The second base of our two week trip around southern England saw us being based in Christchurch, Dorset.

Wednesday 23rd June 2021
Having travelled across from Canterbury in Kent, via London, we arrived at Christchurch railway station at just before 15.00. After a ten minute walk we were checking in at our accommodation, The Druid House, which was also just a short walk into the town centre.

Druid House was really a Guest House, not a hotel, but it scored very highly, and we had a lovely large room with sitting area as well as a great shower room. It was a good base for us, in what turned out to be a lovely town to spend my 50th birthday.

Christchurch town centre is dominated by the Christ Church Priory, after which the town is now named, it previously was known as Twynham. There is also the large and safe Christchurch Harbour, the entrance to this is about 2.5 miles away at Mudeford. The whole place had a really nice classy feel to it and being set back from the sea itself wasn't really an issue.

Having had an initial wander around we settled in at the Boat House for a drink before having an evening meal at Pinocchio, an Italian pizza/pasta joint.

Thursday 24th June 2021
After a 'full English' breakfast we set off for a walk to Hengistbury Head and Mudeford Sandbank. The walk itself was around 4.5 miles and on good paths. The views from Hengistbury Head allowed distant views of Bournemouth and also, through the sea mist, the Isle of Wight.

It was a nice walk and arriving at Mudeford we had lunch at the Beach House, a sister establishment to the Boat House in Christchurch. It was a popular place and had a very relaxed beach side feel about it.
Our journey back to Christchurch was by ferry boat taking around 25 minutes across Christchurch Harbour.

Having enjoyed drinks at The Snug Micropub, we returned back to Druid House before heading out for dinner at Masala Bay a BYO Indian restaurant. It was a great value place that served up good sized portions of tasty food.

Friday 25th June 2021
Today was my 50th birthday, and even though southern England wasn't part of my original plan, looking back now Christchurch was a very good place to reach the half-century mile milestone.

We had a few hours after breakfast to enjoy Christchurch itself and we called in to Pattiserie Mark Bennett for a coffee and a cake (it can't be a birthday without cake can it?). After changing clothes we caught the X2 bus to Mudeford and the Christchurch Harbour Hotel for lunch at The Jetty restaurant.

The weather was fabulous so pre-lunch drinks could be enjoyed in the garden overlooking the harbour. The lunch itself was fabulous, with nice views, great food and good service. Definitely a place worthy of a 50th birthday celebration!

In the evening we visited Bodega in Christchurch for cheese and wine before turning in for the night. It had been a day of too much food, too much beer/wine, but most importantly it was a lovely day.

Saturday 26th June 2021
We headed to Weymouth for morning coffee which was an hour journey by train from Christchurch.

Weymouth was very busy, probably because it was a Saturday, and also because the weather was quite reasonable. After time in Weymouth, and a lunch at a French style café called Pascal's (not a patch on the restaurant of the same name in Burton upon Trent), we headed to Poole.

Poole was, if honest, a bit of a let down, but you don't know this until you actually get off the train and have a walk around. The 'old town' area was nice, but the waterfront just didn't quite do it for us.

We then headed to Dorchester, which is back towards Weymouth, and had a walk around the former Roman town. It was a nice place for an hour or two and it seemed that quite a lot of investment was taking place at the former site of the Eldridge Pope Brewery located adjacent to Dorchester South station.

We made a reservation for dinner at Nusara, a Thai restaurant in Christchurch for our final evening in the town. It was a great place serving up very fresh and rather spicy Thai food which went very well with an imported Singha beer and a crisp rose wine.

Sunday 27th June 2021

Sunday was another travelling day, this time to Exeter in Devon after having a final 'full English' breakfast in Christchurch. This saw us changing trains at Southampton and Salisbury before arriving at St David's station in Exeter at just before 14.00.

MORE IMAGES FROM OUR TIME IN/AROUND CHRISTCHURCH CAN BE FOUIND IN THE PHOTOS SECTION OF THIS BLOG.