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satyricaI was just back at work for three days after Boomtown before my next holiday but ended up working pretty late collecting a guest from hospital on Tuesday night, I think I had a night in Wednesday and then Thursday went down to Lewisham for 7th Sea. Then on Friday I headed off on the train down to Dorset with J&E to join the second week of our biennial big house holiday with 20 or so assorted Egham folk.
This time we had rented Stonebarrow Manor in Charmouth: it was more compact than some of our previous residences (meaning that late-night fun out of earshot wasn't really an option), without much in the way of gardens and a very annoying kitchen-pantry layout, nor did it have the fun features some others have had (the gym! the museum! the chapel!), but it did the job perfectly well and was walking distance from the beach and a couple of very handy shops. It took me a little while to get into the rhythm of not-having-to-do-stuff but it felt gloriously indulgent to just sit around reading or spodding without any sense or expectation and there were of course lots of board games available to fill the days with different groups as the whim seized people.
We had a quick wander around the village on Friday night, with the other new arrivals, then went for a walk up and along the hilly coast to the east on Saturday, going up to Golden Cap, the highest point on the south coast, down to Seatown and up again to Thorncombe Beacon then back again. On Sunday I mostly hung out at the house then joined the fossil walk down on the beach in the afternoon, which had a good talk before we all wandered along the Jurassic shingle, sifting the plentiful ammonites from the fool's gold.
On Monday E & I walked to Lyme Regis, the next town along to the west, which we had to do inland on the way but once the tide had gone out, after poking around the town's harbour, historic features and fudge shops, we were able to walk back along the coast. Most evenings had a big communal meal and, after checking out Charmouth's little heritage centre in the morning, Tuesday was my turn so I spent the afternoon creating gozleme, fudge brownie pudding and way too much couscous.
On Wednesday my parents came over from the other edge of Dorset and we went out to Mapperton, a picturesque Tudor manor house near Bridport, although it had been bought by the Earls of Sandwich 50 years ago and filled with their stuff so the guided tour had this weird dual narrative where the stories of the paintings and people were completely separate to the story of the building. It was really nice to do though as, being a non-driver, I otherwise felt a little constrained by what I was able to get to, especially as people who now have kids understandably had a different focus and less space in their car. It was also R's 40th so in the evening lots of us got together to play a geeky quiz game (despite being driven out of one sitting room by a hornet) which seemed largely designed to make geeks argue about things.
Luckily the house was very well positioned for walks and on the last full day I headed inland with J&E through the rolling countryside to Coney's and Lambert's Castles (in fact pre-Roman hill forts, so basically big hills), which afforded great views across the green fields, then back round home again. In the evening we successfully set up a camp fire down on the beach, which quite a few people came down to and was a really lovely way to end things. After the morning clear out, we got a bus to Axminster and didn't find much more to do other than hang out in the church grounds before getting our train back to London.
Games Played: The Captain is Dead, Great Scott!, Princes of Florence, Cthulu Fluxx, Nevermore, Not Alone, King of Tokyo, Geek Out, Lords of Waterdeep, Magic the Gathering
This time we had rented Stonebarrow Manor in Charmouth: it was more compact than some of our previous residences (meaning that late-night fun out of earshot wasn't really an option), without much in the way of gardens and a very annoying kitchen-pantry layout, nor did it have the fun features some others have had (the gym! the museum! the chapel!), but it did the job perfectly well and was walking distance from the beach and a couple of very handy shops. It took me a little while to get into the rhythm of not-having-to-do-stuff but it felt gloriously indulgent to just sit around reading or spodding without any sense or expectation and there were of course lots of board games available to fill the days with different groups as the whim seized people.
We had a quick wander around the village on Friday night, with the other new arrivals, then went for a walk up and along the hilly coast to the east on Saturday, going up to Golden Cap, the highest point on the south coast, down to Seatown and up again to Thorncombe Beacon then back again. On Sunday I mostly hung out at the house then joined the fossil walk down on the beach in the afternoon, which had a good talk before we all wandered along the Jurassic shingle, sifting the plentiful ammonites from the fool's gold.
On Monday E & I walked to Lyme Regis, the next town along to the west, which we had to do inland on the way but once the tide had gone out, after poking around the town's harbour, historic features and fudge shops, we were able to walk back along the coast. Most evenings had a big communal meal and, after checking out Charmouth's little heritage centre in the morning, Tuesday was my turn so I spent the afternoon creating gozleme, fudge brownie pudding and way too much couscous.
On Wednesday my parents came over from the other edge of Dorset and we went out to Mapperton, a picturesque Tudor manor house near Bridport, although it had been bought by the Earls of Sandwich 50 years ago and filled with their stuff so the guided tour had this weird dual narrative where the stories of the paintings and people were completely separate to the story of the building. It was really nice to do though as, being a non-driver, I otherwise felt a little constrained by what I was able to get to, especially as people who now have kids understandably had a different focus and less space in their car. It was also R's 40th so in the evening lots of us got together to play a geeky quiz game (despite being driven out of one sitting room by a hornet) which seemed largely designed to make geeks argue about things.
Luckily the house was very well positioned for walks and on the last full day I headed inland with J&E through the rolling countryside to Coney's and Lambert's Castles (in fact pre-Roman hill forts, so basically big hills), which afforded great views across the green fields, then back round home again. In the evening we successfully set up a camp fire down on the beach, which quite a few people came down to and was a really lovely way to end things. After the morning clear out, we got a bus to Axminster and didn't find much more to do other than hang out in the church grounds before getting our train back to London.
Games Played: The Captain is Dead, Great Scott!, Princes of Florence, Cthulu Fluxx, Nevermore, Not Alone, King of Tokyo, Geek Out, Lords of Waterdeep, Magic the Gathering
