under another sun

A good day to leave Dorset, with the rain hammering down on Swanage rooftops as we consumed our immense and wonderful full English Breakfasts. The bacon and sausage sourced from a local farm was delicious, and there were bowls of a dozen or more muesli ingredients from which I built a morning muesli too. So yes, we had a muesli breakfast followed by a full English breakfast with thick pieces of brown toast. And this morning they threw in some extra fried potatoes too. Left on friendly terms with Clive and Judie the owners, and we walked off to collect the car, parked the other side of town and drove down the little cobbled lane by the side of the Town Hall and loaded up our cases before driving off towards Studland Bay. The headland shrouded in misty rain. We drove on for twenty minutes or more then down to the beach. It was raining which blurred all the outlines of things at first. Lorraine took off her shoes and soon we were both paddling. The sand at the edge of the water felt cru...

Off this morning to the ruins of Corfe Castle by steam train from Swanage . I had forgotten what a pleasure travel by steam is, hearing the great puffing engine, and its distinctive almost tarry smell drifting along the platform as we gently pulled away. Clouds of steam drifting over the trees and occasional cornfield as the train progressed. People waving from campsites and Lorraine waving back. In fact Lorraine loved the journey so much her eyes were glistening with tears. Then we alighted at Corfe Station. The whole of this little railway seems to be run by retired railway hobbyists joyfully living out their fantasies, and I quite enjoyed the vintage advertising and the effort they had put in to keep alive the old railway spirit. I'm not one of life's train spotters but there is something lovely about these old engines that seem more than half alive. Once in Corfe the rain began again rather dismally. We popped into the workshop that was formerly a smithy of a potter cal...

Not a good nights sleep, caused in part by the schoolboy error of becoming sunburned on Swanage beach yesterday.  Up to another immaculate breakfast, before we decided on going for a trip to Dorset's Jurassic coast at Kimmeridge Bay, which gives its name to the Kimmeridgian a division of the Jurassic. A dour old English summer day. The Clavell Tower on the east side of the bay, which has been moved away recently from the eroding shale cliffs. Lorraine and I walked west around the edge of the bay, despite it being high tide. I picked up pieces of soft shale and opened the stones along their seams like books. I found lots of fragments of broken shells in these shale pages, but nothing of much interest. I took a walk for a 40 minutes hopping from rock to rock round the headland of the military land, then Lorraine and I then took a look on the East side of the bay. Once we rounded the headland under the tower, we found a sheer foreboding cliff, from which a tiny landsl...

A delicious breakfast and a sorting out of the door lock problem had us feeling much happier with our bed and breakfast today. We had planned a rigorous day of fierce gym work, but in the end I felt rather wussy first thing and instead we hired two deckchairs and sat in the sun reading books. I finished Brighton Rock at last. An unpleasant novel in many ways, but very well done. Lorraine reading Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell on Anton's persuasion. I also did some ham fisted sketching. Lunch on the beach before watching the Punch and Judy show in the afternoon. I don't now why I love Punch and Judy so much, but I do.  I like everything about it, the little kids calling up at the puppets, the crocodile and the policeman and the sausages and the mistreated baby and more. All good fun. Home and realised just how much we had been burned by the intermittent English Sun.  Slept for a little before a light supper in Tawny's and a trip to the White Swan, a fairly rubbish pub...

L and I up early in a frenzy of organisation. Having lain on the sofa snoozing after Sunday lunch instead of packing and doing all the things we needed to do. Eventually we set off to drive to Swanage. Lots of traffic jams on the way, meant the journey took a ridiculous four hours. We stopped at one point for coffee and tea at a service station which turned out to be a Little Chef and were told that there was no food for at least half an hour. So we just had slowly delivered beverages, like going back to the 1970s. Eventually arrived in Swanage, starving and drove around town for some time searching for a place to park. Lucked out eventually and after strolling along the rather lovely beach, with lots of red-nosed holidaymakers scarfing fish and chips to a cafe where we had to wait ages for food. The sound of the Punch and Judy man encouraging people to his tent using his swozzle drifting down the beach.  We had to wait for the right time before we could drop our stuff off. The b...