Favourites on Friday - Favourite Moments of the Week
Weird sort of week, with my mood up one day, down the next … Tuesday and Wednesday turned out to be ‘up’ days…
On Tuesday, my neighbour ‘kidnapped’ me for a day out in Wimborne. It’s been ages since I’ve been there, the last time must have been at least 5 years ago to visit a friend. I don’t remember having been in the town itself. And such a pretty place it is …
Amazing what they sell in high-end furniture stores!
We were there mainly to shop – my neighbour has a ‘thing’ about charity shops, and there are quite a few in Wimborne. While she was looking through the clothes, finding a couple of bargains, I bought a book in the first shop …
in the second one, I bought another book … because, you know, I don’t have enough!
"A diary is an assassin's cloak which we wear when we stab a comrade in the back with a pen" ~ William Soutar. At over 640 pages, this should keep me quiet for a while ...
Took a few pictures, though not nearly enough …
Wimborne Minster Church as it is today was built by the Normans between 1120 and 1180. I definitely need to go back as it has a chained library! One of only four surviving in the world, apparently, and the second largest in the UK. Also, it holds the tombs of King Ethelred (Alfred the Great’s brother), and those of John Beaufort, Duke of Somerset, and the duchess, the maternal grandparents of King Henry VII.
Had lunch at the quaint, atmosphere-filled Riverside Café, which, apparently, is haunted by the spirit of a 15-year-old girl, Annie. She worked at the mill that had stood there since the 1770s. One day, she came running out of the mill, apparently terrified, tripped and fell into the mill race (the current of water that turns the water wheel) and drowned. The miller denied any knowledge, and had no idea why Annie had been so scared. According to her family, Annie had complained about the miller taking an unwelcome interest in her. They believed that the only reason she’d have run so recklessly from the mill would have been to escape his attentions. The miller denied this, and as nothing could be proved, he was not held accountable. But the locals made sure no other young girl worked at the mill. According to those who’ve seen her, ‘Annie wanders Mill Lane in so disconsolate a fashion that those who see her try to offer help, only for the girl to vanish before their eyes.’ She is particularly attracted to the café, which overlooks the old mill race. In the 1990s, a former member of staff said that they used to see her – a young woman in a long dress – all the time, usually just before they opened or when they closed.
On the way home, we stopped at a craft centre at Walford Mill. I think this used to be a working water-mill from the 1660s, but there wasn’t anything about the history of the place. What I loved most is how clear the water in the river is …
On Wednesday, my niece and grand-niece (from Malaysia) visited :) They’d first travelled to France for my niece’s friend’s wedding, but they ‘popped’ over to the UK to visit family, staying with her cousin in London. They only came down for the day but we made the most of it. Even though my grand-niece is 8, she, Gordon and Liam enjoyed each other’s company – I noticed that the boys didn’t talk down to her or ‘dumb down’ their speech, crediting her with the intelligence to ‘keep up’. They’re proud of the fact that they’re her uncles :) After lunch, we went to town and walked down to the beach; the sea looked absolutely stunning. After being treated to ice-creams, it was time to leave ...
1 little girl + 2 attentive uncles
My niece; 10 years younger than me but does not look old enough to have a child of her own!!
Seagulls hovering on the updraft above the pier
