Lulworth for Easter

It was our second Easter weekend in the UK and unlike last years hot balmy weather, we were in for a weekend of nasty cold sleet. But, not to be put off, we shot away down to the south coast of England with Duncan’s parents to a beautiful part of Dorset. On our way there we called in to the boating city of Portsmouth to see some naval history. Portsmouth houses several of Britain’s famous war ships and I mean ship in the ancient timber and canvas sails sense. We were headed to see the great HMS Victory, which was captained by Lord Nelson in the famous and victorious Battle of Trafalgar against the French in 1805. The ship was sitting in a dry dock and still in commission by the navy. We boarded it and checked out what it was like to be living on the high seas. The galleys, captain’s quarters and gun decks were amazing. Lord Nelson was shot and killed on the top deck and we stood right on the spot which is marked out with a bronze plaque. They still have Nelson’s boots and the original mainsail with canon ball holes in it!

We left Portsmouth and wound our way around the coast towards the tiny village of Lulworth where we were staying at a B&B on a local farm. The village including all farms, thatched roof houses and a few pubs were property of the local Earl who lived in a castle nearby. This was not uncommon in England but was certainly a strange concept to us Kiwis. The B&B was very nice and after dinner down the lane at the country pub, we had a big log fire lit and waiting for us when we returned. Just what we wanted as it was a cold night.

The next day we headed off to walk around the ruins of a long abandoned castle. It was perched on a steep hilltop and was such a strong defence post back in the day that it had withstood years of attempted overthrowing due to its huge thick walls and surrounding cliffs. It was eventually taken over through trickery by local authorities who dressed as peasants and unleashed a battle from within. It was then destroyed with dynamite so no one could ever use it as a stronghold again. It was here that Bec’s used trickery on me and asked me to hold her hang bag for a second while she did her shoelace up. She then took a lovely photo of me and mum walking together with our hand bags. I responded by showing her my roundhouse kicking skills and that if I wanted, I could roundhouse kick her. She asked for a demo and somehow I managed to launch into a horizontal flip not unlike those ones in Kung Foo movies where they are dodging a bullet. However, I recommended to Bec’s that it would have looked way tougher if I had landed on my feet. I may have severely bruised my toe, possibly a hairline fracture, but at least she now knows who the boss is.

From the base of the castle ruins, we caught a steam train to Swanage, a pretty little coastal town. The train ride was marvellous, we had free hot cross buns and tea on board and the conductor was dressed in the old uniform and even had an ancient looking mechanical ticket machine which spat out a printed ticket by winding a handle on the side. We were greeted at Swanage by a nasty biting wind which pretty much cut our visit short as it forced us indoors. Our planned walk along the coast was dashed but the return trip was just as enjoyable as the first and we headed back to visit some locals we had met at the pub the night before.

Just down the lane from us lived a couple who rented their thatched roof cottage from the local estate. Most of the other cottages housed the estate staff and it was a rare opportunity to be able to rent here. We sat around a fire for a bit and chatted before being served the traditional tea and scones with cream and jam, or creamed tea as they call it here. It turned out the couple had a daughter in New Zealand and they were looking into emigrating there as they had been once before. After our afternoon hiding indoors, we headed back to our fireplace at the B&B and played a bit of scrabble which turned out to be one of Derek’s strengths as he chipped away with words no one had ever heard of.

The next day we headed down to the local cove where we parked up and took a walk across the estate. The path lead up and over a huge hill which followed the top of a great cliff edge and down to a place called Durdle Door. The whole coast along here had strange rock formations and great white cliffs towering over pebble beaches. It was a very interesting place to wander and climb around the rocks.

We walked all the way back past our car to a place called the Fossil Forest where fossilised remains of tree stumps stuck out of the folded rocks along the coast. A very interesting place to explore and stunning views of the ocean from the towering cliff tops, we enjoyed our afternoon in the slightly better weather before heading home.