Southbourne to Boscombe

Last Monday G and I took ourselves off to the seaside.

We hopped on the train nice and early and hopped off again a short while later at Pokesdown.

We've made this journey a few times and always headed off to our right, down the high street towards Boscombe.

This time our plan was to turn left as this would take us towards Southbourne.

Southourne is definitely much more trendier and tidier than it's near neighbour.
Things which caught my eye within a few hundred yeads were the faded sign on the side of a shop, the turret and a beautiful shop on the corner.

This window is also part of the shop. 

It was such an elegant building with so many architectural features it was a shame it was empty.

Does anyone else like the coffee shops Coffee#1? We've been in a few of these now and we like to see what art work they have on the walls. Each one seems to have something on display which pertains to the history of the area it's situated in. The one in Southbourne had a purple heron which has been spotted at nearby Hengistbury Head and a Victorian seabather harking back to when the area became popular with those coming to the seaside for the benefits to their health.
Another reason G likes Coffee#1 is for their cheesecake, he recommends you try it if you can.

Had we not already stopped for refreshment then this find further down the road would have been a good choice. Called Close Knit it's a combined cafe and wool shop.

The knitted throws, parasol covers and hanging basket made it look a very inviting place to stop.

Just a short stroll away from the shops was our destination. 
And mighty fine it looked too.

We took our time walking along the front. Stopping to gaze out to the horizon, feeling the sun on our faces and enjoying the cooling breeze too. Wandering past the rows of beach huts and then sitting a while too to drink in the view, storing that feeling of calm time out at the shore can give.

Then it was up through Boscombe Chine gardens and into Boscombe itself for a spot of lunch. 
Just the kind of day out we needed.

Rest of June Round Up

My last post was just over a fortnight ago.

That wasn't part of my plan for June.

Then again when do things go to plan?

Everyone's ok but I'd be fibbing if I were to say that the last two weeks chez Jumble and Jelly have been plain sailing!

Enough of all that though, let's take a peek at some other news.

After a little discussion me, G and S have booked to go away to Amsterdam for 4 nights in early August.

Excited? 

You bet.

Amsterdam has been on my wish list for ages.

I went to the library and took out some books.

One is on self guided walks around the city and also for places such as Delft and Haarlem. We're not quite sure yet where else we will visit but Haarlem is definitely high on the list.

We need to go places and do things of interest to all 3 of us.

Last week I took S to Cambridge for her annual eye check up. The day was a hot, long one made all the more tolerable for S for our stop off at Five Guys so she could have one of their milkshakes.
The check up showed a minuscule cataract in S's left eye. It's something which can happen at an early age because of the condition she has, but it's nothing to worry about and is not likely to grow or require surgery for years and years.

My 90 day chuck out challenge failed after I reached 30 days. It started well enough when I had a really good clear out from our bedroom drawers and then went through the kitchen cupboards. I'm not too bothered as I regularly send items off to the charity shop. We may get a little cluttered at times but I'm not a hoarder.

A few weeks ago one of my school friends posted details on Facebook of an open evening at our old secondary school.

The reason for this special event is our school will soon be no more.

It's going to be demolished, it needed too much money to maintain the poor state it was in and so it was cheaper to construct a new one, which has been built on the school sports field.

The site the current school is standing on will then be converted into a sports area. 

Eventually.

The thing was the event was being held between 4 and 6.

How disappointing, many wanted to go but those hours are when lots are at work or travelling home from work.

Then just a few days beforehand they extended it by an hour until 7pm.

Hurrah.

I didn't want to pass up the opportunity of one last wander down those corridors and luckily neither did R, so he and I went together.

This is the door to my English classroom.

Our teacher used to have the girls and boys line up separately along here before going into class.

So many memories from just this one spot.

I left in 1984 and as you would expect during that time things have changed, but not as much as you may think.

Words can not describe how familiar it felt to once again be walking down the staircase (in what was known back then as the 'new block') as if I had just finished my maths lesson.

I will never forget that feeling.

Somewhere I hadn't set foot for over 30 years and yet it felt like I'd been there only yesterday.

We saw half a dozen others from our year group, the last time we had seen each other was the reunion last September.

We reminisced some more, took more photos and marveled over the fact our former headteacher was also visiting that evening and looking extremely sprightly at 86.

We had an entertaining afternoon out one Saturday in Eastleigh at their annual arts day.

The group of four acrobatic dancers showed such controlled strength as they threw themselves around this cage during their performance.

I loved watching the group of women all dressed in grey perform together. They are called Ceyda Tanc Dance and you can read about them and watch videos here. It was so inclusive, women of all ages and physical ability joined together in one rhythmic gathering, it was entrancing to watch.

Our favourite was definitely the couple on the left from Glasshouse dance who performed a classic boy meets girl tale with a twist or two along the way.

At the end they encouraged the audience to join them and dance along to Love Train. 

Some resolutely refused to get up and dance, I have to say that when the female performer approached me I jumped up and was happy to bop away with them. It seemed like the polite thing to do seeing they had entertained us so well.

I'm still settling into being at work for four days.

I have been trying to get a better handle on shopping and meal planning.

When the children were little it was so much easier.

Now with T sometimes being in for meal times and sometimes not, which can mean an hour before dishing up he'll say 'yes I'll be here to eat with you' and then suddenly his plans have changed, or saying he won't be in and then turning up, it seems I need to have an unending supply of meals which can instantly be adapted to suit.

And do you know what, I don't a limitless supply of food, time, money or patience to cater for each scenario and I've been finding it quite frustrating.

I am cooking from scratch so much less these days and I don't like that either as I have always tried to provide my family with a variety of foods. Then again I suppose this is just another change that our family is going through as the children are growing and doing more outside the home.

Only a couple of days left in June now but just enough so I can finish my posts for the month. If things go to plan of course.

Pick of Poole

Normally when G has to work on a weekend he takes the following Tuesday as his day off.

Last week he changed it to the Monday so we would both be off together.

There are lots of changes afoot at his place of work (again!), all to do with working patterns and this just might mean that a Monday off together will occur every few weeks.

Watch this space.

Anyway back to last week.

It was G's suggestion we go to Poole.

Neither of us have been for years, decades in fact.

It doesn't take that long to get to either and was easily manageable by train during the school day.

It was a perishingly cold day and all the more so when we got down to the quay.

The cold and the pubs and windows we saw will be my over riding memories of the day.

This is definitely one place which I'm sure is much more attractive to visit during the summer when it is full of the colour and hustle and bustle of holidaymakers.

Here then are the things which caught my eye.

The aforementioned variety of windows.

The first above a closed up shop, the second is also above a shop but which must have been a cinema at one stage I'm sure, the third above a pub.

The large one at the bottom was on a very inviting looking cafe.

The cockleshell history trail can be followed around Poole, this would definitely be something I'd like to do in warmer weather. An grand clock outside a solicitors and advertising on the side of a boat for trips to Brownsea Island, home to red squirrels.
Beautiful tiles on a boarded up pub.

All of these can be found on The Antelope Inn.

Paradise Street is right down by the waterfront which makes me think it probably wasn't very much like Paradise in earlier times, maybe the cockleshell trail will enlighten me. The Poole Arms is the oldest pub on the quay and resplendent in it's vibrant green tiles.

It was wonderful having an extra day out together. I wonder where we'll go next.

Andover

For the first proper weekend of the new year we fancied a trip to somewhere we hadn't been before.

I recalled a conversation with my sister from early December and suggested Andover to G as our destination.

Easily accessible by train, a little heritage trail around the city centre with some local points of interest to look out for, a handful of shops so S could possibly spend some Christmas money. 

Let me say we did have a lovely day out.

We said S could bring a friend along to keep her company and the girls kept each other amused and we had a nice wander.

But we wouldn't go back.

If I were giving Andover a school report I would say, it has potential, but could do better.

We caught the train from one of our local stations and I spotted mistletoe growing in one of the trees, bit late for this festive season, but always a treat to see.

The train station is a short walk from the town centre and to get there we had to walk through an underpass which had art works of various record breaking cars painted on the walls. I don't know what the connection with the area is.

The underpass led out on to some very bland boxy brown buildings. I think one is the college and another is an arts centre. The river Anton flows through Andover and past this complex and is home to plenty of ducks and moorhens.

The heritage trail I found started at the bottom of the town and we found ourselves at the top so we did it in reverse which didn't matter in the least.
This is St Mary's church completed in 1856 and is made of knapped flint and Caen stone.

Almhouses built in 1686.

Not on the heritage trail but it caught our attention, a machine outside the post office where once upon a time a book of stamps could be purchased for 50p!

The Norman Arch is the only surviving section of the Andover Church, built after a fire in 1141.

Chantry Cottage wasn't always on this spot by the church, this 16th century building was moved from nearby Chantry Street. I'd love to have a peek inside.

Information from the trail guide........The Angel Inn was, for many years, the largest and most prominent inn. It was rebuilt after the great fire in 1435 and remains one of the most important timber frame buildings in Hampshire. It used to be called College Inn because it was owned by Winchester College and the carpenter who constructed its impressive frame also built Eton College. The Angel Inn has seen some illustrious visitors including King John, Edward I, Edward II, Henry VII, Catherine of Aragon and James II, fleeing from William of Orange.
We were going to go here for some lunch, but a sign outside said 'no food today'. We tried the Wetherspoons, their fryers were broken so they only had a small menu available, another pub did no food at all. We found one which was selling food but it was so busy and there was no seat to be had.

The Georgian guildhall was built in 1825 and I bet in all it's Christmas finery it looked very elegant.

The Andover time ring was a beautifully colourful circular mosaic which depicts the town's history from Roman to Victorian times. Unfortunately part of it was covered by some market stalls so we couldn't enjoy it in it's entirety.

In the 10th century, the Vikings sailed their longboats up as far as Longstock on the River Test and then laid waste to the surrounding countryside. This Viking work of art on the River Anton is a nod to this part of history. 
The thing is the look is rather spoiled by those huge rubbish bins behind it.

The Domesday book listed 6 mills in Andover and this one which was dates from 1764 was grinding flour up until the 1960s.

I love this piece of artwork next to the mill. We only saw it because we walked down by the side of the mill on the way back to the station, it wasn't included on the trail which I thought was a real shame.

I only spotted this clock on the platform as we were waiting for the train to pull in. I just had time to whip out my camera and take a quick snap but I couldn't see any information about it. 

Prior to our visit I was online looking to glean some info about Andover I read the same thing a couple of times 'Andover will always remain a place to meet and to do business'. As long as you didn't want to have a business lunch in a pub! I'd recommend you met and did your business in Salisbury a few more miles down the road.
It felt a bit shabby in some places and certainly not in a chic way. Like I say we did have a nice day out but we won't be going back any time soon.

A couple of purchases were made. We found a charity shop which was having a pound sale and here a dress for S was found and also a couple of things for me. I've decided I'm going to do a round up at the end of each month of any charity shop purchases, just so I can keep an eye on my spending and see what I've bought.
One thing I will share now are these 2 shopping bags. They were reduced to a pound each in The Works and will be ideal gifts for my mum and sister when I'm putting their advent swaps together for this December.