Dorset 2013

The Usual Suspects

By the end of the week the sun started to shine and so we took advantage and got the whole crew together for a smiley photo looking into the sun.

Martin & Kate who had flow in from Bulgaria two days before the start of the holiday soon went down with flu like symptoms and spent the first half of the holiday in bed.

Hengistbury Head

Despite the biting easterly wind blowing in from the Ural Mountains we decided to go for a walk around the coast to Hengistbury Head and then down onto the beach where there are rows and rows of beach huts.

We took a look at them...

Beach Huts

Jane and Lucie took a particular interest in the beach huts. Lucie was interested in the sidings - were they wood or a composite material. Jane just loves beach huts as you will see later in this page.

After cruising along the beach we ended our walk (about 3 miles) with drinks at the local cafe. Hot chocolate and Cappuccino never tasted so good.

Evenings at home

With the weather against us and it getting dark at around 5pm we battened down the hatches, cracked open the vino and made our own entertainment.

There was a very large jigsaw puzzle underway but not everyone got involved. Others sat reading books or the papers. Here's Graham reading an article in the Daily Mail about the digital divide - no wonder he looks bored.

Each evening a couple hosted the meal and we certainly ate well, drank well and slept well all week.

Sea Rescue

Whilst walking along the coast at Mudeford we came across a man in the sea with the inshore rescue boat heading his way. The temperature was around zero and the wind chill factor probably made it feel like minus 5. What this man was doing in the sea with a bare chest is hard to imagine.

The rescue team soon had him in the boat and before long he was back onshore and into a waiting ambulance. We tried finding the story in the local paper but there was nothing however the RNLI site keeps a record. For more details look here...

Lymington Harbour

The sun may have been shining but as you will see from Jane's hat and coat it was still very cold. the seagulls didn't seem to mind and swooped in over her as she scattered some stale bread on the quayside.

Lymington is a lovely coastal town with various boats in the harbour and an Isle of Wight ferry shuttling in and out all day.

Shaftesbury

We were enticed to visit because Graham and Sue wanted to see the hill where the Hovis TV advert was filmed. You remember the one where the young lad pushes his rattley, old butcher's bike up the cobble-stone hill. It was a bright, sharp day but the wind continued to blow a chill wind.

It was tough enough walking up and down it without riding a bike on it.

Gold Hill, Shaftesbury

Graham & Sue were snapped at the top of Gold Hill after we'd just walked down and back up again. To understand the next section you do have to watch the Hovis advert...

Although this was in Dorset the Monty Python sketch came to mind: "Well..that wuh luxury, wuh that! When I wuh a lad, wi ad tuh get up a month ago. Lick tar off th'rord fer 'er breakfast. Wash it down wi a bottle uh 2nd 'and bleach. Wark 700mile tuh work barefoot on 'ot coal, all up 'ill. Wer wi got a punch from t'boss n' ha'penny a year fer 'er trouble. Wark 800 mile, up hill all th'way home. Wer dad give us a thick ear, a fat lip, un sliced us in 'alf wi a bread knife. 367 days a year. And we wuh greatful."

More Beach Huts

Well there are beach huts and then there are beach huts - this row are a piece of art as the colours subtly change all along.

Jane has many stories to tell of when she was a young girl staying in Bournemouth and using a beach hut everyday with her family. This was a ritual that consisted of her dad brewing tea over a paraffin stove whilst they huddled inside avoiding the rain.

Marvellous how her duffle coat almost matches the colour of the huts as if she planned it.

Visit to Raptor Sanctuary

We spent a few hours touring the Liberty Raptor centre and apart from birds in cages there were some sitting on perches waiting to be flown. It was easy to get pictures of them as they were as curious of us as we were of them.

We also sat in on a flying demonstration with a load of school children who were in total awe of these wonderful creatures.

The Pig Yard