Weymouth Harbour Christmas Day Swim - 2012

It never ceases to amaze me what people will do for charity! Yesterday morning, hundreds of people - competitors and spectators alike - turned out for the annual Christmas Day harbour swim, organised by the Weymouth and Portland Lions Club.The swim used to be a serious event organised by the local swimming club (read more here) and 20 years ago when the Lions started running it as a charity event there were about 20 entrants. This year, there were 239! Most were swimming for charity (there were some medal races, too) and many took part in fancy dress.

After a very wet start to the day when we arrived at the harbour at 10.45am (the first race was at 11am) the skies had cleared and the sun was shining brightly. The registered swimmers, who were racing in batches of 50, lined up on the temporary pontoon on the shady side of the harbour, most of them looking very nonchalant and (probably) pretending not to be cold. The air temperature was about 12 degrees C and the water around 8 degrees. Two boats ferried bags of the swimmers' shoes and clothes across to the other side; several people's belongings in each bag – it must have been fun sorting those out afterwards!

Then they were off! Some diving in and powering across the harbour like they were in the local heated swimming pool. For others, the shock of the cold water halted them temporarily but, as far as I could tell, they all made it across to the other side and, apart from a few words of encouragement, the assistance of the canoe-based lifeguards were not required.

One by one they all made it across and emerged onto the other pontoon in glorious sunshine.

With registration fees from the competitors and collection buckets for the spectators, I hope the Lions Club managed to raise a good amount for their work over the coming months. If I find out I'll update this post.


Thinking of fundraising, I was very moved yesterday when I watched the BBC documentary of Martha Payne and her family's trip to Malawi. Martha gained fame when she started a blog called Never Seconds when she posted a photograph of her rather meagre school dinner. The blog went viral and Martha realised that she could use the blog to raise funds for charity. To-date, through the blog, Martha has raise over £125,000 for a charity called 'Mary's Meals'. You can watch it (in the UK) for the few days on iPlayer at http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b01ndyy3

Merry Christmas!

A very Merry Christmas to all our family, friends and anyone else who stumbles across this blog. This is our first Christmas in Weymouth and we've thoroughly enjoyed our first few months here. Looking forward to welcoming our visitors in 2013!

Santa Chase-the-Pudding

Around 120 assorted Santas, elves and even a Christmas cracker turned out to take part in the annual 'Chase the Pudding' 5km Santa Fun-Run on Sunday 16th December on Weymouth beach. Dozens of entrants, of all ages, human and canine, dressed up and joined in. There was an initial warm-up by Jodie from 'Healthy Habit' before the runners set off along the beach.

All proceeds from sponsorship and collections on the day - about £2,000 in all - went to the British Heart Foundation.

The weather was extremely kind - particularly as December has been very, very wet - and there were only a few spits and spots of rain during the warm-up and, as you can see in the last picture, the sun even managed to come out for a while.

After the race the competitors were invited back to Weymouth Pavilion near the race start for a mince pie and mulled wine.

Next... the Christmas Day harbour swim and no, we're not taking part in that, either!

Magical Moonlight

Hello readers! I'm really rather conscious of the fact that I haven't posted here for a while.

I've been very busy with work and have also been battling with a continuous cough for several weeks which wore me out but has, at last, finally stopped.

I've quite a few posts waiting in the wings, so I hope to get writing and posting this weekend.

In the meantime, this picture was taken last night at around 7.15pm from the hill behind our house looking east over Newton's Cove. You can just see Jupiter, too, above and to the right of the moon at about one o'clock. The orange glow on the horizon is a tanker or trawler. There are usually two or three anchored out in the bay.

Beach Motocross

Sunday 14th October.

Today's post is written by Ian, who is a fan of motor sports, rather than me, who isn't!

Over a beautiful October weekend Weymouth played host to the annual beach Motocross event. This event which is organised by the Weymouth and Portland Lions Club and the Purbeck Motorcycle Club attracts over 250 top riders from all over England.

On Sunday afternoon, I followed my ears as they led me to the beach where the races were already in progress. A stretch of about a quarter of a mile of Weymouth’s sandy beach at low tide had been converted into a about a mile long Motocross course with a long straight along the waterside with the rest of the circuit comprising turns, 'Bomb Holes', 'Dare Devil' jumps and some chicanes.

Six races were run in the categories of Expert, Senior and Junior (15+) and several top women riders took part – although it was impossible to tell this when they were in all their protective gear. The bikers' leathers and helmets were in all colours which made the sight of the bikes queuing to take their places at the start a colourful affair. The noise of the racing hit you like a wall of sound and there were some fantastic sights as the bikes set off from the start line along the fast straight where the bigger 500cc bikes can hit 90 mph. There were plenty of thrills and a few spills – but no serious injuries thank goodness.

The seafront promenade was packed with the estimated 15,000 people watching and it was a fabulous experience. There was also a beer festival over the weekend – but I passed on that – for this year anyway.

A trip to Bridport, Osmington Mills and the Smugglers Inn

Saturday 23rd September dawned clear and bright with the promise of a fine day. With a forecast of heavy rain and gales for the next few days we grabbed our chance to make the most of the fine weather and went out for the day.

A trip along the coast road to Bridport saw us browsing the Saturday flea market there followed by a sandwich lunch sitting on a bench in the community orchard behind the pretty parish church.The market, marking out the T-shape of the main streets - South, East and West streets - is an eclectic mix of tools and gadgets, jewellery and clothes, cutlery and furniture, along with the more usual 'modern' market stalls selling slippers, tea towels and fresh produce. There are a few independent shops here, including a lovely lighting shop and a good old-fashioned hardware store, as well as some of the more common market-town shops.

On the way back we stopped to admire the view across Abbotsbury swannery and along Chesil beach towards Portland then drove down a long windy lane to the Moonfleet Manor Hotel and Restaurant. Always on the lookout for a good place to eat I asked to see the menu. At £49.95 for a three-course a la carte meal for non-residents I doubt we’ll be eating there too often!

A quick stop at home and then out again to Osmington Mills, seven miles by road east along the coast. This is down another very long and windy lane to the coast where the infamous ‘Smugglers Inn’ is based. At one time it was originally known as the Crown Inn and was home to the leader of one of the most notorious gang of smugglers. He apparently imported brandy that was so disgusting that none of the locals would drink it! In the 1920s to 70s it was known as the Picnic Inn, presumably so-named to attract the charabanc trade on day trips from Weymouth and Dorchester.

Later, in another wise marketing move, it was renamed the Smugglers Inn and the pub, now owned by the Hall and Woodhouse chain, still attracts holidaymakers and is busy all year round with walkers as the South West Coast Path runs through its garden.

After sampling some of the guest beer, we set off for a short walk down the path for a mile or so to Ringstead.

There we walked down to the beach and watched a cormorant fishing, a lady learning to paddle a canoe and a group of three young women setting out what would probably be a rather chilly late afternoon picnic.

Jetskis, powerboats, barrels.. and food

Sunday 16th September was an eventful day for several reasons; not all of them good. Around midday we set off towards Weymouth Pavilion where the Wessex Food Festival was taking place. Along the way we passed the tall ship Pelican of London which will soon be heading off on a journey to the Antarctic as the support ship for modern-day explorer Tim Jarvis’s attempted re-enactment of Ernest Shackleton’s epic journey across ice and mountains for help. See here for more details. Next along the harbour were moored the maritime equivalent of Formula 1 cars; high speed power boats gathered for the afternoon's P1 Superstock championships final race of the season.

In the Pavilion we squeezed our way into the already packed room filled with purveyors of Dorset apple cake and cider, buns, pies and cakes of all kinds, cheese and wine, beer and pickles, sweets and treats and few gadgets, too. We even saw a kitchen designer who we invited to come and give a quote on replacing our kitchen. For lunch I selected a rather unusual heart-shaped vegetarian patty made of grated beetroot and carrots and some other ingredients I can’t remember now. It was very tasty. Ian had rather scrummy-looking sausage roll and a cherry tart. We went outside to eat these and watched jet-ski racers competing in the final of the P1 AquaX Championship being held a little while before the aforementioned Superstock race. Whilst they were getting into place on the course (marked with buoys) in Weymouth Bay a jet-ski stunt rider entertained us with some very daring manoeuvres, including a complete mid-air 360-degree flip.

After lunch we walked into the town centre to do a bit of shopping. A little later, realising that the Powerboat race that he was keen to see had just started Ian went back to the Pavilion and I stayed on and browsed for a while. About 15 minutes later I headed off to join Ian and near the Pavilion it became apparent that something bad had happened, as the local air ambulance had landed on the beach and another helicopter was hovering nearby. Unfortunately, one of the powerboats in the race had hit the wake of another boat and flipped over, tipping out its two occupants at high speed. I’m glad I (or Ian) wasn’t there to see it actually happen. Sadly, the driver later died in hospital but the navigator has made a very good recovery and was discharged on 24th September. A sad end to a memorable sporting summer for Weymouth.

After another visit to the food fair to pick up a bottle of local beer (Corfe Gloriette from the Corfe Castle Brewery), we set off home but were distracted by yet another event on the far side of the harbour. We’d seen some strangely dressed people in open-topped decorated cars and vans had assumed that they were perhaps on a stag or hen do, but when we got over the town bridge we discovered that this was the end of the last leg of the third Dartmoor Barrel Challenge, supporting the MV Freedom (the disability-adapted boat that brought the Paralympic flame to Weymouth) and Help for Heroes.

You would think from looking at these pictures that everyone was dressed as pirates, but there was quite a variety of outfits. See more here. Never a dull moment in Weymouth, that’s for sure.

Music, Maestro, please!

As well as doing my paid work during the day and enjoying what seems to be a continuous diary of events in the town at the weekends, I am also keen to get involved with some local activities on a regular basis with, hopefully, the added benefit of getting to know some more people here.

With this in mind I contacted a couple of the local choirs and duly went off about three weeks ago for an informal audition at the home of the director of a small choir. After a bit of voice-warming exercises and singing through a couple of pieces along with the piano it would appear that I had done enough to be accepted. The following week I drove across town to the rehearsal venue and had a sing-through with the group. I haven’t sung with a choir on a regular basis since my days in Stamford and it felt good to be doing so. Sadly, though, after the second rehearsal I decided that the choir was not really for me; the style of music they perform not being my cup of tea.

With a second choir up my sleeve I went along to their rehearsal the following Monday (last week). This is a larger choir with a more traditionally classical repertoire and I enjoyed the evening. Best of all, they usually perform their concerts within walking distance of home! I have since been to the second rehearsal and still enjoyed myself and was warmly greeted by the other singers, many of whom are also incomers from as far afield as Sweden, Scotland and Wales. Next week, I have an audition (aaargh - I do not like singing solo), but it's supposed to be casual and only to check my range.

I have also attended a meeting of Enterprising Women Dorset, a networking group that meets every other month with a visiting speaker and on the alternate months meets at other groups or events. This meeting included a presentation from Popcorn Marketing, a PR company who helped to turn around the revamped Riviera Hotel in Weymouth - a large post-Art Deco grade II-listed hotel - from one of the worst-rated into one of the top ten rated hotels in the area in just a few months in the lead up to the Olympics. Julie Cleaver, who is also a governor of Weymouth College and will be president of the Chamber of Commerce next year, also runs Open 4 Business, a community interest company. They are organising a free Platforms for Growth conference and exhibition in mid-October at this hotel, so it should be an interesting day out in many ways.

The plague arrives

Saturday, 8th September.

Weymouth – or actually Melcombe, and later Melcombe Regis, as the town on that side of the river was known – holds the dubious honour of being the place where the bubonic plague, otherwise known as the Black Death, arrived in Britain in 1348, carried by people fleeing the plague on the continent. It was transmitted by the bite of a flea, the flea itself having been infected by the black rat upon which it lived. As the population fled the plague, unwittingly taking it with them and spreading it further, the plague went on to kill an estimated 30 to 50% of the country’s population. This fact is commemorated on a plaque attached to the wall of the Ship Inn on the harbour. We haven't eaten there, yet.

This, and many other fascinating facts about the harbour area, was brought to our attention by a member of Weymouth Civic Society who, with his wife, was conducting a free tour of the area on a very warm Saturday in early September (so warm and sunny that I ended up with a very red neck, having forgotten to go out with any sun cream).

We also learnt about the railway line which ran from the main station to the quay at the harbour's end, carrying passengers to the ferry terminal (see more here). Much of the original harbour was reclaimed when the current town bridge was built in 1930 but you can still see parts of the original harbour wall outside The Royal Oak adjacent to the south east side of the bridge. In a street leading off the harbour behind the Royal Oak there’s a replica of a civil war cannon ball that was lodged high in the wall of a building – the Royalists had captured the Weymouth side of town, including the Nothe Fort, were bombarding the Melcome side of town which was held by the Parliamentarians.

In nearby St Mary’s Street, the church boasts an impressive painting of The Last Supper by Sir James Thornhill, who was born nearby and also became a local Member of Parliament. (He was also responsible for the eight scenes in the cupola of St Paul’s Cathedral and for much of the painted ceilings and walls at Greenwich).

On the west, the Weymouth side, of the harbour is a mixture of residential buildings and old store houses. Many are much older than their Georgian and later frontages would suggest and in Cove Street, which at one time was the side of a harbour inlet, is one of the oldest remaining residential buildings in Weymouth. Following restoration by the Civic Society it was, until recently, let out to tenants on condition that they allowed tours of the building on a set number of days per year. It is no longer tenanted, but still open for tours which we have yet to go on. As well as other buildings nearby, it is, reputedly, haunted.

As our guide was revealing the history of the building a former resident came by and told us that although he’d never seen any ghosts, a friend of his had had a very strange and unexplained experience involving noises coming from the stairs. When he turned to look, there was no-one there...

The carnival is over

Bincleaves Green - 14th September 2012

The summer, which made a late comeback this year and for the last three weeks has been hanging on by its fingertips, has slipped away. Blackberries, which are normally ripe and juicy in mid- to late-August, are mostly small and red and unlikely to provide enough fruit for any pies or jam this year.

Today it has been raining steadily for most of the day but it is the first serious rain we’ve had here in weeks. A little while ago, the only things tumbling over the grass were the dogs being exercised up on Bincleaves Green, but now they are joined by browning leaves, swept off their branches by the chilly winds blowing in from the east. The normally calm seas in the shallows of Weymouth Bay are today whipped up into thousands of white horses and the distant hills are shrouded in mist.

I have been extremely busy with work over this period and haven’t had the energy to update the blog – very naughty of me – so I now have quite some updating to do, so here goes with the first report:

Paralympic success
The Paralympics have been, like their sister event, a huge success. Here in Weymouth the beach sports arena, which was created for the Olympics, was re-opened in a slightly modified format, allowing people of all abilities to have a go at accessible sports, including wheelchair basketball and seated volleyball as well as sailing and windsurfing. Such was the success of the two sessions that the local council is considering making the sports arena a regular summer activity.

The main competitive event here, of course, was the sailing. Unlike in the Olympics, Paralympic sailing is one of the few events where men and women compete together and one of the competitions was won by British sailor Helen Lucas – the only female competitor in the race – but a day early. Sadly, the weather was so calm on the last scheduled sailing day that there was no wind for sailing and the decision was taken to award the medals based on the positions at the end of the previous (fourth) day.

Saturday 8th September – the last competitive day of the Games – was a beautiful day under cloudless skies. The town was filled with people enjoying the end of the summer and groups of Morris men, women and children were to be found all over town. They had come from as far as Cornwall and were there as part of the Cultural Olympiad by the Sea programme to celebrate the end of the Paralympic Games.

The following day the Moving Tides procession, postponed from the opening of the Olympic Games due to the appalling weather, took place, featuring over 1,000 performers in costumes of themes ranging from Olympic sailing to Jurassic sea creatures. Unfortunately, Ian and I missed it. The carnival was due to start at 4pm on the Esplanade. We were a little late and on the wrong side of Weymouth Harbour. We keep forgetting that the town bridge (the only working ‘bascule’ bridge in the UK other than London’s Tower Bridge) opens every two hours on the hour to let large boats in and out of the marina, and four o’clock is one of those times. There is a rowing boat ‘taxi’ service that might have helped, but the last one was an hour earlier. We would have been half an hour late and probably missed most of it, so we turned around and walked the long way back home along the harbour and through the Nothe Gardens.

I have since discovered that this carnival is part of the annual Spirit of the Sea Weymouth and Portland Maritime Festival, so we shall be on the Esplanade, in plenty of time, waiting for next year’s procession.

Paralympics and more fireworks

Paralympic sailors practise in Portland Harbour on 31st August.

September – and the last few days have had a distinct chill in the air, particularly at night.
Mind you, as I write the forecast is for the low 20s again this afternoon.

It's been a week since my last post and I've been frantically busy in the meantime; though not much worth posting about. We did manage, however, to get down to the harbour to watch the Paralympic flame arrive last week on August bank holiday Monday.

I was expecting a torch like those carried for the Olympic torch relay so I was rather surprised to see the Paralympic flame being held in what looked like a storm lantern. Why it's not a torch I don't know. [If anyone does know, feel free to post a comment below.] Anyway, despite the terrible weather (though not quite as bad as when the Olympic torch arrived and which had eased up by the time the torch arrived from Portland) lots of people turned out to watch the flame and its entourage arrive on the boat 'MV Freedom' – a boat specially adapted for disabled sailors – at the harbour. Many more lined the seafront as the flame continued its celebratory route on the Sea Life land train up and down the Esplanade.

In the evening there was an 'international fireworks display' – the third fireworks display we'd seen in a month! I'm not sure whether the 'international' part of the display was because it was for the Paralympics or if this is an annual event.

This time, rather than watching from Bincleaves Green above our house we walked to the steps leading from the west side of the harbour up to the Nothe Gardens from where we'd watched the flame arrived. A much better view from here, but I suspect the best view is actually from the main beach but, as it was pouring with rain and we were already pretty wet (despite coats and umbrellas) we really didn't fancy walking that far.

Five days later – September 1st – and the Paralympic sailors had started their races. There seem to be only three classes (mixed) but each has a race every day until the last on medals day, Thursday (6th). Ian and I went for a walk down to Sandsfoot Castle (the ruins of a castle built by Henry VIII; more of which in a future post) where on a mound in the gardens next to the castle was a crowd of people watching the sailing. The weather was good, though overcast, and many of the spectators were making a real day of it with picnics and blankets all around.

Fixed to a fence at the garden's edge was a flotilla of 'boats' all brightly decorated with an Olympic theme created by students at Budmouth College and 10 Weymouth primary schools.

From here we joined the Rodwell Trail, a former railway track from Weymouth town to Portland, now tarmaced and an easy stroll to Ferrybridge where the track abruptly ends as the bridge no longer exists. Along the way you can see the remains of the platforms with signs such as 'Wyke Regis Halt' still in place, though half hidden under sweet peas, honeysuckle and brambles laden with unripe and rather small blackberries.

Who's a pretty boy then?

Not this poor chap, that's for sure.

I first saw this young blackbird about ten days ago when it was sitting on our neighbours' fence. From a distance it looked like a small vulture but by the time I'd grabbed my binoculars for a better look it had flown away.

Since then, however, he—or possibly she; it's a bit difficult to tell at this age—has been visiting our garden and looks even more peculiar close up. The poor thing has either been bullied by its nest-mate (I saw another young blackbird nearby that was fully-feathered and frightened this one away when it got near) or it's infested with something. Whether it will recover is anyone's guess.

Yesterday, being August bank holiday Sunday and beautiful weather, we popped down to Weymouth bay where the annual dragon boat race was taking place. We arrived just in time to see the three finalists paddling away from the beach to the starting point at the end of the ferry terminal jetty. After a while we realised they were all paddling madly back towards the beach. A minute later (literally) they all stopped, the very short race apparently over, and the victors began throwing their teammates into the water.

On our way home after a cup of coffee at the nearby Weymouth Pavilion we became aware of a strange squawking noise. There, amongst the afternoon promenaders was a lady walking along with her arm bent up and with two (I discovered later) black-headed caiques perched on her hand. They were each wearing a little harness and seemed totally unphased at being surrounded by dozens of people.

A new garden project

Many of you will know that back in Shinfield Ian and I spent many years landscaping and then planting our back garden. It originally sloped rather unevenly downhill away from the back of the house but hours of back-breaking digging and the shifting of what seemed like tons of earth around the garden levelled out the unevenness and left enough for us to fill a raised bed in the middle. By the time we'd sold our house it was just starting to look like a well-established garden, and quite lovely, although it was becoming apparent that some plants were in the wrong place and would need moving around.

The garden in our new home in Weymouth is a completely different story! On entering the garden it is immediately obvious that gently sloping it is not! The garden rises about six feet over a length of about thirty feet. It had obviously been well-loved in its time, but a year's unattendance has taken its toll.

The large clump of green in front of the hydrangea is mint and there are brambles, nettles and several self-seeded wild buddleias all around the garden and growing in the cracks in the paving.One bonus was the discovery of another batch of self-seeded plants... potatoes! They're delicious and we've been eating them boiled, chipped or roasted with about two out of every three main meals since we arrived and there's probably enough left for a few weeks, yet.

There are agapanthus, clematis, lilies, an as yet unidentified tree (cherry/crab apple/pear/plum), camelias, several more shrubs and much more in the garden, not to mention the large quantities of pots with various shrubs, bulbs and herbs. Much of it is inaccessible at the moment. The top right-hand corner has two overgrown trellises shielding what looks like a compost area, but until someone (thank you, Ian) hacks their way through the undergrowth - and overgrowth - we won't know for sure what's there.

In the top left corner (the garden is rather rhomboid-shaped and the left side is a few feet shorter than the right) there is a little suntrap that catches the evening sun. Like the rest of the garden it's rather overgrown with trails of ivy, brambles and clematis taking possession of the two chairs left behind by the previous owners. But with a little tlc it should be lovely, particularly if we ever get a summer with evenings warm enough to sit outside.

But we're not going to do too much in the garden just yet apart from some pruning. We'll wait until the spring to see what appears. In the meantime, while the weather's still warm, we'll continue to enjoy our lunch on the terrace and watch the dozen or so sparrows that took about half a day, if that, to discover that we'd put out some fatballs and seeds.

Victorian weekend at the Nothe Fort

Yesterday - another beautiful day - we visited the Nothe Fort, a ten-minute stroll from our house, where they were holding a 'Victorian Fayre' over the weekend. Unfortunately, we missed the advertised artillery displays and also missed the cannon firing (probably not so unfortunately!)

There wasn't very much that could be identified as specifically Victorian except the costumes (the stall-holders were dressed up and the 'soldiers' were in authentic costume) and the building itself; face painting and modern plants are certainly not Victorian, and the maypole dancing, clog dancing (from Lancashire), masonry skills and throwing wet sponges at people in stocks are activities with a far longer history.

The Nothe Fort was one of the Palmertston Forts built during the Victorian period on the recommendations of the 1860 Royal Commission on the Defence of the United Kingdom. The name comes from their association with Lord Palmerston, who was Prime Minister at the time and promoted the idea. The fort is constructed on three levels: The lowest level, Magazine Level, was originally designed to store gunpowder and shells (there are reputedly at least one resident ghost down in the damp corridors that run around the ramparts). The middle (ground) level, Gun Deck Level, was designed to accommodate 12 heavy muzzle loaded cannons and provide accommodation for the soldiers manning the cannons. The top level formed the ramparts and provided a raised platform that could be used to fire muskets and light muzzle loaded cannons during an attack on the fort. (more information here). As one would expect there is a great view all round from the upper level and yesterday the view was particularly stunning (click the picture for a larger view):

Weymouth Carnival finishes with a bang

The victorious Team GB sailing team

At six o'clock we walked down to the Esplanade and joined thousands of spectators lining the street under a cloudless blue sky to watch the annual Weymouth Carnival; the largest on the south coast. The entire Team GB sailing team had returned to Weymouth for a victory ride in an open-topped bus along the carnival route. You can just see Ben Ainslie with his gold medal at the back of this picture.

After the disastrous start to the day when the Red Devils were cancelled and the scheduled WWII memorial flight was reduced to just one Lancaster bomber, the clouds disappeared around lunchtime and the sun shone for the rest of the day. It was still breezy though, and with gales forecast for the evening, our planned cruise into Weymouth Bay to have fish and chips and watch the end-of-carnival fireworks with other local members of the Federation of Small Businesses (of which I am a member) was also cancelled.

The carnival parade itself was quite impressive. The participants had obviously gone to a lot of trouble prepareing their floats and, rather sensibly I thought, the parade stopped every hundred metres or so, so that the bands, dance groups and club members could put on a short performance for the spectators before moving on. The parade lasted about an hour, by which time we were starving and went to find something to eat. Not so easy... everyone else was doing the same!

In the end we ended up at the Nothe Tavern where we had a huge fish and chips. A little later, we were followed in by some characters dressed up as Victorian soldiers who had been in the carnival procession. They were from the Nothe Fort which dates from the 1870s and is one of  the 'Palmerston Forts' built to protect the south coast from invasion. They have a 'Victorian' weekend at the fort in a few days' time, so more of that later!

A little later we were outside again, at the top of the hill behind our house, watching the fireworks down in the bay concluding the carnival celebrations.

Weymouth Carnival off to a cracking start

Oh dear. Weymouth's annual carnival, scheduled to start at 10.00am this morning with the crowning of the carnival king and queen followed by the Red Devils sky diving at 10.30am has not got off to a good start. It's been pouring with rain all morning and there was a big flash of lightning followed by a crack of thunder at 10:31. Looking out of my office window Weymouth beach has completely disappeared in low cloud. What a shame. It's supposed to clear up this afternoon and a Battle of Britain memorial flight and aerobatics are scheduled, but I'm not holding my breath.

“Laugh and smile and dance and sing”

What can I say about last night’s Olympic closing ceremony except ‘Wow!’? We went down to Weymouth’s Beach Live area where there were already hundreds of people – including a lot of young families, but I’m not sure how late they will have stayed – on the sand in front of the two big screens. The harbour area, which we have to walk round to get to the beach and which has been buzzing of late, was almost deserted even though many of the pubs had the ceremony on big screens.

As the preliminaries drew to a close we were wondering if they were going to turn the sound up once the ceremony started but after the countdown and it got underway it was obvious that they weren’t. Something about the sandy area in front of the screens just mops up the sound. We gave up after about 15 minutes and, whilst the sound was better up on the Esplanade we decided to go back home and watch it on TV, starting again from the beginning, glass of wine in hand. To be fair, I can’t blame it all on the sand, some of the TV sound quality, particularly from the performers on the moving flat-bed lorries wasn’t brilliant.

But what a show. Fantastic. I loved the way the Olympic flame unfurled and later gently went out and how everyone was joining in with all the lyrics. Seeing Victoria Beckham looking like she was enjoying herself and not pouting for once was quite a treat, too. I do think Eric Idle and Always look on the bright side of life should have been the final song, though.

“If life seems jolly rotten, there's something you've forgotten, and that's to laugh and smile and dance and sing”

What next? Well, Weymouth Carnival, of course!

Something for everyone

A Dance a Day performance on Weymouth Esplanade

There’s been something for everyone at Weymouth during the Olympics, most of it free. On Friday, a beautiful warm day, Ian went off with instructions from me to take pictures for this blog to watch a dance performance by ‘A Dance A Day’. Part of the Cultural Olympiad, this turned out to be a group of mature ladies, with a scarves fluttering from their wrists, gently swishing and twirling in a kind of synchronised, speeded-up T’ai Chi. But I mustn't laugh; I expect I’ll be doing something like this one day. When the group started to dance with empty sand buckets Ian decided it was time to move on…

...to the Punch and Judy Show! Here, the show was surrounded by unattended children who obviously thought it was very funny to pelt the booth with little stones, much to the annoyance of the operator who made pointed comments in the direction of the missing parents, none of whom appeared to chastise their offspring. Being such a lovely day I expect the parents were happily taking the opportunity to cook themselves whilst the kids were being entertained. The next day when I was there it was much windier and the children, accompanied by mums and dads this time, were doing all the right things, with choruses of ‘hello’ and ‘yeeeees’.

It was so windy on Saturday that as we walked back home in the afternoon we were showered by sea spray blowing in about 50 metres away from the shore of Newton’s Cove. Quite a difference from the day before’s millpond conditions when some of the sailing had to be postponed due to lack of wind. Up on the promenade, a group of children were having a whale of a time, dashing in and out of the spray as the waves crashed against the sea defences.

Gold!

"Weymouth and Portland are basking in Mediterranean conditions" I overheard an Olympic Sailing commentator say. That was a slight exaggeration, being somewhat cooler than you might expect in the Mediterranean in August, but last Sunday was a beautifully sunny day and certainly much better off than nearby Somerset and other parts of the country that were suffering from yet more flash floods.

At the top of the hill just behind our house is a large flat green area from where you can see over Newton's Cove and towards the Nothe Fort where the official Olympic ticketed area is. As you can see from the picture above, there was plenty of space nearby to watch for free! The bright blue strip near the fort is the boundary of the official site. I'm afraid I don't know the first thing about sailing, never mind competitive sailing, but it was lovely gazing out over the water watching the boats sailing back and forth. And I was there when Ben Ainslie won his gold medal and became the greatest Olympian sailor in history. Wow! Then, of course, I rushed back home to watch Andy Murray win his gold at Wimbledon. What a day.

In the morning I was down by the harbour again and was surprised to see two small brass bands seated on either side of the town bridge. Apparently every time the bridge was lifted over the weekend (about ten times in all, I think) the boats coming through were being serenaded by the town band. They alternated playing and sometimes played together in a weird kind of stereo. The atmosphere was lovely; the onlookers were snapping away and the people on the boats were, too.

A view of boat masts, Weymouth buildings and the
giant Olympic screen from the Nothe Tavern

On Saturday (why am I writing this backwards?) we went for a preprandial drink at our nearest hostelry, The Nothe Tavern and, as it was a lovely evening, sat out on their terrace. The Tavern is in a prime position in many ways, being situated just outside the one entrance to the official Olympic Sailing viewing area and overlooking the harbour and on between the houses to the beach in Weymouth, which we couldn't actually see because of the giant Olympic screen in the way. Looking to the right you can see more of Weymouth Bay. I think Pimms must have bought advertising space at the Tavern and have been running a promotion as all the outside gazebos were advertising Pimms and we kept seeing people walk outside carrying large jugs of the stuff. We look forward to going back there for a meal.