Friday 29 July 2011

Things don't always go to plan

A view of Witley Court and church looking south across the front pool on a day without a breath of wind, a view which has only recently become available again after work to make safe a "naughty tree", the condition of  which was considered a risk to the public.

The reconstructed boat-house tucked away at the western extremity of the front pool
I had a very pleasant and interesting conversation with Judy Goodman over lunch in the tea-room today, before I was due to steward the church in the afternoon. When I got in to relieve Charles Hadwell, the morning steward, I found that the place had been completely taken over by preparations for an art exhibition this coming weekend. Charles had not been able to set out his stall due to the amount of activity and so I decided that I was not going to attempt to do so either. I rang Roger Perkins to explain the situation and went back down to the tea-room for another round of refreshments. On the way home I popped in to see Spencer Trickett and the staff at the English Heritage visitor centre and exchanged some interesting research material concerning the Witley Court Music Box, a wartime dance band outfit whose members were based at Witley during this period. See my pages section for more information.

Friday 1 July 2011

Isle of Wight Holiday - Day 14

Tennyson Monument

Tennyson Monument looking west towards The Needles

Fort Victoria beach looking across the Solent towards Hurst Castle
The weather conditions on Tennyson Down were almost perfect and in stark contrast to those of last Saturday morning. Ruth and myself climbed to the top in order to admire the views in all directions. Later on we took a ride on the chairlift which descends the cliffs down to Alum Bay.