Start Date - Sunday 31st March 2013
On 31st March 2013, my driver and his girlfriend took me on a road trip, other than a desire to visit Imber Village there was no plan about where to go. We set off around 11.00 and travelled south towards Salisbury Plains in Wiltshire. However there was a short stop in Moreton in Marsh en route because they both wanted something to drink…
Stopping in the parking area to quickly get a soft drink or some water from the local shop, they were soon distracted by the smell of garlic bread and then spent the next 30 minutes trying to find out where the smell was coming from so they could stuff their faces with that! The garlic bread proved too elusive though, and they resorted to continuing their journey south.
Around 13.00 we arrived at Salisbury plains in search of Imber, which is a Ghost Village evacuated in November 1943 to facilitate training of American troops for the D-Day landings. The village has remained without permanent residents and in military occupation ever since. It comprises of St. Giles Church, Imber Court, and a few derelict buildings. Clearly, to assist with their training the MOD have built a few 1970's style houses with metal roofs. In the plains around the village, the land is scattered with old tanks and other military equipment, which bear the battle scars of being used for target practice.
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| A battle scarred tank |
There are plenty of warnings instructing you to remain on the carriageway, but very few signs on how to get to the village itself, (in fact there possibly wasn't ANY signs at all?) After driving around for about 1 hour, the two of them finally arrived at the village, driving in from the East. We parked next to a large building which was recognisable from the internet pictures as Imber Court, this must have been a very important building back in the 1940's before the MoD evacuated the village, but now it has metal shutters on every window and door plus a large security fence all around it. This was the only building that wasn't open for the public to look round.
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| Imber Court |
From Imber Court there were plenty of people walking a defined route to St Giles Church, my two followed the crowd to the church, and once there found that it was very busy. Although it is not an "active" church, inside it is still very much of the appearance of being used every Sunday! There were a few tables with different information on for the village, including census information from previous centuries, and photographs taken of the village before the residents left. Around the church was a high security fence with No Entry signs placed strategically around it, clearly these signs are for when the army are practicing and designed to keep them out of the hallowed ground.
They spent about three hours looking around the various buildings of Imber, before heading south. My two decided they would just see where they would end up, and made their way towards Wareham in Dorset, why? I don't know, and I don't think they did either!? We arrived there around 8pm, and found somewhere to park near the river, my two left me there and walked to one of the local fish and chip shops for tea, came back and ate it before venturing off to the "Black Bear Hotel". This hotel had a very strange layout, as they entered the front door there was a small crowded bar on the right and an equally small dining area to the left. The dining area was closed due to the time of night and the karaoke in the bar. Past these up a narrow corridor was another seating area on the left, which was like a lounge with two sofas and a TV, then at the other end of the building were some people playing card games in a small quiet room.
After ordering drinks, my two stayed in the bar and enjoyed the karaoke, albeit feeling a little uneasy about being "outsiders" in a room full of folk who clearly knew each other. My driver coming from Birmingham was used to aggressive guys in bars who are always up for a fight. At one point a tall guy aged in his early thirties and clearly inebriated stood up to dance, he then kicked his chair backwards towards my driver, who falling back on his own experience readied himself for what he expected would be an awkward situation. The tall guy turned and stared at my driver, who instead of being the typical aggressive drunk my driver was expecting was actually apologetic and waved a quick sorry.
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| St Gile's Church |
They spent about three hours looking around the various buildings of Imber, before heading south. My two decided they would just see where they would end up, and made their way towards Wareham in Dorset, why? I don't know, and I don't think they did either!? We arrived there around 8pm, and found somewhere to park near the river, my two left me there and walked to one of the local fish and chip shops for tea, came back and ate it before venturing off to the "Black Bear Hotel". This hotel had a very strange layout, as they entered the front door there was a small crowded bar on the right and an equally small dining area to the left. The dining area was closed due to the time of night and the karaoke in the bar. Past these up a narrow corridor was another seating area on the left, which was like a lounge with two sofas and a TV, then at the other end of the building were some people playing card games in a small quiet room.
After ordering drinks, my two stayed in the bar and enjoyed the karaoke, albeit feeling a little uneasy about being "outsiders" in a room full of folk who clearly knew each other. My driver coming from Birmingham was used to aggressive guys in bars who are always up for a fight. At one point a tall guy aged in his early thirties and clearly inebriated stood up to dance, he then kicked his chair backwards towards my driver, who falling back on his own experience readied himself for what he expected would be an awkward situation. The tall guy turned and stared at my driver, who instead of being the typical aggressive drunk my driver was expecting was actually apologetic and waved a quick sorry.
This set the tone for the night, and my two found the punters of Black Bear Hotel to be very pleasant indeed, at one point the DJ was very insistent on them taking a seat in the corner and even going to the effort of clearing items off the table for them. After a while a young girl came and sang Carly Rae Jepson's Call Me Baby on the karaoke, which was very enjoyable... and amusing when the crowd started to clap and she spouted "I'm not finished yet" as the now obvious instrumental part of the song finished and the singing started again.
My two now needing somewhere quiet to sit and chat about the next day's plan, removed themselves to Red Lion Hotel a little further up the road. This was a bit more upmarket than Black Bear Hotel, had less people in there and was much quieter to sit and chat, however whilst the staff were welcoming, it did lack the friendliness of Black Bear. After a few drinks, they ambled back to where I was parked and fell soundly to sleep listening to the sound of the live band coming from one of the local pubs.
Lots of credit goes to the people of Wareham for being incredibly friendly.
The next morning my two woke up and we took a short trip along the road to Corfe Castle, using my National Trust window sticker we parked at the visitor's centre before they got out and went across the road and up the hill, following the path to the castle. In Corfe they decided to get cream teas, however both of them were reluctant to pay in excess of of £6 for supermarket scones, everyday jam, imitation cream and a mug of tea whilst sitting there surrounded by pensioners. So they decided they would find somewhere else after looking around the castle.
Corfe Castle did not strike a chord with my driver, he found it to be less majestic than other castles he has visited. This may have something to do with the need to imagine how the castle would have looked due to so much of it no longer being present. Most of the ground the castle sits on has subsided and this has caused some of the walls to be at interesting angles. The old arched entrance to the castle is split in two and now one side of the arch is about 6 feet lower than the other!
After the castle we drove to the Jurassic Coast at Lulworth Cove, where even though the cream teams were a little cheaper, they were of a much better quality and the cafe was a little more unusual. It has been said that it is harder to find a rock on the Jurassic coast that hasn't got a fossil in than it is to find one which has? Maybe my two should have collected the 300 rocks they picked up without fossils because clearly these are rare and of some monetary value!
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| The entrance arch to Corfe Castle |
After Lulworth we drove back to Wareham in the hope that the local deli would be open and selling Dorset Knobs, something which my two had seen in the window the night before. Upon arriving in Wareham, they found that the deli was not open on Bank Holidays, so asked around for elsewhere to purchase them. Being informed the only place local was Swanage, we quickly set off for the nearby coastal town. Upon arriving we spent a while finding a good parking spot then my two went off looking for the elusive knobs, coming back a few moments later. After opening one of the tins, they started to complain about them not being what was expected, seeing them through the shop window they were expecting doughnut type cakes, but instead where balls of hard crusty bread.
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| Gorilla outside a Swanage Shop? |
As they were already in Swanage, my two decided they would treat me to a ferry ride, the ferry goes from Swanage to Sandbanks and takes a few minutes, queuing for the ferry took much much longer though! Interestingly, two ferry routes cross here, the chain ferry which we were boarding and the larger cross channel ferries, it is unclear who has "right of way"?
From here we followed the road West to Cerne Abbas, home of the hillside giant. We passed through lots of MoD land along the route, passing barracks for AFV Gunnery School, and visiting Bovington Tank Museum, where my two got to ride on some sort of personnel carrier. Some of the road signs around this area were pretty interesting!
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| ...complete with bullet holes! |
Towards the end of the evening we arrived in Cerne Abbas and found somewhere to stay for the night, my two then took a stroll to "The Giant Inn" a nearby pub to mix with the locals, the publicans were playing poker with some of the regulars and when then stopped for a break, my driver went and showed them some card tricks which left them dumbfounded... strangely they rejected his request to join in their game of poker after he'd shown them these tricks?
It was with some disappointment that they found the giant to be inaccessible, having visiting Uffington White Horse a few months earlier, they were expecting to be up close and personal with the giant, but found a large fence surrounding him prevented this. Due to the number of people who now visit the giant, it is fenced off to preserve it and the only decent view is from a layby on the main road a short distance away.
Onward we went, travelling back towards Warwickshire, deciding to avoid the motorway and see what sights were available on the minor roads. My driver's girlfriend browsed through the National Trust catalogue and found we were near Britain's only thatched roof windmill located at High Ham. Unfortunately when we arrived it was closed, but the outside was impressive and picturesque.
We continued North, stopping briefly at Wells to feed them two. "Burns the Bread" is a strange name for a bakery, but they do make some very nice savouries and cakes. From here we travelled to Cheddar home of the cheese, having visited here a few months previously, my two knew exactly which shop to go in to for the;
Garlic and Herb
Cave Matured
Cider, Garlic and Chives
After leaving the shop we travelled up through the gorge and stopped at a layby for my two to take a small hike to Black Rock, this appears to be an old quarry of some sort and the remains of buildings and a railway can be seen. Wild garlic was abundant in the woods and the two of them harvested some from the ground to grow at home. Suffice to say it didn't grow very well when taken from it's natural habitat.
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