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Ferne Animal Sanctuary was founded in Dorset by Nina Douglas-Hamilton, Duchess of Hamilton at the beginning of the WWII. Since 1975 it has been sited near Wambrook, Somerset. The intention behind the sanctuary was to provide a temporary refuge for animals belonging to service men and women who had left their homes to fight, or which were likely to be abandoned or euthanised. The Duchess established an animal sanctuary at her home, the Ferne Estate in Dorset in 1940. The "sanctuary" was a heated aerodrome in Ferne. Staff were sent out to rescue pets from the East End of London. Many hundreds of animals were taken back initially to her London home, St John's Wood. She apologised to her neighbours who complained about the barking. At the end of the war many owners failed to return to collect their pets and so Ferne Animal Sanctuary took on a more permanent role. It was registered as a charity in 1965. In 1975, the Sanctuary moved some 50 miles west, to its present premises of 51 acres in Somerset, overlooking the River Yarty valley. 2015 saw the celebration of the 75th anniversary of the Sanctuary. Best viewed large.

In South Somerset with a view of the distant hills of Wiltshire. King Alfred's Tower is just visible on the horizon.

This is the female Blackbird that taps on my kitchen window when she wants feeding! Here she is on the door handle, just reminding me that she's waiting! It looks like she has been digging for worms with that dirty beak! A beak full of suet pellets!

The Walled Garden, Littlebredy, Dorset.

A socially distanced choir, practicing and sounding beautiful ~ The Tithe Barn, Bradford-on-Avon, constructed to a very high standard and built to last. The raised cruck frame timbers have been dated to between 1334 and 1379. The barn is 51m long and 10m wide. Interior is shown in the PiP. It is free to visit and managed by English Heritage. www.english-heritage.org.uk/visit/places/bradford-on-avon-tithe-barn/history/description

The plan was to visit The Courts Garden in Holt, Wiltshire, which is National Trust. The website stated that there was no need to book....great! What I didn't see was that they are closed on Wednesdays!! So it was a wander around the village, where I took this picture of a cottage garden, and then onto Bradford-on-Avon!

A Dovecote that is not quite as it seems. It was built in 1934 and is an aesthetic building which was conceived to mask its more primary, utilitarian function as a pump house. It has a strong spatial and visual relationship with the Grade I listed house and the Grade II listed gate piers of Lytes Cary Manor & Gardens.

Three pictures taken on RSPB Radipole Lake, Weymouth. A swan, Great Crested Grebes and Canada Geese.

School half term holiday....where else but a fun day in Weymouth with Sophie!