I was going to grumble about stupid people failing to socially distance, but it seems pointless now, we’ll abide by the rules, the idiots will do what they always do.
Instead we have such a lot to describe from today, all wonderful. The other time we were here Brownsea Island was, like all National Trust properties, closed. Although we got within half a mile at the end of Sandbanks, the ferry was strictly for John Lewis Partners, who rent the castle from NT as an hotel.
This
time we’re allowed to visit, but the service runs from Poole quayside,
so that’s where we head after breakfast, taking the delightful path of
the River Bourne from its “mouth” opposite the pier, roughly in the
direction of Poole. It’s a full two-hour route-march and we make it in
plenty of time for the 11:30 ferry.
It was lovely to see Hebridean Sky moored up nearby, last time we saw her was in Antarctica.
Brownsea Island is home to red squirrels, deer, stacks of birds, and wonderful woodland walks, and we have three hours allocated to explore.
A lot has happened here over the years, having being bought, sold and gifted many many times since C9. Most notably in modern times, it’s where Baden-Powel held his first camp, the very start of the Scouts movement in 1907, and during WWII when it was used a a decoy to draw German bombers away from Poole and Bournemouth with huge flares. The bomb holes are now part of the ecology infrastructure.
The island had a pottery in C19 and the ruins of the worker’s houses are all that’s left in evidence, other than broken pots strewn all over the beach on that part of the island, where this jetty was used to transport them.
We cover almost every foot of the pathways, checking each area carefully. Perhaps happily we don’t come across any squirrels in the open, but we catch one on a feeder - they are carriers of human leprosy so best seen at a camera lens distance.
Luncheon at the Scout camp is lovely, just a few sandwiches (NT sandwiches are always good) and it’s hilarious to watch an overfriendly peacock terrorise a family on another bench at the camp (not the one shown here.) He didn’t bother us, although a flurry of rain certainly did, fortunately only a short interlude on an otherwise dry day, despite what the forecast implied.
We press on up and down every path possible including sections on the beach, until we’re back at the quay with ten minutes to spare before the ferry returns us to Poole.
Retracing out steps from last visit we head towards Sandbanks and the the coastal route back to Bournemouth. Time for a G&T!
After dressing for dinner we have drinks with friends in Sheffield on the balcony, then wander over to Neo for a excellent cheese soufflé (apparently the best ever and much better than mine!) crab & crayfish cocktail and chateaubriand.
Comments
Post a Comment