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Hi Travel followers/lovers.
This is our latest blog to bring us up to date on where we are and what we have done/experienced over the first week.
After a couple of days exploring London we headed back to Gatwick via the express train to pick up our little hire car and then on towards Portsmouth for a nights stay in a great little B&B booked via Airbnb.
From Portsmouth we travelled on to our first house sit at Martinstown near Dorchester in the south of England. What a beautiful little country town it is and we are so pleased with our choice. In this area, if the building is not 500 or more years old it is "new". Attached are a couple of shots from Dorchester. The church is over 1000 years old. Today we began exploring the surrounding area as there is so much to see and we are only caring for a lovely 17 year old cat called Wallis who pretty much sleeps all the time, but within hours of arriving she was wanting to get up and sleep on our laps. Just beautiful. We also have squirrels running in the back yard.
On our
second day at Martinstown, we walked to Maiden Castle (largest hill fort/castle in the UK) which was built from 500BC (that’s right BC) The scenery from and around the Fort was spectacular and the mind boggles at the size of the place. It is a 2km walk just around the top alone. I can’t imagine how many workers/slaves and how long it took to manually dig out all the hillside battlements which in places are at least 30ft deep. After the walk, breakfast and doing the washing, we then set off in our little hire car to explore the towns to the north, such as Cerne Abbas with its Abbey (built in the late 9th century) and the Giant on the hill (thought to have been created in the 17th century). From there it was on to Sherbourne with another huge Cathedral (built in the 7th century) and Abbey (built in the 9th century) and then walked around and through Sherbourne Castle, built in the 1500’s and has been in the hands of the same family for over 400 years. From there it was on to Shaftsbury and Gold Hill. All these towns are beautiful examples of Medieval architecture and
all are at least 1000 years old. After an arduous days sightseeing, we sat back with an ale in the local pub (the Brewers Arms) and had the Tuesday night curry special for dinner. What a day including walking over 18km!!!!
Day 3 at Martinstown saw us heading in the direction of Durdle Door (reputedly the most photographed rock formation in the UK) and Man O War Beach. From there it was on to Lulworth Castle and finally a real castle including the Lulworth Chapel.
From there it was Corfe Castle apparently built by William the conqueror in the 11th century and the township itself outside the walls of the castle. Then we moved on to Swanage, which is a beautiful seaside medieval town with its stone beaches and long pier. From there it was on to Wareham which is an old Saxon town with a lovely riverside walk.
Day 4 at Martinstown saw us heading for the coast and on the way came across the Osmington White Horse on the hill which apparently was created in 1808 and represents King George III who visited the area regularly, then on to Weymouth Harbour with it's Beaches, Pier and
Northe Fort which has a lot of memorabilia of WWII etc. From there it was on to The Isle of Portland and the Portland Bill with it's lighthouse etc. Just beautiful. We then headed for the medieval town of Abbotsbury and lunch at the Swan Inn before making our way back via the out of the way country roads..
Hope you enjoy the photo's
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