Studland

I was last here with my (then) boyfriend when we celebrated the last of my finals exams and we jumped on a train from Southampton and walked from Swanage via Old Harry rocks (in the distance) to the ferry back to Bournemouth, stopping for a skinny dip on the way. Looking at it now I don’t know how we did I it. Fitter and youthful. Neither apply now. There was no one about and we had the place to ourselves most of the way. I guess that must have been June time. Today I was packed up and arrived there before 9am and it was already filling up. I swam and ran away.

Tortuous hot journey up to Redditch thereafter with temps of 32 degrees., forgetting what day it was and the millions descending on Stonehenge. My phone stopped working because of the heat and so I lost google map directions and couldn’t pull over to read my road atlas because all the lay-bys were blocked off for miles around. 
Extra … a brief moment of tranquility at Salisbury.

I ended up getting stuck in Devizes and Marlborough. I last visited these back in my much fitter, youthful times when I did a 50 mile 3-legged walk from Southampton to Marlborough over 2 days, fundraising for Amnesty International. 
At the point when we thought we were ready to give up, a couple of lads stomped past swinging their ghetto blaster with this … *

The moment is seared in my memory as one of collective spirit, connectedness, and shared humanity… with great music.

Folkie would so approve xxx

*  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VbD_kBJc_gI