A good life in Dorset
I was attracted by the headline for this story "Britain's oldest worker dies at 105". Then I was even more interested that this man, Jim Webber, had lived in Dorset.
This is just the sort of faithful worker, almost a yeoman farmer, who Tolkien so admired and wrote about. Some say that Hobbits were a celebration of the qualities which Tolkien loved in ordinary English folk. I dare say you could think of characters in Tolkien's Hobbiton who resembled this man. But I wonder how Jim Webber would have explained his own longevity. I doubt that it was due to any magic ring. Could it have had anything to do with the refreshing draughts of ale available at the New Inn where he worked for so many years?
According to the Palmer's Brewery website, there is a New Inn at Stoke Abbot which they own. (I haven't been able to check if this is the same pub where Jim worked. Perhaps someone could put me right on that.) If you follow the link to Palmer's web page for The New Inn, you will that this pub is "Back on the map after 15 years." I'm not sure if this means re-opened or refurbished but wouldn't it be nice to read that of The Three Cups in Lyme Regis?
Read on and you will see potential customers of The New Inn are tempted by "Traditional home cooked fayre served 7 days week. Sunday roasts our speciality." I'm sure that is the kind of temptation that J.R.R. Tolkien would have happily succumbed to and so would many fans of his books who are still active and would love to take their holidays in Dorset, where Tollers took his, to enjoy the sea, the English countryside and the local ale. Read the full post
This is just the sort of faithful worker, almost a yeoman farmer, who Tolkien so admired and wrote about. Some say that Hobbits were a celebration of the qualities which Tolkien loved in ordinary English folk. I dare say you could think of characters in Tolkien's Hobbiton who resembled this man. But I wonder how Jim Webber would have explained his own longevity. I doubt that it was due to any magic ring. Could it have had anything to do with the refreshing draughts of ale available at the New Inn where he worked for so many years?
According to the Palmer's Brewery website, there is a New Inn at Stoke Abbot which they own. (I haven't been able to check if this is the same pub where Jim worked. Perhaps someone could put me right on that.) If you follow the link to Palmer's web page for The New Inn, you will that this pub is "Back on the map after 15 years." I'm not sure if this means re-opened or refurbished but wouldn't it be nice to read that of The Three Cups in Lyme Regis?
Read on and you will see potential customers of The New Inn are tempted by "Traditional home cooked fayre served 7 days week. Sunday roasts our speciality." I'm sure that is the kind of temptation that J.R.R. Tolkien would have happily succumbed to and so would many fans of his books who are still active and would love to take their holidays in Dorset, where Tollers took his, to enjoy the sea, the English countryside and the local ale. Read the full post
