Being Alive

This hobble of being alive is rather serious, don’t you think so? Famous words spoken by a very famous man. But it does make me think on what he said. The very thing of being alive, is rather serious. Think kindly on those who have the alternative. So many people strive for immortality, those who want to live forever. Although I have noticed that they are generally well off. If you have a few billion in the bank and have everything you want then immortality would be something to strive for.

Susan and I often say when walking on the beach, ' it is good to be alive ' what we really mean is, it is good to be alive at that moment. Talking of being alive, we visited Upwey, close to Weymouth on Saturday. We had two objectives in mind, why else go to such a small village? Firstly it the Upwey Wishing Well, which is the source of the River Wey and secondly a tearoom and gardens around the wishing well.
I love the way they named towns and places back in the very old days, Upwey, start or top of the River Wey, classic.

Finding a parking did have its little challenges but we managed and decided to start at the tearoom. I did Google this tearoom and was pleasantly surprised to find it as quant as it looks in the photos. A word of warning, this is a tearoom for the much more advanced in years then even I am. The coffee was weak and the service overly patronising. If you can forgive that then it turns out to be not too bad. Susan has a cream tea, scone would have been good to use as a cannon ball, but the jam and cream portions made up for that. I decided to have the Dorset Pate. Again they had the right idea but lacked the finesse to serve this simple meal properly. The bread was toasted and there was no chutney, that is almost compulsory. I would have served it with freshly baked bread, chutney and a wee salad. A small ploughman's in fact.

Onwards and upwards. The gardens are really worth a visit and the fact the the River Wey starts its journey to the coast from this humble beginnings, is also a intriguing staring point. We wonder around taking photographs, Susan on her Canon, point and shoot and I did the gardens justice by taking them on my Canon DSLR. The two images re-enforce my point.

This place has a history going back to the Black Death era. The Black Death epidemic of 1368, originated in Weymouth. Upwey is now a suburb of Weymouth. There is a Well Dressing occasion each year, celebrating the need for fresh water during the plague. People use to take a drink and then throw some water over their left shoulder to ward off the plague.
There is another side to this humble village, up from Weymouth. One of Upwey's direct ancestor, William Sprague (1609–1675), left England on the ship to America and help setup the city of Charlestown, Massachusetts. His brothers followed and did amazingly well by becoming governors of Rhode Island. In all that adventure, Upwey has remained the same for 400 years. Oh! well we can not halt progress.
Thomas Hardy also played a part in putting Upwey on the map. He wrote a poem 'At the Railway Station' in 1802. Dorset is Hardy country and no part of it will be left unturned by the followers of that noble society.

In summing up, well worth a visit and we will go back in the autumn. Autumn always brings a new perspective on a garden, this one will be no exception.

This is for Michael really, just encase you wondering, We are having Roast Pork Fillet, Charlotte potatoes and a salad with a olive oil and balsamic vinegar dressing.