Woolly says – Things were a foot or in my case a paw. The car boot was filling up with a variety of things from buckets to sleeping bags, most curious, the human wasn’t saying much so I started asking questions. Why do we need buckets, are we growing potatoes? Are you giving me your double duvet? Will owning another saucepan and frying pan make you a better cook?
I kept chuckling to myself having answered no, no and defiantly no as I’m already a good cook, I had actually been going behind his trunk and making some plans but a bigger surprise was in store aside from that.
Woolly says – A DOG!!!!! You have a mammoth why on earth do you want a dog?! I spluttered. But apparently the dog was non-negotiable and the very next day Jo vanished for several hours arriving back with the new addition to the household. Sort, furry and with lots of panting Alfie the dog quickly started to make himself at home, I sat watching him intently before asking in the friendliest manner I could summon up, ‘Do you like pistachio’s?’ The strange corgi cross animal ambled over and promptly sat himself down in front of me and panted into my face, I asked again but all that seemed to do was increase the level of panting and the wet meaty smell that emanated from his mouth. As no answer was forth coming, I ambled over to the snack cupboard and set about consuming my second snack of the day, the beast didn’t move, not an inch. I wandered back to him and looked him right in the eye, he didn’t seem at all bothered and I considered that this might be a blessing in disguise, at least it didn’t appear to want to eat me which was an improvement on a previous situation not so long ago. As the evening started to draw in my carer finally decided to spill the beans, after she had cleaned the mess up in the kitchen, she started to tell me about the coming week.
Throughout our lockdown I had been considering ways in which we might be able to travel for the next few months, inspiration finally dawned as it came to me that all we had to do was go back in time a bit.
Woolly says – Apparently joining Dr Who in his Tardis wasn’t going to be our new way forward. But camping was, now you might remember dear readers that we spent quite a long time living under canvas a few years ago, personally I had hoped that we had moved on for that but I did understand Jo’s reasoning in that I might not be susceptible to this virus thingy but humans were and I quote ‘I’m not getting on a plane any time soon Woolly’ so it looked as though my supervision on putting up tents was going to be very much needed. As a trail run it had been decided that we would go and camp in Nanty Carys and Nuncle Les’s back garden, this actually appealed greatly bearing in mind that they look after me properly, feed me well and are happy to knit any clothing I might need, so having given my consent to this, supervised the packing of the car and watching the efforts of Alfie to climb into the vehicle, we set off to collect Zoe and head to the south.
The drive down was lovely, countryside streamed past the windows and I wondered what delights Nanty Carys would have prepared for my tea. As signs for Dorset started to appear, I wondered how long it would take to actually get pitched….a very long time. As Jo and Zoe sweated and moaned for a while it appeared that we might need to sleep in the shed, finally as tea time approached it seemed that we would in fact be tucking up in the tent. With full tummies and tired eyes, we all settled in for the night, Alfie took up position by the doorway whilst the women had a side each leaving me to take over the middle section, I sighed happily, at last our adventures could begin again.
The next morning dawned bright and very very sunny, I wondered what had been planned, it’s quite strange not being in charge of places to visit. As we pulled into a carpark my ears and Alfie’s pricked as we heard a distant, toot toot, I raced up the track and into the station and to my absolute delight there stood a steam train. The Swanage Railway is a railway branch line from near Wareham, Dorset which goes directly to Swanage, opened in 1885 it had amalgamated with the larger London and South Western Railway in 1886. The passenger service for the line was withdrawn in 1972. In 1979 a heritage group was formed and the preservation of the railway was started.
It was a beautiful black engine and as we pulled out of the station I peered over the table and onto the floor to see how the animal was enjoying it, he was panting, he’s a tricky one in giving out his views, unless you understand pant that is. As fields rushed past, I sat enjoying the landscape until suddenly they’re on the horizon was a castle, a large castle. I nearly fell off my perch in delight and promptly began prodding Jo, she grinned down at me and started nodding her head ‘Yes Woolly we will be going to have a look, we’ve been here before though’, I sat scratching my tusks until we arrived at the end of the line and the town of Swanage.
Swanage is the most easterly town on the Jurassic Coast, its known for having a gently shelving sandy beach and sheltered waters which has made it a popular destination for families since Victorian times. Six miles is the urban expanses of Poole and Bournemouth. We wandered towards the sea front to find hundreds of people lying on the beach, building sandcastles, swimming and generally enjoying every moment of the hot day. As the girls took Alfie the dog onto the beach and introduced him to the see I sat admiring the cliffs to the left and the harbour to the right, a short stroll along the front led us towards two large columns.
Made of Portland Stone the columns mark the entrance to Prince Albert Gardens which had been developed in 1996, dated from the early 19th century they are replicas of the 2,400 year old Athena Polias, and had been salvaged from the old Grosvenor Hotel (demolished in 1988) in London. Realising that time was passing us by we retraced out steps to the train station and climbed aboard our carriage which was now being pulled by a lovely green diesel engine. The last part and possible the best part of the day was about to begin.
Corfe Castle has been a Saxon stronghold, a Norman fortress, a royal palace and a family home in its ten centuries of sitting in the Purbeck landscape. The castle stands above the village which has the same name and dates back in some parts to the 10th century. It was the site of the murder of Edward the Martyr in 978 and during the English Civil War it was a Royalist stronghold which was besieged twice, in 1643 and again in 1646. It is now owned by the National Trust and is spectacular to look at. Its ruins dominate the skyline and as we set off towards the keep, I wondered if the ladies would make it in the heat.
I hasten to add at this point that Alfie joined Carys and Les for a nice sit in the shade whilst we tackled the summit.
Woolly says – It was steep, I actually started to feel sorry for my friend as the sweat slid down her face and I became unsure as to when I should call an ambulance given the redness of her face, finally we made it to the gate and it was well worth the climb.
I would also point out that mammoths are lazy and insist on being carried in these situations.
Woolly says – Well I’d only annoy her with my slowness! The gate house was slightly off kilter but is was easy to see where the gates would have been drawn up and down and the holes where oil and hot tar would have been poured on top of any enemies, might you if the enemies had managed to get up the steep slope they probably wouldn’t have been capable of doing any damage if they were as fit as Jo is.
We arrived in a large grassed area which gave a much better idea as to how large this place had once been. Many parts of the structure were tilting or had already fallen and I wondered if the distribution of hard hats at the entrance might become a necessary item. Above me rose the huge walls of the four storey building, large windows looked out across the distant landscape, anybody coning this way would be seen from miles away.
It was stunning, sadly there was too little information to satisfy my needs and that was when it came back to me, January 8th 2013, it was from here that we wrote our first ever travel blog using 198 words and 3 pictures! How things have changed with this blog being 1600 ish words in length and lots and lots of pictures. I loved my life even if I had to put up with a mad carer and a panting dog, roll on tomorrow and the next adventure in our tent.