Week one was Christmas in England with family. We rented a flat in Swanage on the south coast . Corfe Castle, steam train ride, chalk cliffs & lighthouses. Cold, clear days & cold grey seas rolling onto damp, sandy beaches, not a deck chair or swimming costume in sight. Thinking about history, trade, warfare, buildings.
On Christmas eve we picked Tom up at Wareham Station, coming from Singapore via London. It was a surprise to learn that Wareham was a major town in Saxon times, possibly the third largest in Wessex, thanks to its status as a port, up-river from what is now Poole Harbour. The earth ramparts can still be seen and it has the classic early town form of a crossroads superimposed on a rounded square. We picked up some vegetables in an open market next to the river…