Dorset – TRAVEL WORDS

And Surrey…

(Please click on the photographs to enlarge them)

Short stopover en route at Sidmouth on the south Devon coast (The Red Coast).

The OH and I often had a spring break – either April or May. Sometimes heading for Surrey where we would spend time with my daughter and the grandchildren (if they were around) and David would often catch a train to spend a day with his daughter in London or a longer stay at her home in Colchester.

Brewery Square in Dorchester (known to the locals as Dorch) where shops, restaurants, a gym, a cinema, a Premier Inn and residential apartments can be found

This year I had to do this on my own. Thinking about whether I should move nearer to family I chose to stay in Dorchester for a week, the historic county town of Dorset and home of the Victorian novelist Thomas Hardy, before moving on to Surrey for the early spring Bank Holiday. Dorchester gave me an opportunity to explore some of east Dorset which I haven’t visited in many years. I liked the old part, hated Poundbury (soulless) but wasn’t keen on all the traffic. It does have excellent transport links with two railway stations with a route to Bristol and one to London.

I walked along the River Frome. I walked around the town. I ate dinner at a lovely country inn, I walked on the Jurassic coast (shingle) had takeaway coffee and ice-cream (not at the same time) visited Wareham and Studland and several gardens. The weather remained dry, though not always warm, and I stayed in a lovely pristine quiet converted stable in the old part of the town. It wasn’t as difficult as I thought it might be. Before I met David I often had solo holidays and even when I accompanied him to conferences I spent many a day exploring on my own. The hardest part is during the evening and eating out alone. I just pretended I was away for work! And ate in the cottage most evenings.

Poundbury – designed by King Charles III when he was Prince of Wales with a mix of Victorian and Georgian architecture. This is Queen Mother Square. It’s a strange place. No road markings and free parking. Lots of cars, hardly any people. Streets were empty, playground was empty. A lot like a film set. But a good coffee shop in the Buttercross.

Continue reading Just Back From… Dorset

It’s been a while since I joined in with the Lens-Artists photo challenge, but the number 303 leapt out at me this week as I have just come back from a holiday based close to the A303 in Wiltshire so I thought it would be interesting to find connections between the sites we visited in and around that area.

Family Connections

The A303 is one of the main routes from London to the Southwest and a route I have travelled many, many times to visit my youngest son who is based in Wiltshire (military) and my daughter who lives in Surrey. It’s also famous for passing by the World Heritage site of Stonehenge, the world’s most famous prehistoric monument.

History

Stonehenge (2500 BC) is not the largest henge though, that title goes to Avebury and together they form the heart of a World Heritage Site which also includes Silbury Hill. We didn’t visit Stonehenge as we have done so not long ago, but we drove past it a few times this week so had a few sneaky glances! Instead we opted for a visit to Avebury.

Avebury (2850 – 2200 BC): the henge survives as a huge circular bank and ditch, encircling an area that includes part of Avebury village. Within the henge is the largest stone circle in Britain – originally of about 100 stones – which in turn encloses two smaller stone circles.

A double avenue of stones leads away from the southern entrance towards the Sanctuary stone circles on Overton Hill, about a mile to the south-east. Unlike Stonehenge, this site is free to visit though you will have to pay for parking unless you are a National Trust or English Heritage member.

More recent history can be found at Old Sarum, an iron age hill fort dating back to 400 BC. Later occupied by the Romans during their conquest of Britain in AD 43, where perhaps a military fort was set up. It was during William the Conqueror’s reign that the strategic advantage of this place was recognised and a motte and bailey castle built.

Later, stone buildings were erected and in 1078-99 a cathedral was built after the 1075 Council of London decreed that the see should be moved from Sherborne to Old Sarum. Dissatisfaction with the site and poor relations with the garrison in the castle caused the cathedral to be moved to its present site in Salisbury (New Sarum) in 1220 and much of the stone from the old cathedral was used to build the new one.

Site and excavation of the old cathedral

Salisbury Cathedral is built in the shape of a cross. It boasts Britain’s tallest spire (123m tall) and contains the oldest working mechanical clock in the world as well as the Magna Carta (great charter) written in 1215 about the rights of the English people against the severe rule of King John. It also contains blue Prisoners of Conscience Window and the Amnesty International candle burning for oppressed people around the world.

Salisbury New Cathedral (spire) from the Watermeadows

The soul should always stand ajar.
That if the heaven inquire,
He will not be obliged to wait,
Or shy of troubling her.

Emily Dickinson, Time and Eternity

Often my favourite part of visiting cathedrals is the cloisters. Providing a place of calm and contemplation the cloisters here are Britain’s largest and look out onto two cedar trees, planted more than 150 years ago to commemorate Queen Victoria’s accession to the throne.

Gardens

Which leads me to my last connection. Gardens. And there are several signposted from the A303. But first let’s revisit Avebury, where Benedictine monks once walked the ground that is now Avebury Manor Gardens.

There are traces of the work of later owners, from the 17th century orchard, the warm red brick of 18th century walls and elaborate topiary of 20th century owners.

Talking of Benedictine Monks reminded me that Shaftsbury Abbey, a mere 15 minute drive from the A303, was once home to Benedictine nuns who were responsible for providing medical care for themselves and the wider community and did so by gathering local plants and those grown specially in the garden. In AD 888, King Alfred the Great founded in Shaftesbury the first great abbey just for women. By the time of Henry VIII this had become the wealthiest and most important Benedictine nunnery in England, dominating and serving the town and lands around. It was the last abbey to be destroyed by Henry VIII in 1539.

Signposted off the A303 is another garden designed by a woman, Tintinhull House and Garden. Built in 1630 the house was bought by Captain and Mrs Reiss in 1933, when Phyllis decided to create a garden that she described as her ‘happy place’.

Now I can totally relate to that. A connection to Salisbury cathedral? There is an area called Cedar Court – once containing a Cedar of Lebanon now full of ornamental trees including beautiful magnolias.

Another garden signposted off the A303 is Lytes Cary Manor. Created by the Lytes family over five centuries they gave up the estate in the 18th century due to financial difficulties.

After 150 years of neglect it was bought by the Jenner family who restored the manor and created an Arts and Crafts inspired garden.

Which leads me to my final connection. Flowers. And specifically Roses. June is rose month and where better to go than Mottisfont walled garden which is home to the National Collection of Old English Roses (pre 1900). So many wonderful colours and forms and scents.