A trip to Wareham on the ferry.

She who must be obeyed has pointed out that Mother Sabin of Faydale has potatoes growing from her potatoes grow bags - already. Merlin visited this small hamlet of Faydale and finding three females, posing that look of being 'peaceful', mother Sabin hanging up the washing, domestic bliss, first born Sabin/Fay reading Jane Eire, she is the clever one (Merlin says so) and the youngest Sabin/Fay looking so studious it left Merlin so impressed, as to make her pass a comment to me that the sun shone brighter and stronger at Faydale. It is the sunniest, warmest place in Middle Earth. It makes one wonder what the Mad Hatter would say? Mother or Son they are so much alike.

Tomorrow Merlin is dragging us off to the dodgy ferry that takes one and a half hours to cover 3 miles, and for this you cough up £25. We will be visiting Wareham. Lord only knows what we have to look forward to but I will take photographs and make notes. Tomorrow or the next day I will blog this happening, but to be truthful, I still do not know what it is, an adventure, trial, obligation, penance?

Here are a few snippets of information I gleamed from the Internet on Wareham. Wareham is a lovely 10 minutes' drive from Poole. Michael says, if we had two cars then one could have taken Merlin to the harbour to catch the £25 ferry, while the rest of us could stay at home for another hour and then drive to Wareham (£2), in time to beat the ferry and get the best table at the pub for lunch.

Wareham: The town's strategic setting has made it an important settlement throughout its long history. Excavations at the nearby Bestwall site have produced evidence of transient early Mesolithic activity dating to around 9000 BC. At the same site four large Neolithic pits containing worked flint and pottery fragments dating to 3700 BC were found. Three greenstone axe heads discovered also probably date to this period. Flint working and potting continued throughout the Bronze Age. The first house discovered dates to the 15th century BC.

"Bloody Bank", West Walls.
Archaeological evidence exists of a small Roman settlement, though the current town was founded by the Saxons. The Roman name is unknown, but the town is referred to as Werham in the Anglo Saxon Chronicle entry of 784, from Old English wer (meaning 'fish trap, a weir') and hām ('homestead') or hamm ('enclosure hemmed in by water').

Lady St. Mary church

The town's oldest features are the town walls, ancient earth ramparts surrounding the town, likely built by Alfred the Great in the 9th century to defend the town from the Danes as part of his system of burh towns. The Danes had invaded Wareham in 876, only leaving after the payment of a ransom. In 998 they attacked again, and in 1015 an invasion led by King Cnut left the town in ruins. The town was a Saxon royal burial place, notably that of King Beorhtric (800 CE). Also in the town at the ancient minster church of Lady St. Mary is the coffin said to be that of Edward the Martyr, dating from 978. His remains had been hastily buried there and were later taken from Wareham to Shaftesbury Abbey in north Dorset (and now lie in Brookwood Cemetery, Surrey).


I cannot wait to take the ferry there. Maybe the Three Musketeer's, England, America and France, should take a leaf out of King Cnut's book and invade Libya and leave it in ruins, will save us taxpayers a small fortune and bring the price of oil down.

Happy Good Easter Friday – Good Friday for the Jesus guys and a fantastic holiday for the rest of us. Whatever your needs to live, enjoy this break. Hail Mary, Hail Mary, 5 more times and thank you peasants for the money in the bowl, should buy a cheap Claret and a Burger King special.

Did you hear? The Pope is planning a hostile takeover of the Church of England, watch this space. The Queen is giving away money to the yobs. See the latest news on BBC iPlayer.