We Were On Our Way,

with Steve and Kai,

who kindly gave us a lift, we were on our way to Beer and Seaton, in Devon,

on the way we had a stop,

guess where?

McDonald's of course! Steve and Kai,

'Cheers!', from myself, Diana on the camera,

in a few more hours of driving,

we passed it, Stonehenge, we would call in to visit the site on our way back to London,

we arrived in Beer, this is to be our hotel, The Dolphin,

out of the car,

and into the hotel,

where on the way to reception,

there were a few fairground mirrors, that distort your image,

whilst Steve and myself booked in, the girls relaxed by the aquarium,

a quick pose from Diana,

 then we were off exploring,

along the main street there is a constant flow of water, from the hills above the town, 

a bit of window shopping,

as we made our way down Fore Street,

lots of shops,

looking back towards our hotel,

and one of the pubs in the area,

we were above the beach,

so time for a few photographs,

Diana wrapped up against the cold,

looking down to the beach,

I then spotted these cabbages, or I should say kale,

they almost look like flowers,

the leaves of ornamental cabbages and kale, (Brassica oleracea), have been hybridized to feature rosy and/or creamy white colors, making them look more like large flowers than vegetables, the difference being that ornamental cabbage has plants with smooth leaf margins are considered flowering cabbage, whereas flowering kale has plants with serrated or fringed leaf margins are considered the flowering kales, which are further divided into the "fringed leaved cultivars" (those with ruffled leaves) and the "feather leaved cultivars" (those with more finely serrated leaves),

I carried on taking photographs,

of the coastline,

and boats on the beach,

and naturally,

a few more of Diana,

who was wrapped up,

it really was quite chilly,

time for a break,

well it was exhausting doing all of that possing!

then it was my turn,

'Ta-dah!'

we continued our walk,

along the hilltop,

Diana jumping for joy,

more than a few times,

by now we were a bit higher,

and were joined by Steve and Kai,

the girls decided to go higher still,

I decided against it,

we started making our way downhill,

towards the beach,

a quick pose,

on one of the areas overlooking the beach,

and along it,

unfortunately,

the day was grey and overcast,

but thankfully no wind,

so although it was chilly,

it was pleasant walking around,

of course there is a small fishing industry here, as can be seen from the beachside shop,

lobster pots,

and prices of locally caught produce,

all of that walking was thirsty work,

so a quick one in the bar,

and this is where we will be gong soon, 

the restaurant at our hotel,

the girls ready to eat,

and following a schooner of sherry, a glass of wine for myself,

 for our evening meal Diana choose calamari,

 for Kai a prawn salad,

a crab salad for Steve,

pan fried scallops for  myself,

plus there was a goodly supply of vegetables,

 'Cheers!', 

 from all of us,

 a goodnight smile and we were all off to bed,

 in the morning it was time for breakfast,

we all had a big English fry up,

breakfast over,

we went to one of the beaches further along the coast,

Seaton,

a little bit more windy today,

but still pleasant enough,

for a few photographs,

for the family album,

and of course,

a few of Steve and Kai,

and us,

we were trying to convince ourselves,

it was getting brighter,

but if anything the wind increased,

sending rollers along the beach,

not too near!

 the girls just had to pose,

jump for joy,

and pose again,

looking along the beach,

and then we were off, to Lyme Regis, 

part of the Jurassic Coast, called that because so many fossils are found there,

it is a really quaint village,

with lots of small interesting shops,

and dogs, lots and lots of dogs, if only the owners read this, the bit at the bottom, I have never seen so much dog mess in my life, it was absolutely appalling, which is such a shame as in all other respects it is a lovely place to visit, just do not admire the view too much as you are walking or you will be sorry!

time for a photoshoot,

the angle of the photograph my make this anchor look big,

but as can be seen it was big,

the sign says it all,

by now the sun was trying to break through the clouds,

and nearly did,

this is the outflow of one of the streams that run through the town,

I had to get in on the act,

a couple more,

and we were on our way,

passing the stream that cuts through the town,

one of Diana and Kai,

all along this coast there are sea defences,

the winter storms are fierce,

in the far distance The Cobb, 

Steve and Kai,

and of course us,

by now the wind was picking up,

and there was a distinct chill in the air,

as Diana watched the waves,

one for the road,

and we were off to the Lyme Regis Museum,

it was built on the site of Mary Anning's house,

and what a gem of a museum this is,

covering the natural and local history of the town and coastline,

a model of The Cobb as it was several hundred years ago,

and a really early fire truck of the town,

the museum has a couple of floors,

connected by a central staircase,

which is more scary than it looks,

but I just had to reach across and ring the bell,

the display of fossils is amazing,

many if not all found locally like this one,

also under the cases on view, there are numerous drawers, all well worth looking into,

and I found some I knew, well read about some 55 or so years ago,

the drawer was given over to the work of Jean Louis Rodolphe Agassiz, who was a Swiss-American biologist and geologist recognized as an innovative and prodigious scholar of Earth's natural history,


 Agassiz grew up in Switzerland, and he received Doctor of Philosophy and medical degrees at Erlangen and Munich, and the reason I read up about him?

because at the time I was keeping and trying to breed this little beauty, Apistogramma agassizii, the fish was named after him,

upstairs,

there were more galleries and rooms,

some looking at local history,

I am sure I have a stamp with this picture on it,

going downstairs was worse than going up,

with this spiral staircase,

a really scary looking doll,

also here a children's play/learning room,

this was neat, a microscope,

under which you could rotate a number of dishes with different specimens in,

like this fossil ammonite,

the results that you could zoom in and focus were displayed on a large television monitor,

and this is the image that you can see on the screen,

strange birds that they have here on the Jurassic coast,

visit over,

and a look around town was next,

I am not sure what this building is/was,

but it made a lovely backdrop for a photograph,

we continued our walk,

over the stream,

to the town square with it's clock,

and then up the High Street,

with it's selection of shops,

bakewell tarts, yummy!

clothes shop of course,

some with glittery offerings,

we continued upwards,

this shop selling perfumed candles and other perfumed goods,

no prizes for guessing what this shop sold,

we had arranged to meet Steve and Kai,

by the clock tower, so as we had some time to spare a few more photographs,

and here is the tower,

and a very cold Diana,

we had a walk along a part of the beach,

with their rather nice fossil themed street lights,

then meeting up with Steve and Kai a spot of lunch,

next stop, a drive to The Cobb, and it's lifeboat station, outside a couple of pet dogs made from used Wellington boots

and the life boat ready to go,

the harbour is sheltered by The Cobb, as an aside, if you watched The French Lieutenant's Woman, you will have seen The Cobb in it,

fishing vessels tied to bouys,

with some on land,

low water now,

but still enough for these,

by now it was getting remarkably blowie,

hoods up,

or hair flying,

at the top of The Cobb, it was blowing a gale,

even the birds were having a time of it,

we walked around the inner harbour,

and hoped that the aquarium might be open, but it closes for winter,

somewhere a railway train is missing it's wheels!

we continued walking to the end of the harbour,

getting wet as spray from the waves came over the seawall,

we walked until the wall ended,

and was continued with these huge rocks,

with the sea crashing over them,

all smiles after drying off,


but on the way back we got soaked again!

a bit rough to go fishing today,

but there are plenty of boats,

to chose from in the summer season,

here is a bit of fun, in the distance on a boat a heron was moving,

but it was a fake one, just moving in the wind,

after a walk we will have a coffee here,

but first a walk past these pastel coloured beach huts,

which I am guessing cost a small fortune,

if ever one came up for sale,

making our way back to the public house,

we passed a few more, we met up with Steve and Kai,

and made our way back to the hotel, a change, wash and brush up,

and we were out for our evening meal,

an Indian at the Tandoori Delight,

a quick photograph,

or two,

and time to tuck in,

arriving back to a log fire at the hotel the girls retired,

whilst Steve and myself made use of the bar,

after breakfast and checking out,

we were off to Stonehenge,

and there it is in the distance,

so on to the coach to drop us off near it,

so close now,


and it was bitingly cold,

and so windy,

the cold cut straight through our clothes,

all smiles,

then warm up those fingers!

Diana and Kai,

putting on a brave face,

as we were,

Steve and Kai,

and here we are,

we continued around the henge,

stopping every now and then,

for a photograph,

of the stones from different view point,

and warming up hands,

it was so cold,

but still enjoyable,

it is a place I have passed by so many times but never stopped at,

but I am so glad we did,

onward!

by now we were about a third of the way around,

approaching one of the features,

in the pathway,

and just about here,

is a marker,

  showing one of the Aubrey Holes,

we were by now on the far side,

of the coach stop,

so a quick pose from the girls,

then we continued our circuit,

well we had to get into the picture as well,

Steve and Kai,

a little of what Stonehenge is about,

wth these diagrams,

and explanations,

giving details of the site,

the weather was starting to cloud over,

Diana can hold some of the henge in just one hand,

by now we were on our way back,

about two thirds of the way around,

and soon to cross another marker on the path,

just about here,

the line of the summer solstice,

which many people celebrate,

we had now compleated our tour,

our last look back, then to the coach park,

which had a number of crows looking for food on it,

our coach and the heat it brought with it arrived, they say the ancients were a clever lot, not only building Stonehenge, but bringing the stones for it incredible distances, but if they were that clever, why did they build it so far from the car park that you need a coach to get to it? one of life's unsolved mysteries I guess, we made our way home where Steve and Kai dropped us off, after thanking them for a wonderful weekend, we had our evening meal and watched some television, we are only making one post today as it has taken some time, but hopefully tomorrow we will be back as usual with the unusual bits and pieces, and with that we were off to bed.