Bournemouth, Christchurch and A Chris Isaak Concert. Forty Quid For A Tour Shirt And I Paid 6 Quid For A Charity Shop T Shirt And A Digital Watch!

 How is that for a long blog title?

More Dorset photos:

The house where Thomas Hardy said that Tess spent her honeymoon. Also called Woolbridge Manor.

Old bridge sign.  They have repaired the bridge since my last visit in 2018.

My tent on a better day.

Old coach house in Wool.

Sign of places to visit in Dorset.

The Black Bear pub..  

We caught a train on the Monday morning to Bournemouth.  It was very busy and the world and the wife seemed to have descended on Bournemouth.  Gorgeous young ladies piled out of the railway carriages and headed for the beach. 

My friend and I went on a reconnaissance mission seeking the concert venue to see Chris Isaak that very evening.  

I saw a middle aged man wearing a Bohemians football shirt displaying my beloved Thin Lizzy on the front and it gladdened my heart.  I fancied a nice pint of cold beer but I wasn't  paying 7 Pounds for the privilege.

I wanted a wrist watch. I was sick and tired of turning on my mobile phone to see what time it was before the Dawn Chorus birds played the Prog Rock  concert.  We walked into countless shops but we couldn't  find a cheap one anywhere.

We caught the train to Christchurch and I bought a cheap T shirt and a digital watch ( brand new battery  for 3 Pounds each).  I throw T shirts away and socks instead of carrying around dirty washing and buy newish shirts from charity  shops if I need them.

We visited the Minster and I met an elderly lovely lady who told me Henry the 8th visited the church twice and didn't wreck the ecclesiastical  building and now they have Henry the 8th weeks and: "Have I seen the Ladies Chapel?" What a lovely lady.  

I can't  get to have  many conversations with young lasses these days  but the mature ones seem to like me.  

I talked to a lovely mature lady called Elizabeth during Jasper Carrott at Cropredy.   I was Dave on his anorak mode talking about vegetables and herbaceous perennials and how fish get into water via birds carrying their eggs on their feet...  

Jasper made me laugh with his thoughts about the Covid lockdown...  Jehovah's Witnesses knocking on people's doors and saying:

"Jesus told me you were in!"

We caught the train back to Bournemouth and went to see Chris and his band.  They were excellent and very pleasant and entertaining but I couldn't  see their faces.  My lights (eyes)  are definitely fading.  It was a good and the beer was expensive so we didn't  partake and a man and woman paid 40 quid each for two tour T shirts! Stop the world I want to get 

We left before the end of the concert and Big Issue sellers asked us to buy a copy.  We walked back to the train station and caught the train back to Wool.

Here's some photos for you:

Chris Isaak and band.   It cost fifty quid for a ticket.  England is so expensive after Brexit.

A good gig enjoyed by all. I found this video on You Tube of the concert.  The dancing guitar players performance was very enjoyable and Chris compared his jazzy sequined suit to ice rink skaters.

Christchurch Priory.

Ladies chapel window.

Band Stand.  Oh howI love brass bands.

A couple waiting for Judgement Day since 1461.  Not long now!

More Dorset tomorrow.

Visiting Dorset Again!

 Our last visit to Dorset was in 2018.

We changed trains at Southampton and caught a train to the village of Wool and its only five minutes walk to the campsite that we had stayed before.

The gate was locked and there was an intercom to talk to the campsite proprietors.  I asked my learned friend to speak to them rather me with my broad South East Lancashire accent and colloquial vocabulary.   Not bad for a published author 😊.  He told them we were on a Thomas Hardy literary tour and would it be possible to camp for a few days?

The gate opened and we walked through on foot with no car in tow.

I paid for 3 days camping with my money card .  There was no way I was going to be refused cash like previous trips to the south of England.

We pitched our tents and walked to Spar for food and tins of cider.  Then we went on a 8 mile walk in the evening to the village of Moreton.  Here's some photos for your perusal:

We found Lawrence of Arabia's grave in a little cemetery and a church with Whistler engraved windows. 

This is where the T E Lawrence funeral service was held.   Mrs Thomas Hardy and Winston Churchill were two of the famous mourners. 

Unfortunately the Germans blew up the church and a new church was built complete with Whistler windows.

We looked at the old thatched cottage buildings in the village and walked back to the campsite.  I drank a can of cider along the way.

More Dorset tomorrow.

A Five Mile Walk Along The Canal To The Train Station.

 Yesterdays blog was probably my most heart felt blog this year yet it seemed to resonate with very few comments.

Any road:

On the Sunday morning we rose at 5.30 and packed our rucksacks and folded up the tents.

My friend had managed to book really cheap split railway tickets to Dorset.  Not forgetting the lady ticket clerk at the train station who had the patience of Job helping us find cheap train off peak tickets. 

The first bus to Banbury was 8.30 and we could not be sure of a place.  So we decided to walk the five miles in the opposite direction to Banbury.  After all I had walked to Cropredy on the Wednesday  had I not? 

Of course there was no sign post for Banbury so we asked a man serving coffees to two ladies from his mobile vending machine.  He thankfully pointed us in the right direction and we walked  back to town with an hour and half to spare before our train arrived.  Here's some photos I took on my mad hike on the first day:

Dorset tales tomorrow.  This is turning into a small book.  Hope you are finding my rambles enjoyable?

The Echoes Snigger Briefly.

 On my first day at Cropredy I walked through Cropredy and on to the village of Great Bourton and back along a nettle and grass verge back to Banbury.  Without a bus stop anywhere to be seen.  The village is just up the Banbury Road from Cropredy Village.  

I told my friend of an interesting looking old church and the village and a campsite I had past by on the Wednesday.

We both share an interest in ecclesiastical old buildings.  So after another hearty breakfast in the village hall and before the bands started playing we sauntered up the road and here's some photos I would like to share with you:

The blog title is a line from a poem by Philip Larkin called 'Church Going':

I'm a lapsed Anglican but I have never lost my love of the Church of England and its many beautiful churches.  

I visited several churches on my recent trip to Blighty.  Some Church of England and some Roman Catholic.

I will share some of them in the next week or so when I write about visiting Dorset, Chichester, Kent and Oxford.

George Orwell said the Church of England was a preserve of the landed gentry.  I think they are more than that.  They are places where people meet together and attempt to talk/ listen to God.

Roger Scruton in his fabulous England An Elegy book writes so beautifully with his love for the Tory party at prayer(C of E) and the way it is such a broad church with so many beliefs under one roof.

Perhaps I should visit some churches in Ireland?  The car boot sales seem to be my distraction these days😄.