On Saturday we drove out and up and over to Rampisham; it's very high there, and there is a bit installation of radio masts, originally for the World Service I think. It's lovely around there, very much the quintessentially unspoilt Dorset. Where I live is lovely too, but more openly agricultural. We passed through many small villages, largely unchanged for several hundred years; some lovely houses and churches, lots of folk about too, which is good to see. We stopped for a cup of tea in Maiden Newton, where we found a nice charity book shelf in the tea room- I got two lovely books, one on the countryside in poem and prose, from the Country Lady series and a book of Colin Baxcter's photogrpahs of Scotland. Good value too - two big cakes and 5 1/2 cups of tea for only 4.50! lol
We ended up at Cerne Abbas on the way home, via more small villages. I'd enver stopped at the abbey grounds before, so we took the chance. Backa way from the main street, up past a small mill pond and into the grounds. It's all private, but you are allowed to go in and look around, with due respect, ofcourse. The Abbot's Gusst house is still standing, also the Abbot's porch; both look in need of some repair, butt he costs and conservation rules and regs must be daunting I should think! Ther'es little left of the Abbey itself, depsite its huge importance in days past, due to the dissolution of the monasteries. Very interesting place, and the street leading up to it, Abbey Street, has some very old buildings in it, which you can see in the photos; they were originally Medieval shops, but are still lived in. A lot of filming takes there apparently,a nd I imagine the hosues are featured in many a shot.
Well worth a visit if you're in the area, as well as popping along and saying hello to its most famous resident lol
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