Jurassic coast and Jersey

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Trip start
June 14, 2021
Jurassic coast and Jersey Traveler
Getting ready for first holiday
June 11, 2021 in England ⋅ ☁️ 21 °C
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Drive to Lulworth Cove
June 14, 2021 in England ⋅ ☀️ 21 °C
We got away in good time this morning but by the time we got near to the south coast around Southampton the traffic was crazy. Stopped on the way to visit Kingston Lacey but it took us three hours to get there. It's a huge country house now owned by the national trust, and the biggest collection of Egyptian artefacts in private hands, as well as a fine collection of paintings. There wasn't as much Egyptian stuff as I thought but what there was is very fine. Most of the paintings are not currently on display - covid you know!

When we got to Lulworth it was just packed, I guess lots of people had the same idea. And the hotel was, shall we say not up the standard we are used to. All in all we were pretty grumpy.Read more
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Durdle door
June 15, 2021 in England ⋅ ⛅ 18 °C
Feeling better today. We had a really good meal in the hotel last night and slept really well then this morning (after a full English !) We walked all morning along the Dorset coastal path to Durdle Door. It was three hours and pretty steep in places. Just reminded me how unfit I now am, but it was a good workout and although there were still hoards of people on the path and at the site, we came back on an inland path and had it to ourselves. This afternoon we just relaxed and watched the queens tennis.Read more
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Jurassic coast and Jersey Traveler
Corfe castle
June 16, 2021 in England ⋅ ⛅ 20 °C
A quick 20 minute drive this morning and we were at Corfe Castle. This was built by the Normans in the 11th century, but probably on a Saxon wooden stonghold, and sits on a spectacular hill top commanding a prime pass through the downs. It's now almost completely ruined but still very much worth a visit. It's also on the the swanage and Corfe castle steam railway so that was a must visit as well. After a run down on the train from Corfe castle to Swanage, and a icecream on the front by the beach we got the train back up to Corfe castle in time for a cream tea!Read more
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Maiden castle and Dorchester Roman house
June 17, 2021 in England ⋅ ☁️ 16 °C
About half an hour's drive west of Lulworth is Maiden castle, a HUGE Iron Age hill fort. It's the biggest in Europe and so big that you really can't see it all from the ground- aerial pictures are best. It's been cloudy and a little rainy all day today but when we got to maiden castle the sun came out and it was magnificent. It was built in two phases : the first about 600 BC and covering about 16 acres, then it was tripled in size in 450 BC and covering 47 acres. After that we drove up to Dorchester to look at a well-preserved Roman townhouse with lots of nice mosaic floors, but although you can see through the windows it's closed except for pre-booked entry.Read more
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dorchester museum, dinosaurs and chesil
June 17, 2021 in England ⋅ 🌧 17 °C
After the Roman house we visited the Dorset county museum in Dorchester which is an excellent museum covering the history and archaeology of Dorset from Neolithic times up to the present day, and a great collection of dinosaur fossils from The Jurassic coast. It is really a fine museum and we spent ages just in the Neolithic up to Roman periods. On the way home we crawled through the traffic jams to go and walk on chesil beach, which I remember going to in my youth on a family holiday. We were lucky all day with the weather. It was mostly cloudy but it only rained a bit when we were inside the museum.Read more
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On to Jersey
June 18, 2021 in Jersey ⋅ 🌧 15 °C
We woke up to heavy grey skies and a smattering of rain, and drove to Poole to get the ferry to Jersey. The arrangements all worked fine and the ferry even arrived a bit early in pouring rain. We had to complete comprehensive forms online before we left England and did PCR tests on arrival, and show our vaccination details at the hotel.

We stopped on the way to the hotel to see a really interesting church. It's proper name is st. Matthews, but it's always known as the glass church. Originally built in the1840, it was refurbished in the 1934 by Lady Boot, widow of the founder of Boots of Nottingham in his memory, and filled with beautiful glass work by Renee Lalique, the French art nouveaux/deco designer, and one of my favourite designers.

The hotel is wonderfully positioned right on the beach and if we get a day when it's not raining, it will be really good.Read more
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Castle and passage tomb
June 19, 2021 in Jersey ⋅ ☁️ 16 °C
Out on a promontory on the east coast of the island , this castle was built in the 1300s as defence against the French. The English crown had lost Normandy and the French were threatening to invade. It's a huge, impressive and very fine castle that has been enlarged over the years, especially during the English civil war, when jersey stayed loyal to the crown.

The coast of Normandy is clearly visible from the castle towers.

Inland from the castle is a Neolithic passage tomb, dating from 4000 BC, on top of the tomb is a 40 ft high mound, where a Christian chapel was built in the 12th century, and in which frescos were painted in the 1600s.Read more
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Passage tomb and chapel
June 19, 2021 in Jersey ⋅ ☁️ 16 °C
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A gentle day
June 20, 2021 in Jersey ⋅ ⛅ 16 °C
We had a gentle walk all along the beach and a paddle in the, surprisingly warm , sea in the morning and then, between the tennis and the football, a walk to the end of the beach in the other direction. There are a church dating from the 12th century, and a chapel dating even earlier from the 11th century, and containing stunning frescos of bible scenes.Read more
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Fishermans church and chapel
June 20, 2021 in Jersey ⋅ ⛅ 17 °C
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Rainy day trip
June 21, 2021 in Jersey ⋅ ⛅ 16 °C
This morning we drove in the rain and morning fog all along the west and north coasts. The west coast is pretty much all one long sandy beach, which in the sunshine and a good day would be wonderful, but it's bleak and facing the incoming Atlantic seas and weather, and pretty much no habitation except for surfer shacks. The north coast is rocky with cliffs, sea caves and tiny inlets much like north Devon or Cornwall.

We had a tour booked at a vineyard and distillery near to the north coast, so that was good. the wines didn't impress us much, although the cider and the calvados were good enough for us to buy a bottle or two. And by the time we came out it had stopped raining and the sun was peaking through. On the way home we stopped at "the last remaining working water wheel mill on the island", except although you see how it all worked they only mill grain twice a year.Read more
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Back home
June 22, 2021 in England ⋅ ⛅ 10 °C
Tuesday turned out wet, cold and quite windy so we spent the morning in the Jersey museum in st. Helier. This is a decent museum about the people and history of Jersey and well worth a visit. After lunch a walk around the two central markets and bought some jersey butter and some jersey Royal potatoes. It was still cold and raining so we retreated to a warm coffee shop with comfy seats and waited there till it was time to check in for the overnight ferry to Portsmouth. A good dinner, Some glasses of wine and watching the England match, and we were to leave jersey. The crossing and drive home were uneventful and we were back by mid-morning.Read more
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Trip end
June 23, 2021