A few weeks ago, I went to Salisbury to see the Baron's Charter Sculpture Art Trail. Salisbury is one of my favourite towns in England, and it's been a few years since I last visited. While we were looking at the sculptures, I took some photographs around the city. I've taken so many photographs around Salisbury in the past, but I can never resist to get more when I visit as it is such a photographic place.
I can never resist getting photographs of both sides of the old gates into the Cathedral Close. An ex-boyfriend used to work on the building next to the wall on the outside of the close, and the building was like a maze inside with low ceilings and small rooms and wooden beams. It used to be a bookstore, and it had a sheep hanging above the door. Salisbury was known for its sheep trade, so I imagine that the shop sold wool at one time. On this visit, however, the sheep was sadly removed. I hope it hasn't been removed forever.
The cathedral is also picturesque, and although I have taken hundreds of photographs in the past, I can never resist taking more. The fascade of the cathedral is covered in statues, and it has one of the tallest spires of any cathedral in the country. The cathedral is also one of my favourites in the UK; it's beautiful inside. The Magna Carta can be seen inside, and there's also an ancient clock and a model of Old Sarum, which is just a short drive down the road.
I used to work in Salisbury for a short time in 2000, and I would sometimes take my lunch to the grounds of the cathedral. I remember once that an older lady sat next to me and started to talk to me. She mentioned that a relative used to work in London in the second World War, and, if I remember correctly, his job was to clean Nelson's Column.
On one of the buildings in the Close, we spotted a row of seagulls that were evenly-spaced out on the top of a roof.
After we spent some time walking around, we went to Côte Brasserie for lunch. The restaurant is located in 'The Maltings' area of Salisbury, which contains a little canal behind the library, mill, and supermarket. The canal is always filled with swans, ducks, and other birds. This restaurant is a chain, but I have never been to any of the restaurants in the chain before.
To start, we had bread and butter to share. This was fresh and slightly-warm.
The bloke ordered steak and chips, and I ordered the weekend special 1/2 roast chicken with gratin potato and french beans.
Service was a little lacking, and we were not asked for desserts or drinks afterwards, and we paid the bill and left.
Our next stop was the park, Queen Elizabeth Gardens. These gardens join the Water Meadows, where there is a pleasant trackway to a water mill, which is a pub-restaurant. I love walking through these water meadows with pasture of sheep on one side and beautiful views of Salisbury Cathedral on the other side. A small stream also runs through the gardens, and it's always full of children on summer days. There are minnows in the stream, and the children catch them.
We had ice cream from an ice cream truck that is located in one of the entrances of the gardens, and we enjoyed the sun.
Our last stop on the way back to the car was to have a quick look around the market as some of the stalls were getting ready to close up. We stopped at Cafe Patisserie in Salisbury, which was not here during my last visit. In fact, I noticed many of the shops were more of the "high end" variety in the town now with more shops that used to only been seen in London heading out to the historical towns. I had a strawberry tart from here as the smell of the strawberries from the market stalls made me a little hungry. (I also did buy strawberries and peaches from the market.)
More posts I have written about Salisbury in the past include An Autumn Day in Salisbury and Salisbury Cathedral.
Leave a comment