Back in the USSR - I mean the UK

As I started putting together this title, “Back in the UK”, the Beatles song came to mind, so I couldn’t resist using it.

We are now back to Robert’s mother’s side of the family, visiting cousin Patrick in County Dorset, England -a countryside with rolling hills with many tiny thatched roofed villages and hamlets tucked between the cracks of the hills. This is the small hamlet of Frampton, where Patrick lives surrounded by fields. 

We’re staying 10 minutes away in another of cousin Merrily’s homes in the slightly larger village (it has a small church) of Cattistock. We spent several Christmases here and it seems pretty empty without Merrily. Here are a couple of views of the inside and street views of Cattistock.

Their mother did beautiful cross-stitch work and this one where at the bottom she has included all her children, in case you are loosing track: Merrily, James - the youngest, Patrick and John. We will be visiting John on his barge in London later this week.

Today is a “Bank Holiday” of which it seems like there a lot of in the UK. We are happy to be off the road and comfortably tucked into the hills today as the other Britlanders (my word)head home and go back to work tomorrow.

Cattistock Church dates back to at least 1208 when the first rector was appointed. It’s pretty quiet and welcoming. The text over the door reads, “ All people that on Earth do not Dwell, Sing to the Lord with Cheerful Voice, Come Ye Before Him and Rejoice”. a nice sentiment.

In addition to being a cartoonist, Merrily was also an accomplished painter. She painted local scenes, mostly from her car because it’s often very windy up in these hills. 

We enjoyed an afternoon with Patrick where he took us to the heights of Dorset. We could see the landscape from Merrily’s paintings. In the top photo you can see the sea about 20 miles away.

Again we have been fortunate to have had absolutely beautiful weather that is beyond the norm for this part of the world. Sitting at the top of Dorset with Patrick we revived our Florida tans.

That evening Robert pulled out his newly purchased penny whistle and Patrick gave him a few lessons. “The Whistle”, is one of the most popular instruments used in the music sessions in Ireland. Robert decided he must learn how to play traditional Irish music and that this would be the best way to get started. It’s also a hell of a lot easier to cart around compared with his piano! Patrick has been playing Irish music for years and got Robert started.

Patrick took us around the nearby area to see some interesting historical buildings - mostly churches and former monasteries.  There are some very old pieces he showed us and a couple whose dates are unknown and the significance of the characters also unknown.

The first photo shows an old grain storage building that dates back to the Middle Ages. The mushroom shaped stone on the buttom left of the building is known as a straddle stone or toad-stools. They were used to protect the contents from water and pests. According to google, the shape of these stones made it hard for critters to crawl up.  The stairs are probably a more recent addition. Most likely the owner had a ladder to get inside. Patrick said that it’s unusual to see these still connected to buildings. Many have been removed and sold as garden statues.

This church was attached to an old monastery probably dating back to the 12th century. The meaning of the characters around this basin have not been determined. It now looks like a baptismal font.  There is a flattened diagram of all the carved characters.

Here are some random shots of nice buildings, village streets, inns and pubs, as well as more country views.

For the antiquity lovers, here is another old plaque on a church (the church is pictured above) with the explanation.  See if you can find the two “confronting Wyverns” the legendary monsters.