THE HONKEYMOON CAFE

If you seek beneath your feet, You may not like what it is you meet. Dorset is rich in elevated towns that have histories dating back centuries. It is not surprising that a new building can reveal a part of that history, though the revelation may not always be welcome. In one such town a modern public library is now situated in one of the oldest thoroughfares alongside properties dating back to the sixteen hundreds. The library was built during the seventies on what was believed to have been an old brewer’s yard. During excavations it became obvious that beneath the old yard itself lay the remnants of an even older building. When at first some ecclesiastical artefacts were unearthed it gave rise to the belief that the building was associated with the nearby abbey. Further research locally and at the British library, identified the site as that of a seventeenth century charnel house, a building used for the storage of bodies and bones. The latter were quite often deposited i...

A family has to decide how to  celebrate a 100th birthday. Maude Hazel was within weeks of her one hundredth birthday and fingers were crossed that she’d make it. Her family was not large, she had only two great grandchildren, but due to employment and marriage they had mostly moved away and now occupied some distance between each other. There had never been a great bond between her children, and new generations had continued the dispersion. They all referred to it is as the ‘Hazel Diaspora’, which lent it more importance than it really deserved.  Since Maude had claimed her ninety ninth, messages had started to flow regarding her centenary celebration. George, her eldest had started the ball rolling by suggesting they all club together and buy her a cruise,  ‘Actually a mini cruise,’ he added.  He was a wealthy solicitor and it seemed a perfect solution. It would take up little of his time and less of his money if they all chipped in. As he lived neares...