England Again! White Cliff of Dover & Dover Castle, Stonehenge, Salisbury & Canterbury Cathedrals

May was a great month for us! On May 24-27 we adventured back to England to see some wonderful sites. We visited the Pilot Restaurant again in Dungeness and had their phenomenal fish and chips and English beer. First we walked the beach and looked for the hagstones. Here is a summary from their website:

Hagstones are stones that have a hole running all the way through them, and are usually found in streams or rivers, and at the seashore, where running water has created the hole in the stone. This may be one of the reasons why they are considered so powerful, as it is a common belief that magic cannot work on running water, and these stones have been holed by running water and so retain that influence of protecting from magic. Hagstones are also known as Holy Stones, Holey Stones, Epilates Stones, Wish Stones, Nightmare Stones and Witch Riding Stones. They were ascribed with the power of protecting people and animals from the powers of evil spirits and witches, and were often worn around the neck, or hung on the key or door to the cattle stalls or stables. Hagstones were also thought to have the property of preventing milk curdling during a thunderstorm, when evil spirits were most active. This practice continues today in parts of Britain and Europe. In some parts of Europe farmers milked their cows so that the milk passed through a Hagstone. A range of disorders were thought to be cured by Hagstones, placing them under the bed was thought to relieve cramp and rheumatism, and they could prevent stomach disorders caused by Hags sitting on the stomach during the night.

And pics of a couple from our collection:

And then there they were....the White Cliffs of Dover. We got a fantastic view from the ferry AND we were privileged to walk on top of them. Enjoy the pictures!

And then we toured through Dover Castle, the most iconic of all English fortresses. Dover Castle has commanded gateway to the realm for nine centuries. At its heart stands the fascinating Great Tower, created by King Henry II and his successors. The castle includes Secret Wartime tunnels and the Underground Hospital. We were very fortunate that while we were there was the WWII weekend with exhibitions and reenactments with individuals in genuine uniforms of the time.

After the White Cliffs and Dover Castle, we were off to Canterbury. We explored Canterbury Cathedral. This cathedral was amazing! So gorgeous.

Canterbury Cathedral in Canterbury, Kent is one of the oldest and most famous Christian structures in England. It is the cathedral of the Archbishop of Canterbury, leader of the Church of England and symbolic leader of the worldwide Anglican Community. Its formal title is the Cathedral and Metropolitical Church of Christ at Canterbury.

Founded in 597, the cathedral was completely rebuilt between 1070 and 1077. The east end was greatly enlarged at the beginning of the 12th century, and largely rebuilt in the Gothic style following a fire in1174. The nave and transepts survived until the late 14th century, when they were demolished to make way for the present structures. The day we visited, there was an Open Garden tour also. Some of the pictures are from the grounds and the event going on outside. There was also an antique car show going on in the gardens.

The following day started with Stonehenge, Britain's most celebrated prehistoric monument, which is 4,000 years old, dating from c2800 - 1550 BC. Although many of the stones have fallen or disappeared, it is still possible, from the center of the circle to see the sun rise over the Heel Stone on midsummer's day; there are suggestions that it was constructed as an astronomical observatory or a sanctuary for a sun-worshipping cult, or even a combination of the two. It is an amazing monument to see.

After Stonehenge, we visited Salisbury and the Salisbury Cathedral. This cathedral is the most stylistically unified of all the British cathedrals, built in its entirety between 1220 and 1265, except for the spire, its most famous feature, which was build from 1285-1320. This epitome of Early English style is built of silver-grey limestone from Chilmark, 12 miles away, with Purbeck marble shafts.

The Salisbury Magna Carta is the best preserved of the four originals dating from June 1215 still in existence. Magna Carta stressed that everyone, even the king, had to treat people fairly and that no one was above the law.

In the center of the cathedral was an amazing reflection pool. Beautiful.

Our final stop was Windsor Castle. WOW! Incredible wealth.

Windsor Castle is a royal residence at Windsor in the English county of Berkshire. It is notable for its long association with the English and later British royal family and for its architecture.

The original castle was built in the 11th century after the Norman invasion by William the Conqueror. Since the time of Henry I, it has been used by the reigning monarch and is the longest-occupied palace in Europe. The castle's lavish early 19th-century State Apartments were described by the art historian Hugh Roberts as "a superb and unrivaled sequence of rooms widely regarded as the finest and most complete expression of later Georgian taste". Inside the castle walls is the 15th-century St. George's Church considered by the historian John Martin Robinson to be "one of the supreme achievements of English Perpendicular Gothic" design.

What a great weekend!