Bridport and Burton Bradstock

Friday 19 August
Drove to Bridport and finally arrived after a few roadworks diversions. The local history centre is of course closed on Fridays, however at the Bridport Museum  we were given contact details to follow up back in Australia. They do have information on Shipton Gorge. It was also suggested that we should try the Dorchester Records Office which we shall also do from home. We had a good look around the museum with the area's well presented history on display.

As the sun was shining when we woke this morning it was decided to go to the beach.

Needless to say it was cloudy by the time we arrived at Burton Bradstock but we still went for a walk along the coastal path and observed how the English enjoy a day at the beach. Some brave souls even go swimming!

We then had an ice-cream and returned to the hotel. Burton Bradstock is only one and a half miles from Shipton Gorge.

West Camel and Sherborne

Wednesday 17 August
Next stop a small village called, of all things, West Camel (named after the River Cam) - staying at the Walnut Tree Hotel.

West Camel is another pretty English Village with the church, All Saints, dating back to the 900s.

There are some recently built homes but many of the buildings are old stone buildings with much character, especially with the background of green fields.

West Camel is near Yeovil and Sherborne. In the afternoon we visited Sherborne to have a look around.

The historical society was closed, of course, so as it was raining, we visited Sherborne Abbey with parts of the building dating back to 705.

It is a beautiful understated building with a major feature being the high fan shaped ceiling, muted colours on the walls near the altar and the magnificent windows.

We had a discussion about the building and challenges with researching history with Brian, a friendly guide. Buildings outside still remaining include the almshouse

and the small building where the monks did their washing.

We went for a walk around the shops and to warm up we had a hot drink and shared a large, warm, delicious Dorset cheese scone.

Shipton Gorge

Thursday 18 August
It was raining and cold once more as we returned to Sherborne to visit the Somerset and Dorset Family History Society  for some research. Shortly after we arrived we were greeted by Brian, our friendly guide at the Abbey yesterday. Some time was spent trying to resolve some of Robin's research dead ends without success but one of the researchers did give some suggestions of other societies that we could try as the county borders were transient at the time. Brian also provided some information about agricultural labourers that can be explored further. In the 1800s they were often employed for up to nine months at a time before moving to another job.

After a warm drink and sharing another warm cheese scone and a sticky date slice we had a quick walk around the outside of the Abbey before driving off to explore Shipton Gorge.

We had a look around St Martin's Church and located one Gale grave.

We then walked around the town

and finally called into the pub for a hot drink

before returning to West Camel, via Bridport, and some warmth. The temperature today reached 13 degrees.