Tyneham to Kimmeridge - 2nd January 2017

I've decided to add the date to my posts as I've got a little muddled with the dates and my latest posts have not been posted in chronological order and I'm not tech savvy enough to know how to move them around - nor have I the patience to learn! (Paul please don't admonish me!)

For our very first walk of 2017 (other than from the front door to the car door), we chose to go to the coast and fill in a bit of the south-west coast path that we haven't yet done. We've managed to do quite a bit of the Dorset coastline in different stages, and I'm actually beginning to feel that sinking feeling I get when nearly completing a book I've loved. I find I don't want to finish it; it has become a friend. Likewise the Dorset coastline. Oh well, that was the aim of this game, so off we set with fresh eyes from Tyneham where we joined the throngs of other bank holiday makers who obviously had the same idea as us - get out while the sun is shining - New year's Day, like Christmas Day, having been a complete wash out.

My first new gridsquare was one with a curly red arrow and Worbarrow Tout. We took two steps forward and slid one step back up the hill, past the big red number 3 and did not get much further. I really wanted to get to the top but, at our age, it seemed quite treacherous - not that we're wimps or anything!

What a glorious, amazing view from here!

From Worbarrow Tout - SY8679

Worbarrow Tout - SY8679 (if you look closely you'll see some braver souls than us approaching the summit!)

We turned eastwards now and ascended Gold Down. I wished I'd planned this better and started from Kimmeridge as the view walking westwards is much nicer. I kept turning round to look at Worbarrow Bay, where we seemed to have left most of the other Bank Holiday makers (fortunately).

Ascending Gold Down - SY8779

Worbarrow Bay - SY8679

The signs warning everyone that cliffs are dangerous are a tad overdone. Everywhere you looked there was a sign of some sort - either to warn you that this was a military zone and that you might tread on unexploded ammunition if you stepped outside of the yellow markers or that if you went too close to the edge you might fall off the cliff! I wondered how many people who didn't already know that came to these parts.

Danger Sign - SY8779

Gad Cliff is best viewed from the east, ie, in our case, once we'd walked past it.  Totally inaccessible by foot, we pondered on how much wildlife must thrive in this undisturbed territory.

Gad Cliff - SY8779

We passed a turn off back to Tyneham Farm and continued eastwards in a biting north-easterly wind.

Signpost to Tyneham Farm - SY8879

We found some shelter at Tyneham Cap and sat on a bench with our picnic, which it turned out was not very nice. The pitta bread which we'd defrosted that morning must have been in the freezer for months and was rather stale. Never mind, we munched away at the rest of our lunch and packed our bags to set off again.

Towards Kimmeridge - SY8879

Tyneham Cap - SY8979

Broad Bench stuck out like a photographer's out of bounds paradise. I longed to get down there and take close ups of the well, broad bench or shelf of rock but couldn't for two reasons: 1) it's dangerous (I worked that out for myself despite there being no signs to tell me) 2) It's forbidden territory outwith the Ranges walks (there was a sign to tell me this). This gridsquare would have to be photographed from another one, with a rubbish photo taken just within the gridsquare to count (hopefully) as a geograph for that square (don't worry if you didn't follow all that - it's anorak stuff!)

Broad Bench - SY8978

Kimmeridge Bay was now in sight, a place we'd visited several times before and it proved to be at least as popular with visitors today as Tyneham.

Kimmeridge Bay - SY9079

I ventured a little closer to the edge to get close ups of the amazing rocks.

Rocks at Kimmeridge - SY9079

But something else had drawn our attention, something I don't recall having seen before and that Paul started to get very excited about - a nodding donkey. And it looked like we might be butted by it if we went any closer.

Closing the Ranges gate behind us (which we didn't climb due to it being 'naughty' and 'dangerous' apparently), we went to investigate.

Amusing sign on the gate at the Ranges - SY9079

The Nodding Donkey at Kimmeridge - SY9079

The Nodding Donkey is a pump, in this case it is the oldest continually working oil well pump in the UK, having been continually pumping since 1961 and yielding between 65 and 80 barrels of oil a day .(It used to produce about 350/day.) An unusual feature for my gridsquare photo and an unexpected sighting today.

We were now turning inland to the 'boring' part of the walk. The first part was not quite as interesting, being through very muddy, ploughed fields, past Kimmeridge Coppice where I thought for a second I'd seen a Crossbill, but which turned out to be Chaffinches.

Looking towards Kimmeridge Coppice - SY9179

Then there were some steep steps to climb - and we weren't even on Ridgeway Hill yet!

Steps near Kimmeridge - SY9180

We slipped our way down to Steeple Leaze Farm, our boots getting rather clogged up on the way.

Steeple Leaze Farm - SY9080

Joining the road at SY9081, I decided to take a photo of that gridsquare from the Ridgeway as it was difficult to relax with quite a few  cars rushing by and having to keep ducking into the sides of the road. Being fond of the Dorset signposts, I took a photo of the sign to Steeple, somewhere we'd visited last year.

Sign for Steeple - SY9181

It's quite a slog up to Ridgeway Hill, but the view is worth it when you arrive.

View east from Ridgeway Hill - SY9281

On a previous walk I'd walked east from here towards Corfe Castle; today we were walking westwards on this extension to our original walk. We passed a drunk boundary stone and it was difficult to see exactly what it was boundering these days.

Boundary Stone on Ridgeway Hill - SY9281

I was quite excited about passing the Grange Arch, a feature I'd wanted to see for a long time, although I can't now figure out why. If you look carefully on the right-hand (eastern) pillar of the central arch, you'll see a benchmark (not in the photo, silly - when you're there in real life!)

Grange Arch - SY9181

It's an easy walk along a track from here to the road and the sun was low in the sky. "It's at that annoying height," Paul moaned as we walked into its full glare. i took issue with this statement, claiming that anything that was doing what it was naturally intended to do could not be deemed 'annoying'. "Only things that can be helped can be annoying," I argued, "like someone picking their nose or driving too fast, things like singing out of tune or it getting dark cannot be annoying."

The sun lighting up the track on Ridgeway Hill - most definitely not annoying - SY9081

Soon we were at the car park and a huge puddle with another amusing sign prohibiting motorised vehicles outwith the shooting season. It seemed rather a redundant sign to me as there surely couldn't be much such traffic along the track to warrant a highway sign like that.

Gate and Puddle on Ridgeway Hill - note the rather unnecessary sign - SY9081

We walked through the car park and then along the road until we reached the footpath that runs parallel to the road. Here I took a photo of an unusual building.

Ruined building on West Creech Hill - SY8981

We walked along a leaf-strewn path lit by golden sunlight.

Leaf-strewn path on West Creech Hill - SY8981

Then we walked along the foot of Povington Hill.

Footpath at Povington Hill - SY8881

The late afternoon sun lit our path as we trod the last of our 10 miles back to the car.

Approaching Tyneham from the north - SY8780

Number of signs: innumerable

Number of new gridsquares:14

Number of miles: 10.3 

Number of donkeys: 1