salisbury: students and stonehenge
salisbury, with a population of 39,000, is situated in the county of wiltshire in southern england. this medieval cathedral city is also home to the world heritage site of stonehenge. it is at the confluence of five rivers: the avon, nadder, ebble, wylye (pronounced 'why-lee') and bourne. last year, observer newspaper readers included salisbury in their top 10 best british tourist destinations
jane finnegan is a graphic designer and has lived away from salisbury for 11 years. she still visits regularly to see her mum. we interviewed her to find out her thoughts on the city
how would you describe salisbury?
‘salisbury is surrounded by beautiful rolling hills and provides plenty of opportunities for days out to stonehenge and the isle of wight. it is well connected, with london 90 minutes away on the train, and airports close by in southampton and bournemouth. bristol is just 80 miles away.’
what sort of people live in salisbury? is it quite multicultural?‘it is fairly white middle class, but every summer there is a large influx of foreign students due to the number of language schools. my mum used to host foreign students, which was great because we met people from other countries. they were mainly european but now people from all over the world go to salisbury to learn english. there are army barracks around the salisbury area and a lot of the soldiers come into town at the weekends.’
what about things to do?
‘there is a free festival at stonehenge for the mid-summer solstice which was stopped in the 1980s because of fears of damage, but has recently been re-opened. there is a big influx of people at this time. people used to say that salisbury had more pubs per square mile than anywhere else (not sure if true). it also brews its own beer – bishops tipple, a strong bitter. there are also choral classical events in association with the cathedral and a really good arts centre in a converted church.’
british