Last day in Dorset. Sigh.
I went to Abbotsville to the Swannery. I'm sure we came here as children, although I'm also sure I never appreciated the wonderful little village of Abbotsville. I found a parking space on Rosemary Lane, and ducked behind one of the high walls to put on an extra shirt under my tee shirt. There was a courtyard with about five horse stalls, and a couple of the horses put their heads over the half-doors to check out what I was doing!
It just goes to show - I parked about 2 miles from the Swannery as it turns out, and I walked the two miles rather than drive closer to the place where the swans were nesting!
About 100 nesting pairs, and at least 400 bachelors and bachelorettes hanging about. There was a grand feeding twice a day, and they all flapped in close to get their share of cracked corn. The eggs are supposed to start hatching Wednesday - I am just two days too early. The guide told the story about one of the first pairs to settle in - the male was killed by another male during some territorial battle and the keepers were concerned because a female can rarely survive on her own. The male guards and protects her, and may even sit on the nest to give her a break once in a while. Coincidentally there was a male whose mate was unsuccessful in hatching her single egg last year, and he came back by himself to these breeding grounds. Well happy ending - they got together and are acting as a pair. When the keeper told the story you could hear the affection and excitement in his voice so I guess this is a big deal in the world of swans.
This has been a nesting area for over 600 years, and these are one of the few groups of swans that don't belong to the Queen. Anna Pavlova came here in the late 1920's and danced some of Swan Lake in her tutu - there are pictures!
Back safe and sound to Dorchester. I saw the statue of Thomas Hardy and went by the house commonly acknowledged to be the home of the Mayor of Casterbridge in his story. I tried to go in the old courthouse and see the cells and underground tunnels that were used to go back and forth to court in the old days, but they were not open yet for the summer.
My last adventure in Dorset was to walk in the rain along one of the paths that parallels the road and then wanders off into the woods. Really pleasant gentle rain and a nice way to end my stay here.
Back to the hotel for dinner, early bed, and a drive to the airport to turn in the car and fly out Wednesday morning. I hope to drive across the Salisbury Plain and see Stonehenge but don't plan to get out the car.
One of the reasons my typos can be counted in the thousands is because of the midget keyboard for this IPAD> Don't get me wrong - I love the IPAD and love the keyboard and wouldn't be writing all this if I didn't have them, but it will be nice to get back to a grown-up keyboard again.
That's all for tonight. I am very weary and ready to get back home.
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