Holiday 2001
It's July 2001 and having had a really tough year at work
and at home we are ready for a holiday. We've talked for ages about destinations.
Janie still harbours longings for France but I feel it's a bit too much
for Emma and Lucy to handle (and for me if the truth be told - I just
need a rest). So we plump for West Dorset, and the Brit Valley in particular. Almost at the last minute we come across The Spaceys (Ian and Valerie) and their charming Lodge and cottage in the little town of Beaminster... Saturday 21 July Arrived late afternoon, meant to be there earlier but couldn't get away and the traffic was heavy on the M25. Despite feeling hot and uncomfortable we unpacked the car and immediately zoomed over to Stoke Abbot where there was (or rather had been) a street fair all afternoon. We caught the tail end and bought some trinkets at a stall . Beautiful village, nothing there except old cottages hidden behind great old trees and banks of flowers. And the pub which we went to for a quick one before going back to Beaminster and fish and chips for tea. Sunday 22 July Another day, another fayre... this time a medieval one at Slape Manor near Netherbury. It was a glorious afternoon, giving me the first real opportunity of the year to turn lobster pink and hurt badly. I grabbed it with both hands... Apart from third degree burns, the afternoon featured hog roast, Scottish country dancing (uh?), Punch & Judy, retail opportunities (Em & Lu got new bags, Janie got herself a plant (uh??)), duck racing, queuing for and subsequently chickening out of a ride on a poor tired pony, and finally an ice cream near the pool... Monday 23 July Went down to Burton Bradstock to look at the sea. Wide-eyed Emma pointed to the "big water"! Then we head off to Charmouth and think we'll settle down on the beach. Oh dear, Emma hates the beach. Everything about it. She won't put her feet on the sand. She clings on to us like a monkey and is only really happy sitting in the buggy - which is a bit of shame. We go up to the cafe and have lunch but I guess we'll forget the idea of them rushing into the sea screaming with glee for now... Need to study video evidence of what else happened today. We may have returned to the cottage for a swim. I think we may well have stopped for ice cream in Broadwindsor. Tuesday 24 July In the afternoon we go to Pecorama which is a strange place, somehow heavily redolent of the 1950s. Don't know why, probably partially because I've always associated it with the musty smell of old Railway Modeller magazines. Notwithstanding, the complex had some first class model railways on display which fascinated Emma and Lucy - they'd never seen tiny doo-doos moving under their own "steam" before. It also had wonderful gardens, a big safe play area and a labyrinthine miniature railway which snaked around the grounds. I think they enjoyed it. I did. Oh and the restaurant was quite lovely too. We sat and watched monster seagulls watching us, or watching our plates. Very Hitchcock. Afterwards we set off back along the coast and found ourselves in Lyme Regis (Janie had wanted to stop at Beer but couldn't find a parking space quick enough)... Lyme Regis is a bit of a mystery. The west end of the town where we parked is where the boats are parked so it's a bit navy blue and range-rovery, then as you move along past the cob and the harbour there are bars and tacky cafes on the front and kiss me quick hats, amusement arcades and holidaying youths, all of which is pretty depressing, then as you go further along to the east it becomes all Thomas Hardy again... found it a bit disappointing and glad to get out of there. Wednesday 25 July Normally by Wednesday I have had enough of a holiday and am ready to pack up and go home. This time, probably because of the young ones, I was raring to go. So in the morning we found ourselves at Bridport swimming pool where we also had a quick bite of lunch and Emma banged her head, and there was a kids special activity session in the pool which depressed us. So we got in the car and this time decided to go to Seatown... surely our quest for sand would be fulfilled here. Well no actually. However there was fine shingle. And I think Lucy paddled this time. It's a bit difficult for them with an uneven surface under the water. Thursday 26 July We swim in the pool in the morning (even E & L get wet), then in the afternoon we get down to Weymouth, arriving there as the crowds were clearing (got stuck in dreadful traffic on the A353 having taken a wrong turn...) Weymouth seems quite genteel and we watch boats going in and out of the harbour and Janie has a swim (for a change) and Lucy actually starts enjoying being on the beach. In the evening we go up to Portland Bill so that I could see Chesil Beach. Absolutely stunning seeing that long line of single stretching into the distance. Portland Bill however is a bit of doggy-doo on Dorset's espadrille so we decide not to stay. Head back with the setting sun along the coast road via Swanage. It's very pretty and maybe we will come back one day. Friday 27 July Start off today trying to find somewhere to stay next week, having decided that we like it so much here we never want to go home. At first look on the internet, but everything booked, then we go into Beaminster and the local tourist place points us in a few directions. Only trouble is that nothing is available at such short notice. We find a couple of places which would take us through to the middle of the next week but in the end come to the decision that relocating twice would be too much. Also the money could be better spent on more long-term items - a new computer for Janie is in the back of my mind... The Spaceys are brilliant, Valerie says that the obvious solution is for us to get ourselves a tent and pitch it in their vegetable garden. That way we'd have use of all their facilities - pool included - for however long we wanted. We're blown away by this - but I'm unable to contemplate spending a night in a tent with Lucy... In the afternoon we go down to West Bay, the location for Harbour Lights with Nick Berry. We've been avoiding it because it seems so touristic in the brochures, but when we get there it's very civilised. We have ice creams at the shorefront cafe and take our stuff down to the almost sandy bit of the beach which has been exposed by the tide. The girls do sand castle things, even Emma I recall, although their definition of a sandcastle is a quick turnover of a bucket of sand into a pile which can then be jumped on and giggled about. Saturday 28 July Up early to get ready to clear the house by 10. For the first time ever we are nearly out in time. Luckily the cleaner is able to work around us. We have a last swim in the pool which by now is at a comfortable temperature even for poor delicate daddy... Then it's off to Bournemouth where we figure we'll have a final dip on our way home. We stop for a late lunch at Winterbourne Abbas and eventually get to Alum Chine at about 5pm. Janie has a swim and Lucy decides that, yes, this sea thing is good. Emma is still coming to terms with the sand. We eventually pull out of Bournemouth at about 7.30pm which is later than I'd hoped but it's not that far to London and it did give us an extra day. |