down in the woods

You may not believe this but I will tell you anyway because, as you will know,
 "if you go down to the woods today, you're sure of a big surprise!"

There are many woods in Dorset, like this, often well provided with good walking to help explorers.

This is the Castleman Trailway, 16 miles long and well-named as it follows the route of an old railway.




Apart from walkers it caters for cyclists and wheelchair users and dogs.












As you can see the cyclists do not necessarily arrive in ones and twos!









They can be a bit dangerous if you are busy watching the golfers on Broadstone Golf Course which is overlooked from the Trailway..



You can see what sort of hole this is and sets you wondering if these two really did pitch their next shots to where you see them in the close-up?

I thought I spotted one of them with a big rake on the far side if the water!







But I was probably mistaken and they are as honest as all golfers, particularly when one called out;
"watch out for the bears!"










Anyway, on with our walk through the woods in the hope that you will be as surpised as we were at the sights we saw!



















And we had not yet been to the sort of refuge we usually find when we are out walking.


This haven of rest is the Olive Branch at Wimborne, one of many delightful oases in Dorset.
They are easily spotted by the palm trees.

Flower Power

When I was small they said:
"if you can't fight wear a big hat";

as you can see from this picture of me with my Mum and a lead balloon!













Now it seems to be:
"if you can't fight wear big trousers and make sure your scooter's ready for a quick getaway".

All good parks have places for children to play. This is an exceptionally good park because it has something for children of all ages up to 90!"

This is Upton Park in Poole in Dorset.

There are sunlit paths where there is so much to talk about you can easily leave a couple behind.

And there are the quiet backwaters for more leisurely strolling,











where you can glance to the side and see where the sea ends and snake-like monsters appear from the trees above your head.
.

You may prefer monster flowers such as these

or something with more colour.







But even intrepid explorers need to sit down and just take it all in and just gaze upon a great garden  -

                             



                         


                             oh! she's gone.



                                   


It all reminds me of Bernard Miles' story of the new vicar leaning over the garden fence and saying to old villager Len:

"wonderful what you can do with a little help from God".

" 'tis so", Len remarked, " but t'was in a bit of a mess when he had to hisself".

Seeing is believing!

We passed this on the way to Kimmeridge. Don't know who it belongs to but must be a football fan to have goal posts on a lawn in front of a house like this!

We stood in awe, high up on the Purbecks, and gazed upon this as well. You will have to click on it to see a scene that called for Wally Emery's mum's standard comment: "I can't understand the price of mutton with all these sheep about Wally!"








Of course. you could turn and look the other way towards Wareham and the western end of Poole
Harbour.

We were off to Kimmeridge Bay but as Welsh Poet W.H.Davies wrote:
"A poor life this if, full of care,
We have no time to stand and stare."

And here it is. No sandy beach resort this.













Just a delight of rocks and cliffs and fossils and wading and snorkeling and canoeing and sitting for ages just looking and looking.










This is a clambering about beach for all ages, particularly if finding a fossil gives the same satisfaction to a ten-year old as discovering gold did to an old miner.

And what did you do then?











What we always do; found a pub. This one was National Cider Pub of the Year 2014.
The Castle Inn, West Lulworth.







The pub garden is up a hill above roof level.








The car park is in those trees in the distance.
Hottest day of the year and I left my hat in the car.

I was quite a sensible person once.


Was a time when I dressed for Ladies Day at Royal Ascot.










Seeing is believing!

Great things are done by a series of small things brought together - Van Gogh

A garden, a church, a few cottages and some exceptional sunflowers (you need to click on the picture to find them): typical Dorset countryside.












A view through the trees, with a stream running through.












A close-up of the white house with more stone-roofed houses and cottages in the background, all in a picturesque summer setting.














If you fancied a short stay here there is always the Kings Head Hotel









from whence you may cross the road for a little shopping. At least you could have done when Woolworths looked like this back in the fifties

 and when greengrocers still inhabited small shops











and hairdressers were places for social discourse and the latest news.


This is a model town - a real model of Wimborne to be exact - where there is even more to enjoy, including lots more shops and a railway where you can press buttons and make the trains run

   






and dolls' houses to enchant even big children like you and me!

For more information and a host of pictures go to


http://www.wimborne-modeltown.com/

Did she?

Sometimes you come across the most unusual sights in what, otherwise, would be normal surroundings.
We went to the seaside today - Swanage to be exact.




This is what you might expect to find; a sea view, boats, cliffs, a pier and what's standing aginst the rail on the right of the picture;




or,








people eating mussels and other seafood delicacies.












Somewhat of a surprise therefore when you look at the view on the other side of the approach to the pier, to see men-like creatures from under the sea, with a creepy looking tower in the background!










You could even come across a couple of divers seemingly perplexed at the disappearance of their companion?

Of course, you could go back to seeing the simple sights of a day at the seaside - such as these two artists.



But, if you look carefully you will see a number of small plaques on the decking to the right of where they sit. They are just a few of hundreds, with a great variety of messages, which stretch the length of the pier.



At the top of the few examples here,  a truly novel proposal for Tara Binsted to accept.




I shall forever wonder:

did she?

Where have you been then?

if you can't see one thing you'll see another!

North of Ringwood there are lakes and hamlets with lovely names like Blashford, Harbridge Green and Mookbeggar. The lakes stretch up towards Fordingbridge. On the map they appear to line the roadway; but try to find them!

We discovered one, only to find ourselves in a private sailing club. A very kind man  explained we would be better going up a short distance to Rockford Common and looking at the lakes from there: we would see much more of them.

This is the path to Rockford Common.

You would be forgiven for thinking that water doesn't often run uphill!

This is Rockford Common - or a very small bit of it - which you may share with ponies and cattle.

I managed to picture these few. Later, when we found ourselves in the middle of the New Forest - by accident - we saw many more but couldn't get near enough to photograph them for the grey haired tribes of off road make believe Land Rover drivers who rarely move over to the side of the road for fear of getting dusty whhels.

The views from our vantage point were worth the climb. You can see, just about, what the man meant when he said you could see much more of the lakes from up here.

It does help of course if you are intrepid explorers dressed for hiking like what we are

If you follow our travels, you should know by now that we are the kind of well travelled explorers who are able, always, to find an oasis.

This one is called The Alice Lisle.

There are no camels hereabouts - at least we didn't see any. But the nomads do park their donkeys in places that are a nuisance for those of us who do not like to be too far from the entrance to what would be a sheik's tent in other places.

How did we get into the New Forest? Well, this is a part of it. The problem is that once you are on a forest road going in the wrong direction, they seem not to have discovered road juctions until you are nearly in Romsey. Not that it matters because it is all so beautiful.

As a footnote I can tell you that Alice Lisle was the last woman to be beheaded in England.
The following site is of interest.
http://boormanfamily.weebly.com/blog/lady-alice-beconsaw-lisle-1617-1685-3-52-ancestors