Sweet Smell Of Success

On a dull, damp, afternoon we took the Angel Lane route to Milford on Sea to pick up a repeat prescription from the Pharmacy, then drove on to Keyhaven.

Low tide in the harbour revealed seaweed on which gulls preened and one cannibal crow scavenged. Boats tilted and buoys bobbed. Hazy distant views of Hurst Castle and its lighthouse could be discerned.

We left via Lymore Lane where we inhaled the sweet smell of success of oilseed rape farmers as we travelled alongside

their fields and the escapees brightening the verges.

Even greater success has been exhibited by The Wheel Inn at Bowling Green. When we first came to the area five years ago this old pub was so run down as to be totally uninviting. A couple of years ago the local community formed a committee which refurbished the building and created a thriving establishment where we stopped for a drink. An excellent review appears in The Lymington Times of 9th March: https://www.advertiserandtimes.co.uk/wheel-inn-review

Jackie photographed some of the covered salad plants grown by the volunteer gardener for use in the kitchen.

This evening we enjoyed our second sitting of Hordle Chinese Take Away’s excellent food, with which Jackie drank Hoegaarden and I drank sparkling water.

44 comments

  1. I love to eat where at least some of the food is grown by them. But then again, I love our Chinese restaurant too!! Aw heck, Derrick, I’m having a love affair with food, might as well admit it! 🙂

    1. HA! Good one, GP! 😀
      You remind me of Julie and Frances…I met these two ladies…both well-seasoned…both wise…and both widows. I befriended them and went to visit them as often as I could. One day they said to me, “Well, it’s happened…we don’t talk about men anymore.” I said, “What do you talk about now?” They replied, as one, “We talk about food!” And their eyes lit up! Ha! 😀
      (((HUGS))) 🙂

    1. Thanks very much, Gary. One woman we spoke to – a committee member – said that she and her husband had lived in the village for 45 years

  2. Beautiful photographs as always – you should be working for UK Tourist Board.

  3. I love seeing the salad plants! We have a hotel here that the grandma of the owner has a huge garden out back every year where she grows veggies! 🙂
    Oh, your photos show that life is bustling, thriving, and reviving!
    Life even smells good! 🙂
    I love that the old pub has been given some love and TLC! 🙂
    HUGS!!! for you and Jackie!!! 🙂

  4. Community pubs seem to be a way forward in many areas. The rape fields may be colourful but they don’t do my asthma any good at all.

  5. My late father had returned to farming once he had retired from the railways who had employed him over three decades. Rapeseed harvesting was one of his regular choices in Winter.

    The kind of marvel the refurbished pub presents is certainly not something to be found here.

  6. It is always good to come akwas a wheely good inn. But I have a question. Don’t English Pubs sell English beers or ales. Or is Hoegaarden all you can get.

  7. Angel Lane seems very aptly named – looks like heaven! 🙂

    So good to hear a positive story like that of The Wheel, there’s far too much ‘knock it down and build an apartment block’ mentality out where i live!

    Now you’ve gone and gotten me hungry for left-over chinese – curses! 🙂

    Hope you get some sunnier days soon!

  8. What a great little pub.. On the outside, the inside has lost any charm that might have been there does not look anything like what we expect from a quaint old English pub! What’s an OAP lunch? and don’t tell me oranges apples and pears else I’ll jump through the screen and thump you 😈

Leave a Reply