Devon and Dorset Break, 23-26 June 2014

A series of articles covering a short break in Devon and Dorset, taking in Sidmouth and Seaton, Beer, Lyme Regis, Wareham, Weymouth and the Cerne Abbas Giant.

Click the menu photos below to access the associated article and photographs.

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Wareham and the River Frome

Wednesday 25 June. From Lyme Regis we motored quite a way. Past the huge ramparts of Maiden Castle. Out towards the great natural harbour of Poole. But we stopped a little short of Poole at Wareham.

This ancient village sits on the River Frome which flows down to Poole Harbour. It was probably one of King Alfred's burghs and is one of just a very few walled towns in England where the walls are earthwork rather than stone. King Alfred (he of "the Great" and of the burnt cakes) was desperately trying to keep Saxon England er... Saxon England...

This is a view of Wareham as it would be seen by those trying to stop King Alfred from keeping it Saxon England. The Vikings. Vikings is a bit of a misunderstood term these days. A lot of people think that was the name of the people from Norway, Denmark and all points cold. It wasn't. They were Norsemen. And presumably Norsewomen... Vikings were raiders. It's what they did rather than who they were. But then those who went sailing off for a spot of raping and pillaging and looting without (here's the defining crunch) settling became known as Vikings. It probably started out as a misunderstood answer to the question:

"Hello, nice boat... what do you want?"
"We're viking!"

Anyway, Vikings began to refer to the people. They were eventually followed by Norsemen who wanted to settle. You know... no ice, lots of grass and good farmland, internationally famous benefits system...

The Norsemen also settled in Germany and what would become France where their name Norsemen became shortened to Norman and then they invaded all over again. What goes around comes around...

We were on the river on this little whaler. There actually are not all that many whales splashing up and down the River Frome, so instead of watching them we sat looking at the reeds that line the river. They were harvested for thatched roofing until there was a great fire one year. The decision was made that all rebuilding should be done with tiled roofs so to reduce the risk of fire spreading so quickly again. That had two effects.

The only thatched roofs to be seen now are outside the area devastated in the fire. And two: the reeds started to choke the river which silted up and is now unnavigable to large boats except for a short length. Stops any Vikings in their tracks now...

An old Viking longboat sitting abandoned in the river...

This is the spot from which we got on the boat. It is a lovely spot on a warm sunny day with a couple of pubs and benches. We sat and watched the boat load up again for its last trip of the day. We decided we would have a bit of a wander to look at the church and old part of the town.

We obviously wandered outside the area of the fire! This gorgeous little cottage sits facing the churchyard, with upper storey windows right up in the thatch.

It was immensely hot. We glanced, rather than looked at, the church. We admired the old blocked doorway, designed to ensure you bowed your head humbly before entering the House of God and decided we would head back to the river and find a drink.

Which we did! Cheers!

Devon & Dorset 2014 Index

Wareham and The River Frome

Welcome to 2009 and a new layout for photos embedded in the blog.

The majority of new PCs and laptops these days seem to have widescreen monitors and for anything over a resolution of 1024x768 the old format tended to give you overlapped placing of the photographs so from now on I'm going to centre them and so I can have a bit more control over how the blog will look on your screen.

My New Year's Resolution this year was not to post an entry on the first of January. So many people make resolutions they have no chance of succeeding in so I always make mine that bit more simple. Last year's resolution for instance was to breathe...

Anyway this year's is over and done with and I can get on with life.

These photos were taken at Wareham in Dorset in 1997 whilst we were on holiday down there, using Sidmouth in Devon as our base for the week.

Wareham is one of England's walled towns, though in this case the remaining walls are earthworks only. This is because it is one of only two Saxon walled towns and therefore they were not stone-built but presumably had somewhat formidable chunks of wood on top. They were built as defences against the Vikings whose sense of fun displayed itself as a shout of "Smile!" just as their axe swung at your head...

Today there is very little head lopping in Wareham and instead it is a lovely spot on a hot summers day to relax with a pint in the pub or an ice cream by the river just watching life around you.

Have a very Happy New Year!

Large versions of the photos: Wareham Quay, River Frome

Blue Skies in Photographs

A couple of weeks ago I was idly trawling through the Internet, looking for anything vaguely interesting and I came across a blog for travel writers that was giving advice on photography.

Most of it was good, but I left a comment on the entry that the best bit of kit I carry with me is my circular polarizing filter. Working on the same principle as polaroid lenses, by rotating the filter I can make blue skies darker, which can have a dramatic effect and makes your photos look much more professional.

They work best when the sun is slanted sideways across the photograph - they have little effect if the sun is directly behind you or in front of you. They do cut down the light a little too, which used to call for careful exposure if using film, but with today's digital cameras is no problem at all.

All you need is a camera that is capable of taking filters, such as a digital SLR, and a filter with the correct size of screw mount. Typical sizes are 52, 55 or 58 millimetres and the correct size should be written on the front of your lens around the rim. Happy shooting!

My photograph here is of Wareham in Dorset, a town that retains some evidence of the old Saxon town walls built for King Alfred the Great as a defence against Norse raiders. It was taken in 1997 on colour negative film with a Canon EOS camera.