Kingston Cicular via Houns Tout and Swyre Head, 22nd April 2017

We had been invited to stay with friends at Gaunts Common tonight so decided to make the most of the long drive and have a long walk on the south-west coast path. It turned out to be a beautiful sunny day and one of my favourite walks.

We parked at Houns Tout car park and walked back to the village of Kingston, where we popped into the church briefly, disturbing the organist at his weekly practice. For a small village, this is a huge church, gothic in style. Church building began in 1874 and was completed in 1880, so it is actually a relatively modern building, constructed from stone and marble quarried on worked on Encombe Estate, within whose grounds the church is situated.

St James' Church, Kingston - SY9579

Door handle on St James' Church, Kingston - SY9579

Stained glass window in St James' Church, Kingston - SY6579

We left the church and continued on the road southwards, past the private plantation of Encombe Estate. We were soon walking along a valley bottom, surrounded by newly born lambs and their anxious mothers, all baaing and bleating in turn.

Lambs at Westhill Farm - SY9578

It wasn't long before we could see a glimpse of Houns Tout Cliff.

Houns Tout from Westhill Farm- SY9578

We mused on whether or not we would like to live at the farm here, such an idyllic spot, but what about that road in winter!

Cottage on edge of Westhill Woods - SY9577

A bird with a reddish tail caught my eye. It was flitting amongst the bushes and I suspected it was a male Redstart. It stopped within close quarters and confirmed my suspicions. yes! What a gorgeous bird this is and what a treat to see! Our photograph is too poor to show, but that's because of the camera, not the photographer (naturally!)

We almost missed the turn off for the westwards south-west coast path as it was counter-intuitive to head inland rather than keep heading towards the coast. Thankfully, my fixation with maps prevented us from making a mistake and we were soon looking over Chapman's Pool from the west. Our previous visit had been to its eastern side.

Chapman's Pool - SY9577

We were now at the bottom of Houns Tout and could see the challenge which faced us - some very steep steps to the top of the cliff. We decided we needed refreshment before embarking upon our challenge. Also a group of very noisy women were laughing and screeching their way down the steps in single file and taking their time so we thought it best to let them get on with it rather than try and barge past them with vigour!

It was hard to fully appreciate the beauty and tranquility of this spot when there is so much background noise, but I was convinced I could hear a Grasshopper Warbler inbetween the mixture of
mirth and pain behind us. The lush vegetation west of Chapman's Pool must be largely undisturbed, being more or less inaccessible to humans, and remains therefore a paradise for wildlife. I was delighted to hear the Grasshopper Warbler and trained Paul to hear its reeling call, which he just managed to do before it fled.

The steps were now free and there was no escaping our task. The only consolation during this strenuous climb was a Violet Oil Beetle. We had seen one earlier in the month in Somerset, which had been my second ever and Paul's first,  so this was another treat of the day.

Violet Oil Beetle (Photo: Paul Dexter)

Having ascended Houns Tout, we now descended into woodland within which Encombe House sits. The woodland was glorious, the fresh smell of wild garlic wafting through the air.

Steps in Encombe Estate - SY9477

Wild garlic in woods at Encombe - SY9477

The name 'Eldon Seat' intrigued me, but the footpath did not pass by this feature, so it was only later that I learned of its meaning. It is a stone seat, erected in 1835 by Lord Eldon. There is a nearby grave for Pincher, Lord Eldon's favourite dog, a German Spaniel.

The stone seat has the following inscription on its east, north and west faces respectively :
“ELDON SEAT.”
” 1835.”
“THE FIRST STONE OF THIS SEAT WAS LAID BY THE LADY E. REPTON, THE ELDER DAUGHTER OF THE FIRST EARL OF ELDON, XV. OCTOBER, MDCCCXXXV.**

Our view from this gridsquare remained a coastal one.

Looking towards Rope Lake Head - SY9377

We paused to identify some Brown Tail larvae munching their way through hawthorn or blackthorn.

Browntail larvae

We crossed a wooden footbridge near Rope Lake Head, the point at which I was no longer in new territory and could relax as far as worrying about photographs for each gridsquare was concerned.

Footbridge near Rope Lake Head - SY9377

There was still plenty to see and hear though as flocks of Linnets skittishly alighted on parched ground and barbed wire fences, only to take off again a few seconds later spooked by something or other. Skylarks too were filling the air with their joyous song. Only the dearth of seabirds stirred a pang of longing for Islay. Can anything compare with that wild Atlantic coast with its cacophony of waves, Chough, gulls and wind?

Linnets near Clavell's Tower

Clavell's Hard - SY9277

Kimmeridge Ledges - SY9177

Look out tower at Cuddle - SY9178

Clavell Tower - SY9178

A new construction is being built at Kimmeridge of quite mammoth proportions. I managed to get a photo of them ore natural rape seed fields and coastline beyond as we passed by this honeypot.

Rapeseed, Kimmeridge Bay and Portland - SY9179

Kimmeridge is an attractive village with the disadvantage of never being left alone during the summer months. I would hate that. Its tranquil facade belies its seasonal marauded state.

Kimmeridge - SY9179

A garden with some natural driftwood sculptures caught my eye - now that's more my sort of thing!

Garden in Kimmeridge - SY9179

Rather than follow the road's torturous V-shape to our footpath eastwards, we headed uphill by the church, and what an uphill it was!

Steep steps north of Kimmeridge - SY9180

Thankfully it was short lived and we were soon on the ridge by a car park and looking for our footpath near the quarry. This was not to be found - another one that had been diverted since my 2004 version of the Explorer map. After a few false starts, we were eventually back on the footpath at the rather dis-concertedly named 'Hell Bottom'.

Hell Bottom - SY9180

Now we were ascending Smedmore Hill which afforded splendid views in all directions.

Smedmore Hill, looking west - SY9279

Smedmore Hill, looking east - SY9279

Smedmore Hill, looking north - SY9279

There were quite a few other walkers and cyclists around today and a group of people with a 4 x 4 who had parked their vehicle by the footpath and climbed over the wall for their picnic - right at the spot we wanted. Trying not to feel resentful, we pressed on into the next square, where we diverted from the main path, enticed by bluebells and a footpath sign to Smedmore House. We sat here with our picnic listening to the call of the Whitethroat and learning about the history of Smedmore House. One of Dorset's finest Georgian manor houses, it is available to hire for functions. It was originally built by Sir William Clavell around 1620, partially rebuilt by Edward Clavell around 1700 and extended greatlt by George Clavell around 1760. A dotted line is shown on the Explorer map, but we didn't know whether that was a permissive path or not, or whether it would join up with the south-west coast path, thereby providing a much shorter alternative walk.

Footpath in SY9379

Spring colours and Clavell Tower - SY9378

Not in any hurry, we lingered over lunch before setting off again through the delightfully named Heaven's Gate, a welcome contrast to the Hell Bottom we had just visited.

Heaven's Gate - SY9378

In my excitement about the name and view, I unclipped my camera hurriedly and unwittingly dropped my sunhat at this juncture.

We pressed on to Swyre Head viewpoint and trigpoint, where we were not alone in admiring the view on this glorious day.

Swyre Head trigopint - SY9378

View west from Swyre Head towards Clavell Tower - SY9378

East from Swyre Head - SY9378

Stile and westwards view from Swyre Head - SY9378

It was now that I realised my cap had gone and in the burning afternoon sun, I wanted to retrieve it. We started to retrace our steps and asked a couple approaching us if they had seen a hat. They had at the previous gate they informed us. Paul waited whilst I ran back to find my hat atop Heaven's Gate. I'm so glad it wasn't on Hell Bottom!

The footpath now takes a sharp turn from south-eastwards to north-eastwards where it follows the ridge overlooking Encombe House and runs past Polar Wood.

East from Swyre Head; Encombe Housr centre left - SY9378

Ridge northwards at Swyre Head; Polar Wood on left - SY9378

 The bluebells in Polar Wood were amazing, together with splashes of pink from the Red Campion and contrasting white and pungent scent of Ramsons, it made a breathtaking display.

Bluebells in Polar Wood - SY9478

Bluebells and Ramsons in Polar Wood - SY9478

Red Campion and Bluebells in Polar Wood - SY9478

A stone bench here commemorates those who lost their lives in aircraft disasters during the two world wars, whilst another plainer bench overlooks Encombe House.

Commemorative bench at Polar Wood - SY9478

Inscription on commemorative bench at Polar Wood - SY9478

Bench at Polar Wood - SY9478

We were soon at Swyre Head car park, from where it was a rather monotonous walk on the road past fields of crops to our car, but I had found my first entry into Dorset's gridsquare charts. With approximately 7,500 gridsquares I'm allowed less than one per 1000 gridsquares, but  SY9378 has definitely made it into the top ten with its variety of habitat, breathtaking views and floral displays.


Number of new gridsquares: 9
Number of trigpoints: 1
Number of times I lost my hat: 1
Number of miles: 9.8