Busy, Busy, Busy

Pic of Torquay's inner harbour by Laura H. at Wikimedia Commons

The last couple of weeks have gone by in a blur. I really need to sort out what I want to remember from them. I took the bus to Torquay last Thursday week and spent time with my sister and some friends. I rode the Jurassic Coast on the top of a double decker bus and it was just fantastic.

I went to two very different National Trust houses. One was a Gothic Revival house designed by William Burges for a wealthy family in the 19th century. The other was a holiday home of Agatha Christie on the banks of the River Dart - I'd seen the garden before but not inside the house, which is crammed with her family's collections.

I returned home a week ago and that was another adventure, as I got a lift part of the way from my brother-in-law in an enormous artic lorry - a first for me. He had to drop me a mile or more from Yeovil Junction station as he couldn't take the lorry down the narrow lanes that surround it. I had a pleasant country walk to get my train.

I did last week's regular work and then this week's before last Friday when Hubby and I took off for a family wedding in Leicester. The ceremony was in a Leicester church, then we headed away from the city to a village and hotel a few miles out. It turned out to be a very historic building with a Templar Chapel attached and the place where William Wilberforce drafted his Abolition of Slavery Bill.

Highlights for guests were: being greeted with a glass of fruity Pimms; a beautifully cooked meal in good company; a chocolate fountain available for several hours; buffet and disco in the evening; and having to light a Chinese lantern and watch it float away with about 50 others once darkness had fallen.

Came home yesterday and have spent today preparing rooms for guests arriving tomorrow - a very old friend and her two grandchildren - and staying a week. More people arriving on Thursday, more on Friday, and possibly more on Saturday.

It's definitely all go here. Middle of next week I shall crash. Hope to get around to sharing more details of places after that.

My Clematis

Despite all our worrying, and losing some of the growth, both the clematis are giving us a wonderful show of flowers. They have grown out of their planters attached to either end of the trellis over our seat and mixed themselves together beautifully.

A Concrete Poem

Many moons ago, when I was at college, my English lecturer told us that a concrete poem took the shape of its subject, and we all had to try to make one up. This was my effort.

The Tree at the Top of the Hill

I remember the days
when I climbed up your hill,
and rested awhile in your shade,
gazing out on the slopes to the stream and the mill
at the birds on the wing and the deer in the glade.
Now my eyes must look out on the flat city streets
where the park has its trees but the trains rush on by.
While there’s shade, there’s no peace on those seats
with the roar of the traffic nearby.
But I remember those days
of climbing
and resting
and gazing
and seeing
the living
of wild things
not sad things
but glad things.
With everywhere still,
From the tree at the top of the hill.

Wordless Wednesday: Port of Ciutadella, Menorca

Walking the Walls of Wareham

We took the train to Wareham this morning. It's only a six minute journey. We wanted to walk around the town walls for the first time.

The little town of Wareham sits between two rivers: the Piddle and the Frome. We crossed a stone bridge over the Piddle on our walk from the train station. Looking over we saw one area of the water with no vegetation. A shoal of large trout (at least I think they were trout) were just basking there in the sun.

Just beyond the bridge we turned right to reach the town wall stretching around the west side of the town. The walls are high earthworks built in the time of Alfred the Great to repel the Vikings. That was in the 9th century so it's a really old town. The walls on the west side are the highest, with the river running below, and the views are fantastic.

We followed the wall round to the quay on the River Frome, pictured above. The photo was taken at a different time of year when it was very quiet. Today it was thronged with people enjoying the sunshine on the water as well as the land. But we moved on to complete the circle of the wall which began again beyond the church and the cemetery behind the quay.

Back at the station, we just had time for a cooling pint in the bar across the road, before the train arrived to take us home. The walk had taken us about an hour and a half, with a few stops to take in the views and consult the map. We hadn't been hurrying, so it was probably less than three miles altogether.

Bournemouth's Public Gardens

You can see by the tulips that it's been a couple of months since I took this photo. I was in the Lower Gardens in Bournemouth. This linear park starts by the sea and the entrance to the pier, and ends at the Square where most of the buses stop. I like to get off the bus and walk through them to the sea.

This week for the first time, I walked in the Upper Gardens, which go north from the Square, away from the sea. This park is less formal and an absolute delight. I cursed because I didn't have my camera. I'll make sure I remember it next time I go there.

I've discovered that you can walk for miles through these linear parks. Lots to look forward to not too far from my new home (well, it's one year on now since the move, but I'm still exploring.)

Wordless Wednesday: Port of Mahon, Menorca