Follow the path to the first point of historic interest.
He was the first Briton to be killed in an aeronautical accident with a powered aircraft, when the tail of his Wright Flyer broke off during a flying display in Bournemouth. He was aged 32.
Nearby is the popular Hiker Café, popular with the many dog walkers, but as we discovered when we went with my friend’s dog on a very windy rainy day, dogs are not allowed inside the café. Plenty of seating outside and very pleasant inside. Considering how many places let dogs in you might be surprised, but with the strong possibility of dogs getting wet and muddy you can see their point! A short walk takes you to the visitor centre where you can see the history of the headland back to the busy days of the iron age.
‘Long before the arrival of the Romans, Hengistbury Head was a thriving trading port. Some have commented that Hengistbury Head was probably the first urban settlement in England. It was without doubt one of the the most important sea ports in the the whole of England.’
Reassuring to know nature can take back urban areas.
It’s time to make our way up.
Did you guess anything about this monolith in Friday’s blog?It was hard to find anything about it; alas it is neither ancient nor extra terrestrial, but still interesting.Created by sculptor Briony Marshall in 2016.
‘Layers of Bournemouth is a rammed earth sculpture that invites passers-by to slow down and contemplate the beauty and age of our precious natural world.‘
Time to walk up to the top and enjoy the views of Christchurch Harbour..
Then return another way for sea viewsas the short winter day draws in.
You would have had time to walk further if you hadn’t stopped for coffee and cake at the café! Come back another day to explore more.
PS At one stage Henry George Selfridge bought Hengistbury Head with plans to build a magnificent castle. Fortunately the plans never got off the ground.
Have you been here, or do you have a favourite hill or iron age fort to walk round?
No holiday is complete without steps, not the steps your Fitbit counts, real steps you climb to reach a destination, a view you would otherwise never see.
Visitors to Paris head for Le Tour Eiffel, as those of us doing Duolingo like to call it. Why do we give it an English name when we call other famous Paris locations by their proper French names? Anyway, last century found us in Paris with the children and arriving at Le Tour Eiffel we noticed one ’leg’ had no queue, this was where to climb the stairs. Alas one can only take steps to the first and second floor, the public are not allowed on the final flight for safety reasons and take a lift. Still, we climbed up 674 steps and felt we deserved the view of Paris spread before us, so different from London, white buildings laid out geometrically.
We have also been up the Blackpool Tower, half the height of Eiffel, but it does have a famous ballroom, where countless steps have graced the floor.
Sometimes steps are the reason for the holiday. We were watching a programme about Whitby, on the Yorkshire coast, or perhaps it was a programme about Dracula. We instantly decided Whitby would be our next holiday destination so we could walk up the 199 steps. There have been steps here since at least 1340 when Pilgrims would climb wooden steps to Whitby Abbey.
In 1774 they were replaced by stone. Nowadays they are famous for their appearance in the real Dracula story by Bram Stoker. Dracula’s ship, with the crew all dead, was wrecked at the foot of the cliffs and Dracula, in the form of a black dog, runs up the steps to the graveyard of Saint Mary’s church.
As well as the church you will find the ruins of Whitby Abbey, an iconic sight whether you are down in the town or out at sea. It is worth the saunter up the steps to look down on the harbour, river and town. Whitby turned out to be a good place for a holiday with beaches, the quaint old town and plenty of Dracula souvenirs. We have been there several times and up and down the steps numerous times.
There are plenty of other places to visit with opportunities to climb winding narrow steps. Take your choice from castles, cathedrals and lighthouses.
Lincoln is a great city to visit with the added bonus of the iconic narrow street called Steep Hill which you climb to visit the cathedral as the pilgrims did long ago. They did not have the lovely shops, cafes and bars to visit along the way. Conveniently close to the beautiful cathedral is the castle. Climb the steps to walk all round the castle walls.
Durham Cathedral can be seen for miles around and is one of the wonderful views from the East Coast mainline.
When we went there ten years ago a small door led to one of the two western towers, climb up this tower, then walk across to the central tower. This long gallery was where the defibrillator was kept, which hopefully you would not need if you had read the dire warnings about not climbing if you have a heart condition. The lovely views were well worth the climb.
The fun with lighthouses is the design that makes the winding stairs narrower and narrower as you ascend. Portland Bill lighthouse stands at the rugged tip of the Isle of Portland, Dorset and its red and white bands make it a popular subject for photographers. You can have a guided tour to take the 155 steps to the lantern room.
In contrast, the old black Dungeness lighthouse suits the bleak landscape of vast stretches of shingle, home to nuclear power stations. When we climbed on two occasions I did not step outside onto the narrow balcony; opening the narrow door the wind nearly ripped it off its hinges.
For a modern experience we visited Swaffham in Norfolk. We went there some years ago and looking it up brought back happy memories, but when I reached the end of the article a note had been added to say it was permanently closed! Here is what we saw and what you will miss…
‘The Swaffham wind turbine, located at the Green Britain Centre, is the UK’s first megawatt-class wind turbine and offers a unique opportunity for visitors to climb to its viewing platform. It was built in 1999 and stands at a height of 67 meters, with rotor blades measuring 66 meters in diameter. It has a power capacity of 1.5 megawatts (MW). The turbine is notable for being the only one in the UK that allows public access to its viewing platform, which is located just below the generator. Visitors can climb 305 steps to reach the top, where they can enjoy panoramic views of the surrounding Norfolk countryside. The climb provides a unique perspective on wind energy production and the scale of the turbine itself.’
It was a unique experience. Safely behind presumably strong glass we watched the blades gracefully glide past.
I don’t have to go on holiday to find ancient steps. Here is the familiar Christchurch castle and nearby at the Priory are hidden steps leading to St. Michael’s Loft Museum.
You find a little door and go up one side, then sensibly go down the stairs at the other side. We visited once years ago, then the door seemed to disappear… but I found it again last year. If you want to visit, check the website for opening hours.
What Iconic steps have you climbed? If you don’t like steps, can they be avoided?
You can go up the Eiffel Tower by lift.
A bus takes you to the cliff top where Whitby Abbey is.
You can just drive up to the historic part of Lincoln. When we were at the castle last year there was a lift operating, not that we used it! BUT looking up their website, maintenance means access to the wall is by the spiral stairs only.
Turn left to go back to the beginning. Where have you been? How many ducklings did you spot and how many duckings did you see? ...and where is the coffee shop?
I found 33 out of 45 mermaids’ tails, nearly three quarters, then ran out of time, though some were way off my bus or walking routes anyway. Some people apparently snapped them all on the first day! There was plenty for children to do at the farewell event, from games to painting their own tails. The whole event must have taken a lot of planning and a lot of artists. The final part will see all the tails auctioned off.
Scrambled and bloggled words looking back on the week.
Why not go off on a Mermaid Tail Trail, which would be more environmentally friendly than blasting off in a toy rocket for eleven minutes. How does the all women ‘crew’ who presumably didn’t know how to steer it let alone orbit, inspire girls?
Valentina Vladimirovna Tereshkova is the real heroine. She was the first woman in space, having flown a solo mission on Vostok 6 on 16 June 1963. She orbited the Earth 48 times, spent almost three days in space and is the only woman to have been on a solo space mission.
At least one person has been enjoying dipping into my new book with their coffee and cake. Actually it is my sister in Australia, but Amazon don’t know that, so how come Amazon would not let her post a review?!
It has been a long while since I reviewed books, well not just in my head… and back when I was reviewing, Amazon constantly rejected my reviews. I posted them in my Sunday Salon blog, but obviously the authors would want them on Amazon. When I recently finished reading an excellent book by a member of our writers’ group, I warned him about review problems, but hey presto, I soon had the email to announce it was live. This inspired me to write long overdue reviews for the other three published writers in our group and as a handy experiment to see how many reviews Amazon accepts. Two went live straight away, while I heard nothing about the third. What to do, it’s enough to give any writer a complex. Thankfully THREE days later I got the good news email.
So here are my reviews, take the opportunity to have a look at the very different books we write.
Times and Tides of a Beachwriter 