As usual on the first morning in a new place, my job was to find out how the shower works. All showers are different and can spring nasty surprises on you until you know their little foibles.

The enemy

This shower has two heads. The top one starts cold and then switches to scalding hot water, causing me literally to jump out of the shower compartment to avoid injury. The lower one can also scald you until you work out exactly how to set the knob controlling its temperature. (Clue: this works with delayed action.) In addition, the floor of the shower is slippery so you have to exercise extreme caution when moving or your feet slide out from under you.

Coffee #1 for breakfast

Having played with the shower, we set out on today’s jaunt which, as the title tells you, is to the seaside town of Weymouth. As our train leaves at 9:45, we bought a takeaway breakfast at Coffee #1.

Level crossing closed

Continuing up the High Street, we found the level crossing closed. The train soon came through and the barriers lifted to allow us to go on our way.

Poole Station

We reached an almost deserted Poole Railway Station and settled on a bench to have our breakfast. While we were thus engaged, it started to rain and we both sheltered under Tigger’s umbrella.

Aboard the Weymouth train
Photo by Tigger

The train came (a minute late), bringing welcome shelter. When this photo was taken there was water on both sides of the train!

Dorchester South Station

We broke our journey in Dorchester, a town where Tigger spent time in her youth.

Eldridge Pope Brewery

The town was once famous for its brewing industry, as witness the Eldridge Pope brewery building.

All you need is love
Mike Chapman

This sculpture by Mike Chapman (2018) to commemorate the First World War has two titles, All you need is love and The hug.

The Almshouses

The picturesque almshouses have been repurposed. They were founded in 1615 by Sir Robert Napper.

The old Corn Exchange

This building with a fine clock tower is the Corn Exchange, built 1847-8.

Dorset Museum Cafe

We popped into the museum cafe for refreshments.

Sunshine in South Street

As we made our way back to the station, the sun came out, making a pleasant change from the clouds and rain earlier. Will it stay fine, though?

Victoria Jubilee Clock

To my mind, this colourful clock tower is the symbol of Weymouth. It was erected in 1887 for the jubilee of Queen Victoria.

The sandy beach

Among the attractions of Weymouth are its sandy beach and sea.

Memorial to King George III

King George III visited Weymouth and was fond of the place. In return, the citizens erected a memorial to him.

Sand sculptures

Weymouth, owing to the qualities of its sand, is a well known centre for sand sculpture and hosts a permanent, changing display by various sand artists.

Boat trips

We went for a trip in this boat.

Sitting in the stern

We were two of only six passengers and we had good seats in the stern.

Here are some of the things we saw:

Nothe Fort

Breakwater Fort

Breakwater Lighthouse

A close-up view of the sea!

The sea was quite choppy at times and we were sometimes splashed by waves breaking against the boat.

The Pavilion

We went to the Pavilion (a favourite haunt of Tigger’s in past times) for tea and coffee and stayed quite some time. (We needed to fill in time as we were expecting to meet someone later.)

Carousel, Alexandra Gardens

Afterwards, we walked through Alexandra Gardens where there are amusements for children, including this period-flavour carousel.

Weymouth Harbour

We went to the harbour to take a look at the colourful boats.

The Golden Lion

We passed the Golden Lion pub which has this fine, rather antique-looking, lion as its sign.

Caffè Nero
Photo by Tigger

We stopped off at Caffè Nero to wait for our meeting and there learned that it had been called off.

Weymouth Station

So we walked back to Weymouth’s unlovely modern station.

Aboard the Waterloo train

Here we boarded a train for Waterloo which will take us to Poole and our temporary home.

Level crossing closed – again

We walked home from the station and found the level crossing closed for a second time – possibly for the train we had just left!

Sainsbury’s

We saw a familiar sign announcing the presence of Sainsbury’s and we went in. We bought enough items to make an evening meal and then continued on to our apartment.

Thus ends our outing to Weymouth. Tomorrow is a special day but we will discuss that it due course.