Back to Poole

On the way back from Wareham, it was too windy to sit at the front once we left Frome River. So we went downstairs to sit in the warmth and diesel fumes. However it must have been sunny when this picture was taken as my glasses have changed colour!

By the time we arrived back in Poole the sea mist had come down, with an accompanying chill in the air. So we decided that we needed to be inside, and the most interesting place, other than a pub, was the Poole Museum which also happened to be free.

Poole Museum has three floors, as well as the ground floor, full of interesting pictures and historical objects. As well as an extensive pottery display (Poole is famous for its pottery works), there are displays showing the different industries that were once in Poole, including boat building of course. BOAC's passenger terminal for flying boats was situated in Poole from 1945 until 1949. Flying boats travelled to Hong Kong, Singapore and Australia but were phased out, due to conventional airports opening up throughout the British Empire.

Once you climbed to the top floor, there was a really comfortable lounge area and outdoor seating area. Coffee, tea and hot chocolate was available from a dispensing machine at a very reasonable cost. It was lovely to sit on a comfortable couch and relax. Quite a treat and a very thoughtful part of the museum design.

After we left the museum we hopped on our bicycles and headed home, with two short stops to look at buildings. The first one was a very remarkable Georgian house. I was not meant to be in the picture so look a bit dodgy!
This is a very modern apartment block overlooking one of the inlets. The sea mist was very thick by now.
A stop on the bicycle path through Upton park.
Today the weather was brilliant, and sadly we had to leave. I would have loved to spend more time in the area but there is always another time.

The deep filled meat pie was delicious, huge chunks of beef in a crunchy short crust pastry shell. Delicious!

Wareham

Today we travelled by ferry to Wareham. The ferry left Poole, travelled out of Poole Harbour, along the Wareham Channel and then along the River Frome until we came to Wareham. Poole harbour is the largest natural harbour in Europe, and is certainly impressive. I can imagine that in summer time it is full of motor boats and yachts of every description. There were certainly plenty moored in the harbour today.

The ferry also took us past the Sunseeker building yards, where there must have been 4 or 5 yachts under construction as well as about 8 finished ones in the water. Sunseeker yachts are famous, and apparently used in James Bond movies. They cost between £5 and £10 million to buy. Very impressive! So next time we are in St Tropez I will keep an eye out for Sunseeker yachts.

Walter looking relaxed while he waits for ferry to start moving away from the quay. Unfortunately it was not a brilliantly sunny day, which was promised but did not eventuate.
We travelled past some very flash units, which no doubt cost a mint to own or rent. Very south of France, without the weather!
Next door to the apartments was a Royal Marine base and special boat service. A little bit of reality and not so glamorous!
The River Frome twisted and turned between the reed beds. Small motor boats and sailing boats were moored along the river. All you could see were tall masts amongst the reed beds. It looked very unreal. I think it took about half an hour to travel along the river. A fascinating journey!
A sailing club alongside the river.

The Parish Church of Lady St. Mary with the old priory buildings in front. There is no longer a monastery here of course and it is now the Priory Hotel. A very expensive hotel according to our guide on the ferry. Beautiful gardens though.

The Quay was once the hub of Wareham. Ships arrived from the continent and unloaded their cargoes for distribution throughout the area. The trade was mainly in salt and potters' clay. Now it is a tourist attraction, although very quiet today as it is the end of the summer season. The sun came out which added to its charm.
Wareham used to be an important cross Channel port in Saxon times but during the Middle Ages the river silted up and trade transferred to the new port of Poole. However Wareham had its share of excitement, two fires which destroyed most of the town, and the men of the town were involved in the Monmouth Rebellion of 1685. Wareham has been designated an outstanding Conversation Area and over two hundred buildings are listed as being of architectural interest. A fascinating town, sadly we only had an hour to look around so could see just a few of the streets and buildings.

One of the lovely streets in Wareham.

Lots of delicious looking pies for sale. Of course we could not resist and bought one to take home with us.
Looking forward to our deep filled meat pie for dinner tomorrow evening.

Poole

This morning we set off on our bikes to ride the five miles into Poole. An easy ride, mostly on a dedicated cycling/walking track through a park and around an inlet.

I do not know what I expected when I got there, having only ever seen the lights of Poole from a hotel room in Bournemouth. And I remember thinking that I must visit the town one day.

However, I was a little surprised to find our introduction to Poole today was an ugly 1960's railway station and then an even uglier shopping area. The shops looked dowdy, with a great number of charity shops and pound shops, a sure sign that this was not an affluent town. The people around consisted of mainly pensioners and those who obviously had plenty of time to spare, many of whom sat on the available benches. A significant number of people were starting early, drinking high alcohol beer. My heart sank, Poole was certainly not like its genteel neighbour, Bournemouth, just up the road.

Luckily the day improved due to the kindness of people, the sunshine, general relaxed atmosphere plus the bike friendly streets. I then started to see the town, and the people, in a positive light.

We first went down to the very busy port. Not quite the ritzy Cote D'Azur but still full of atmosphere that is very English. And plenty to see. And lots of fish and chip shops, pubs and coffee bars.

However, there were still some extremely large yachts, the type and size that no doubt appear in St Tropez every year.
We rode our bikes around the town and part of the coastal path. Not only is it bicycle friendly but also wheelchair, disabled scooter and walking stick friendly. The town is flat, with good paths and roads and very little traffic. We were very impressed.
In order to rest our legs we took a trip on the Poole Land Train. Very enjoyable!
There were lots of pubs in the town, and some very upmarket restaurants.
This pub was covered in green tiles!
Another pub on the quay front.
And only one amusement arcade! Full marks here.
When we arrived back, I just had to take a photo of the entrance to the caravan park. It is the original entrance to the manor house, the owners would have owned all the land around here no doubt. The gate house stands beside the gate. How often do you see a caravan and camping ground with such a grand entrance!
I found the other wine glass. It had not been broken. Harmony in the motor home!

A short holiday

We are having a short holiday before we go on a longer holiday to Holland, which is before we go on a really long holiday to Australia and New Zealand. I love this life!

We are in the South Lytchett Manor Caravan and Camping Park, Lytchett Minster, near Poole. For people who do not live in the UK, Poole is in Dorset, on the south coast, west of Portsmouth, Southhampton and Bournemouth. We went through the New Forest to get here.

I left behind my 'unusual information about places' book so cannot write anything remarkable about this area, except Dorset is the place where the 'Famous Five' adventures took place. Already I keep looking out for four children on bicycles with a dog running alongside. They are very easy to recognise with their posh accents, and ruck sacks full of scrumptious cream teas and lashings of ginger beer. I am still a big fan of the 'Famous Five' and have introduced the grandchildren to the stories, via CDs which we listen to as we travel in the car or motor home. So unreal!

We are also trying out all our new gadgets in the motor home, such as the rubbish bin which is now attached to the door, rather then getting under everyone's feet. We also have a cling film, foil and paper towel dispenser above the sink, and containers to hold the washing up brush and detergent so that they do not sit around in the sink, getting in my way, when I cook. Little gadgets like this makes one very happy when one is touring around. All from Ikea of course!

I discovered today that we only have one wine glass. Wine glasses do not travel well! Luckily we went to the local pub tonight for dinner.
The camping ground is very smart and totally manicured with its gravelled pitches and landscaped grounds.
Off to Poole tomorrow.

More lunches out

In between travelling I have been having lots of lovely lunches and afternoon teas. And a few more planned before we head off to Australia at the end of October. It has been fantastic catching up with people. Unfortunately I have only a few photos to show, as I keep forgetting to take photographs.

Kathy, Denise and I lunching at The Bull in Swanley.
The retired Headteachers' group, Yvonne, Jane, Maggie and me, catching up on all the news, at the Danson Stables Restaurant. A very happy and relaxed group.
I love it all. The joys of retirement!

Renovations

I must say that our house looks much, much better since it has been painted. But not by Scott and me as we realised it was going to be a massive undertaking, and too much for us. Instead we hired a painter to do the job. And what a job it was too. I certainly appreciated the work done by the painter after painting the back wall. The three sides took 11 tins of paint, 55 litres of paint and this was just one coat. Scott and I used 2 1/2 tins on the back wall. What a lot of paint! But the house looks very smart.

Finally I have a fold down clothesline on the side wall of the house. A Hills clothes line too. It is only small one as the alternative was a very long fold up clothesline which would not fit on our wall. When I researched the problem of clothes lines on the internet I drooled over all the different sized fold up clothes lines available in Australia but we do not live there. There were very few options here, and the Brabantia one was a rotary look alike attached to the wall.
I am a very happy person. I really like my fold down clothes line. Now I no longer have to look at the awful rotary clothes line in the back garden. There are now clean lines, and an unspoilt view in the back garden, except for the tennis ball on top of the spike where the clothes line used to be. This is in case I change my mind!

A major clean up

It all started when our neighbour approached us about fixing or replacing the fence separating our front garden from their driveway. Apparently they replaced the fence on the other side of their garden so therefore we are responsible for attending to the fence between us. I then told them that it is not our fence but in fact it is their fence, as our fence, which is the retaining wall, is inside their fence. Technicalities! I cannot get used to the 'I am responsible for the left side so therefore you are responsible for the right' side (or something like that) which people maintain is the law here. We could not find the law that actually states this either.

Our fence was either built in 1929 or when the land was subdivided in the late 1940's. It is very old anyway and looking down between the two fences I can see that it is very much on a lean. But to take our neighbour's point I could see that their fence was dangerous and our shrubs were not helping the situation. Just to make matters worse, the bamboo which grows in front of their fence has worked its way up into our garden.

So out came the saw, the cutters and our battery operated hedge cutters and a massive cut back took place.

After two hours of cutting back we finally managed to make a small gap in the shrubs. A start anyway. Unfortunately we disturbed a small red robin who obviously had made its home in the wilderness.

The fence that is beginning to fall down, after we removed two of the concrete panels which were hanging on by a thread.

One day later all the shrubs have been cut down to ground level, although they will recover but will not be so tall. The small conifer has gone completely. Unfortunately the bamboo will sprout again, and there is no way that you can get rid of it completely. It is a curse!
Of course we became very keen then and decided to tackle the shrubs and bamboo beside the footpath. The front now looks like it has had a very bad haircut. I am hoping for some speedy growth next year. Walter made nine trips to the dump! I think I have repetitive strain injury in both elbows!

A visit to Amersham

This morning we travelled around the M25, without any traffic problems. Hurray! The aim of the journey was to meet up with Margaret, who hails from Invercargill, New Zealand, but who now works in Amersham. The weather was glorious.

Buckinghamshire is certainly a beautiful part of England, also a very expensive area with large houses and trendy shops. And lots of upmarket restaurants housed in very old buildings. We were very impressed with the flower displays.
We loved this old market alley opposite an old market building. The shops were tiny, not for three very tall people though.
We decided against eating in the expensive pubs and restaurants, and as the sun was shining we opted for sandwiches. This lovely little garden in Beaconsfield (a short drive from Amersham) was a perfect place for a picnic.
We were fascinated by the huge number of cars parked on the streets in Amersham and Beaconsfield. In fact we had great difficulty finding a park in both places. Except for a few people in restaurants, there was hardly a person about. The trendy shops were certainly empty. Where were all the people? No doubt these are free carparks for all the people who catch trains into London.
We then travelled through country lanes, bordered by newly built mansions on very large sections. I wonder if the parked cars came from these houses? Then on to Chalfont St Giles, an idyllic village. The church was especially interesting as the walls were covered in religious frescos, painted before 1400. This was a common practice then but of course in most churches they were later plastered over and destroyed. Margaret and I sat in the sun for a while, and had a discussion about weddings and gravestones.
We stopped at a pub for some much needed refreshments.
In the village we found Milton's house where he lived for about 18 months during the 1600's. It was a beautifully restored house and contained pictures and old copies of Milton's work. Fascinating! Milton was a man ahead of his time, in his ideas of social justice and equality, and a leader in Cromwell's government. 'Paradise Lost' was written later in his life.
The house is Grade 1 listed, due to its historical value but the garden is Grade 2 listed as the Queen planted a camellia there, which modernised the garden. However it is still a very old garden and so tranquil. The hops on the old roses were the largest I have seen. A feast for the birds.I could have sat here for the rest of the afternoon.And we drove back home on the M25, without any traffic problems. This must be a record! A lovely day!

Birthday Parties

Two birthday tea parties in a matter of days. First it was Barbara's 75th birthday tea party at the Tea Rooms in Bexleyheath. Lots of small sandwiches, cakes and scones washed down with cups of tea. Delicious!

Barbara about to blow out her birthday candles!
We all had a great time with lots of eating, laughing and talking.
Then it was Isabel's 8th birthday tea party with the family. I made little sandwiches (not as elegant as the ones in the Tea Rooms), and NZ cheese rolls. Emma and Isabel made lovely cupcakes. The birthday cake was a chocolate ice cream log. All washed down with beer, wine and soft drink. Not quite the English tea party but enjoyed by all.

Isabel opening her presents.

Ready to start!
Great celebrations!

Signs that jump out at you!

On Saturday evening (and I was not drunk) I reversed the car down our road and into the 'No parking, private road' sign which one of our neighbours erected on the corner of the road.

Luckily there was no damage to the car, and Lucy and I managed to push the sign, which is on bollards filled with concrete, back up.

The picture below shows a near empty road (work day) and the sign which Walter and I pushed closer to the fence. The sign was further out when I reversed into it. I blame the sign of course.

There are 6 houses on this part of the road plus the entrance to Joydens Wood. 5 of the houses use the road for parking, with a total of 18 vehicles (14 cars, 3 vans and 1 trailer). Two houses have driveways so at least 4 cars are not on the road all the time. Then you add cars belonging to visitors. And our motor home, when we are loading/unloading it. A negotiating vehicles nightmare, especially for people like me!

On Saturday evening the road was bumper to bumper full of cars on both sides of the road, even the two driveways had cars in them. And I had to reverse down the road between the cars, until 'wham' I hit the sign.

I hate that sign!

Kew Gardens

On Saturday I went to Kew Gardens with Emma, Steve, Jackson and Isabel. They are magnificent gardens, with so many interesting areas and plants to view. Unfortunately most of the time was spent going through the two huge tropical glass houses so we will have to return to visit the gardens again next summer. The weather was perfect as well.

Kew Gardens is not far from Heathrow Airport so we were under one of the flight paths. I can now understand how irritating it must be for people living close to Heathrow. The planes were continually taking off while we were at the gardens.I thought this was a spectacular flower until I realised it was attached to a pole. It was in fact the back of one of the giant creatures (not real) on display in one of the tropical gardens.We ate our packed lunches in glorious sunshine.
Jackson and Isabel were fascinated by the array of plants from around the world.
Jackson was sure the giant lily pads would hold his weight if he sat on one. Luckily he did not test his theory out.
We loved the cacti.
And the bright coloured flowers which did not look real.
This plant imitated pebbles - only the flowers gave it away.
A walk in the treetops but not for me though.
I bought two grasses from the shop for £6 so hope they survive in my garden.