As I said in my previous story, there were not exactly two thousand photos – but only one thousand, nine hundred and thirty taken on my 2010 UK trip. About one-third of these were taken while I was visiting places outside London in places like Bath and Bridport.
Tracey was another friend that I met while I lived in Australia. She had come there to work for a few years and has since returned to London to live and work. We reconnected while I was visiting my son in London. Since Tracey had the luxury of a car, she took me to see parts of the UK that are much more difficult, if not impossible, to reach by public transport.
We left the big city behind and travelled the winding, narrow country roads along the south east coast. We started the excursion in the small charming country town of Bridport, described as Dorset’s market town, and in the “top 15 market towns in Britain”.
The Jurassic Coast
Bridport is the gateway to the Jurassic Coast (a natural World Heritage site). The magnificent coastline in this area includes Lyme Bay and Chesil Beach. (When I watched the 2017 movie “On Chesil Beach” starring Saoirse Ronan (which I loved), I thought the stones on the beach looked just like those that I remember from that visit.)
We hiked up to the top of Golden Cap so we could see the view of the coastline from the highest point on the south coast of England (191 metres high). Getting to the top required climbing a few stiles – a skill that I mastered on this trip, but will rarely get a chance to use again. As I have a sensible fear of heights, the tramp up the big hill was exhilarating. As beautiful as the views were up there, however I welcomed the sight of the beach again upon our return.
The City of Bath
Heading north from the coast for an hour and a half, our next destination was Bath, largest city in the county of Somerset, and the site of the famous Roman Baths. The city is filled with history. And I was delighted to learn while I was there that it was home to Sally Lunn in 1680. The place where she lived is the oldest surviving building in town. It is still used as a restaurant, where we enjoyed a delicious and relaxing tea. Back at home, one of my favourite things to do is bake bread and the butter-and-egg bread recipe for the Sally Lunn bread makes a light and airy loaf.
The architecture in Bath is magnificent. I could certainly see why it was designated a UNESCO World Heritage site. My photographic eye was working hard to find the right angle to capture so many constructed and natural delights, such as: the Roman Baths, Bath Abbey, Pulteney Bridge, The Royal Crescent, The Circus and Prior Lake Landscape Garden. The lens however seemed to shortchange the expanse and beauty of most of what I saw. So instead, I tended to capture small portions of the landscape or breadth of the buildings.
Learn about the history of the places that you visit and why they are located where they are.
On the way back to London, we had one more stop. Being an amateur photographer, I knew that I could never do justice to this photo-shoot – but I tried anyway. Who wouldn’t want the opportunity to say that they photographed what is often described as “perhaps the world’s most famous prehistoric monument” – Stonehenge.
As we arrived back in London, I knew that these few days in the countryside had provided me with many more “sensational” memories of Britain’s varied sights and tastes.
What places in the UK have you found to be most enchanting or interesting?
Travels with Judi B... 
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