the middle of nowhere. As the hotel dining room was full due to a weekend function we drove a few miles for dinner at the Devonshire Arms
Leave a Reply