Sunday 5 November 2017

Distracting Tactics

Last Tuesday I was going to be doing the pub quiz which I was more than a little nervous about so to take my mind off things I took myself off to Salisbury for a nosey around. 

The Salisbury Museum has a special exhibition on at the moment celebrating local author Terry Pratchett who sadly died of Alzheimer's in 2015.

We all have to start on something! 

A very recognisable ensemble.


The Octavo. 

His actual writing station.  The desk has hidden compartments, including one for the cat. 

And just incase you were wondering what is on all those screens! 

Some of Paul Kidby's original art work. A'Tuin herself.

The full cast.

Death and Binky.  I hope he and Terry are now sat by the fire with thier feet up.

And my favorite character, Cohen the Barbarian.
There was obviously plenty more on show from both Terry and Paul and well worth the visit.

I then took myself across the Close to the Cathedral and on a Tower Tour!! It's not something John could have done even if he was with me, lots of very long, narrow spiral staircases! 

Our first stop was a look down the nave to the Quire and Trinity Chapel.  You can see the font which was made by William Pye and installed in 2008 to celebrate the 750th anniversary of the cathedral.  Both Olivia and Cillian were christened there.  


Looking up to the vaulted ceiling which was once very brightly coloured until the reformation. 

The tower topped with the spire.  The roof to the left is over the nave. The first set of windows in the tower was where it stopped originally, square and squat.  Someone had the bright idea for building the rest on at a later date.  Good job they made good foundations back then!  Remember this photo, I'll mention it below.

Inside the roof over the nave.  The white under the oak beams at the bottom is the lime plaster they backed all the stone with to hold it in place.  That and clever cutting of course.  We walked along the walkway to the left to the end. 

Through a door and into the tower.  There were a couple of wooden staircases like this too.  They needed to save weight that's why they're very scarce in the covering department! You can see all the various rods and girders added over the years to stop the walls pushing out with the weight of the tower and spire on top.  I am now on the gantry walkway around those lower windows in the photo above. 

As part of a fundraising scheme when they refurbished the tower they reset a lot of the glass and asked for donations to have inscriptions put on them.  Several local dentists provided drills no longer used for teeth and you could write your message for posterity. 

As we have just had a major refurbishment of the bells and cradle at our village church it was great to see these three in a very much more accessible space! These windows are the upper row of windows in the above photo.


And the big one which sits underneath the others.  

They rang the half past while we were there. A Westminster Chime.

This is looking down through the floor hatch from the bell level. 

We then climbed to the top level of the tower which is the bit where the main spire starts and there are mini ones surrounding it in the photo.  This is looking up into the spire itself. 

A drawing showing all the beams and structural work carried out to make sure it stays up there! 

Very high up now. We had climbed 332 steps which is 225 feet above the ground. 

On the horizon is Old Sarum where the first cathedral and castle were built.  It is said that the clergy couldn't put up with the military being in charge and charging so much for the use of water from the well which was inside the castle.  It had been dug out over 500 feet deep so not as though the church could really dig another one easily.  Instead they chose to use the water meadows down by the river which was owned by the church and to decide exactly where an arrow was shot from the site of the old cathedral.  The arrow actually hit a deer and the deer ran on and it was 2 miles until it finally collapsed and died on the site of the current cathedral. The church you can see in the foreground was built for the workers to use during the 38 years of the build. 

And there is the actual spire.  The tallest in the UK.  It's still another 185 feet from where I was standing to the top. 

It was a fascinating trip up and amazing to see the workmanship up close.  Certainly took my mind of that quiz!!