Read my Lincoln travel logue here.

I’m halfway through my list! It’s taken me almost two years but I am finally past the halfway point. How am I celebrating? With a day trip to Salisbury of course. You’ll find this city eighty-four miles southwest of London.

It has an uncertain etymology. The “bury” refers to “burgh” or castle, but the “salis” is more ambiguous. It is derived from “sarum” – the old name of the city, but nobody is certain where that comes from. Originally, the city was built on a steep hill, but in 1220, tired of its remoteness, Bishop Poore moved the city to the below valley where he supervised the construction of a new cathedral.

My journey to Salisbury began at 10.20 in Waterloo station. Naturally, I arrived way too early and was kicking my heels for a bit, but better being too early than too late. I was happy to find possibly the only Southwestern train seats that had a decent amount of leg room. I was less delighted when a woman sat behind me and had a very loud phone call despite how we were in the quiet coach. A small price to pay for the leg room.

As per usual, the inspector checked my ticket without asking for my railcard. That was a bit agg seeing as I just paid £30 to renew it, but hey-ho.

I arrived in Salisbury at 11.58 and was greeted by some construction work.

Just like Gloucester. And just like Gloucester, most of the shops were closed. Perhaps because it was Monday. But I quickly learned that unlike some other cities Salisbury’s train station was not on the outskirts of town. As I ventured further into town, the busier it became. I saw cool art work and a pretty town centre.

This included the river Avon of which Salisbury was built upon. As is often the case, my journey began at Salisbury Cathedral. Or it would have done except you had to pay a £12 entry fee. That was a no from me.

It was 12.30 by this point and it had just started raining. As the water coursed through my hair, I felt a call of nature and sought refuge in the nearby Salisbury Museum. Little did I realise that it had a £10.90 entry fee. Again, that was a no from me. Luckily, it was free to enter the attached cafe, so I used the facilities there. Afterwards, I was very naughty and sneaked into the museum via the cafe. I say sneaked – you could easily walk from one to the other without anybody checking your ticket. But I do not take any legal responsibility if you try this and get caught.

The museum itself was really interesting, well-wroth the £10.90 entry fee. It had lots of information about Salisbury’s history from how it had a thriving wool industry that led to it becoming England’s eighth biggest city to how it also had a bustling pottery industry to how it was an inoculation hub. During the eighteenth century, there was an outbreak of smallpox, but local bigwig Lady Mary Montague promoted the values of inoculations saving many lives. Take that anti-vaxxers.

The museum also exhibited the one remaining medieval giant which used to be displayed at town fairs.

There was also a section on pre-medieval Salisbury with some very friendly staff and a section on the eighties where you could even play some Pac-Man. Naturally, I had a go.

By now it was 1.10 and not wanting to push my luck any further, I quietly left the same way I kept in. It was time to find lunch. Instead, I found a military museum that was closed for development and a barber shop that had an upside down sign. I think that was part of their brand, but I didn’t understand why.

At two, I bought lunch from Reeves’ bakery – a local chain, from what I could see. Usually, I would go to a greasy spoon, food market or some otherwise low-price eating establishment, but they were either over-priced or closed, so to the bakery I went. I bought a Wiltshire pastry, Belgian bun and apple juice for £7.85. The Wiltshire pastry – the county where you will find the city of Salisbury – was just the same as Cornish pasty.

I ate my lunch in the nearby St Thomas Beckett church, which was free to enter. The lunch was good especially for £7.85. The Belgian Bun was naturally very sweet, but what else can you expect? The church itself was pretty.

They also had kneeling prayer cushions that you could take for a donation! I am not a prayer, but you never know when a kneeling cushion could come in hand, so I took one. Of course, I donated too.

From here, it was time to nosey around the town where I found myself in the pub quarter of the town – there must have been five or six pubs in a five block radius. We are a nation of drinkers after all. But from the pub quarter, I found myself in the charity shop section, where across two charity shops I bought these four films: Finding Neverland, the Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (2009), Revolutionary Road and Midnight in Paris. All for £1.50. Amazing.

At half two, I stumbled across a fantastic antique shop with all kinds of oddities from jewellery to books to model cars to WW2 memorabilia including guns and swords

They also had a little cafe which might have been nice to have gone for lunch and only slightly more expensive than the bakery. I will go there next time.

By 3.15, it was time for my walk in nature. I started walking along the River Avon, which took me through some low-lying wetlands that were being developed into a public park. And, when I say low-lying, I mean low-lying. You walk along a narrow boardwalk and one wrong step would see you having a freezing cold bath. Nevertheless, it was a thoroughly pleasant walk with the sun warming my back.

Alas at 3.51, I had to turn back as the path had become flooded.

I returned to the town centre where I looked around a couple more charity shops. In one of them, I found another copy of the Girl with the Dragon Tattoo for £1.50, but I had bought it for 25p. What a bargain!

After this, I had a quick look around Fisherton Mill – an old Victorian, grain mill which had been converted into an arts and craft market with plenty of artist studios. It smelled arty and crafty. Like, it smelled weird. Maybe it was all the different paints and oils, but it was still cool. You had painters, sculptors and jewellery-makers. Alas, it was 4.45 at this point and the market was closing, so I had to leave.

The warm weather was making my mouth dry, so I succumbed to my inner Britishness and I headed to the local Wetherspoon’s – the King’s Head. By 5pm, I was sipping on a refreshing pint of Kronenberg. I say refreshing – it wasn’t as cold as I thought it would have been, but it also tasted weird. Like it was going bad. I’m not a beer expert, but it didn’t taste as crisp as I would have expected.

I also found it strange to learn that the pro-Brexit Wetherspoons still sells curries on its menu, but when a pint of Kronenberg is £3.20, who cares? Seriously, Wetherspoons is the Ikea/Primark of the pub world – nobody cares about its crappy products and unethical business practices as long as the end result is cheap. That includes me too. I am the world’s biggest hypocrite.

At 5.45, it was almost time for me to go home, but first I collected my Too God to Go bag from the local Coffee #1 shop. For £6, instead of £15, I received four All-Day Breakfast wraps – sausage bacon, eggs and baked beans all wrapped up in a tortilla wrap. I had two for dinner last night – they were pretty minging, but for lunch today, I heated the last two and they were much nicer.

But then it hit 6pm and it was time to head home. In Salisbury Station’s waiting room, they had a calming area with multi-sensory lights and textures for the neuro-diverse. Great idea, but at 6.26, it was time for my train back to London.

Admittedly, I didn’t have the best first impression of Salisbury. It wasn’t nice to be greeted by construction works – a lot of the city seemed to be under development, but my second and third impressions were much better. I’m very happy with my free kneeling cushion. Lol. And you have to love a city with lots of charity shops. It was one reason why I loved Ely. Salisbury’s River Avon was pretty too – not on a Chester level, but still very nice. Salisbury was decidedly average. Not in my top five, but nowhere near my bottom five either. I had a nice day here – a day of free cushions, £3 pints and calming areas. Southend – or maybe Southampton. You’re next!