Cathedral of the Busted Knee.
Modern signage.
Castle on the right.
Rarebit reflections.
Arundel's main drag.
Pubs are on every corner in England.
The boat we did see.
Basil's Burley Inn.
Wooland walk at Burley.
Even laneways are pretty.
Brits love their dogs but rules are rules.
Thatchville.
Portland harbour.
Guard dog on duty.
It's windy at Portland but...
Traditional speed camera?
View from Portland cliffs.
Bridport the start of the World Heritage Jurassic Coast (forget seashells, dinosaur fossils along this coastline)
Up again nice and early (thank you wacky body clock) and got a few tips from Dennis our B&B saviour about where to visit today. We have a loose plan about where we heading but are basically making it up as we go along which can also result in some wrong turns as we discovered.
The coastal road is glorious with rolling green hills, sprinkled with sheep and stone buildings, with the English Channel as its backdrop. Historic seaside villages are full of charming dwellings, most beachfronts with rows of bathing boxes.
Moving inland a little we stopped at a nearby posh college which boasts the largest chapel in England according to Dennis. It's also where this fool took a tumble trying to break in a new pair of leather flats. Nice patch of skin off the knee. Not a great start to the first walk in the English countryside.
Limping back to the car we headed to a small village of Arundel which has its own castle. It's was our first English village encounter and my first cream tea experience. Dangerously yummy freshly baked scone, homemade jam, clotted cream and pot of tea. Simon's pale flat latte looked sad next to my morning tea bonanza.
A small river runs through this place which is not much compared to the Clarence but add an lovely old stone bridge, weeping willows on the banks and local swans out for a swim and you start to see how effortlessly quaint and abundant these scenes are.
After a quick look around the shops, it was time to get moving and we headed for Portsmouth to see Nelson's (of Trafalgar fame) ship the Victory.
It's a huge port and traffic was bad as not only was it a Sunday, the weatherand still hot and the English go mad for any seaside destinations if the mercury gets above 20degrees.
To cut a long story short we took a wrong turn and after trying to find a park for an hour, ended up at the harbourfront shopping centre, had lunch, couldn't find the Victory, and I couldn't walk far due to foot and now knee issues.
We saw the historic port turnoff on our way out and just chalked that one up as a stuff-up as the day was slowly disappearing thanks to the traffic pace.
We heading into the New Forest National Park which was slightly cooler. Again another beautiful landscape and contrast to the coastal trek. The woodlands full of pines and deciduous trees in various stages of autumn tones, were broken up with low lying shrubs and wildflowers and horses that grazed freely alongside the roadside. This forest is the smallest in England and most populated so every so often you would pass through more beautiful little villages. We went for the very tiny hamlet of Burley and decided to stay at one of the two local inns. It was getting late in the afternoon and after a pint went for walk around the woodlands. It was all very Secret Garden.
Back at the hotel it was more like Fawlty Towers. We still don't know the Inn manager's name but we called him Basil. He was hillarious but probably only to us. 'Yes, sir, I'll be with you in minute, sir. We've had a very busy day here today sir, I'll just....' as he paced around the squeaky boards in his white dress shirt and black trousers looking very busy and flustered. His accent topped off this very John Cleese performance.
We had dinner in the pub that evening as there is not a lot of choice in a village this size and soon Manwell and Sybil soon joined the show. They weren't as good as Basil but we thought it was all so amusing.
The next morning another walk around the village and we were greeted by the village's 'wild' horses that just graze along the footpaths. Apparently they are owned by people around town but they basically wander freely around the forest and the roads, cars having to slow down and wait if they decide to stand out on the roads.
We said goodbye to Basil and Burley and headed out of the forest and back along the south coast heading for Poole of the pottery fame.
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