Woolly says – I was rudely awoken by the noisy cockerel that lives next door to Nanty Carys and Nuncle Les, I lay in my bed considering going through the fence and discussing its anti-social behaviour, I mean who wants to wake up at 5.30am?! But realising that I wasn’t alone and that the rest of our small group were also awake and that Jo might not approve of me breaking down a fence to sort the annoying poultry out, I settled for supervising the striking of the camp. By nine o’clock the car was packed, Nanty Carys had provided me with a lovely breakfast, the panting machine had been walked and we were ready to say our goodbyes. Such a wonderful time and the chance to catch up properly, we thanked them for their hospitality and hit the road. I had decided that a couple of stops on the way to our next overnight location were in order and an hour after leaving Verwood we were parking up in the small town of Shaftesbury.
The town dates back from Anglo-Saxon times and by 880 Alfred the Great had founded a burgh (fortified settlement) as a defence in the struggle with the Danish invaders. King Canute died there in 1035, though he was buried at Winchester and Edward the Confessor licensed the third mint for the town. By the time of the Norman conquest in 1066 Shaftesbury had 257 houses, though many were destroyed in the years of conflict, and by the time the Domesday Book was compiled twenty years later, there were only 177 houses remaining, though this still meant that Shaftesbury was the largest town in Dorset at that time.
Today the town is best known for Gold Hill, a steep cobbled street which has been described as “one of the most romantic sights in England.” The view appears on the covers of many books, jigsaw puzzles, chocolate boxes and calendars. It has also been used as a setting for film and television appearing in the 1967 film version of Thomas Hardy’s Far from the Madding Crowd and the 1973 television advertisement for Hovis Bread. Having parked at the bottom I wasn’t to keen on the idea of walking up the steep incline, Alfie the Dog however had no worries on this score and promptly set off at a good pace, he didn’t even notice a mammoth on his back!
As the women puffed their way to the top and took the obligatory pictures, I plonked myself at an outside table for the nearby café having decided that a snack was in order after the efforts of the climb.
Coffee and cake hit the spot as we relaxed and watched many more people make the climb up towards us. With my small friend chaffing at the bit we set off to have a closer look at the town.
Woolly says – Some lovely old buildings dating back to the 18th Century adorned the streets and having spotted a sign for the Abbey we headed towards it in the hope that it might be open. Alfred the Great founded the Abbey in 888, as a Benedictine nunnery, where he appointed his daughter Ethelgifu as the first abbess. Sadly, we wouldn’t have the chance to see the building and had to content ourselves with admiring the 15th Century St Peter’s church instead.
Going back down Gold Hill was a lot easier than going up and as we waved goodbye to the small town it occurred to me that we were going to be incredibly early for our next stop.
Due to the Covid situation most places of interest now require prior booking, the ability to just stop and see something has disappeared in the new ‘norm’ that we now inhabit. Our tickets for Prior Park weren’t until 3pm and with only a half hour drive we would be there before midday.
Woolly says – Only one thing for it, an early lunch. Heading towards the City of Bath, Zoe suggested that we drive past our afternoon date to check out the parking before going into the city for a bite to eat, this seemed like a sensible suggestion and having driven round the park a number of times we realised that the nearest opportunity to park was over 2 miles away. Doing a rapid calculation of the amount of walking required from the car to the park and back again plus the actual 20 acres of parkland to investigate, I suddenly realised that I had twisted my paw and would need carrying, I wondered how the panting hound might feel about that. As Jo navigated the nearest car park, we agreed to consider the situation after some sustenance.
I had to chuckle as my small friend limped his way towards the eatery we had spotted, knowing that he fully intended to hitch a ride instead of using paw power for himself. Half an hour later the decision to leave the park for another visit was made and we took the option of heading to the campsite to set up early and relax.
Woolly says – Having driven several miles down a rutted track we made it onto the small field, I surveyed my surroundings and the results weren’t great. The woman disappeared into the toilet block and promptly returned as I stood considering the mounds of rubbish and recycling that took up a large area of the site. I looked up at my carer and wondered what she planned to do, ‘Are we staying?’ I asked, a rapid shaking of heads followed my question with the response of ‘Noooo, it’s dirty and defiantly not Covid friendly’. What more could I say as we climbed back into the car and set a route back to Dudley for a night in a proper bed with clean facilities, we would be back to camping in a couple of days.