If you’re looking to find a Salisbury steak in Salisbury, you’ll be disappointed. That particular food dish was actually invented in Salisbury, Philadelphia (something I did not realize until we arrived in the original Salisbury and didn’t see steak on any of the menus).
What you will find in Salisbury, England, is the Salisbury Cathedral, a magnificent building constructed in the 13th century and home to Britain’s tallest church spire and the best preserved existing copy of the Magna Carta. The cathedral is so massive, in fact, that it’s impossible to fully capture in a single frame.
Salisbury cathedral shot on Kodak Gold 35mm film at 28mm
Inside, the soaring ceiling is held up by marble pillars that connect to each other by tree-like arches, resulting in a pattern of straight lines and curves that repeats ad infinitum, like staring into multiple mirrors. One advantage to visiting places like this during the pandemic is that only a small number of people are allowed inside at a time and the massive space is largely empty, adding to the air of solemnity and reverence. Light pours in through tall stained-glass windows and the floor tiles serve as gravestones, marked with the names of those who died there throughout the centuries.
Inside the chapter house - which is a circular room where the pattern of column and arches continues, with the space between each column along the walls taken up by stained glass windows depicting biblical tales - is one of four remaining copies of the Magna Carta. The document itself is kept inside a small tent where one or two people at a time can view it under its protective glass (no photos allowed, of course) while poster boards outside present the text in full and its importance.
Colour: shot on Kodak Gold 200 35mm film at 28mm. Black & white: shot on Ilford Delta 100 medium format film at 65mm.
Salisbury is a quiet town, especially on a rainy Monday night, perhaps most especially at this (hopeful) tail end of the pandemic. Walking through the streets around dinner time, there’s almost no one else around. While it’s nice to have what seems like the whole town to ourselves, it becomes a bit of a problem when searching for somewhere to have supper: almost no place is open, and those that are aren’t serving food.
Guildhall in the rain. Shot on Kodak Gold 200 35mm film at 55mm
(This is something about the UK that I’ve found frustrating, especially when hungry. Pubs, bars, and restaurants feel no obligation to post their opening hours, often don’t serve food before or after certain times, and the information published on Google is frequently out of date. Several times after walking around town and popping into several pubs looking for food to no avail, we resorted to the old-fashioned method of simply calling to ask if the kitchen was open.)
Eventually we do find a Fullers pub off the empty and rain-drenched square to get a meal and some drinks off a limited meal.
Our first morning in Salisbury dawned both sunnier and livelier than the rainy evening before. The quiet square in front of the guildhall has transformed into a bustling market, with stalls selling fresh produce, artwork, homemade honeys and jams, and all manner of other things. This market runs daily from 10 in the morning until the late afternoon.
Both photos shot on Kodak Gold 200 35mm film
After our trip to the cathedral, which dominates the skyline of this tiny town, we spend the rest of the time exploring its warren of streets, its buildings dating back five centuries and more, the path and park that run alongside the River Avon, and trying out as many pubs as we can stomach. (This turns out to be about four.)
The next day, we head to Bath: unlike Salisbury, there’s no misunderstanding about what may or may not be present here. The name means exactly what it says; Bath sits on top of the only thermal hot springs in England and when the Romans founded it in the first century they promptly built a spa town, which it remains today.
Many of the hotels offer spa experiences and the thermal springs are still available for the public to use at the modern Thermae Bath Spa - although unfortunately with reduced capacity due to COVID, which we found out when trying to reserve a spot the night before and finding out they were booked solid for the next three weeks.
Roman baths from the upper balcony. Shot on Ilford Delta 100 medium format film at 65mm
The original Roman baths were built starting in 60 CE and used by the Romans until the end of their rule in Britain some 400 years later. They were rebuilt, redeveloped, and refurbished multiple times over the centuries that followed, with the current building designed in the 18th and 19th centuries. The baths were used right up until 1978 when a young girl contracted meningitis from the waters and died; further evaluation showed a deadly pathogen present in the water, leading to their permanent closure.
Today, the Roman baths can be visited as a historical site, a trip I highly recommend. The baths are located in the middle of Bath’s modest city centre, with the magnificent Abbey (built in the 7th century) looming behind them.
The abbey rises up behind a crumbling statue of Claudius in both black & white (Ilford Delta 100 medium format film) and colour (Kodak Pro Image 100 35mm film)
The tour starts on top of a balcony held up by intricate stone pillars and boasting statues of Roman emperors on all the cornices. Due to the gravity of time, the upper balcony is only a few feet above street level; looking down, one can see the main pool and the waters that fill it. The water is a brilliant, vibrant, almost sickly green and contrasts strongly with the pale beige of the stone that surrounds it. This part of the site was built in the 18th and 19th centuries; as you descend deeper into the building, the millenia are peeled away.
A woman in Roman dress adds to the atmosphere. Shot on Kodak Pro Image 100 35mm film at 55mm
During the Roman period, the baths were a temple as well as a bath house, and the spring was considered sacred. A museum within the site houses thousands of artifacts dating back to this time, including coins thrown into the spring as an offering to the goddess Sulis Minerva, curse tablets on which citizens curse those who have wronged them (often by stealing their clothes), and a bronze head of the goddess which was found nearby in 1727.
Perhaps most astonishingly, on the lowest floor (well below what today we consider the ground) you can wander through the ruins of the ancient Roman baths, with the walls used as screens upon which videos of the Romans are projected. The thermal water still flows beneath the ruins, close enough to see and feel the steam rising from them - close enough to touch, if you dare.
Shot on Ilford Delta 100 medium format film at 65mm
Bath’s impressive history led to it being named a World Historical site in 1987. All of the buildings here are required to be built out of what’s called “Bath stone”, a pale, warm-toned limestone found in the area. They also need to be cleaned frequently to rid them of the pollution that captures easily in the porous rock.
People stroll through the streets of Bath, where all buildings are made of Bath stone. Shot on Kodak Pro Image 100 35mm film at 55mm
Much about Bath, from the layout of the streets that favour pedestrians over cars, to the golden-hued, 18th century buildings, to the Pulteney Bridge which hosts shops and cafes even as it offers a way to cross the River Avon, reminds me of the city Florence in Italy. I feel equally at home here as I did there.
Within hours of arriving in Bath we hopped on a boat which took us on a cruise down the River Avon that cradles the bulk of the city. This tour takes us past an old lock which was once used for river travel all the way to London, past multiple piers and old buildings, and ends at Bath Parade where water cascades down a series of steps and magnificent buildings of Bath stone tower above.
Bath parade and Pulteney Bridge viewed from the River Avon. Shot on Kodak Pro Image 100 35mm film at 55mm
It’s no wonder this town is one of the most popular in the UK for both foreign and domestic tourists, a vacation destination for generations of royals, an inspiration for writers and artists, and a frequent filming location for period pieces. The views are beautiful enough to drink in, the history meaty enough to chew on - and if that virtual form of sustenance should prove not enough for you, there are plenty of places at which to sit, get some food, and enjoy the view.
A street musician performs in a Bath square. Shot on Kodak Pro Image 100 35mm film at 55mm
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