It is a rare occasion when we close the offices of FWL Towers for two days, as we are normally open Monday to Saturday. However, this last weekend, was a Bank Holiday weekend…. the Summer Bank Holiday is always on the first Monday of August in Scotland and the last Monday of August in England, Wales and Northern Ireland.
So, Mr FWL and I decided we would vacate the vicinity of FWL Towers and depart to the Wimborne Office to make sure all was progressing well ‘Down South’.
In typical British fashion, the weather let us down with dark skies and thunder and lightning during our travels south on Saturday. Thankfully, things did clear a little but it was certainly not a weekend to visit the beach. So, we went for history instead of leisure. Lunching at The Kings Arms in Stoborough (nr. Wareham, Dorset), we spotted a brown Heritage sign indicating that The Tank Museum was not far away. Having visited The Helicopter Museum a month or so ago, it seemed the obvious next visit for the intrepid explorers.
And wow…. it was epic! Having grown up in the area, I don’t recall ever visiting in my youth (though I am sure Ma & Pa FWL will correct me if I have forgotten) and I certainly wasn’t aware that the museum was established on the suggestion of Rudyard Kipling! There is no doubt that the museum holds the world’s finest collection of armoured vehicles and, on Bank Holiday weekend, the finest collection of small fast moving noisy creatures. However, this did not spoil our trip as the exhibitions were simply outstanding, including the recent (I am guessing) addition of Warhorse to Horsepower.
Thankfully, there weren’t too many displays with names on them as Mr FWL does find me rather boring when scanning for names which pop up in our FWL research or in surname studies of close friends and acquaintances over the years!
The weekend away was delightful, despite the weather, and the FWL Wimborne Office were visibly sad to see us leave to return to FWL Towers in Calne. Don’t worry! We will be back again soon, folks…. please put our order in for sun next time though!
