After a hectic end to March and then a busy Easter weekend during which (amongst other things going on) we finally had our living room ceiling plastered and also attended the monthly Fenlanders meeting, we took a look at the weather forecast for the forthcoming week after Easter and decided to head for the Dorest coast and a few days camping in our new Tent.
We left Monday morning with the truck fully loaded with dogs and equipment and headed off. We chose a campsite in the village of Eype just west of Bridport arriving in sunshine but with quite a wind blowing which made the inaugral tent erection somewhat more invloved than perhaps it would normally have been. Tent up, beers opened and dinner cooking we settled down to relax and then through the night hoped that the increasing strength of the wind wouldn't find us and our new tent somewhere near Cornwall in the morning!
Tuesday dawned bright and sunny with no wind to speak of. We headed into Lyme Regis and had brunch sitting at a pavement cafe in an elevated position at the end of the high street, then a walk along the 'prom' to the harbour and then up through the gardens. We headed west from the town via the village of Beer ending up at Branscombe beach and indulged ourselves with a cream tea (after a walk on the beach). On our way back to the campsite we stopped at the village of Whitchurch Canonicorum where there is a church dedicated to St Candida and the Holy Cross; St Candida was formerly known as St Whit and the church is famed for being the only paris church in England to still have its saints bones and the original medieval tomb that pilgrims visited. Also there is a memorial to the man who inspired Shakespear to write 'The Tempest' and also the grave in the church yard of the Bulgarian assasinated at Waterloo Bridge, London with a poisoned umbrella! Back to the Tent (after a quick visit to the local brewery) and a relaxing evening sitting in the sun. Although we had rain over night, the following day was warm, sunny and cloudless.
Wednesday we headed east along the coast and to Abbotsbury iron age hillfort, then onwards and upwards to Cerne Abbas to see the famous chalk carving and then stopping for lunch at The Poachers Inn, in Piddletrenthide- a dog friendly pub. We then took the dogs for a walk along Eype beach, collecting stones and trying to find fossils as well as doing a bit of rock pooling. Back to Bridport and after picking up ingredients for dinner, we enjoyed another very lovely evening watching the sunset over the sea.
Thursday and a visit to Abbotsbury Sub-Tropical gardens. They accept dogs on leads and so Ruby and Ruairi were able to walk round with us. A fantastic place to visit and even though we were so early in the springtime, the rhododendrons and camelia's were stunning. We ate lunch at whilst watching very friendly small birds eat crumbs from the table and from Woz's fingers and also listened to Kookaburra's in the aviary as well as watching the native and Golden pheasants strut about. Back into the gardens we visited the mediteranean garden, sculpture trail and a view point looking to Chesil beach and Portland. A lovely few hours on a warm sunny day and we could easily have been in a much more southern part of europe. We stopped off on our way back to the campsite at West Bexington and gave the dogs a short walk along Chesil beach before sitting down and just listening to the waves gently roll in and the stones rattle back and forth along the beach. A further trip to the brewery (Palmers of Bridport) to re-stock the supplies and then back to cook dinner and read a book.
Friday was very warm and sunny; not expecting such good weather we hadn't packed sandles or shorts but between us we had t-shirts so at least we weren't completely baked by the time we had walked with Ruby and Ruairi down to Durdle Door and back. Ruby did really well, the path is very steep in places and the steps to the beach take some climbing back up - for an elderly lady, she was amazing. We had taken plenty of water and with frequent rest stops and lots to drink, both dogs (and us) made it all the way back up to the carpark without too much difficulty! We then headed to Corfe and lunch at The Greyhound Inn just outside the castle gates. We were back at the campsite by 4.30pm so that we could enjoy our last evening of peace and quiet, the sea was very calm, no wind, brilliant blue sky and a very pretty sunset......perfect.
Saturday and time to strike camp and all done in a very laid back manner! although we were up just after 7am, it still took us until 11.30 to finally leave! Frequent stops to admire the view of a flat calm sea, several cups of tea and stopping to eat breakfast meant that neither of us could find any real enthusiasm for packing up although we did get everything packed and the tent down eventually. After leaving the site, we headed north east and up to Yeovil and across the A30 to Shaftsbury stopping in the town to collect picnic food; we then travelled on to Old Wardour Castle (used for a scene in Robin Hood Prince of Thieves) and spent a couple of hours wandering the ruins, eating our picnic and enjoying an ice-cream. We had an uneventful drive home arrive at 7.30pm; tired but relaxed and happy. The dogs were pleased to be back in their garden, Ruby was delighted to be back to her settee, and we sat down with a cup of tea and spent the evening recalling our trip. We'll definately make a visit back and especially to the gardens. The verdict on the new Tent? Excellent!
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