I meandered out to the coach at 9:30 this morning to find one of the hotel porters stood admiring it, which is a bit of a worry because he will probably grow up to be a coach spotter! After a quick chat with him about my 'good looking machine' I collected my passengers for today's excursion.
It is a lovely morning, quite different to yesterday. The sun is out, the sky is blue and everyone was looking forward to our trip just up the road to Christchurch.
It was a bit difficult to drop off today because it is market day and so there are road closures in place to accommodate it. But it's a nice bit of added interest for everyone. I parked the coach down by the harbor and before anything else I had a few phone calls to make. One of which was to our own products manager back in the depot about an idea I've had. It's a bit of a long shot and would need a lot of thought and consideration but the initial response I've had was positive. Next step, write it all down and present it to the MD. I'm excited about this but I'm sorry, at the moment it is top secret and if I tell you I will have to kill you.
So once the coach was locked and safe I headed back to town to find Karen. I tried to phone her to find out where she was but she wasn't answering. It didn't matter though, I heard her before I saw her, even over a bustling market! She was having so much of a good time with two of our gentlemen passengers that she hadn't heard the phone. I was bought a coffee before going to explore.
I had left all of my 7 toothbrushes at home so I had to buy another. I also had a finger nail disaster the night we before we came away so that needed a quick fix. So after the important things were taken care of, we had a mooch through the market before heading for the Priory.
The Priory is very impressive looking and the architecture of churches and cathedrals etc always amazes me. I just can't get my head around how these structures were built, at the time they were built, without the use of machinery. They are always so detailed and intricate and it always impresses me.
We went for a quick look inside where we were greeted by a lady in a robe who was very keen to tell us about 'the miraculous beam'. I left Karen stuck with her while I went for a quick look. Karen didn't take long to catch up. We found the story of 'the miraculous beam', and the beam itself. The short version is that during the construction of the Norman priory, a beam was cut, ready for installation, however, once hoisted into place, it was found to be too short for the purpose, as this was at the end of the working day, the embarrassed workers went home, intending to work out a solution the next day.
On returning to work the next morning, it was found that the beam was now 1 foot longer than needed. Installation was completed, with no hitch.
As the priory was being dedicated to Christ, it was assumed that Christ had intervened, and extended the beam.
The original Town of Thuinam, was renamed Christchurch in honor of this event.
Whilst we were in the church, I sinned. It was a slip of the tongue and I really didn't mean to but I swore. I was told to wash my mouth with holy water!
We left the Priory, walked past the castle ruins and down to the harbour, where we had a bite to eat before picking up the troops and returning to the hotel for afternoon tea.
The hotel was very busy when we arrived. There was a wake and the WI book club monthly lunch. I didn't have space to park, someone had removed the cones which was reserving my space so I had to block about 10 cars in while I got my passengers off. One very snooty lady approached me and said, 'you're blocking me in, you're in my way, are you going to move?' To which I replied, 'actually, had you not parked in my clearly marked reserved space, I wouldn't be in your way!' and continued to help my passengers off. So with a huff, the unpleasant lady stomped off to sit in her car and wait! Bad manners irritate me. Don't be rude to me and I won't be rude back!
Once the coach was parked for the night Karen and I went off to town, trying to find out if the dotty train was still running at this time of year. We found no information at the train stop, so we went to the cocktail bar instead! It was the first time I have been to a cocktail bar and drank coffee!
We had another very nice meal this evening except that we have had to swap table with 2 of our passengers because they weren't happy with where their table was positioned. So we are now slap bang in the middle of our group with eyes on us from all directions. Lots of our group were interrupting our meal to talk to us and we didn't get a moments peace. So after dinner I disappeared for some 'me' time and chilled in front of the telly.
The end of a successful day. Everyone has enjoyed themselves and there is some good banter going within our group. It's a good feeling when everybody's happy and part of that is down to you. Goodnight.