Thatching

My brother and SiL were visiting today, arriving at my sister’s around midday.

As there might be a fair bit of sitting around today I decided on a brief morning excursion to Milton Abbas, as it’s only 20 minutes away. It is a planned model village of 32 identical houses (each originally housing two families) constructed of thatch and cob, with almshouses and a church, created by Lord Milton in the late eighteenth century. It was located in a valley away from his new home of Milton Abbey, replacing the established village of Middleton which would spoil his view. It’s remains are reputed to lie under an ornamental lake set in a landscape designed by Capability Brown (him again).

The main image is one of the houses being re-thatched. In extras, one of the houses is now the post office, I usually try to avoid cars but liked this one. And an extra on my return journey over the Downs, winter feed is being used to feed the cattle, the drought means there is little for them to forage on. Last extra, my first slow worm, in my sister’s garden.

The villages around here are impossibly chocolate boxy, it’s difficult to imagine any problems. But the Co-op in my sister’s village now has no ATM following it being ram-raided (unsuccessfully), whilst the Dorset Steam Show is cancelled because of previous anti-social behaviour.