Thorncombe Circular - 6th April 2017

A shorter walk was on the cards for today - and I can't for the life of me remember why! Neither can I remember just a couple of weeks later why I chose Thorncombe for the start and finish of my walk, except perhaps because there were a few squares there that I wanted to 'fill in'.

At any rate I parked near the church on a steep downhill street and set off down the hill, which is actually going north towards Sheldrick Hill.

Thorncombe Church - ST3703

It was a glorious day as I walked across the fields, admiring the wiggly lines opposite.

Wiggly lines near Thorncomeb - ST3703

I crossed a footbridge across the River Synderford near Oxenbridge Coppice and then emerged by a nameless pond/lake with Canada Geese, a Moorhen and little else. As it is near Shedrick Hill, I named the pond Shedrick Hill Lake, but am prepared to be corrected by anyone who knows better!

Footbridge over River Synderford - ST3704

Canada Geese on Shedrick Hill Lake - ST3804

Shedrick Hill Lake - ST3804

I disturbed some sleeping Roe Deer in a field. They bounded away too quickly for me to get decent photos.

Roe Deer by Shedrick Hill - ST3804

The footpath east of here goes quite awry and I spent some unpleasant minutes in a woodland here searching for the footpath which is definitely marked on the map, but which I could not find, try as I might. I took a slight diversion and then refound the footpath outside of Laymore, where I turned south and immediately came upon a small gathering of Goldcrests which, unlike the Roe Deer, seemed totally unperturbed by my presence and continued their business seemingly oblivious to the camera.

Goldcrest by Laymore - ST3804

I walked south to Stony Knaps, where I was not surprised to discover that a church marked on the map had been converted into a private dwelling house. This marked my turning point and also a brief entry into a new gridsquare - ST3904.

Footpath junction at Stony Knaps - ST3904

Footpath junction at Stony Knaps - ST3904

I was now to head uphill - Black Down Hill to be precise. I hadn't realised this was so close to its rivals, Lewesdon Hill and Pilsdon Pen. It was new territory for me and so I decided to celebrate by having my picnic beneath a Scots Pine tree at its summit. At 215 metres, it is quite a bit lower than its two superiors, but affords stunning views of Dorset's highest peaks, as well as a good view of the surrounding countryside.

Black Down Hill - ST3903

Black Down Hill - ST3903

Lewesdon Hill (right) and Pilsdon Pen (left) from Black Down Hill - ST3903

Lewesdon Hill from Black Down Hill - ST3903

Westwards I looked down upon Thorncombe and directly below me was the hamlet of Black Down with the little church fitting snugly into the hillside.

Thorncombe from Black Down Hill - ST3903

Black Down and Black Down church - ST3903

I continued south to the mysteriously named Triangle, where I descended to Cole's Cross, a crossroads I had visited before.

Cole's Cross - ST3902

It was the first time I'd walked north from here, however, and the first time I'd walked this part of the Jubilee Trail and it was truly delightful with a real spring feel in the air. The Blackthorn blossom was like a bridal gown.

Blackthorn - ST3902

I followed the Jubilee Trail to the River Synderford and then opted to follow this river's course southwards to see what I could see.

River Synderford - ST3802

I saw lots of Cuckoo Flower, but no Orange Tip butterflies and then a delightfulc arpet of Wood Anemone, such a big showy flower.

Cuckoo Flower by the River Synderford - ST3802

Wood Anemone by the River Synderford - ST3802

Wood Anemone and the River Synderford - ST3802

Knacker's Hole and The Hanger came as something of a disappointment and shock after the tranquillity of the woodland. It's obviously shooting territory with pheasant feeding stations and hides. Somehow I find this quite unsettling. I know there's a need to cull creatures which can become a menace, but I hate hearing gunshots and don't see the point of breeding any birds or game purely for sport. I'm much more in favour of letting nature run its course in every aspect of life.

Pond at The Hanger - ST3801

The road was quite busy when I joined it south of Thorncombe and then I recognised the route from another walk with Paul at Sadborow. I was revisiting squares now, but taking a different footpath to the one we'd finally found on our last visit.

Lesser Celandine near Thorncombe - ST3702

Back at the church, I paused to drink a cup of tea at June's singing seat. I listened carefully, but the seat didn't sing! A lovely epitaph though and a cheery thought for the end of my walk.

June's Singing Seat in Thorncombe Churchyard - ST3702

Number of new gridsquares - 6
Number of miles - 6.7

Trent Circular from Sherborne - 23rd March 2017

It makes sense - it really does! I wanted to reccy a walk which starts at Trent, but as there is no suitable parking for lots of cars in Trent, I started from Sherborne to see if it was do-able! It is, as long as you don't do it the way I did!

Starting from Sherborne is, especially if you don't park where I did - at the Terrace Playing Fields, which I only did because I'm a skinflint who didn't want to pay extortionate parking fees in the town itself. These can be avoided of course by walking on a Sunday, which we will be doing and therefore cutting out quite a boring mile and quarter walk each way from and back to the east of the town.

Enough pre-amble, let's get on with the ramble.

I positively sprinted the first mile and a quarter of the walk in a record breaking (for me 17 minutes 46 seconds). This could have been improved upon had I not stopped at the railway bridge to take a boring photo of my first gridsquare.

Dancing Hill, Sherborne, ST6315

ST6316 is situated in the centre of the town and is therefore a square I'd photographed many times already - phew - march on! I was walking in the western half of the square and was glad to reach the A30 dual carriageway and cross by means of the traffic lights. At last I was in the countryside and could pause to take breath and admire the view of . . . well, a muddy footpath to be precise.

Trent Path Lane - ST6216

 It was a dull day and there had been a lot of rain recently so my energy was focused on avoiding the mud on this wide track which was hedged on both sides. Trent Path Lane runs parallel to Marston Road and I was following it for three gridsquare lengths.

Trent Path Lane - ST6217

By ST6117 I was fed up of mud and ploughed fields. I was eager to catch a glimpse of something new so craned to view Tucker's Cross trigpoint, forgetting that I had already visited this trigpoint in October last year - when the weather had been much nicer. What a difference it makes to the photographs!

Tucker's Cross trigpoint - ST6117

Near here I left Trent Path Lane and joined the Monarch Way. To mark the occasion I took a photograph of a gate.

Gate and ivy on Lowsome Lane - ST6118

 Then I really got into the spirit of things and took a couple more photos.

Monarch's Way - ST6118

The nettles are wearing better than the footpath sign! - ST6118

"Aha! So this is where I come out," I thought to myself (I may even have said it aloud - I often do). I remembered the glorious vista from a previous walk when we'd been slightly deterred by cows and surprised to pass another walker - a rare sight.

View from Shelner's Hill in Oct 2016 - ST6118

There was neither cows, sunshine or walkers to enhance today's walk so I strode down the hill, following the Monarch's Way to Lowsome Lane, which I always think is such a lovely name.

Lowsome Lane - ST6018

I followed this lane past Down House Farm into Trent, entering the village on its eastern side by what looked like a mill pond.

Trent Mill Pond near Down House Farm - ST5918

Trent is a lovely village with lots of history, a resume of which I have given in a previous post. http://walkingdorsetsgridsquares.blogspot.co.uk/2016/10/a-walk-around-trent.html. I hadn't long entered the village before I saw someone working in a garden and preparing myself to give a hearty greeting, I was pre-empted by the question, "Have you found him?" Was this an over-zealous Christian questioning whether I had found Jesus? It seemed such a random question, but I must have looked rather bemused because he immediately clarified his question, "A boy has one missing from the school trip and I thought you were one of the teachers!" I said I hadn't seen anyone on my walk, let alone a lost little boy, but straight away a car pulled up with some not very anxious searchers therein. No-one seemed very bothered about what to me appeared quite a worrying situation.

I revisited the church (in the hope of finding a toilet and then eating lunch), but not finding a toilet, I didn't linger long, although I was keen to revisit the mirror writing as I'd been composing a poem about it as I'd been walking. There is an archway in the church painted in elaborate letters which make no sense at first. When viewed through a mirror, however, they reveal a verse from the Bible warning about vanity so that anyone guilty of glancing in a mirror whilst they should be thinking heavenly thoughts will be immediately chastised!

It wasn't long after that that I heard and then caught a glimpse of the school group, wandering through the fields and it brought back memories of pre-risk assessment days school nature rambles by Lochrutton Loch in Scotland.

Mirror writing in St Andrew's Church, Trent - ST5818

Stained glass window in St Andrew's Church, Trent - ST5818

St Andrew's Church, Trent, ST5818

I was disappointed to discover I wasn't quite going to make it into ST5817, one of the gridsquares bordering Dorset's western boundary. I will have to incorporate this short footpath into another Trent walk. For now, I was back into familiar territory, approaching Nether Compton, which I'd photographed before, but this was a new footpath for me and there was a myriad things of interest, including an old, ivy-clad bath-tub and an old ruin where nature has delightfully reclaimed its home in an old chimney.

Bathtub and ivy at the Rectory, Nether Compton - ST5917

Reclaiming a home - old chimney at the Rectory, Nether Compton - ST5917

I resisted Guinness of draught in the sleepy village of Nether Compton and walked south to Compton House, the erstwhile home of Worldwide Butterflies, Worldwide Butterflies, started by Robert Gooden in 1976, but now a huge house converted into flats.

The Griffin's Head, Nether Compton - ST5917

Emerging Blackthorn and Nether Compton - ST5917

Near Over Compton - ST5917

Compton House - ST5916

Upon leaving the immediate vicinity of Compton House, there is a steepish climb past the lake and keeper's cottage (with an old well) to join the delightful holloway at Gore Lane. I managed to relocate the mysterious cave we'd found on our last visit.

Cave on Gore Lane - ST6016

I indulged in some root photography here, relishing the opportunity to enthrall myself with ancient root curtains.

Enthralled by roots - Gore Lane holloway - ST6016

I left Gore Lane and entered Hart's Lane at Stallen, walking amidst a carpet of Lesser Celandine. Who needs a red carpet when nature provides such luxurious accompaniment?!

Lesser Celandine on Hart's Lane - ST6017

I veered north-eastwards to reach a junction in the paths where Checcombe Lane heads north and Gooseland Lane heads south and took another boring photograph as a record.

Checcombe Lane - ST6117

The best part of the walk was now behind me, both in terms of distance and beauty. I'd walked nearly 8 miles and began to wonder by how much I'd underestimated the total distance. Trying not to look too often at my phone to see how far I'd travelled along a rather monotonous track on a rather featureless day, I counted my steps into the next gridsquare - ST6116. I was gradually getting further south and heading towards Sherborne.

Gooseland Lane - ST6116

How I managed to have forgotten about the dual carriageway I don't know. I'd been conscious of the constant sound of traffic whizzing by for ages, but failed to recall that this was in fact a major dual carriageway that I was going to have to cross. The sight of a bunch of flowers left in memorial of a recent fatality on the road did little to bolster my courage as I edged towards the road and looked for a gap in the traffic. At least there was an attractive milestone with a benchmark adorning its top to admire.

Milepost on A30 with memorial and daffodils - ST6116

I crossed the road in two stages, disappointed that my walk for the group was now thwarted by the busy road. There was no way I was going to lead a group of people here! Fortunately I did not have to walk along the road, but turned off onto Low's Hill Lane and chuckled to see a warning that I would have appreciated on the north side of the A30 - albeit another example of nature reclaiming its home and therefore rendering it almost illegible.

An illegible sign on Low's Hill Lane - ST6116

If I'd thought I was going to escape traffic on this road, I was wrong. It was most unpleasant walking along the road as it was busy and there was no verge to duck into. I took the requisite photo for the next square and marched on, weary and a bit bored of my own company with little to distract my attention.

Silverlake Cottages - ST6115

Lenthay Dairy House marked my last gridsquare feature of the day. After this I marched back to the car, completing the last full mile in 17 minutes and 49 seconds, just 3 seconds longer than my outward leg!

Lenthay Dairy House - ST6215

Number of miles: 11.3

Number of new gridsquares: 6