Advertisement
Published: October 1st 2022
Our Last Cat Sitting in the UK
with Tabs and Jess in a very comfortable homeThe last cat sitting that we agreed to while in the UK was for two lovely cats, Jess and Tabs, owned by Patricia and Chris. They live in Parkstone which is a suburb of Poole. We learned that as the strike days for the train were scheduled for the day before and the day after, there might be changes to the schedule on the day in between which is when we were traveling. Fortunately, we found that even though some others were cancelled or delayed, ours was only a few minutes late. We were glad as Patricia had offered to pick us up at the train station so we could meet them, the cats and get a tour of the house before they left on their vacation. Always a nice bonus for us all to meet each other in person and not just on video calls.
We had been told that Jess would make friends with us quickly which was indeed true, but Tabs was a little distant at first, but after a couple of days she was more than willing to come for a scratch or a cuddle. They actually have a cat door with a microchip so that
only their cats can come in and out – really a nice feature and made it much easier for us with them being able to come and go as they please – a nice bonus!
We found that we could travel to neighboring towns from here easily by bus, so definitely took advantage of that fact. Knowing we were in a suburb of Poole; we knew we had to get to Poole itself. It was not the best of days as it was definitely overcast and cooler yet by the coast, but glad we went. We didn’t have any real plans except for wandering around, however, I had read that they did have a few different boats that took people out on various trips around the harbor or along the coast. As we haven’t been out on the water for a while, we decided seeing the coastline from the water would work out well so booked a trip to see the Jurassic Coast. For those of you that haven’t heard of the Jurassic Coast it is actually listed as a World Heritage Site. It is a 96-mile-long coastline running from Exmouth to Studland on the south coast of the
A Foggy/Misty Day on the Water in Poole
added to the views along the Jurassic Coast UK. It is called the Jurassic Coast due to the cliffs that contain fossils from that time period (200-145 million years ago). There are walks along the clifftops that you can take which we had contemplated, but decided that with the limited time we have in the area we wanted to visit a few other towns so doing this part of the coast by water was a good alternative.
The skies were quite grey and the mist was thick in some areas, but it actually added to the alure of the coastline with its stunning white cliffs made of limestone (chalk) and sandstone. The two- hour boat tour takes you out of Poole harbor and makes a short stop at the village of Swanage. We did not book the tour that allowed us to get off in Swanage, but some did so they could visit the village and return on another boat OR start the walk along the clifftops (hopefully you can see some of the people walking on top in some of the photos). It was definitely a chilly day and we didn’t dress appropriately so a hike would have been a good way to warm up, but
as we hadn’t researched the walking trail and how long it would take, we didn’t partake of that activity. I was hoping to plan another bus trip to a mining museum near Swanage so thought we could do some of the hike that day. Unfortunately, we found that the museum has closed so didn’t make it back to this area. I’m sure the hike is a wonderful one, but we thoroughly enjoyed being on the water and seeing the full height of the cliffs as we motored by. One of the more famous formations that we went past is called “Old Harry Rocks” which are actually chalk formations that include a stack and a stump. The story goes that the tall stack by itself is Old Harry but there had been another stack which was called Old Harry’s Wife, but in 1896 “she” tumbled into the sea and you only see the stump that remains. When I looked up the name Old Harry, I found that they say it is a British English informal name for Satan. When researching after we visited, one story says that the devil took a nap on the clifftop and that it why it is
The Castle We Passed on Brownsea Island
was built by Henry VIII to help protect the coast called Old Harry. The other story is that it is named after a pirate, Harry Pays, that had terrorized the area in the 14
th C. No matter how it got its name this 160-foot-high stack of chalk is an impressive sight to see. The boat tour provided narration of what we were passing such as Brownsea Island which is part of the Dorset Wildlife Trust, a nature reserve for red squirrels and numerous birds. Interestingly there is a castle on the island as well which was built by Henry VIII between 1547-1549 to protect the south coast of England. If you wish to see the castle up close you need to take a different boat over to the island and reserve. As we didn’t realize we were going out on a boat that day, we definitely weren’t dressed for it as it was quite chilly, but we are still very glad to have had a chance to see part of this amazing coastline.
The next day we hopped on a bus again from Parkstone and took it to Bournemouth as I had read that there was a music festival going on so wanted to check it out. We found
when we got there that there weren’t many performers, but we got to listen to “Elvis” who actually did quite a good job with the songs of the original Elvis. After walking through the town and enjoying a Cornish pasty for lunch (we discovered them when we sailed on the southern coast a few years ago) we wandered down to the beach area by walking through the lovely lower garden of Bournemouth. There is a lower, central and upper garden as Bournemouth maintains 20% of its area as parks. The lower garden runs for 1 ½ miles and ends at the beachfront. The park is filled with formal floral gardens, an aviary, bandstand and holds numerous events. While we were there, they even had a large screen showing cartoons to kids sitting on blankets in the park and an art exhibit going on close by. If you feel like playing miniature golf that is an option here as well. The gardens started in 1871 with various improvements over the years, but has kept to the original design for the most part.
As you enter the area near the beach you first come to the amusement area complete with a
Ferris wheel and plenty of places to eat and drink. They also have a nice size aquarium which we did not visit. They have a pier that people can pay a small amount to go out on where they have a zipline which everyone we saw seemed to be enjoying. The first pier here was opened in 1880 out of wood, but over the years many changes/rebuilds were necessary so the last rebuild was from 1979 which included arcade and shops.
After wandering along the beach front, we went back through the upper pathway of the garden and saw the aviary with its numerous birds (thankfully we saw a sign that they are changing the design of the mesh so you could actually see the birds better) and wandered through an outdoor art and craft show. This found us back near the music stands so walked on further to see some of the central gardens. Here it widened out some and had more formal gardens and monuments to those that had been lost in the numerous wars. After a pretty full day of wandering, we caught the bus back to Parkstone to the very comfortable home that we are
Old Harry Rocks at Handfast Point
marks the eastern most point of the Jurassic Coast cat sitting in. The two cats here are very laid back, Jess came to us immediately and always is looking for attention, while Tabs opened up to us after she knew that we were more than happy to pet her or brush her.
Christchurch is another town close by that we could get to easily by bus, we just had to take the bus back into Bournemouth and transfer to another bus. Fortunately, you can buy an all-day bus pass so it worked for both bus trips. Soon after getting off the bus, you come to the Christchurch Priory. We quickly looked at each other, and said, why not! As with most churches, over the centuries, the styles change and this is no exception as can be seen by the change in the types of arches. It was originally built in the 12
th C. but in 1402 the wooden spire fell down in a bad storm. In 1480 during the 3
rd renovation, they decided to build a tower instead of a spire and that is what is seen today.
We learned that this town had been called Twynham but was changed to Christchurch due to a miracle that
was said to have occurred in the church. The story about the miracle states that during the construction of the church, they needed a beam for the roof. The crew found out that the beam was cut too short and decided to leave it til the next day to come up with a solution as it is very difficult to find logs that would be long enough to make a new beam. During the construction of the church, many had noticed a carpenter that had been working with them that they didn’t know. He didn’t take meals with them or show up when they were getting paid. When they came back the next morning, they found that there was a new beam in place that was the right length and the mystery carpenter did not show up again. Up until this time the church was called Church of the Holy Trinity, but after this miracle it became known as Christ’s Church of the village of Twynham. As the town grew, they dropped the name Twynham, and it became Christchurch. The original name of Twynham was very appropriate however as it means “town between two rivers” which this clearly is as
it is situated between the River Avon and the River Stour.
I find myself many times reading the markers in the churches for those that have died. Here was no different. I am always amazed at how much detail is provided on the person as well as the family – a dream for those doing family history research. I did take a photo of a couple – one was of a woman that passed away and it was written by her fiancé. Another told of a woman that passed away and through the writing, it provided clues about the person herself. It must be a wonderful find for those trying to find more about their families.
After our visit of the Priory, we headed to the quay where the boats are moored up in the river. They have a lovely green space here with walks along the river, a place to stop for lunch and numerous swans. We did see that they had a boat ride that you could take, but we decided to continue our wanders through the area. Here there was also an old mill (the Place Mill) which has been here since the 1100’s. It
wasn’t open when we were there, but they had an explanation of the history posted which explained how you can tell the various changes over the years based on the construction. The large Saxon stones as the foundation were from the original mill, while higher up the Tudor brickwork was used. Finally in 1874, the Victorian brickwork near the top helps to complete the story and date the various changes to the mill.
In our wandering we came across the Convent Walk which parallels the river Avon and was put in 1911. It led us to the ruins of Norman House which is now managed by the English Heritage. It was built about 1150 and it has one of the oldest intact Norman chimneys still surviving.
We thoroughly enjoyed our time wandering around Christchurch – a very peaceful place with plenty of walkways to enjoy and as always, we always enjoy wandering near the water. This time by the River Avon and the River Stour.
We felt fortunate that our cat sitting in Parkstone, Poole, gave us the opportunity to get to these other towns by an easy day bus trip. We have definitely been
spoiled by the excellent public transport available here in the UK. It has been nice to be able to sit back and relax on trains or buses and not worry about the traffic, navigating the roads or driving on the “other side of the road”!
Advertisement
Tot: 0.477s; Tpl: 0.017s; cc: 28; qc: 47; dbt: 0.1411s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.3mb
