Friday 9 April 2021

Wessex Is Wonderful!

Jane - who lives not far from here, but we have never actually managed to meet 'in person' said that she hoped that during our six years in Dorset we had managed to get out and see the fantastic countryside. Yes, thank you Jane, we have...

I have loved all the National Trust locations - Kingston Lacy, which I first visited in 1987, and I longed to revisit, has been a special place, and just less than 8 miles away. I shall miss the gardens there. We never did make a second trip to Brownsea Island...

The various churches and cathedrals have been amazing - just into Wiltshire, Salisbury is a brilliant city [don't be put off by Russian agents] and always worth a visit 


There are some great Museums too - I loved seeing Dippy Dinosaur in Dorchester! And the Russell Cotes Museum on the Clifftop at Bournemouth [I shall never forget the scuplture of Jael with her tentpeg]

And all those pastoral views which remind me of Hardy Novels, transporting us to the days when Tess, Bathsheba, and others swished their long skirts through the mud of his fictional 'Wessex'

And the rolling hills leading down to the sea - Swanage, built on the fortunes of Portland Stone, Chesil Beach, The Cobb at Lyme Regis, the "chines" in Bournemouth - Lulworth Cove, Durdle Door...

If you have never visited, this is a brilliant county for a holiday - lots of different things to see and do. Like Norfolk, Dorset has no motorways - and similarly it does feel just a little behind the rest of the country sometimes - but it has been a great county to live in. I shall miss it so much [altho I shall miss seeing my friends even more]

One final picture - from our walk on Easter Sunday, through the trees on Poor Common. This fantastic site is just a few hundred yards from The Manse.

We have been so privileged to live here, among good people, in glorious surroundings - the sea to the south, the countryside to the west and north and the sprawling conurbation that is Bournemouth to the east. 

Jane tells me she has family in Norfolk - so maybe, when all these covid restrictions are behind us, we may eventually get to meet up there sometime! 


1 comment:

  1. You have so many interesting places to visit; it's great that you were able to take the time to visit them while you were there, Angela.

    ReplyDelete

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