Pippa, Rod and I decided to head off for a few days together. It was the first break we had had together since Rod returned from Australia. Katharine was off to a conference for the weekend so someone had to look after her dog Maisie. Thus I was the candidate so I got Pippa and Rod to drive me to Culmstock in Devon for the weekend. In return I allowed them to come with me to Corfe Castle in Dorset for a few days on the way back to London.

The drive over was a disaster. Not for us per say but the amount of road works turned what is normally a 4 hour drive into an all day affair. As Pippa was not so well when we left, Rod was driving. All was fine until just out of Andover in Wiltshire when the trip ground to a 10 mile/hour crawl for nearly and hour.

As we passed Stonehenge I imagined it was probably built quicker than this road. But perhaps I exaggerate.

Eventually, as the sun began to set, we got into Culmstock. Katharine nicely had left the fixings for dinner and a fire ready to light. Maisie was manic as usual and I calmed her down by running stupidly around the back garden with her. But I grew bored of playing with another dog and decided to seek out Pippa and Rod.

Not hard they were cooking dinner and lighting the fire. Maisie, of course, hid all her toys and even attempted to put 2 tennis balls and a pheasant in her mouth at the same time. Now that is just silly, but she is a Springer puppy.

Culmstock was just a few days pottering about, reading, having breakfast at the corner shop & walking around the village. Katharine returned on Sunday evening and we were all glad to see her. Dinner that night at the Beambridge Pub.

On Monday we headed for the coast at Lyme Regis. I, of course, was perfectly behaved on the beach while everyone else was just silly. We walked out the Cobb so Rod could have his "French Lieutenant's Woman" moment. Katharine and Pippa chatted away merrily, so much so Pippa was asking where some of the photos where taken.

We left there, travelling our separate ways. Katharine and Maisie home to Culmstock and us 3 off further along the coast to Corfe Castle in Dorset. This town is a very original castle town from the time of the Saxons and Vikings. We settled into the B & B called Bankes Arms, named after the family who owned the castle after Elizabeth I sold it in the late 1500's. The family were ousted by Oliver Cromwell during the revolution and the castle was them bombarded by Cromwell's men. Hence their are only ruins left. However the Bankes family have been in legal wrangles to acquire their property from the estate back from the government.

On our first day we walked along 'Nine Burrows Down' to Swanage. This was on the advice of some couples we met at dinner the previous night. It was blowy up on top. Of course I sensibly have a permanent fur coat, while I was continually held up by Rod and Pippa oning and offing their jumpers and scarves every few hundred metres. Really humans should just grow fur and go naked...hang on according to Darwin they once did.

At the Swanage end on the burrow ridge we were further delayed by the stupidest animal on the plant. A sheep had got out of the paddock and was running down the path away from us looking for another gate. Really, as a Border Collie, I know they are the most stupid animal.

Finally down in Swanage and into a warm cafe where Rod and Pippa further removed some layers of clothing, why they bother I don't know, and we had Ploughman's Lunch and pasties. After which we did some souvenir shopping for Loic and George and caught the bus back to Corfe Castle. Rod sat me right near the heater on the bus so I had to put up with an uncomfortable blast of hot air in my nether regions.

Dinner at the pub again that night and a game of Carcassone by the fire. And a regrouping for the castle the next day.

The castle ruins are National Trust (which we joined). They have re-enactments there through the year, but on this day there were a couple of the tents but otherwise just a walk around the ruins. The castle has a checked past. It was built for William the Conqueror and served as a bastion, a prison, a palace and home. Elizabeth I sold it to the Bankes family who occupied it until the revolution. Lady Mary Bankes held out a siege while protecting the royalist in support of Charles I but was betrayed and lost her castle. Oliver Cromwell then ordered its destruction.

It was really interesting walking around the site and imagining life in the castle. Pippa insisted on perching me on some cold stony wall for photos. The things I put up with just to get food and a walk.

The following day was a leisurely drive to Poole and Bournemouth. Poole was a quick trip as there is nothing to do in this town at all. But Bournemouth proved better. We parked and strolled to the esplanade and found a restaurant overlooking the Ocean?, Sea? Channel? random body of water off the south coast of England? Another long walk along the beach and back to the car for a drive through the country side and a few sandwiches for dinner and a quiet drink in the bar of the Bankes Arms.

It was a great few days away and with a quick stop in New Forest on the way home and an even quicker stop in Canada to show Dan and Laura they were not the only ones there...eh!