“Dawe’s Twineworks in West Coker, Somerset, is said to be the only surviving rural twineworks with its original Victorian twine-making machinery in place. The Coker Rope & Sail Trust exists to preserve and restore the works, and to record and celebrate the flax and hemp based industries (twine, rope and sailcloth) which were once dominant…
DetailsThe gardens at Wayford Manor haven’t been open for the last couple of years. New owners have ‘had the builders in’ in a big way. But this year they were back on the case with the NGS last Sunday – a chance not to be missed even on a drizzly afternoon at the end of May.…
DetailsFor those who don’t know it, Cogden Beach is a marvel. Last Sunday the skies were blue and the sun was warm – time for an early morning walk. Cogden Beach is a stretch of shingle owned by the National Trust towards the western end of Chesil Beach. It is a very special habitat for…
DetailsBarrington Court is just a hop over the border into Somerset. It’s a splendid Tudor manor house, now a National Trust property. And it’s empty – of furniture anyway. In its stripped back state it’s easier to appreciate the bones of the place, although all is not as it seems. By the early 20th century…
DetailsAround here the natural dyeing adventures continue. The hunt for red is on. A true red dye is hard to find, and therefore highly prized. Before imported or chemical dyes were available reds for Scottish tartans were obtained from white Crotal (a lichen that grows on rocks) or madder root. In northern Europe the best…
DetailsDo you know your worsted spinning from your wool spinning? It’s a more complicated process for a start. The basic difference is the use of a long rather than a short staple (the individual fibres that make up the yarn). And that these fibres have to be combed, and combed again into parallel with each…
DetailsIt’s been all about yellow around here. The colour of Spring – even when the sun refuses to shine. Time to bring some it indoors. Primroses from the garden – and abundant in the hedgerows of Dorset. They last no time at all once picked, but bringing a few into the cottage on a gloomy…
DetailsVintage Patchwork, there’s nothing quite like it and once in a blue moon something really exciting turns up. The shabby cardboard box didn’t look that promising but you can just make out the writing ‘Quilt – to be finished’. It was lying unceremoniously underneath a table of quite ordinary ‘collectable’ gubbins. And here’s the thing.…
DetailsBelmont is well known around here. It’s that Georgian confection in Lyme Regis, once the home of author John Fowles and now owned by the Landmark Trust. It underwent a serious restoration (covered in a TV series on the Trust) and is available as a holiday rental. But don’t hold your breath if you fancy…
DetailsBoth Weymouth and Lyme Regis are honeypots for visitors in the summer months. But in the off season they take on a different mood. Quiet and atmospheric. All grey skies and chilly breezes. The Old Harbour at Weymouth has a particularly timeless quality and stillness early on a January morning, with just a few people…
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