Rest and admire and leave your baggage behind

 

Like so many people this year, our holiday plans have been shelved. This November we were supposed to be going on a cruise around the Norwegian fjords to see (hopefully!) the Northern Lights. Of course, that was cancelled. We were supposed to go out to Germany for a friend’s 60^th birthday party. That didn’t happen either.

With some trepidation, with some wondering about whether it would happen, and some concern about the weather, we booked ourselves two weeks to take our caravan to Dorset for the end of September and the beginning of October. And I’m pleased to say it all worked well. The Covid 19 measures on the camp site were incredibly good and out and about people were being sensible.

“Out and about” was a key phrase as we decided we would avoid going to places indoors as much as possible. But being out and about when you have a disability can restrict things. I’ve blogged before about how I used to enjoy putting my boots on and going for walks in the countryside. Going along the promenade at Swanage or Weymouth on my mobility scooter is ok but not the same.

Thankfully, several places in Dorset have “Trampers”. These are off road mobility scooters designed to go over rough terrain and gradients. And having access to these made such a difference.

I belong to a scheme called South West Mobility. It’s a charity that aims to put Trampers for members to borrow in places that disabled people could not easily access otherwise. In Dorset there are several Tramper locations, but we visited two. The RSPB nature reserve at Arne (which we’ve visited several times and adore) https://www.rspb.org.uk/reserves-and-events/reserves-a-z/arne/ And a new one for us Durlston Country Park  https://www.durlston.co.uk/

We’d heard that some places were allowing the Tramper to be borrowed because of Covid 19 (obviously they need to be wiped down) but at Arne and Durlston they were available.

Country Parks can be a bit boring in my experience. Just lots of parkland. But Durlston is quite different. It is set right on the top of the cliffs above Swanage and a section of the South West Coastal Park runs through it.

 

And thanks to the Tramper I’ve “walked” a section of that long-distance path and gone down to the Anvil Point Lighthouse. 

The views were wonderful. The weather glorious. Then to cap it all, on one of the other designated Tramper routes (not even a Tramper can cope with some sections of the coastal path) we came across a specifically created viewpoint looking back towards Swanage and Old Harry Rocks in the distance towards Poole.

The people who look after Durlston and Dorset Council have created a little quite place and we sat there for some time looking at the spectacular scenery, enjoying nothing but the sound of waves crashing below, seabirds calling and the gentle whooshing sound of the wind in the trees.

To emphasise the point (in case visitors couldn’t work it out for themselves) a stone mason has carved a stone with the message “Rest and admire”.

That’s what I did. And I realised that’s what we both had been needing. Time to rest. Time to be. Time to forget about meetings on Zoom (or in my wife’s work Microsoft Teams.) To forget how to be a minister to churches in Covid. Time to lay aside for a while the concern at not being able to visit my parents. I needed to rest, to admire, to reflect, to offer a prayer, with no distractions.

We always make sure we take all our litter home with us when we spent time in the countryside or wherever. But on this occasion at Durlston I did leave something behind. I left behind all that baggage I’d been carrying for months. It was all dumped at the viewpoint overlooking Swanage. No one else will see it. But I suspect, my baggage has joined a pile of other people’s baggage dumped there as people have rested and admired, in this glorious place.