5 Puddles!

Looking back towards Lyme Regis

Once we left Wells we drove south via Glastonbury and then Somerton, important in the old Anglo-Saxon kingdom of Wessex and headed towards the coast at Bridport. The weather had become much gloomier and we were treated to some spectacular purple clouds which duly dumped substantial quantities of rain. A bit of shame as we were hoping to briefly stop at Chesil Beach. 

Weymouth in summer glory; photo:www.freefoto.com

In the event, the afternoon was also drawing on so we contented ourselves with driving along the coast to Weymouth. This part of the south coast of England is a World Heritage site and is known as the 'Jurassic Coast' on account of its fossils.  Weymouth is an elegant seaside town which boasts seafront buildings with delicate wrought iron balconies. Sadly it was pouring with rain so we weren't able to take any photos. Just along the coast from Weymouth we branched inland at Overcombe and headed towards the "Puddles".

There are five "Puddles": Puddletown, Affpuddle, Turnerspuddle, Briantspuddle and Tolpuddle. The last is the famous one and where we were headed. 

Niall in Tolpuddle

In the 1832 a group of farm labourers decided to to form a local branch of the 'Friendly Society of Agricultural Labourers' to improve their poor and insecure working conditions. They swore an oath to support each other, which at the time was illegal. These early versions of trade unionism made the government of the time extremely uneasy and they didn't hesitate to prosecute even such 'small fry' as the 6 farm labourers from Tolpuddle. 

The 6 men were tried and sentenced to 7 years transportation to Australia. The sentence caused huge public outcry and the 'Martyrs' as they became known were pardoned 2 years later; but not before they had served some time in Australia. 4 chose to come back to England immediately once they were pardoned and later on emigrated to Canada. A 5th was released late [due to a previous criminal conviction]. Hence 5 figures on the information board, not 6.

Information on the 'martyrs'

The story of the 'Tolpuddle Martyrs' is one of the earliest events of the Trades Union movement for better working conditions.

After visiting Tolpuddle we drove over to Lyndhurst in the New Forest where we found a nice pub, The Waterloo Arms, for dinner.  Afterwards it was only a shortish drive on the M27 to Portsmouth and the ferry to Caen/Ouistreham.

Wells

Wells: market square, with market in full swing

Last week we were in Scotland to visit Niall's family and have a quick break. As we took the Caen [Ouistreham] to Portsmouth ferry there was a fair bit of driving up and back. Previously, we found that driving up was fine but for some reason the ferry back was more tiring. Perhaps it's the fact that one has an hour's less sleep and fewer options for breakfast once off the ferry in France. 

chantry chapel & ladies having a gossip!

As a result we decided not to drive down to Portsmouth in one day. We stopped just outside Gloucester and this meant we had a whole day to potter around before boarding the ferry. It doesn't leave Portsmouth until 10:45pm. It was almost like an extra mini-holiday; allowing us to explore a little bit of the West Country--Somerset & Dorset.

scissor arches

Our first stop having cut across country from Gloucester was Wells. We knew Wells having visited it before. It isn't the easiest place to get to and consquently - we think - retains its appeal. Officially it is a city, but it's really only the size of a small market town. It was first settled because of the springs: 'wells'  dedicated to St Andrew and the city's arms are a Saltire cross - yes there is a scottish link here! The waters still run in runnels at either side of the streets. As we walked up to the market square and the cathedral we saw several small wellie-clad kiddies were having a great time in the runnels splashing the water around. 

The Bishops of Bath & Wells [when not baby eating!! Blackadder fans take note] were an enthusiastic group of builders and there is plenty of medieval archtecture -- both religious and vernacular -- to keep people like us very happy!

'quarter jack'

Wells' Clock

The Cathedral is superb -- originally begun in 1175 it is built in the Gothic style. The famous scissors arches are a clever early 14th century solution to stabilising the tower and preventing it from sinking. Due to the very high water table and shallow foundations it needed to be shored up. Wells also houses a very early clock [about 1390] in the north transept. It gathers quite a crowd as every quarter hour it stikes and knights come out and joust with each other. At the same time the 'quarter jack', who sits in a niche above and to the right of the clock proper, strikes the bell with his feet.  The Jesse tree window was shrouded due to ongoing restoration work but some angels in the East window caught our eye.

trumpeting angel

For more info on Wells see: http://www.wellscathedral.org.uk/

Hills of the North

Edinburgh's Old Town skyline

Currently we are in Edinburgh for a few days visiting family and seeing some old friends. On Saturday, to celebrate Niall's birthday, we went out for lunch to the Bailie Bar in Stockbridge, which is on the edge of the New Town. The pub is a favourite of ours and we used to drop in regularly when we lived in Edinburgh. One of it's attractions is the lack of piped music and fruit machines; we prefer pubs without. It has never proported to be a gastro pub but the food is honest. Niall had lamb's liver with bacon and onions and I had a grilled chicken breast which had been coated in a herb crust. 

Arthur's Seat

Afterwards we drove up Arthur's seat--we were a bit too full of lunch to want to walk all the way up-- if you enlarge the photo you'll see people walking or jogging. The weather wasn't brilliantly sunny it at least it wasn't raining!

Yesterday we saw some friends and to day we're off to visit some family and have a wander round Edinburgh's center.

Mellow yellow .... orange & red

And yes there's a song connection in there somewhere!

oak trees at the back of the house

The terrace work has all been done now, all bar the final 'dressing'. The easiest change to see when compared to the before photo is the steps. However, that doesn't cover the half of the work that has been done! 

'after'; everything ready for tiling & rendering

The concrete has been re-done to provide an imperceptible slant toward the retaining wall; two drains have been put in; a runnel made to channel the water to the drain; an additional soak-away dug for the water to drain away and the guttering has been switched round as too much roof water was pouring into the one (overloaded) original drain/soakaway by the kitchen door. There's now also a small step up onto the main terrace and the path --which was only ever temporary-- round from the kitchen door to the drive has been concreted properly. It may not be glamorous but it was all needed! 

new steps in the corner

If you'll forgive the flight of fancy, the terrace and path are like 'ladies of yore' waiting to be 'dressed'. The 'dresses', aka the tiles, coping stones and render are waiting in the wings. However, we can't tile immediately. As those of you who are familiar with building things know, the concrete needs to harden a week or 2 before tiling. 

Virginia Creeper at the side of the barn

So now we wait... if the weather gods are kind and it stays frost free the tiling may be done before the winter. If not, it's not a problem. The tiles are stacked and tarped and can easily wait until the spring. 

Silver Birch

 Meanwhile autumn gallops along in increasingly intense colours. The Virignia Creeper at the corner of the barn is fire engine-red and the Silver Birches have gone an intense yellow while the Sumac has turned an amazing orange.

Sumac

Walkies!

going cat walkies

We have mentioned it before; our cats come for a stroll with us. Not for very long ones it has to be said. But those little ones of say 10, or 15 mins duration round about our Lieu-dit or around the field access tracks. We take the camera along just in case we see something of interest.

grapes in the hedgerow

Recently we were pottering along the little rural chemin which serves as access to our lieu-dit and saw a profusion of grapes entangled in the hedgerow. The parcel of land, bordered by the dry stone wall on which the grapes grow is on the right as you look down the chemin [photo with Niall and the cats] . According to our neighbours it has a lot of owners. This isn't unusual in France; in this case the couple who owned the house and land died many years ago in a road traffic accident so the house and the land was shared between a number of heirs. As far as we know, at present, they now number about 16 and, as is the way of things, can't agree what to do; which is why the house has fallen into ruin. 

map of walks around Charnizay

However, Charnizay also has a number of 'proper' circular walks [12.5km and 14km] which are well sign-posted.  Recently when we had to pop into the Marie we saw they had had new leaflets printed to publicise these. One curcuit loops to the NE and runs past the dolmen 'Les Palets de Gargantua'. The other loops in a NW direction to the small lake 'L' étang du Bois Guenand'. 

map of walks at La Ribaloche

Just to the SE of Charnizay, off the D103 which leads to Azay-le-Ferron is a sign for 'La Ribaloche' and Foret Communale de Tours/Preuilly. Here too are a number of walks and a well marked bridle path for horse riders. The walks vary from 2,5km to 12km.The shortest has, at intervals, information panels explaining the flora, fauna and history of the area. During the summer months you can also book a carriage ride through the forest. 

The forest was originally part of the barony of Preuilly. At the time of the French Revolution it was sold together with the Chateau at Azay-le-Ferron. The whole estate, castle and forest, was bequeathed, by the then owners, the Hersent-Luzarche family to the city of Tours in 1952.