We visited the above rally as part of our northbound journey. References are made to the Great Dorset as the big brother, this rally has a different atmosphere, less formal and more relaxed.
We enjoyed it.
We have to start by apologising to family members living on Portland for not telling them of our plans. We did not have a lot of time in Weymouth so meeting would have been difficult, sorry.
On Tuesday the 2nd August we caught a steam hauled train from Victoria to Weymouth returning to Waterloo. It was to be a treat for both of us in what is refered to as premier dining class. Left London at 08-45, bucks fiz started the day off, followed by a full English breakfast. Lunch was a plowmans, a large plowmans. The return leg, a four course silver service meal and a botle of wine. The food was excellant and served at our table for two. ( see the picture). If Keith can work out how to do it he will scan the menu and add it to the photos. Stop it. I can hear you saying that’s easy.
Whilst it is great to enjoy the dream that is steam hauled trains it is easy to forget the reality. They discharge copious amounts of black smuts. On a hot summer day sitting in non air conditioned classic first class coach you open the windows and soon everything is covered in black spots. For all that, it is a wonderful experience.
ANORAK WARNING.
Locomotives. A4 pacific Bittern masquerading as Dominion of New Zealand. Hauled the train from London to Weymouth.
Tangmere, Weymouth to London. Battle of Britain class bullied loco, built to run on southern metals hauling this type of train. It is a loco, and it’s crew with a reputation for good running. On Tuesday they both lived up to it. We assume that everything must have been right and the boys were out to play on home ground. It flew , lots of people with smiles.
Monday, 1st August, we headed to London for a short break. Dreamboats and petticoats is a musical based on the songs, dress and culture of the sixties. It is a riot of music, dancing and singing for two hours, all performed by the on stage cast.
We loved it.
P S. Also had a drink in the Ship and Shovel. A Hall and Woodhouse pub at the back of Charing cross station, nice.
For variety of reasons I have not done a blog for some time, not doing anything interesting, cant be bothered, etc.
We have spent quite a bit of time at the museum. Jan has been working hard on the area around the entrance, cutting the grass and looking after the borders. The dig for victory and flower bed around the air raid shelter required a lot of work. It all looks good now, thanks to her hard work.
We spent a few days in Sussex visiting a couple of national trust properties, Up Park and Petsworth. The real pleasure is the grounds. We have started to carry a tree book with us in an effort to learn how to idenyify them. At Up Park we were not confident that our identification was correct so we ask the gardener, he confirmed. He then pointed to another tree saying ” whats that”? He would not tell us, we had to work it out.
We also visited Marwell Zoo, umn. Not sure about zoos anymore.
We are about 440 k from the channel ports. The plan is to leave here on Tuesday and take two days to reach Dunkerque, a steady journey. We have booked a ferry early Thursday morning and are looking forward to seeing family and friends. This will be the last blog for this trip, (other trips are planned or being planned).
Jan and Keith.
Pont la Briare, an aqueduct spanning the Loire river. Just for a change Eiffel did the stone work on this one, not the metal work. At 662 metres long, the longest in Europe.
A town of canals and rivers that boasts 131 bridges. It appears in the tourist information as Venice in the Gatinais, not quite but still worth a visit.
We are currently at Sully sur Loire on a site next to the Loire river, it is a huge pitch with a pleasant view across the river.
Today, Monday, we went for a circular, ish, tour. The idea was to have a look at the countryside and some towns on route. This part of France is very rural the main industries are agricultural or related, including grape vines.
In the days of wine lakes and butter mountains some governments advocated major changes to the common agricultural policy. France was the main stumbling block, it was said that there were so many farmers in France that any political party who supported change would commit political suicide. Some of these farms are small and continue to use machinery that in the UK would be in museums or on show at places like the great Dorset.
Anybody looking for old tractors or implements might want to consider France as a source.
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