An exiting trip ahead.

hobbes · Post by **hobbes** » 27 Aug 2007, 18:45

Well now i am safely back in manchester after a wonderful three days in Dorset. The weather was so kind as well.

Corfe castle village was very pretty. We went on the Swanage steam train and were lucky to discover the greyhound Pub had a local cider festival on as well as serving fabulous crab sandwitches.

Sadly Viv wasn't working on Saturday but i had a long chat with the nice lady in Ginger Pop and bought Viv's book and some ginger beer of course. The castle is swathed in scaffolding at the moment so it was hard to get a feel for it and of course it was very crowded.

We had the roof off the car and played our FF cd's (free from the telegraph but a strange choice of books IMO). Lulworth Cove was lovely but heaving and we had fish and chips in Weymouth. last night we took the train back to Corfe to eat in the Banks Arms. The landlady there was very gruff and mannish. I am convinced she is George, single and running her own pub. It was busy and some people were complaing about the wait for food. George/landlady gave them short shrift!! Actually seen as she was getting away with charging £6.50 for a bit a luke warm fried brie as a starter, George has obviously developed good business skills. Maybe Anne should have been left to manage the kitchen.

Post by **Anita Bensoussane** » 27 Aug 2007, 20:47

I enjoyed reading your account of your trip, Hobbes, and would love to see "George"! Fried brie? Well, I seem to recall the Famous Five declaring in several books that food tastes so much nicer when it's fried!

Anita

Viv of Ginger Pop · Post by **Viv of Ginger Pop** » 27 Aug 2007, 20:54

hobbes wrote: Sadly Viv wasn't working on Saturday but i had a long chat with the nice lady in Ginger Pop and bought Viv's book and some ginger beer of course. The castle is swathed in scaffolding at the moment so it was hard to get a feel for it and of course it was very crowded.

.

Sorry to have missed you on Saturday, but I was having my own day out in Bristol, catching the train on a lovely scenic journey from Dorchester.

The nice lady you spoke to is Shelley Dockerell who has worked for me since the shop opened, and is also a Blyton Society member.

The "mannish" character at the Bankes Arms is actually called Sam, and she ran the Golfing activity for me at the Blyton Birthday Party. On a busy lunchtime I know they can serve over 500 meals, and keeping calm is the order of the day....

I gave my response to the Corfe/Jersey debate in the thread about the journal it featured in, and have also set out a reponse on my website (homework help)

Tiggerstail - IF you can get to the Great Dorset Steam Fair then it is the best place to see England as Blyton knew it. The queues to get in are horrendous though. It is easy after 5pm, and cheap, and there is still plenty to see. I'm going Thursday evening, and then on Friday I plan to arrive around 8.30 to make sure I don't get stuck in the queues!

http://www.gdsf.co.uk/

The Nothe Fort at the entrance to Weymouth Harbour has some tame yet spooky "secret passages" and underground rooms.

I had hoped to give a response to the "where do you live" thread by anouncing that I no longer live in a pigsty, but still only 1/2 the hoovering has been done...

best wishes

Viv

Post by **Anita Bensoussane** » 27 Aug 2007, 21:00

[Viv:] The "mannish" character at the Bankes Arms is actually called Sam...

That's almost too Blytonian to be true!

Anita

hobbes · Post by **hobbes** » 28 Aug 2007, 11:20

Sorry I missed you Viv. It would have bee nice to chat Blyton trivia with you. I was hoping to find more FF audio cd's in the shop but i could only find the seven released in the telegraph. They are quite good apart from Timmy's rather pathetic bark but the choice of FF books is a bit suspect. Secret trail and Finiston are amongst the weakest books. Two sets of silly twins is enough for anyone. I would love to be able to listen to Smugglers Top for example.

Give my regards to Sam. Of course Enid had George as well as Henry and Jo in the FF series and Mallory Tower's, Bill and her counterpart Don't Care Bobby at St Caler's but never a female Sam!

Moonraker · Post by **Moonraker** » 28 Aug 2007, 11:24

hobbes wrote:I was hoping to find more FF audio cd's in the shop but i could only find the seven released in the telegraph.

I do hope you are not selling these, Viv! A great story, hobbes. I simply loved the scene in the pub with Sam. I will put it on my Places to Visit list!

hobbes · Post by **hobbes** » 28 Aug 2007, 12:08

Oh no- I didn't mean that Ginger pop was selling the freebies!!!!!!

Just that the ones on sale albeit in different format seemed to be the same books or secret seven ones. Correct me if I have made a mistake Viv though!

Julie2owlsdene · Post by **Julie2owlsdene** » 28 Aug 2007, 13:32

Glad you enjoyed your trip to Dorset, Hobbes. We frequently visit, Corfe Castle, it is so magical to me, and the Swanage Railway, just takes me back... (to my childhood of course)

Lenoir · Post by **Lenoir** » 28 Aug 2007, 19:32

Interesting account, hobbes, I also enjoyed it.

Anita Bensoussane wrote:Fried brie? Well, I seem to recall the Famous Five declaring in several books that food tastes so much nicer when it's fried!

Yes, I remember Anne even wanting to fry Timmy’s dog-biscuits in Five go off in a caravan! And I thought Anne was the sensible one!
Luckily, the level-headed George stopped her.

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