This was the holiday that was (partly) paid for by the cancellation of the singing holiday. I had chosen three nights, so 2 days of walking, at Lulwoth Cove. This was partly because it is my closest hf house – only 1½ hours drive away, so ideal for a short break – and I was also curious to see if the hotel had improved since last year.
There were no problems getting there and the hotel had changed and did seem improved. The area manager was in charge so all the staff were up to scratch and the food was good and up to standard. As I arrived mid week I was a bit surprised that they still had the welcome cream tea at about 4.30 and also the introductory walk at about 5.00. Ate too much and did do the walk even though it was the same as last year – but then I needed to walk off the tea a bit, before the evening meal, which was a barbecue as the newcomers, like me, would not have had a chance to choose a meal from the menu. There were quite a few people who came half way through the week and about half of them were new to hf as well.
In the evening there was an “outdoors” quiz, with various activities, but I had a look at it and opted out – partly because it was supposed to be in teams and I hadn’t sorted out who wanted team members and partly because I thought it was beyond my capabilities!
The second day, Thursday, I opted for the easy walk as usual. We were last off the coach at Langton Matravers and headed for the coast.
We then walked down to Dancing Ledge, which used to be a quay for the boats taking away the rocks from the quarries. I think it was called Dancing Ledge because of the way the waves “danced” on the rock. We had elevenses there.
We continued along the coast, and noted some of the flowers, which we decided must be knapweed, but with very short stems because of the wind/proximity to the sea/other environmental conditions? We passed……
……..until we came to Durlston Castle. This was built in Victorian times, specifically as a tourist attraction. There were good views and we had lunch there. Probably the most noticeable thing was the large stone globe. The stone was quarried locally, transported to London to be made and the 14 (I think) pieces transported back again!
After lunch we headed towards Swanage……
…….getting good views of…….
…..and distant views of ……
We walked along the front …….
…..and then had time in the town for a cup of tea and a wander before the coach picked us up.
In the evening we had the hf quiz. My team were not brilliant, but we didn’t come last, which was encouraging!
The next day I again chose the easy walk (what a surprise) and we got off the coach first, for a change. The first part of the walk was through the countryside, past clumps of trees and around the edge of hills. We reached the coast at …….
…….and had elevenses in……
…….which overlooked the sea. We looked round the church before we left – they do have services there, about once a month.
We then went onto the coastal path with the sea on one side and downland on the other.
There were wild flowers – toadflax, harebells, scabious among them – and butterflies and birds. It was very enjoyable on a lovely sunny day. We saw a crow chasing off a kestrel, in a place where our easy walk deviated from the coastal path, so as to avoid some of the ups and downs. The route wasn’t that clear and in one place we could only get back onto our path by climbing a quite high gate. Some of the older walkers did well to do that! We then saw an enormous toadstool.
We had lunch at a place called “Scratchy Bottom” (I think), overlooking Durdle Door. The sun was hot, the view wonderful and at one point a kestrel hovered almost over us and maybe about 10 foot up? It was great and the only trouble was that we spent too long there and the ground was hard………
When we eventually moved on we saw……..
……and were not only able to all walk past it, quite close, and …….
……but we even saw it fly a short distance, catch something small, return to the post and stay as we moved on and other people came to photograph it too.
We then walked on to……
and passed it……
……and then back to Lulworth Cove.
As we had plenty of time, I could get an ice-cream and then worked on my “art work” for the “Pathways Fund”. We were given pieces of paper with this shape…..
…….and could, if we wanted, make it into a picture. These were then put out for others to see and people put money on them for the fund. The “winner” (no prizes, just the glory!) was the one with the most money. I decided it was a vase and collected petals and grass etc. to make this picture.
I thought it was quite good for someone with as little artistic talent as me. What is more, it came third! Someone thought I had used crayons and missed the fact it was petals stuck with sellotape. I think the winner made the shape into a teddy bear – but that really was artistic.
The evening was the party, with people doing their “turns” – mostly poems – and with country dancing.
The next day was the usual packing, goodbyes and then home.
So a good holiday? Yes, certainly. Too much good food (put on 1½ kg in 3 days!), good walks, interesting things to see, wonderful weather and good company. What more can one want?