The beautiful stained-glass window by Sarianne Durie in Scaplen's Court Museum, Poole - more about Scaplen's Court towards the end of this blog page...
I feel at home in these old streets of Poole in Dorset. My mother and her HAYES, GILES, STILES and EDMONDS ancestors lived here and walked this area through the 19th and 20th centuries. Love it!
First, this is possibly my favourite restaurant in all the world – The Guildhall Tavern. It’s French and friendly and not a bit stuck up! The staff are so well-trained and attentive in a very Gallic way, whether you are a party of a dozen rich people or us, a couple squeezed into a corner at the last minute. That was our first visit, but we went back several times more…
Seafood is of course a speciality and this cosy restaurant is filled with interesting fishermen’s pictures and memorabilia.
The Guildhall Tavern in Market Street, Poole - that's the Guildhall itself in the background
The Guildhall Tavern in Market Street, Poole
The Guildhall Tavern in Market Street, Poole
The fishermen's church of St James in Thames Street - many of my Poole ancestors were baptised here, most before the church was rebuilt in 1821
The clock tower of St James's Church, Thames Street, Poole, Dorset
Another view of St James's, the fishermen's church in Poole, Dorset
The old Mansion House in Thames Street, Poole, Dorset - it's now a Hotel du Vin...
Thames Street, Poole, Dorset, with the Quay at the end of the road
Many of the buildings of Poole Old Town are, I think, Georgian
More Georgian facades in Thames Street, Poole, Dorset
More Georgian splendour in Poole Old Town, Dorset...
Thames Street, Poole, Dorset, again - Quay at the far end
The King Charles inn in Thames Street, Poole. It was originally called the New Inn but changed its name when King Charles X of France landed at Poole Quay in 1830 after fleeing from the English ship Great Britain...
That'll be Charles X of France, then...
Right, well that's enough of Thames Street, where my grandmother Adelaide WOOLS of Romsey was staying when she married in nearby St James' Church in 1913
Now an excellent restaurant overlooking Poole Quay, the Custom House...
The Poole Arms is one of the old hostelries on Poole Quay...
Poole Local History Centre is based in the old town cellars...
These almshouses in Poole, Dorset, date from the days of Henry V...
... as the plaque says...
A view of Poole from the road train that runs from the Quay...
The Foundry Arms in Lagland Street, Poole, Dorset - it looks pretty old and my 4-great grandmother Elizabeth (EDMONDS) STILES lived in this street in 1841...
Another view from the road train in Poole, Dorset. This is New Orchard but nearby in Old Orchard, running down to the Quay, my 4-great grandmother Elizabeth (EDMONDS) STILES lived in 1851 and 1861...
The Canteen in Poole High Street - not a bad modern restaurant...
Poole Museum, left, and Scaplen's Court, right
Near Poole Museum is Scaplen’s Court, a building dating back to Medieval times that has seen many changes.
Inside Scaplen's Court, Poole
Inside Scaplen's Court, Poole
Inside Scaplen's Court, Poole
Inside Scaplen's Court, Poole
Inside Scaplen's Court, Poole
The beautiful stained-glass window by Sarianne Durie in an upstairs room at Scaplens Court, Poole - I wish I knew its title, although it surely has a theme of the sea...
Scaplen's Court, right, and Cranberries at number 4 Sarum Street, centre with the orange signs, a charming pub restaurant where you can play solitaire or dominoes - or at least you could when we were last there in summer 2010...
The Squirrelbasket 
Hi Pat – really enjoying this post and your beautiful photos!! Especially love the stained glass windows in Scaplen’s Court. Actually, the artist’s name is Sarianne Durie rather than Surianne, and whilst I had difficulty getting a website for her I could see some of her work by Google. One source said she had a website http://www.coloured-light.co.uk/ however that brought the host http://www.heartinternet.co.uk with no apparent way to access coloured-light. Frustrating but oh, well….Thanks for such an enjoyable journey through Old Poole!! All the best.
I have corrected the name now – I just wasn’t concentrating (that’s what a Bank Holiday does for you). I also looked for her website through Google and failed to find one (even spelling her name the right way!).
I think she has worked in Gloucestershire, Wiltshire and Oxfordshire. The closest I got to more information about her was this site http://www.artworkersguild.org/members/sarianne-durie/.
Talented artist, anyway!
Best wishes…
Wonderful photos, great to see them. Thank you. Does Poole feel threatened by Bournemouth? It has so much to offer. I think they need to work together.
Thank you for taking the trouble to comment.
I’m afraid I can’t speak for the modern inhabitants of Poole, as now I only visit. But I guess there’s always rivalry between towns and their bigger neighbours.
I see Dorset is now a mixture of county, unitary (Poole and Bournemouth) and district councils, too, so that must make it complicated in terms of power and resources.
Best wishes…
Thank you again for sharing..I enjoyed the tour of a very beautiful English town with such riches of Art and culture.
As usual you were the ” creme de creme of tour guides”.
Today is Memorial Holiday in the U.S. and it was also the anniversary of my Father’s passing..He used to take me on walks as a young child through the town. It was like memory lane…Bless you…weedbychoice..kjforce
Thanks as always for your kind words.
Thinking of you and your sad anniversary. I also think of you every time I see a weed! Which is often…
Best wishes
x
What a beautiful portrait of the town. I’m glad you were so enchanted with it, the pictures are absolutely lovely!
I married a Hayes who’s great grandfather was a Poole fisherman and a lifeboat coxain prior to his death in 1926. Maria Stiles was one of the names I’m tracing. The family of Hayes goes back many years and I’ve managed to trace most of them, however I think Richard Hayes, the earliest one I have originally came from cork in Ireland before census came about so more research needed.
I would be interested to compare notes (and trees) on that, so may contact you by email. The oldest Richard Hayes I can find is one buried at the age of 89 in Poole on January 8, 1826, meaning he was born in 1737. Is that the one you are tracking to Ireland?