Lawrence of Arabia, Savernake, c. 1932

Last day of the holiday today. Back to work tomorrow :-(

As I mentioned on the first day, the house we've been staying at, Savernake, once had Lawrence of Arabia as a guest, presumably while he was stationed at Plymouth in around 1932.

This is Jim, Sara, Sarah and Jayne recreating an old image that hangs in the hallway of the house (inset) showing Lawrence with three women on the porch overlooking South Milton Sands and the Thurlestone rock.

I've uploaded a bigger version of the original Lawrence photograph to Flickr if you are interested.

If Wikipedia is to be believed, Thomas Edward Lawrence CB, DSO (16 August 1888 - 19 May 1935) led a pretty interesting life. Born in Tremadog, Wales, an illegitimate child, his parents adopted the name Lawrence when they moved to Oxford. An Oxford graduate, he was widely travelled and visited the Middle East twice before the outbreak of World War I as a practicing archeologist. He was co-opted by the British military during the war, first to make maps and undertake other research in the Negev Desert then, later, to fight against the armed forces of the Ottoman Empire. This is the period of his life he is best known for, as Lawrence of Arabia.

Following the war he joined the RAF, then the Tank Corps, then the RAF again, adopting the names Ross and Shaw in an apparent attempt to become anonymous. He was later posted to India.

A keen motorcyclist, he was killed near Wareham, Dorset after being thrown from his bike in an attempt to avoid hitting two children on bikes. The neurosurgeon Hugh Cairns, who attended to Lawrence after the accident, later went on to undertake research that led to the widespread use of motorcycle crash helmets.

Lawrence's sexuality is unclear though he appears to have been largely asexual. He was never married.

Anyway... enough of the history. It's been a great holiday. I've particularly liked the longish coastal walk to the pub for beer (evening) and wireless access (morning) and the sea swimming (which I've done every day bar one). I really, really wish I lived within sight of the sea.