The 4th trip out with Brunnehilda during a very quiet caravan year. This was the 3rd with Di and the 2nd to Dorset.
It all started yesterday (1st Nov) a little later than it should have done! I met Di at Welton Lodge at about 12.30. I had the caravan hitched up and ready to go but we really needed to have left before midday to beat the sunset. Note to self - next time tell Di the target leaving time is 60 mins before the actual target leaving time and we might only be 30 mins late! 😉
After a damp ride down the A34, M3, A31 and A35 we arrived at the Barnhouse Retreat CL campsite near Bridport at about 5.15 - about 20 mins after sundown! This necessitated the wearing of our new head torches to get set up. But not before a near disaster. I had left the caravan brake slightly on for the journey down which may have caused the issue. The issue was the caravan brake wasn’t working when I unhitched the van and it started rolling down the incline towards the car. Di had the foresight to lean against it to push it off course and divert a disaster!
The site is lovely - only 5 pitches and our only neighbour is due to leave tomorrow. Each pitch has its own water supply so that’s a bonus. There is a field we can walk the dog as the farmer very obligingly said he would move his sheep to another field. He also provided us lots of information about local walks and pubs!
After the near disaster, the set up went off well with the very friendly farmer coming out to welcome us as we were nearing completion. After a cuppa we went off for a well deserved and very enjoyable meal at the village local - The Crown at Uplodders. There was only about 10 locals in - plus us - which was hardly rocking for a Saturday night. But the landlady (who doubled up as the chef) was very pleasant. We shared a starter and pudding with a very nice fish pie and lasagne squeezed in the middle.
Back home to Brunnehilda for a cuppa, a couple of episodes of Slow Horses and an early night.
The 2nd November was a lovely sunny day. The weather is due to be mixed on Monday and down right dreadful on Tuesday and Wednesday. So we thought we had better make the most of the good weather and head for a beach pronto!
After having a chat with ChatGBT we headed out to the recommended for dogs, Cogden Beach. It took about 15 mins to drive there. We parked up in a National Trust car park (result: free parking with my volunteers card) and walked down the gentle slope for a couple of hundred yards to the beach.
It’s right at the far end (western end) of Chesil Beach. It’s not nice sand but the pebbles are small enough to be easy(ish) to walk on. Tilly had a great time in and out the waves as we walked westward along the beach about a mile to Hive Beach.
It was very blustery but sunny and warm enough to be coatless. The beach wasn’t too busy but there was a steady stream of dog walkers - mostly middle age couples! Tilly was impeccably behaved.
There was a cafe at Hive Beach so it seemed rude not to go in! It’s our 18 month anniversary today so we celebrated with a cake and coffee. Neither was especially nice but to be fair the place seemed to specialise in fish and everyone’s meal sitting around us looked and smelt wonderful?
We didn’t fancy the walk back along the beach retracing our steps so we made the return journey on the cliff - the SW Coastal Path. It didn’t take long. Before we went back up to the car we picked some sea kale from the beach. All the locals were doing it and they told us it made great Christmas decorations! So like the cafe stop, it seemed rude not to!
The sun was still shining so we headed for Lyme Regis via West Bay (which looked really nice) and Bridport. We parked up on the Eastern edge of town and walked down the hill onto the busy beach front. We walked all the way along and then up onto the iconic Cobb - of French Lieutenant Woman’s fame.
The sea was gloriously rough which made for some very dramatic scenes of the waves crashing against the rocks. For health and safety reasons, we didn’t get close enough for a good picture though!
More strolling through the fairly busy port and then up into town. By this stage we were bloody starving. Both the eateries recommended by ChatGBT didn’t seem to be serving food at this time - it was gone 3.30. Just when we thought we may have missed out, we stumbled across the Royal Lion. It was full of dogs and a more than acceptable menu. I had the pork Sunday lunch and Di had a splendid fish risotto.
We had a long chat with a nice couple from Surrey - although he was Scottish and she was Yorkshire! They had 2 gorgeous Retrievers called Arthur and Humphrey. Di is like a dog whisperer and is just as adept at talking to every 4 legged creature as she is at chatting with their human owners!
After the meal we had a lovely walk back to the car in the half light along the Church Cliff Walk.
Back home to Brunnehilda for tea, chocolate and more Slow Horses. A smashing day. We need to brace ourself for the worse weather starting tomorrow!
No comments:
Post a Comment