Love is in the air?

Hmm, looks like snow to me!!

Well, the weatherman said it would be fine but chilly in the South West and it was exactly that as we took a trip down to the town of Wimborne Minster, named after the church it is built around.

The church is dedicated to St Cuthburga, sister of the King of the West Saxons, Ina.
Alfred the Great buried his brother Ethelred ( not the 'Unready' chap! ) here and the grandparents and mother of Henry VII were also laid to rest here ( their tombs lead up to the alter ). The greater part of the church was built by the Normans between 1120-80 and the font, still in use, is believed to be from that time.

Altho there have been years of neglect, the church has largely survived Civil War skirmishes ( and Henry VIII's one man war against the Church that has littered England with ruins of what would have been beautiful buildings had they been allowed to 'live' ) and during a revival in the mid 19th century all the fabric was restored.

We wandered about the church for a good half an hour and emerged to find that the weatherman had lied to us! Didn't worry too much as we thought it was just a flurry, but it carried on snowing as we had a walk around the town, followed by coffee and cheese scones in a little coffee shop opposite the church.

Sav thought it best we abandon plans to visit Kingston Lacy to see the snowdrops and a trip to see Lou and James at the farm ( both close by ) incase the snow got serious and started to settle. It did settle on the fields as we drove home, which were white over, having been green 3 hrs earlier.

Sav stopped at Fontmell and Melbury Downs vatage point so's I could get a couple of scenic snowy shots and I met a couple of National Trust rangers there. They had been forced to knock off for the day as they couldn't see what they were doing due to the snow. They gave me a leaflet about walks and the wildlife that can be found there ( when it's not snowing! ) so hopefully this year we'll actually go for a walk around there rather than just talk about it this year.

Out for a meal tonight and then that's our Valentine's Day done and dusted!