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Showing posts from September, 2017

A day trip to Swanage in Dorset

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As the weather was set to be fairly good, Brian and I decided that we needed a short break and headed off to Bournemouth.   We spent one morning in Swanage which is close to Bournemouth.  Despite it being a windy day, the sun was shining.   I was keen to try out my new camera - a Sony Cyber Shot RX100-3. The first thing we saw when we walked down to the front was this marquee which had been completely blown down in the gales the previous evening.  View across the bay to the cliffs  One of the nice things about Swanage is the train station with its steam engines.  These are a few pictures of the train being made ready for its trip. Carriages in the sidings All aboard! Another view across the bay Towards the end of the pier.  We were horrified to see that there is a £1 per person charge to 'stroll' on the pier.  We gave it a miss. Breakwater Rowing boats 'docked' on dry land  We left Swanage shortly after lu

Kew Gardens - A Garden Club Outing

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Early in September the village Garden club went on a coach outing to The Royal Botanic Gardens at Kew.  Although the skies were overcast, it was a really enjoyable day. Luckily we did not get any rain until we had to leave for our coach.   These are some of the photographs I took. The Palm House Bedding in front of the Palm House.  The Dahlias are "David Howard". The Madagascar Periwinkle.  A tender perennial, often grown as a houseplant it was traditionally used as a remedy for diabetes and digestive ailments. Two of the alkaloids found in the sap of this plant are now used to fight leukaemia and Hodgkin's Disease. The alkaloids are only found in tiny amounts. One tonne of leaves must be processed to provide one dose.  In the 60's only 20% of childhood leukaemia victims survived; now 95% have a chance of remission due to the drugs developed from this plant. I have no idea what this is called, but it is rather weid. I did wonder who was buried und