Portland/Weymouth England

We docked at Portland harbour, next to Weymouth, right in the middle of the Paralympics. Weymouth is the site for all sailing related sports for the Olympics and Paralympics.  The security was impressive, from soldiers everywhere to a huge British battleship parked in the harbour. 

Paralympics sailing race

 Portland/Weymouth, in the county of Dorset, is spectacular. The harbour is packed with sailing boats of all shapes and sizes.  The city rises up from the harbour and overlooks the area, which is very old, having been settled more than a thousand years ago.

Portland Harbour

Gail escorted a tour that travelled through the Dorset countryside to Cerne Abbas, a village located in the valley of the River Cerne and established around a Benedictine Abbey founded in 987.  Above the village is a hill figure of a man carved from the bedrock, called the “Rude Man”,  that is 180 feet tall. Unfortunately, most of the figure was overgrown with grass since the area has had a huge amount of rain this year. After a visit to the village, the tour continued along quiet country roads to Minterne House, the home of the Churchill and Digby families since 1620. Surrounding the house are 1300 acres of Dorset countryside.  Inside the home were interesting paintings of past occupants, the Churchill tapestries, and a large variety of antique furniture. Gail loved this “house” and the magnificent gardens, still home to the Digby family, and only open for specially arranged tours.

Gail at Minterne House

Minterne "House"

A small part of the Gardens

John escorted a tour to Sherborne and Sherborne Castle.  After driving through the picturesque countryside, and getting lost for more than 30 minutes, thanks to our guide who was not very familiar with the area, we arrived at the village of Sherborne, where sits the famous Sherborne Abbey. The Diocese of Sherborne was created in 705 AD with initial construction of this abbey beginning approximately in the year 800, some 13 centuries ago. The Abbey is an enormous stone building with an incredible “fan” vaulted roof. When you walk into the cathedral, the ceiling is so high that, in looking up, you get dizzy.  As a result, they have placed a mirror at waist height so you can view the ceiling by looking down! After the Norman conquest, the Bishop of the Diocese was moved to Sarum (Salisbury) and the Benedictine monks moved in and remained there until 1539 when the monks surrendered to Henry VIII.

Part of Sherborne Abbey

Fan ceiling of the Abbey

 

Next, we travelled to Sherborne Castle, built by Sir Walter Raleigh in 1594.  After Sir Walter lost his head in the time of James I, the Castle was purchased from the King by the Winfield Digby family who have lived there since 1617. This is a superbly maintained castle with many original furnishings and artwork in place. The guide took excruciating time describing each piece of furniture and art in great detail.  It took more than one and a half hours to view eight rooms of the castle.  John, bored out of his mind, was not a happy person by the end of the tour. 

Sherborne Castle

Raleigh's kitchen

The drive back took us through several small villages with homes that have thatched roofs. We also drove past Prince Charles’ estate which has an experimental habitat that he has developed to provide housing for the average person.  Quite frankly, it looks like a mall development and doesn’t fit into to the Dorset countryside.

Typical home with a thatched roof

Prince Charles' housing development

We then returned to the ship, over an hour late, to spend some time doing inventory of our art supplies. The next day would be in Guernsey, our last stop in England before returning to Dover and then flying home.