Local Trips and Visitors

Ellen and Tony, from Portsmouth, visited us for the day. It was good to see them. We last saw them in Capetown in February. It was nice of them to bring the South African weather to Ringwood. It was dull the following day!

White Mill, Sturminster Marshall, Dorset

This mill dates from about 1175.

The mill as we see it today was rebuilt in 1776 on very much older foundations, on a site that is older still. Throughout this final incarnation, the tenancy of the mill was held by successive members of the Joyce family.

The present edition of the mill worked under water power until 1866 when a severe winter flood breached the diversionary works in the river so severely that they were deemed beyond economic repair. By this time the miller was also the local baker so, rather than simply closing the mill, he converted one half of it to run from a portable steam engine in order to keep his bakehouse supplied with flour. Commercial milling however appears to have ended with the flood.

We had a tour which was well worthwhile. the inside is larger than it looks.

The bridge, over the River Stour, which is adjacent to the mill is probably a sixteenth century structure. We know from an investigation of the foundations a few years ago, that it stands on timber pilings which have themselves been carbon dated to the twelfth century. This is alleged to be the oldest bridge site in Dorset.


Lady Wimborne Bridge, Wimborne, was built to carry the Southampton and Dorchester Railway over the main drive of Canford House. The railway closed 3rd May 1977.

A geocaching outing with Sue and Bailey in the woods north of Burley.

Bailey with the cache, slightly puzzled by the first item out.

Not one for arachnaphobes.

Going Up - North!

Here we are enroute to the Wirral. We stopped off at Maggie and Andy's for a lovely weekend. The photo was taken at The Tower, Berkley Deer Park. For anyone interested this property can be let - cost unknown.

Sue with her birthday cake - I'm not sure that the number of candles was correct!



Westonbirt Arboretum - Sunday morning walk



We had a very good drive up, without any holdups. The Wirral Country Park Caravan Club site is in a superb location overlooking the Dee estuary. We were lucky enough to get a spot on the front with magnificent views.

When I was a lad, 7 -13 years of age, I lived in Wallasey not too far from the caravan site. Here I am on the beach where I used to play and walk the dog.


This is the open air swimming pool where I went in the summer. It is now a Harvester Restaurant. There used to be 8 open air pools on the Wirral, all are now closed.


Marine drive New Brighton - the model boating lake. There were only big kids with their boats.


Thornton Hough Manor, home to all three generations of Lord Leverhulme (Sunlight Soap). This hidden gem brims with character from its stunning gatehouse entrance, beautifully ornate rooms and famous outdoor bedroom, to its tree lined avenues, sprawling woodland and lake.


Thornton Hough corner shop with attached almshouses. The village is well worth a visit with beautiful buildings all around.

The campsite and a Liverpool visit

Sue's brother Neil was in the UK and managed to find time to come across to the campsite for a meal (at a local hostelry). It was good to see him.

This is our front row position on the campsite.

The cliff below the campsite is made up of boulder clay (leftovers from an ice age) with all sorts of rocks embedded in it. The rocks have been moved by the ice from northern parts of the UK.

Spot the hang glider.

One evening the conditions were right for hang gliders and paragliders to fly past the campsite. They were very close.


Liverpool '08 European Capital of Culture - this was one of the reasons for coming here. They forgot to mention that major building works in tourist areas would not be finished. This is a view from the Maritime Museum of 'the three graces' from the side.


The Albert Dock - it was a very chilly day so not many people were around.

Sue with a statue of Billy Fury. It was the anniversary of his death a few days previously, hence the flowers.


I have to admit to going to the shops. This is the Met Quarter a rather nice indoor shopping mall. There was an exhibition of photos so I was happy.

Moving Window in Liverpool

'Turning the Place Over' consists of an 8 metres diameter ovoid cut from the façade of a building (Old Yates Wine Lodge) in Liverpool city centre and made to oscillate in three dimensions. The revolving façade rests on a specially designed giant rotator, usually used in the shipping and nuclear industries, and acts as a huge opening and closing ‘window’, offering recurrent glimpses of the interior during its constant cycle during daylight hours.

It cost about £450,000.

The camera is hand held and there is background noise from the area (it can be turned off). Not bad for a sub £100 stills camera.

Port Sunlight Village, Wirral

In 1887 William Hesketh Lever, a successful soap manufacturer, began looking for a new site for his factory as his business had outgrown its original premises in Warrington. The site needed to be near to a river for importing raw materials, and a railway line for transporting the finished products. The marshy, uninspiring ground that he discovered was eventually to be transformed into the village of Port Sunlight, which was named after his famous soap.

Lady Lever Art Gallery


Port Sunlight houses


Port Sunlight is a garden village which was founded in 1888 by Lever to house his soap factory workers. In line with his ideas on prosperity-sharing, the building maintenance and upkeep of the village was subsidised with a portion of the profits from Lever Brothers Limited. With his own money, Lever financed the church, technical institute and the Lady Lever Art Gallery. Lever took great pleasure in helping to plan this picturesque garden village and he employed nearly thirty different architects to create its unique style.

Sue at the church


Port Sunlight contains 900 Grade II listed buildings, and was declared a Conservation Area in 1978

War Memorial

Garden of Remembrance

Various Visits

The Eastgate Clock is a turret clock built above the Eastgate of the ancient walls of Chester. Although the original gate was Roman, the present gate was built in Georgian times to allow coaches through. The clock wasn't added until the Victorian era to celebrate Queen Victoria's diamond jubilee. The clock is considered a landmark of Chester, and is the second most photographed timepiece in the United Kingdom


The layout of the Rows (nowadays shops) go back to the 13th century. There were shops or warehouses at street level, with a long gallery above, reached by steps from the street level. Living quarters are on the gallery level. In the Middle Ages this would have been a hall, open to the roof and heated by a central hearth.

Cue for a song - 'Ferry Across the Mersey' we just had to have trip - brings back memories.


Liverpool photographed from Woodside - the Three Graces left to right - Liver Building, Cunard Building, and the former offices of the Mersey Docks and Harbour Board.


On our return from the ferry trip we were going to the transport museum in Birkenhead. Just on cue the museum tram arrived at the Woodside ferry to take us. The tram is not as old as it looks. It is only 10 years old and was brought from Hong Kong hence the low roof.


An interesting information board from one of the bus stations. Double click to enlarge.


Fort Perch Rock, New Brighton was built as a fifteen-gun battery to protect the port of Liverpool , it was completed in 1829. The cost of building the Fort was exactly £26,000 and eight pence. Another wet day.

Fort Perch is now a museum and run by volunteers. It has various displays including a room on the HMS Thetis (submarine) disaster in 1939, aircraft wreck recovery, many wartime uniforms, and a history of local Merseyside people who have a claim to fame.

Here I am in the radio/radar room.

This will be a very good place to be when the Tall Ships enter Liverpool later in the year.

If you wish to see the River Mersey from here there is a live camera - click on this link

That just about covers our trip to the Wirral. Needless to say we did loads of geocaches, plenty of walking and cycling.