According to the forecasters, it will be a rainy, thundery day today and so we must choose our activities accordingly.

Rainy day

When we set out at about 9 am, the rain had stopped and a little while later, the sun put in an appearance but it’s unlikely to last.

Coffee #1

We went to Coffee #1 for breakfast. They had only two croissants left – both strawberry.

Breakfast

Tigger kindly let me have these and she chose alternatives.

It’s sunny now… Poole Station

In view of the likely bad weather, we chose a town visit for today’s outing. Tigger bought train tickets through the app on her phone and we walked to the station.

Aboard the Southampton train

There we boarded a train for Waterloo, though we are just going to Southampton.

Southampton Central

We left the train at Southampton Central and crossed the pedestrian bridge (from where I took this) to the exit.

Civic Centre clock tower

This unusually tall clock tower belongs to the Civic Centre, built in the 1930s.

Fountain and entrance

Beside the fountain is the entrance to the City Art Gallery and Central Library.

Art Gallery, General View

We visited the art gallery. Many of the exhibits are of course “modern art“ and non-figurative so said little or nothing to me.

Eve (1889)
Auguste Rodin

There were a few pieces of sculpture, including this one, Eve by Rodin.

Napoleon wearing coronation robes, 1805
Baron François Pascal Simon Gérard

This is one of the few figurative paintings and shows the Emperor Napoleon dressed in his coronation robes.

The Art House

Afterwards, we crossed the road to the Art House and…

A pot of Assam

…there enjoyed a pot of Assam tea.

Boxing Hares
Hamish Mackie

We saw this sculpture in the street.

Covering Letter
Jitish Kallat

We had a look in the John Hansard Gallery. Above is a glimpse of one of the animated exhibits. The text of a letter from Mahatma Gandhi is displayed over a waterfall, projecting the words onto the floor. The whole thing is of course longer than this brief snatch.

The rains came

It now started to rain heavily. We looked around for somewhere to have lunch and, not least, to shelter from the rain.

Bargate

We passed the historic Bargate but did not tarry because of the rain and also the wind which was gusting strongly and blowing rain into our faces.

Poppins Cafe

Seeing Poppins Cafe, we hurried there and ordered lunch.

Church and anchor

After lunch, the sun shone briefly and we took to the streets again. We passed this historic pair, a church fronted by an anchor. The anchor is from the QE2 which had a long association with the city.

Holy Rood Church

The church is Holy Rood, gutted by bombs in 1940 and never restored by left as a memorial to the war dead of the Merchant Navy.

Old Coaching Inn
Photo by Tigger

We continued walking though the rain was starting up again. We saw this old coaching inn which also has connections with Jane Austen, for what it’s worth. (Like Charles Dickens, Jane Austen seems to have been everywhere.)

Victorian-era Post Office

This handsome building wears the title “Post Office” with pride though it has not served as such for many years. Let’s hope it continues to survive in this age of vandal developers.

Harbour House

I also admired this building called Harbour House that has a fine clock tower.

The docks

We just about reached the docks but as it was still raining, it seemed a good idea to catch a bus back to the station.

Part of the city walls?

We waited at the bus stop opposite this venerable building. Again, I don’t know what it is unless it’s part of the old city walls.

Aboard the bus

The bus was not long in coming, fortunately, and carried us quickly to the station.

Aboard the train

We found seats on the train and took off our wet raincoats though we knew we would soon have to put them on again.

Taking refuge in Coffee #1

Arriving at Poole Station, we started for home but the rain came down so heavily thst we sought refuge in Coffee #1.

When the rain eased, we left the coffee shop and paid a visit to Sainsbury’s opposite. Here we bought things for our evening meal as we didn’t feel like coming out again into the wind and rain to look for a restaurant.

Heavy rain

As we made our way home, there was another heavy downpour – the above picture may give you some idea of it.

We took refuge in a shop doorway until it eased off and then make a final dash for the apartment. We will stay in now, having had enough rainy adventures for one day.

As I was finishing this post, news came in that Queen Elizabeth II has died, ending the longest reign in British history. Presumably, the throne is now occupied by King Charles III, unless he chooses a different reign name.