Southern Coast

Today is a dreary, cold, rainy English day. Ugh, I've opted not to walk around in the rain. Yesterday was much different weather. At least for the portion of the day that I was outside the weather couldn't have been better. The day did not start out well. I had planned a 9 AM departure, but my traveling companions apparently enjoyed Friday night. So my 9 AM exit didn't happen until 10 AM. No worries, we still had a whole day ahead of us. With my National Trust guide book in hand we were set. BNThat was until an accident on the M5 (interstate) blocked traffic for an hour. Instead of getting down to the southern coast by 11 AM we didn't make it until closer to 1 PM. I have to say that many of the National Trust sites are well signed and easy to find. Many are hidden treasures simply because you can't find them! We drove past where I wanted to go see the cliffs at Burton Bradstock (in the picture). I knew this only because we came to the next town so I knew that we had passed. I did see a street sign that said "Cliff Road" tucked away. So we turned around (I do that a lot it seems) and headed back. We did drive back passed Hive Beach (this is important later). I found the road and headed up the hill. This is one of the English roads that is a two way road, but only one car at a time can fit on the road. We got to the top of the hill and parked along side the road (there was no parking lot, only cars parked along side road). As we walked over to the edge of the cliff (and yes, there is nothing stopping you from walking up to the edge of the cliff, there is a sign that suggests you might not want ot get to close to the edge). It was an amazing view looking down the edge of the cliff. We walked along a path that is part of the Jurassic Coast a 95 mile long trail. At the end of the trail there is a path that takes you down to the beach below. You guessed we found ourselves at Hive Beach. Walking along the base of the cliffs was equally impressive. We spent an hour or so walking along the various trails and taking pictures. At one point there was a guy attached to a parachute by a sling that he was sitting in. He was gliding along the cliffs with no apparent power, just the wind. It looked very cool.

At several points during this drive I had to stop going up a hill and get started again with the standard transmission. That was pretty exciting. By the time we left the cliffs it was about 2:30 PM and we had not eaten lunch yet. What we learned very quickly is that most restaurants/pubs don't serve food all day. We ended up eating at some greasy spoon diner next to a gas station. The food was alright, but being on the southern coast I was really hoping for fresh seafood (not frozed fish and chips). The trip back to Bristol was smooth, by now it was after 4:30 and most of the various National Trust sites close by 5 PM. I did get to see the Wellington Monument off in the distance. It's a 175 foot tall oblisique built on top of a hill.

One difference between the English motorway system and the American interstate system is the rest stops. In the US, most of the rest stops are simply bathrooms with information and maybe vending machines. The English motorway system has what are called "Services". These stops off the motorway have full restaurants, stores, petrol stations and some have hotels. It is very nice to be able to stop just off the motorway to get fuel rather than try to guess at an exit. The exits off the motorways in no way resemble the American system of the majority of exits having fast food chains and gas stations.