Old Times Bits and Pieces

OK, so it's time to go back in time and complete some of the Blogs of stuff we did a while ago (in fact from late may to mid-June). We'll post our Queen's jubilee trip to Norfolk as a separate blog.

Day out in Dorset

Saturday 26th May 

This Saturday was a day of variety – a Neolithic site, a 14th century chapel and one of Henry VIII coastal forts. We also went to visit a Swannery (where a huge flock of swans breed – and at the time we went to visit, there were cygnets. We were very careful to say: “at the time we went to visit” as it cost a bomb to get in, and we just looked at the gift shop instead. Cal found the teapot that she’s been looking for her whole life – it’s very nice, and in the shape of a swan – and of course, we also had to buy the matching milk and sugar thingos as well. Still, we saved something like £36 by not entering the swannery itself.

Nine Stones

The Nine Stones is a Neolithic site near Winterbourne Abbas that contains . . . well . . . nine stones. They are at the end of a short (500m) walk from a “Little Chef”. OK – a slight digression. A “Little Chef” is normally found on the side of a motorway, and is (at least they were 10 years ago) a pretty ordinary place for food. This must’ve changed as the place was pretty well packed out. So, we take a walk though some farmer’s paddock (oh, terribly sorry, I should have said “field”) to a copse of trees. It was a very pleasant spot – very peaceful and tranquil, despite having a road right next to it. There wasn’t a lot there, just a bunch of large stones in a sort of circle. I think it’s the fact that someone put them there about 4000 years ago that brings things into perspective!! The stones are also known as the Nine Ladies and the Devil’s Nine Stones.

Winterbourne Poor Lot Barrows are nearby . . . but we didn’t get there, as parking was difficult.

Abbotsbury (St Catherine’s Chapel)

After a short stop at the Nine Stones, it was off to Abbotsbury to see the Abbey and St Catherine’s Chapel. Along the way we kept seeing signs to “baby swans” cygnets to the educated amongst us ☺), and it so happened that the swannery was in the same town. As we said above, we didn’t end up going into the swannery, but we did support their gift shop!! 

Abbotsbury is (to us) a quintessential English country town, as this panorama shows – taken on the walk up to the chapel. The town was full of narrow, winding streets, but we eventually found a place to park (having begun to give up hope on one of the locals comments that “it’s easy to park in the village”). As we were looking for a park, we noted that there really wasn’t very much left of the Abbey . . . and no parking anywhere, so that just left St Catherine’s Chapel.

It wasn’t that cold, but being on the top of the hill, the walk to the chapel was very exposed and windy!! St Catherine’s Chapel was built by the monks of nearby Abbotsbury Abbey sometime around the 14th Century as a “pilgrimage chapel” – built outside the monastery walls, as a place of private prayer.

It hasn’t changed very much since then (although the flooring and decorations are no longer there), and whilst the Abbey no longer survives, the chapel is thought to have survived the dissolution because of its location on a prominent hill near the sea – later on, a navigation light was kept burning at the top of the stair turret.

St Catherine was a virgin who was martyred in the 3rd century, ironically, for protesting the persecution of Christians by the Roman Emperor Maximus I. She was killed by being secured to a torture wheel set with sword points – it is from this that we get the term for the spinning fireworks – Catherine Wheels – we never knew that until English Heritage educated me. Catherine was the patron saint of virgins (apparently particularly those in search of husbands), and it was the custom until the late 19th century for the young women of Abbotsbury to go to the chapel and invoke her aid.


On the way down from the chapel we saw a classic English car being used as a bridal car – a Land Rover nonetheless!!! Maybe St Catherine is still at work.

Portland Castle

Whilst in the local areas we decided to check out one of the more modern castles in England – this one only dating back to 1540. It wasn’t as “castle” like as some of the inland castles – probably because it was a coastal “fort” rather than a castle.

Being one of Henry’s castles, Cal took no time in making her feelings known to His Grace. It was also abundantly clear that you had to be short in those days!!










     

The castle was pretty “hands-on” with costumes for us to try on. We went as far as the hats - un-like one visitor who startled the rest of party by suddenly appearing as a gunner of the Royal Reg-iment of Artillery. Cal and Mark tried on the Tudor Soldiers helmet, and Cal went the extra step to try on the gunner’s hat.

Other than that it was just a nice wander around a not so ruined castle . . . but Cal was kicking herself that she didn’t go to the tea room first, cos it was closed when we had finished our wan-der. All we could manage was a fridge magnet, but they were of good military souvenirs as well.