Puncknowle Circular - 29th December 2016

I have done several walks since my last post, but a combination of no WIFI and Christmas/New Year has meant a distinct lack of opportunity to blog about them, so I shall have to content myself with writing about my latest two walks, otherwise I'll never get anything done.

In any event, I have done a count almost to date and I've managed to walk in about 600 of Dorset's approximately 7000 1 km gridsquares. Considering it took me ten years to do Islay's 742, I'm quite pleased with that total!

After a mild, wet, and windy few days on Skye, we stepped off the plane to glorious sunshine last week and the wonderful cold, crispy air which has come to compensate for the lack of wild Atlantic coastline and ruggedness of my adored erstwhile island home. I hoped it would be as pleasant the next day and promised myself a solitary gridsquare walk if it  were.

It were, or rather was, and I chose Puncknowle as my starting point and now I'm not quite sure why. The roads were icy and I drove with care to the village, donned my walking boots and set off in the wrong direction. This was how much I had come to rely on my Memory Map phone - and I had neither with me today. The phone I had left on wild and windy Skye and, consequently I couldn't have memory map loaded onto it. I prided myself on my map reading ability and told Paul I was glad of the opportunity to go digital mapless and rely on the good old-fashioned paper map.

In fact it was fun. I navigated with care and got myself back on track and through the village of Puncknowle, past The empty Crown Inn and headed westwards along Looke Lane. I love it when roads have got local names like that and would love to know all their origins.

The Crown Inn, Puncknowle - SY5388

I walked along the minor road, having to step onto the grassy verge two or three times, before turning off onto the footpath for Looke Farm Dairy House. There was a pistol range here which thanked me for supporting 'Shield No Limits', even though I wasn't sure that I had. I preferred the attractive letter box set within a wall.

Pistol Range sign at Looke Farm - SY5488

Letter box at Looke Farm - SY5488

This is the land of the dairy houses - my next landmark was Park's Dairy House. There was nothing significant here other than lots of squelchy mud and the feeling that these footpaths had not been used for a very long time. It was a beautiful day and I was squelching through mud and getting lost. At least I realised it before I'd gone too far and at least I resisted the temptation to find a shortcut once I realised I was lost. I've learned from past experience that the best thing to do when you realise you've gone wrong is to turn round, retrace your steps and get back onto the right footpath - however much it might look like you can just cut across this field or through that gate.

So I went back to Park's Dairy House and found the track to Chapel Coppice.

Chapel Coppice - SY5588

This was my third visit to Chapel Coppice and my intention had been to visit the Chapel in the Woods and complete a poem I had started there on my last visit. The Chapel was built in Ashley Chase in the 16th Century, the land having been granted to monks in the 13th century  in exchange for perpetual prayers being said. The chapel is now ruined and derelict, but originally measured  32 x 18 feet and was dedicated to St Luke. St Luke's and the monastery sadly quickly fell into dissolution and all that remains now is the west wall, an altar with a crucifix and two tombs of  David and Olga Milne-Watson who built Ashley Chase House.

Angel in St Luke's Chapel - SY5587

St Luke's Chapel and crucifix with the tombs in the centre of the photo - SY5587

The usual plethora of incongruous tat adorned the altar and crevices of this once sacred place. I preferred the ivy and moss. The muse did not appear, however and instead I felt a little spooked - I don't know why, so I had a quick coffee stop and left the chapel and its inhabitants in peace with my poem still half-written.

I retraced my steps through the wood back to the track which led to the coast via Abbotsbury Castle, noting a great example of inosculation on route (where two trees are fused together)

Inosculation in Chapel Coppice - SY5587

Abbotsbury Castle trigpoint - SY5586

The trigpoint sits on top of an ancient fort which is more distinctive when viewed from the west. It really does look like a fort from that angle, and one with a rather splendid view too.

Abbotsbury Castle from the west - SY5586

I was keen to see whether Labour in Vain Farm had a sign from the eastern side (just because it's such a nice name) but there was no public access. I walked quickly to the coast, having already photographed that gridsquare - SY5486.

At Chesil Beach I was keen to get photographing once more, my camera having been rather redundant of my stomp through previously visited gridsquares.

Chesil Beach from Burton Road - SY5485

I was also keen to have lunch so chose a conveniently sited bench to eat and watch the fishermen before setting off through several gridsquares. some of this was a hard slog as walking through those tiny stones is gruelling work.

Chesil Beach - SY5386

 I'd got some of these gridsquares already, but the weather was so nice, I couldn't resist clicking away anyway. My next 'serious' gridsquare was SY5286 where two footpaths headed inland through West Bexington Nature Reserve. I passed a few dog walkers, all lifting heavy feet through tiny stones. My footpath lie further still along the south-west coast path.

West Bexington Nature Reserve - SY5286

West Bexington Nature Reserve - SY5286

At SY5287, I turned inland towards Swyre, crossing another small footbridge across the stream.

Footpath to Swyre, SY5287

I vaguely recalled this footpath as we had walked here last February with my daughter. It had been very muddy then and was not as bad this time. I walked past a sprawling caravan site and into the village of Swyre where I made a point of visiting the church and learnt from an excellent hand-drawn Millenium Map that Grey Long-eared bats used to roost here. "Mmm, Paul would be interested to know that," I mused, snapping a photo to remind me.

Millenium Map at Holy Trinity Church, Swyre - SY5288

Holy Trinity Church, Swyre, SY5288

There is a pub called The Bull Inn here with a huge red bull statue outside and the lane I was to walk along back to Puncknowle was called Bull Lane. "Maybe someone got attacked by a bull here," I ruminated as I cautiously walked along said lane.

The Bull Inn, Swyre - SY5288

Back at Puncknowle, I admired the Christmas decorations in the church before setting off for my final gridsquare of the day.

Nativity Scene at St Mary's Church, Puncknowle - SY5388

On the aforementioned walk with my daughter in February, we had noticed a small ruined building set atop Puncknowle Knoll and wondered about its purpose.  Puncknowle Knoll used to be known as Punnell Knob or Nose (Puncknowle is pronounced 'punnell'). No-one seems to know the true origins of this tiny ruined building with a panoramic view. Several explanations have been postulated - gazebo for a local landowner, a look-out during smuggling days or during the Napoleonic War. Whatever its purpose, it is worth the short walk from the road up the hill to peep inside and ponder who lived here, who looked through these windows, lit a fire? What has changed in the surrounding countryside and what remains unchanged? Eternal questions for eternal stone and a lovely place to end my day.

Puncknowle Knoll lookout - SY5387

Number of times got lost: 3
Number of red bulls: 1
Number of new gridsquares: 4 (only 4??  Good job I'm not just doing it for the gridsquares!)
Number of trigpoints: 1
Number of ruined buildings: 1
Number of churches: 3
Number of miles: 9.5