Gold Hill, Shaftesbury

This holiday has been mostly about REST!  But today my friend Vanessa from Warminster, whom we visited on Sunday, (see Oct 16th blip) came to see US!  We had tea on the verandah and then went into Shaftsbury for a bit of an explore. We started by buying some pasties at the bakery and eating them in the park at the top of the ridge. The pasties were delicious and the view outstanding.

Then we made our way to the top of the famous Gold Hill, which is my chosen blip for today. Gold Hill is one of the most famous views in England, and is found on many calendars, coffee table books and boxes of chocolate. It was made even more famous by a TV advert for Hovis bread in the 1970s. The idea was to sit outside the cafe at the top, which provides an amazing view of Gold Hill  I was very excited because I'd always wanted to come here.

When we got there and sat down, all we could say was 'Wow'!!  But - you'll have to click on the 'Extra photo' to see what the view really was!!  It was really too funny to be annoying!  Thankfully my sprained ankle was just about up to walking a little ways down the hill for a better, more typical view.

We enjoyed coffee and delicious cakes - I had an apricot and almond slice and Vanessa had a Dorset Apple cake. Each was served with a giant dollop of clotted cream!  Delicious!  And of course - just as we were leaving - so did our 'friend'. A very funny incident to remember from our holiday in Dorset!  

After a bit of shopping we enjoyed more tea and cake on the verandah back at the lakeside hut, enjoying the sunset. (See next Extra photo). Needless to say, I had almost no room for dinner with all that cake!  Well, I can do that on holiday, yes?