Weymouth Weekend

Hi all

Last weekend was a special annual event for me.

It was the yearly reunion of a number of ex EMI apprentices.
Yes, each year we meet up at Lawrences’ house in Weymouth and go for energetic walks in the Dorset countryside, talk a lot about what has happened over the last twelve months and go out for a special meal in a Weymouth restaurant.
A lot of years (40+) have passed since we were all apprentices at EMI when we also used to attend Southall Technical College on our sandwich break courses. In those days EMI was a world leading electronics company as well as being the company that managed a lot of pop groups such as the Beatles. I remember well the factory in Blyth Road in Hayes where they pressed out the vinyl 45’s and LP’s. We got staff discounts on these and many other HMV or Morphy Richard items. Myself and others eventually left EMI for new pastures, and those that remained subsequently suffered at the hands of poor company management. The end result is that all the electronic aspects of EMI were sold off and the staff that went into the new companies were eventually given early retirement.
Despite this, five of us have kept in touch and we meet up each year for a pleasant weekend of exercise, fresh air, good food and drink in excellent company.
This year one of our number could not make it. We all send our regards to Tom who is recovering in hospital from a debilitating illness.

Lawrence is the only one who is still working full time, but changes at his company mean that in a year or two he will also have more free time.

Having assembled at Lawrence’s house (minus Brian who had been mysteriously delayed), we tucked into tea and toasted teacakes in preparation for our walk. This was to take place around Portland Bill and as such we were all prepared for wet and windy weather. The Bill is a very exposed part of England’s south coast and the weather forecast was for strong winds and thunder showers.
Lawrence drove us to the start point near the east coast of the Bill. We changed into our walking boots and after I set up my PDA and bluetooth linked GPS unit we set off. In fact the weather was dry and although it was breezy, the wind was quite mild. We were soon approaching the coastline and we passed through a long ago abandoned cemetery.



Here is Lawrence on the left and Chris on the right. We were already removing outer layers in the mild weather.

As we walked along the cliff path we could see teenagers in the bay below. Some of them had decided to walk fully clothed into the sea. It’s amazing what the presence of girls does to teenagers. We were like that once.




As we walked further south the wind got stronger but as it was warm it did not matter. Looking out to sea there was no shipping or boats of any kind. Maybe they were all taking shelter from the rough weather.

At the southern tip of the Bill and near the lighthouse (I did not take a photo as the area is covered in small wooden huts that are part of the Portland heritage but spoil a good scenic view) we arrived at the Lobster Pot café. Here we had a light lunch whilst looking out across the sea. We did see a large vessel on the horizon. It looked like a cruise liner on it’s way up the channel.
After our lunch, we met up with the missing Brian. Lawrences’ wife, Liz had kindly waited for him to arrive and had driven him over to meet us. There had been no mobile phone reception in the café, so that fact that we met up was partially down to good fortune. Brian had a rather lame excuse for his late arrival, but at least he had made it eventually.

This time the four of us set off on our route up the west coast of the Bill. Amazingly we had avoided all the bad weather and rain. It was still breezy but now the wind was behind us. We passed the Portland Bill coastguard station.




Our pleasant walk continued and eventually we headed away from the coast and were back at the car park. I looked at my PDA and it showed the route we had taken and our altitude and speed profiles. I should have saved the track at this point but instead decided to just switch off the PDA. Annoyingly when I subsequently switched it back on at a later stage it crashed (good old Windows) and I lost the track altogether. Here is a map with the route that I think we took. I hand drew it onto the map. We covered a total of 5 miles on the walk.




I marked the start and finish in green and the track that we took is in red.

We drove back to Lawrences’ house and on the way we passed the place where the dinghy sailing events will take place during the 2012 Olympics.
Liz had organised more tea and cakes (we were being spoilt) and so we enjoyed these and were able to catch up on each others recent activities.

Some time later we needed to prepare for our walk into Weymouth town centre for our evening meal. Suitably changed we set off down the hill into the town. We were dining at Vaughan’s in Custom House Quay. One of Weymouths’ claims to fame is that the Black Death was introduced into England here in 1348. Apparently on the wall of the restaurant there is a plaque commemorating the arrival of the plague in the port. I did not notice this plaque. It is not often that you get plaque and plague in the same sentence.
We had excellent meals and some Australian shiraz to help it down. Somehow the climb back up the hill at the end of the evening never seems too bad.
Back at Lawrences’ we had more tea and chat before retiring for the night.

On Sunday morning we did not rise too early. The weather was somewhat worse and we were not going to do a long walk as a result. A cooked breakfast soon cheered us all up and the plan was to drive to Poundbury and spend some time there. Poundbury is an unusual place, and here is a description from a website.

“Poundbury is a mixed urban development of Town Houses, Cottages, Shops & Light Industry, designed for the Prince of Wales by Architect Leon Krier on the outskirts of the Dorset County Town of Dorchester. Prince Charles, The Duke of Cornwall, decided it was time to show how Traditional Architecture and Modern Town Planning could be used in making a thriving new community that people could live & work in close proximity. Poundbury has now become World Famous as a model of urban planning, with regular visits from Councillors and MPs.”

As it was very windy and likely to rain this seemed like an interesting place to visit. We parked in the town square and here is a picture I took of my colleagues.




We walked around the town and it did seem well designed and a good place to live, but at the same time it was very quiet and sterile. The town is only about ten years old and is still being built so it will improve with age. Here is another photo of one of the streets.




After our tour around we headed off to the local garden centre that was housed in an old building. The plants were all getting rather blown about by the gusting wind. We decided to have coffee in the Engine Room café. Even though it was approaching 1pm, none of us were hungry after our delicious cooked breakfast.

Later we returned to Weymouth and indulged in more tea, sandwiches and cake. We all had a lot to talk about but by late afternoon it was time to depart for our homes. It had been a really good weekend but my journey home was spoilt by yet more holdups on the M3. The standard of driving seems to have reached an all-time low, and you can see how most drivers aggression and selfishness leads them into trouble.

I have not forgotten those with an interest in General Aviation. On the Friday before my visit to Weymouth I was in Reading and took this photo of a wind turbine that is near to the Madejski Stadium.




If you now look at this zoomed in picture you can see a small aircraft heading straight for the centre of the sails. I reckon there must be strong magnets in the turbine and the aircraft was in a kind of tractor beam. I never did see it fly away so it must be stuck to the centre of the turbine.




Be in touch again soon.

Peewit