Poundbury

Last week to Poundbury, on our way to Holne. With house prices there leaving us wondering whether Prince Charles has made as much out of this property speculation as he has out of Duchy Originals. Two nights at the Duchess of Cornwall there, which we continue to find an excellent place to stay.

On the way we called in at Fleet Services, to find the new building up and running. Just 22 days open according to the pleasant young cleaner that we asked.

Fleet services - interior

A rather dark shot of the interior - on which I thought the designers had done rather well. A large open space, rather nicely broken up by the clumps of fake trees, the irregular pattern on the ceiling and the lines of pot plants on the waist high space dividers.

Fleet services - exit

Another dark shot showing something of the row of fake trees lining the façade. A sort of modern temple. See reference 1 for the same façade under construction.

Passing a sign to Porton Down, the place where, inter alia, they work on nerve agents and door knobs, we thought to see if there was a village called Porton to go with it, which indeed there was. Quite an old place with plenty of thatch and so forth.

Porton church - east

A rather small church, built in the late nineteenth century to replace an earlier building. Perhaps small on account of, according to Wikipedia, the area being a nest of Baptists. A much older font. A small church hall on the top of the slope behind.

Porton church - font

A hospitable builder, a chap who worked for a builder specialising in churches and such like and who knew all about the cathedral close at Salisbury, allowed us the use of a couple of chairs from the church hall for our picnic out in the sun - overlooking some rather handsomely done espalier apple trees.

Beard

Arriving a little early in the area of Poundbury, we decided to take a look at Hardy's monument - the naval Hardy, not to be confused with the literary one. It was a fine clear day and the only time that we had been near the monument before, the land had been covered by a blanket of mist. While on this day it was the hedgerows that were covered in a blanket of fluff, which after careful inspection we decided was Old Man's Beard, apparently something of a pest in New Zealand, where it had been introduced as an ornamental. Also that it is a member of the clematis genus in the buttercup family.

Hardy - far

Hardy - near

Hardy - door

Fine views from the car park at the monument, with 360 degree access to the horizon. The monument itself took the form of a naval spy glass, possibly the very one that Hardy himself owned and used at the battle of Trafalgar, while the door was fake Norman. With a notice explaining that the tower was shut due to staff illness. From which we deduced that the good ladies of Poundbury were not into this particular sort of volunteering, at least not in sufficient numbers to keep the show rolling in a reliable way.

Hardy done, we did not investigate a clump of possibly elderly yews, but proceeded to Poundbury, where we found that Waitrose were very fierce about smoking, going so far as to ban it at the chairs and tables set up outside their shop, opposite the Duchess.

No puffing

Into the Duchess to the fine room they had allocated us, with our own personal clock.

Personal clock

Personal, in the sense that it would not be very visible to anyone who was not it our room, or somewhere close by. Not really visible from the street. Downstairs to eat in the bar (rather than in the grand first floor restaurant, held over for the next day), where we started with a perfectly respectable 2016 Sancerre from Alain Girard et Fils - Domaine des Brosses - 18300 - Veaugues - France. A long established operation which does not seem to bother with a website, so presumably they rely on wine merchants to do all the customer facing stuff, so that they can concentrate on the booze.

Winery

Slightly puzzled by Street View, according to which Girard et Fils is the clutch of buildings in the middle of the snap above. No chateau and no vines - not even on the satellite view. Lots of arable and lots of poppies. But it is in the Loire valley, so maybe they just truck the grapes into their factory, rather like the Yeo Valley dairy which supplies Sainsbury's with a lot of dairy products from a large shed near Bristol, cuddly website notwithstanding. Another large shed which Street View no longer seems to know about.

Fish and chips for me, perfectly respectable, but rather fussily served, with lots of pots and a small pile of salt, loose on the wooden platter. A plate would have been easier all round.

Fussy fish

Followed by a rather crunchy crumble; not bad but rather too sweet. Compensated with a drop of Black Label.

Very comfortable mattress - the best in the world according to the ticket - but slumbers somewhat disturbed by what sounded like a police helicopter circling overhead for an hour or so in the middle of the night. From which we deduce that Poundbury is not altogether immune from the nocturnal troubles of places like Epsom. But they do seem to have fixed the wifi, very ropey at the time of our last visit, getting on for six months ago.

Staff pleasant and friendly, and we were pleased to remember our breakfast waitress from our last visit. Atmosphere in bar good. And they allow dogs - which I gather is becoming a bit of a pain for those who have dogs - with dogs being banned in lots of places. If I remember, next time I shall ask whether one is allowed to have one to stay.

Reference 1: https://psmv3.blogspot.com/2018/05/heading-west.html.

Reference 2: https://history.wiltshire.gov.uk/community/getchurch.php?id=911. More on the church of St. Nicholas, Porton.