Inspired by Dorset

We've recently spent a very happy short break on the south coast - Somerset, Dorset and Devon all run into and out of each other almost around the next corner on the road - they're all beautiful counties and it's been a treat to spend a while in this very beautiful coastal area.  The camera goes everywhere with me and I appreciate that as I can go a little mad .... I'll stick to sharing the more interesting/quirky and leave out the pretty ones.

Like many mini-house builders I'm fascinated by houses and other buildings and the sea front cottages at Lyme Regis were a positive delight and surprise. They're all so very pretty, but the big surprise was to find that so many were thatched!!

Just loved the street lamps too...

I haven't made a seaside cottage for ages and the last were in 1/24th scale with slate roofs inspired by the ones I knew while I was living in Cornwall, so I'm officially inspired to create a thatched  one in 1/48th scale!

We've been wanting to go to this lovely place for decades and just never got around to it - SO worth the wait.  Of course Lyme Bay itself, the harbour area and the famous Cobb are wonderful and I could definitely picture Jane Austin's ladies tripping through the town and the tragic lady on the Cobb.

The Cobb and harbour

We've all probably made or purchased a post box for our miniature scenes over the years but I was fascinated to discover one of the oldest in this country that dates from 1799 and is still in it's original place  - no red paint here.  I wonder when they were first painted red?

The Jurassic Coast of course is famous for fossils as well as beauty.  I looked....well we might have found one....but I cheated and bought a couple of little ones at the amazing Heritage Centre at Charmouth.

The cliffs and rocks sculped by the waves and weather are beautiful in their own right and as I love pebbles and beach-combing I was in my element. We had a lovely time and were so happy to see the number of school parties and their teachers having a wonderful time out there digging, getting muddy and learning at the same time. Great!
Somewhere in the shed I still have an old stone/pebble tumbler - now the question is, do I really have time to revisit that old hobby? No.o.o.o.....

Given that our fishermen work in such perilous conditions and under all kinds of challenging policy dictats it's always a treat to see working boats and the equipment of their labours as we did at both Lyme and West Bay. Glass, cork and natural rope may be a thing of the past but the modern equivalents no doubt do the job just as well (or better) and look just as striking.

Pity I could snap this without the cars....

You might have noticed something of an obsession with miniature shopes this year - so I couldn't resist taking pictures of this wonderfully preserved draper's shop in Ilminster - just as it was when it opened  in 1870.

Couldn't resist this fabulous statue of a violinist in a lovely garden.
Back to work then...

Thanks for looking.
Robin