When we had talked to the family about our tour plans for this year, Erin indicated she was going to be in the UK visiting a friend at the same time and asked if she could tag along with us on part of our tour. The Southwest region was a big drawcard so today after we left Windsor we picked her up in Slough to where she had caught a train from London. After picking up a few provisions from Tesco, we were on our way.
We had a drive of a couple of hours to our first stop at Corfe Castle in Somerset. ·The castle is one of the most iconic survivors of the English Civil War – well not completely as it was partially demolished by the Parliamentarians. The castle ruins wind up the hill above the little village of Corfe. There are vast views across the area from the top of the castle and a steam train passed by the village below us as we left.
We drove further on to Lulworth Cove, a spot famous for its secluded beach in the cove. The walk out to the point above the cove has quite amazing geological formations down to the ocean below. The cove sits along the famous Jurassic Coast of the UK and is a designated World Heritage Site. We had beautiful blue skies and there were plenty of people around and we enjoyed fresh fish and chips for lunch and ice cream in the village as we went back to the car.
Just a short drive away – or a long uphill walk – is a rock formation known as Durdle Door, a rock arch on the edge of the ocean which not surprisingly is one of the most photographed sites on the coastline. It was quite a steep walk down the path to get to it. A walking path – a National Trail – stretches along the coastline for over 1,000 km and runs from Somerset through Devon and Cornwall to its end in Dorset. Durdle Door and back was about our limit for today !
The area is also famous for its limestone chalk figures which sit in the hillsides. Nearby in Dorset was the Cerne Abbas Giant. It stands about 55 metres high and is of a nude male with a prominent erection, wielding a large club and dating back to around the 17th century – they obviously found some weird ways to amuse themselves back then !
Our destination for the day was River Cottage in Axminster, Dorset. Many may know of the TV series with chef Hugh Fearnley-Wittingstall, which also spawned the Australian version set in Tilba NSW. It was a big drawcard for us, especially Adrienne and Erin, as we have watched the various series of the UK version. It now provides the location for accommodation in the cottage as well as the site for his cooking schools. We had the “gardeners cottage” for the night.
We had picked up supplies for dinner and after leaving the car at the top of the hill we were taken down the bumpy road to the cottage in an old Landrover. We explored the gardens and had our dinner admiring the countryside in the late evening sunshine – a great way to end our first day with Erin !