After breakfast with Vic and Peter we headed to north with a
detour through The Wallops. I’ve always wanted to go to Nether Wallop since a
comedy festival was televised from there in the 80s (fundraising a new church
spire or similar). We then headed along the A303 and hit a traffic tailback, so
we detoured into Stonehenge for another wee peek.
For those of you who have
already been subjected to my English Heritage are Bastards rant, please skip to
the next paragraph. My understanding of the situation is this: Some time ago
the owner of the land on which Stonehenge sits, bequeathed it to the Nation
(via English Heritage) on the understanding that no one should ever have to pay
to access it. So what did English Heritage do? They found a loophole, fenced it
off, built a tunnel under the adjacent road, which is the only way onto the
site and they, technically, charge people to use the tunnel. So we didn’t pay
again and viewed it through the fence. End of rant.
We eventually made it up to Glastonbury, approaching through
Street this time. We checked out a campsite that didn’t have the right feel to
it and then went to the one I’d researched earlier – in Wick! (Wendy and nICK
for those who haven’t figured out the connection). It was absolutely gorgeous –
on a farm site just below the Tor and within walking distance (except I
couldn’t walk given the scaffolding incident). We basically went mad in
Glastonbury for a couple of days getting a few treats from our favourite shops
we haven’t been able to visit in 3-4 years (although one does mail order so I
have cheated before). And we splashed out on local treats, cider, farm produce,
organic greens etc.
I should explain that Glastonbury High Street (High Street
being often literal but also a term refering to the main shopping street) is
very special. Almost every other High Street in the UK has a Boot’s Chemist,
standard clothing shops etc, but in Glastonbury there’s hardly any of these.
It’s riddled with more interesting shops, book shops, crystal shops, fair trade
outlets etc. In fact I’ve officially renamed it Diagon Alley (that’s where
Harry Potter gets his supplies from) as you can literally go in a buy a Hazel
Wand with Snowflake Obsidian and Blue Agate, magical ink, crystal singing bowls
and sacred feathers! It can feel a bit surreal but nothing less than
fascinating.
