BACK in the day when I used to drop the boys off at school, I walked the dog every morning up at Old Sarum.

I soon made friends with a gang of mums on the same daily mission.

We must have looked like the Magnificent Seven coming over the brow of the hill with all our mutts racing round us, safely away from any traffic danger. Happy memories.

So it was with some sadness that I read of English Heritage’s proposal to charge visitors to use the car park.

I know it isn’t, but Old Sarum feels like a community facility, just as much as Lizzie Gardens or Victoria Park.

Not least because city residents, unlike tourists, can get in to the inner bailey free of charge.

So is the idea that we’ll have to pay to park in order to avail ourselves of this freebie in future? Just asking.

To be fair to the monument’s guardians, they have seen their government funding slashed in recent years - by 30% in 2010, and another 10% in 2013.

They’ve had to cope with major upheaval – a restructuring exercise which split the old English Heritage in two, and turned the part which retains the name and runs our historic sites into a charity which must become financially independent by 2023.

With subsidies subsiding, it’s got to cast around for other sources of income.

No wonder, then, that it has similar plans to introduce parking charges for those who fancy a stroll around the parkland at Old Wardour Castle.

Or that it’s prepared to brave the wrath of the Druids and make them ‘pay to pray’ at the Stonehenge Solstices when they arrive by car.

Truly, when it comes to the chance to make money, nothing is sacred in today’s Britain. But don’t blame English Heritage, blame the government that’s cutting it loose.

Goodbye for now

UNACCUSTOMED as I am to shutting up, I’m afraid I’m going to do so...for a while, at least.

I’m taking an extended break from writing the column because I’ve got too much else on my plate to give it the time and research it deserves.

I hope that over the past four years I’ve made you smile and take a fresh look at some of the serious issues dear to my heart – the future of our airfield, for example, the need for better planning for development, or the importance of protecting our natural environment.

Not to mention the disaster that Wiltshire Council has turned out to be for our city. I’m sure I’ll be very much missed up at Trowbridge!

Thanks to everyone who’s emailed me, or responded via Postbag to my ramblings.

The Journal’s the only real forum for public opinion in Salisbury, so treasure it.

Keep reading, and keep writing in.

Annie xxx

anneriddle36@gmail.com