Corfe Castle

A trip to Corfe castle and perhaps Studland was planned for today. The images of the castle were not that spectacular I am afraid on the day but we returned another day to get some better ones

Another image, actually taken next day when we passed through on the way to Studland.

The Swanage Railway steam train passed through while we were watching a falconry display at the castle. 

Apparently, there are five steam engines on the line including the Battle of Britain Class Manston and these are regularly rotated so there is always something new to see. About ten special trains a year visit Corfe Castle and Swanage from the rest of England using mainline steam engines. You have to marvel at the feat of operating this 6-mile line. When British Railways closed it in 1972 everything was taken away. Volunteers have rebuilt every metre of track and a lot more besides and nearly 600 volunteers keep the railway going.

Hopes remain high that a regular service will start from the mainline at Wareham in the next few years offering direct connections to the whole UK network. A pilot service will start in 2017.

In the town of Corfe, and after some lunch, we spotted this sign on the wall of the `smallest town hall in England`

The Old Town Hall at Corfe Castle was passed to the Town Trust in 1888 and at that time was already more than 200 years old. The ground floor was built from secondary use of stone from the castle after it was destroyed during the Civil War.

The single story thatched building was destroyed by fire in about 1680 and the present two story structure dates from the early 18th Century when it was the seat of the Mayor and Barons of the Ancient Borough of Corfe Castle with its Charter dating back to Queen Elizabeth I.

Given that the floor area of the Council Chamber is only 350 square feet it claims to be the smallest Town Hall in England

We then followed the road toward Studland with some lovely views of the estuary complete with artist in the foreground.

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We are off to Dorset

The start of our holiday in Dorset included a journey through the New Forest on the way to our destination and base for the week. A stop in the forest for lunch, and we came across this unusual object - The Portuguese Fireplace

The Portuguese Fireplace can be found by the roadside close to Millyford Bridge - 2 kilometres (1¼ miles) from Emery Down, near Lyndhurst, beside the minor road leading towards the Bolderwood Deer Sanctuary.

A plaque explains the presence of the Portuguese Fireplace:

’This is the site of a hutted camp occupied by a Portuguese army unit during the First World War. This unit assisted the depleted local labour force in producing timber for the war effort. The Forestry Commission have retained this fireplace from the cookhouse as a memorial to the men who lived and worked here and acknowledge the financial assistance of the Portuguese Government in its renovation.’

Nearby, a New Forest Pony. Great to this iconic creature on passing through so briefly.

Our base for the week - Winterborne Stickland, Dorset

This was our accommodation for the week, which we found quiet, and rather pleasant.

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A visit to Framlingham

A visit to Framlingham Castle, as we thought Izobelle might be interested - it's amazing the variety of things which grab her interest, and long may it last. Actually, these first three images were taken on a previous visit and I have not included them in a previous post. 

Framlingham castle was built by the Bigods, a powerful Norman family in the 12th century. The first stone buildings at the site were probably the work of Hugh Bigod, 1st Earl of Norfolk (d. 1177). But it was under his successor, Roger Bigod II (d. 1221), that the huge stone curtain walls we see today were built.

In 1213 Roger Bigod II entertained King John at the castle. But by 1215 relations had soured - Roger, along with 25 other barons, challenged the high military taxes levied by King John and forced him to accept the Magna Carta. Enraged, John laid siege to Framlingham in 1216. After two days, the castle surrendered. This loss of the castle was only temporary however - it was later restored to the Bigod

In the 14th century Framlingham passed to the Brotherton family. For some 17 years it was in the hands of Margaret, the daughter of Thomas Brotherton, 1st Earl of Norfolk. Margaret, who was known to have enjoyed a lavish lifestyle at the castle, was a powerful woman of the period and the first to be made a duchess in her own right.

Following Margaret's death, her grandson and heir Thomas Mowbray inherited Framlingham. It was then passed down to the famous Howard family in 1483. Despite the brief period of the Howards tenure, Framlingham underwent substantial repairs during this time.

Through the disgrace of Thomas Howard, 3rd Duke of Norfolk, Framlingham came into the hands of Mary Tudor, elder daughter of Henry VIII in 1552. It was around this time that the castle became the scene of a succession crisis.

Although the catholic Princess Mary had been named Edward VI's heir by their father, the young Edward attempted to surrender the throne to the protestant Lady Jane Grey. Pursued by supporters of Lady Jane Grey, Mary fled to Framlingham to gather her troops.

It was while she was installed at the castle that she received the news she had been proclaimed queen. One of her first acts as ruler was to restore the estates and dukedom to the Howards.

The two images above are views of the castle from across the mere. Apparently, with its surrounding wet meadows and ancient castle backdrop, the Mere is considered by many to be the best view in inland Suffolk. Its wildlife is equally special and the reserve is best known for its sedge beds – a rare habitat in Suffolk – and stream of migrating birds. There is a wonderful show of massed marsh marigolds, delicate ragged-robin and lady’s smock in spring and if water levels aren’t too high, birds like green and common sandpiper and snipe can sometimes be seen.

A build up of silt over recent years resulted in restoration work being carried out by Suffolk Wildlife Trust, Framlingham College and the Environment Agency. This involved removing over 40,000 tonnes of accumulated mud from the Mere to restore water levels and wetland wildlife, pollarding historic trees and planting new ones and improving information for visitors. Wildlife has already responded to the improvement in water quality resulting from the restoration.

The castle from the grounds, to give an idea of its imposing presence.

  

The inner court from the wall walk.

So, lunch finished, lets play football. Izobelle just missed this one!

Now I am confident, I will take on Mummy!

I like the look of these slopes for rolling down.

Come on grandad, you do it like this.

Then mummy has a go.

I think she enjoyed it!

Meanwhile nanna did the sensible thing and supervised from the sidelines. It was a fun day and enjoyed by old and young.

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Wild flowers June 2015

In the fields and on the roadsides can be seen a huge variety of beautiful flowers. It seems to be a policy these days to sow the roadsides with insect loving flowers - something I really appreciate.

One of my favourite displays these days is of the Ox-eye Daisy which has made the roadside verges around Stowmarket and Hadleigh, really beautiful.

Papaver somniferum, commonly known as the opium poppy or breadseed poppy, is a species of flowering plant in the family Papaveraceae. It is the species of plant from which opium and poppy seeds are derived and is a valuable ornamental plant, grown in gardens. There appears to be a large number of them this year.

Wild Orchid on Ballard Down

Another poppy, this time the Yellow horned-poppy Glucium flavum.

 Red Clover

Foxglove (Digitalis purpurea) to finnish with, just a glimpse of the beautiful plant life around this month

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Winnie the Pooh and Glamping

What about a try at Glamping? Well, it sounded fun so why not give it a try? So off to the heart of Sussex, and here are a few images of the first couple of days.

Our Bluebell Shepherds Hut on the Wapsbourne Manor Farm campsite (Wowo for short) in Sheffield Park, Uckfield - the heart of Sussex. Near enough to Winnie the Pooh country, which was the main reason for visiting this part of the country, and also to enjoy other parts of the Ashdown forest.

Some views of the interior of our Shepherds Hus, cramped, but on a lovely site. The site was quite empty while we were there, but could cater for a large number of people with facilities for workshops and concerts etc. 

There were all sorts of vans to hire, this being one of the many dotted around the site. 

Site of A A Milne memorial 

We followed one particular walk in the Ashdown Forest to see some of the places associated with Winnie the Pooh, but were a bit disappointed as they were very overgrown. However, we did find the memorial plaque for A.A. Milne and E.H. Shepard, the author and illustrator (respectively) of the world-famous Winnie-the-pooh books. The memorial is placed on Gills Lap in the Forest. The Ashdown Forest inspired much of the Winnie-the-pooh world. A lot of the geography and place names in the books are taken from the Ashdown Forest. For example, Gills Lap in the book is is called "Galleons Lap, the Enchanted Place at the very top of the forest". 

The plaque reads: 

"and by they came to an enchanted place on the very top of the Forest called Galleons Lap" 

HERE AT GILLS LAP ARE COMMEMORATED A.A.MILNE 1882-1956 

AND E.H.SHEPARD 1879-1976 

WHO COLLABORATED IN THE CREATION OF "WINNIE-THE-POOH" 

AND SO CAPTURED THE MAGIC OF ASHDOWN FOREST AND GAVE IT TO THE WORLD 

Looking up through the trees 

The Folly Bridge in Chelwood Vachery 

Chelwood Vachery is an early-20th-century garden, laid out in 1906 by Leonard Rome Guthrie as the setting for a mansion by architect William It has a series of terraces descending to a water garden and surrounding arboretum with rhododendron walks. Further water features comprising a spring-fed gorge with waterfalls and a chain of lakes were constructed in the woodland from 1925 by the landscaper Gavin Jones. This was an area we chose for one of our walks. 

Another view of the Folly Bridge 

Swirls in the water 

Part of the spring-fed gorge with waterfalls. Not at its best when we were there, but nevertheless, a pleasant walk.

Nutley Post mill - A wind powered corn mill 

A small post mill located on the edge of Ashdown Forest, Nutley Mill was restored by a band of skilled volunteers between 1968 and 1972 and has since been maintained in full working order by the Uckfield & District Preservation Society. The mill is one of five remaining open-trestle post mills in the country. The centre post of the mill has been dated by dendrochronology (tree-ring dating). It was shown to have begun life as an acorn in 1410 and was eventually felled in the mid-16th century. 

The mill is clad with brown weatherboarding and a simple tailpole and talthur are employed to turn the mill body into wind. One pair of sails (known in Sussex as 'sweeps') are of the spring-shuttered type and the other pair are common sails, manually spread with canvas. In operation, each sail must be stopped at its lowest point to allow the shutter tension to be adjusted or the canvas to be spread across the sail frame. The sails are mounted on stocks at the head of a cast-iron windshaft which carries both head and tail wheels. Both wheels are of the wooden clasp-arm type. The millstones at the rear (tail) of the mill are of Derbyshire Peak and the headstones are of French Burr. A flour dressing machine, also on the millstone floor, is driven via a layshaft by the tail wheel. 

There is a storm brewing! And it sure did rain for a while. 

Trees and flowers on Broadway Amble - the official name for our walk on another day. 

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Family Fun at Rendlesham Forest

Rendlesham Forest is a great place for walks if you want to get closer to nature. It is a place we visit most years and today the family descended onto the forest to see what fun could be had.

One of the first things we tried was rounders, with pine cones being the ball - great fun!

Emily tries her hand at another game on site.

Even the adults are allowed to be a bit silly

Emily in playful mood.

Emily was very good on the zip wire.

Izobelle needed a help from mum but loved it anyway.

Finally we all sat down to a well deserved picnic. A great day which everybody appeared to enjoy.

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