Subtitled - In honour of Lorna's 26th on the 26th
Once in everyone's lifetime comes a very special birthday - it's the birthday that you reach the age of the date of your birthday. Everyone gets a chance for this to happen, but if your date of birth is before say the 12th of the month you probably won't appreciate the event. For anyone over the age of 31 - tough, you've missed the opportunity for a big celebration! Mine is on the 6th of the month so I missed out, Paul's is on the 5th of the month so when he was 5 he too missed out. Lorna however, was 26 yesterday, so, partly to celebrate and, more honestly, because I wanted to shed the dregs of my cold and go for a long walk, I chose a route I'd first encountered last February.
Jane was brave enough to accompany me and I greeted her at Maiden Newton with, between coughs, an apology for needing to send a text: "Lorna, it's your 26th birthday on the 26th of the month; I hope it will be an extra special day. Love mum xx" (In case you're interested, it was, she went out for a meal and then went to a concert - Mendelssohn and Brahms)
"What's happened to the weather?" was my next positive contribution to the conversation. "It's supposed to be partially clouded, not cloud cover 8/8!" Engrossed in these riveting topics of conversation whilst Jane booted and gaitered up (gaiters! I knew I'd forgotten something!), I forgot to switch on my GPS and consequently lost the beginning of the walk.
Paul and I had redone this walk subsequent to the first 'Three Churches rendition' and we too had parked on Chilfrome Lane, Maiden Newton as opposed to Eggardon Hill. There is more room for cars here, but it does mean a bit of road walking. Jane was undeterred though, thankfully.
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| Flooded River Frome at Maiden Newton - SY5997 (taken 20/11//2016) |
We crossed the A356 and went straight onto a footpath by the River Frome. Last year when Paul and I did the walk, the river had been much more flooded as per photo above. As it turns out, we were not to be disappointed by dwindling mud levels as a result today!
After the arduous road walking, we arrived in the village of Wynford Eagle where not a soul stirred. The village borders two gridsquares and I'm not exactly sure whether the church falls into SY5895 or SY5896. Having visited the church before, I didn't mind foregoing the privilege this time "as long as I can get the microcache", I said eagerly to Jane, digging in my 'everything but the kitchen sink' rucksack for the pen I invariably carry with me - except for today that is. "I haven't got one either," Jane confessed as I laboriously tapped digits into my mobile phone. With the clues figured out and the co-ordinates obtained we realised we'd either worked it out wrong or the cache was a quarter of a mile in the direction we'd just come. Just that little bit too far to feel bothered enough to retrace our steps.
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| St Lawrence's Church, Wynford Eagle - SY5895 (July 2016) |
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| Inside Wynford Eagle Church - SY5895 (taken July 2016) |
We left the churchyard and wandered uphill past more cottages and then headed north towards Toller Fratrum. Opposite us, on Blanchard's plantation we could see the clearly defined pits.
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| Pits in Blanchard's Plantation - SY5896 (taken Feb 2016) |
We descended High Hill into the delightful village of Toller Fratrum which is dominated at the moment by extensive renovation works on Little Toller Farm. These had been underway when Paul and I visited a year ago and seemed to have made little progress. Perhaps it's one of Kevin McCloud's 'Grand Design' projects!
"The church door is very stiff," I warned Jane as we approached. "A kind gentleman helped me open it last time," I confessed as Jane walked up to the door, turned the handle and walked in without exerting any muscle power whatsoever. "It must have been oiled since my last visit," I whispered begrudgingly.
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| View from High Hill - SY5796 (Feb 2016) |
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| St Basil's Church, Toller Fratrum - SY5797 (Feb 2016) |
We sat with a cup of tea inside the church as there were no benches outside and then headed westwards, under the conduit which had us scratching our heads on my last visit. I never did manage to find out anything about it.
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| Conduit at Toller Fratrum - SY5797 |
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| Prestwood - SY5697 (Feb 2016) |
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| Prestwood - SY5697 (Feb 2016) |
Last time there had been a sign warning drivers of the gully.
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| Near Ferndown Farm - SY5696 (Feb 2016) |
I'd forgotten about that sign! We continued onto Shatcombe Lane where several cars passed us and we dodged into the verge. A prominent tree had made a good photograph for the gridsquare on my first visit. (I barely had to take any photographs today!)
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| Prominent tree in SY5695 (Feb 2016) |
We turned off toward Higher Wynford Farm and I immediately remembered two things: one, that I couldn't remember which way the path went - down an impossibly narrow and overgrown footpath or through the field? Inevitably we took the wrong option and had to retrace our steps to the impossibly narrow, muddy and overgrown footpath which led into the impossibly muddy woods and sadly the fly tipped white goods, now very rusty had still not been removed.
We were getting hungry now and had promised ourselves lunch at West Compton, now just down the road. I told Jane the story of my first visit here, how I'd met a lovely couple having a cup of tea outside their cottage and how I'd approached the lord of the manor to enquire about visiting the church and had been told he was too busy that day repairing his cottagers' roofs, but would be happy to show me round on another occasion. I had never plucked up courage to phone to ask about that tour, despite this now being my third or fourth visit to the church. I think this is the most times I've visited a church without actually having been able to enter - such a disappointment. As we walked round, we noticed several boards in the windows and wondered whether the church had been the subject of a recent break in. We hoped it was just a form of damp-proofing, but as we sat with our lunch outside the church, we became aware of a humming noise.
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| St Michael's Church, West Compton - SY5694 |
"What's that noise?" I asked Jane, looking round expecting to see a swarm of bees nearby. "I think it's machinery of some sort," she decided. "Yep, definitely a strimmer," she confirmed, "It's getting closer. It's right by that wall. We're probably going to be accosted at any moment and questioned as to our intentions in being here." She munched away on her cheese and beetroot sandwich, then had a painful flashback, "As long as he's not wearing a green swimming costume," she laughed, holding her mouth lest a piece of beetroot escaped.
Just recovering from this information, we realised the humming noise was now above our heads and looked up to see a drone circling above us. Someone had obviously heard our voices and wanted to make sure we weren't up to any nefarious business. I surmised it must be the lord of the manor too busy to come and see us in person so sending his drone instead. It's a sad indictment of the times we are in that there is the need to be suspicious of people in a churchyard and that everyone's too busy to be friendly these days.
Reflecting on this, I asked Jane to tell me the green swimming costume story, which she did and which I won't repeat here as I want everyone who reads this to be able to walk freely in the countryside without fear.
After our prolonged lunch we continued through the village of West Compton to the ponds where we disturbed Moorhens and Mallards and where autumn was looking beautiful
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| West Compton pond - SY5694 |
We wandered through SY5693 without paying much attention and I missed the footpath we were supposed to take so I didn't get a photograph of this square and I don't have one to represent the path we ended up mistakenly taking!
We were now at the most southerly point of our walk today and walked along the straight Roman road until turning off into a boring field whose only feature I remembered from last time (again!) being a reservoir, which was now out of sight. At some point earlier in the day we had passed what was probably a reservoir in the middle of a field and I had pointed it out to Jane saying that it might be a nuclear bunker, but I wasn't sure. I assured her this was definitely not a nuclear bunker, but it was interesting if only because it provided a feature for my gridsquare photograph.
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| Reservoir in field near Compton Barn - SY5793 (Feb 2016) |
Despite having done variations of this walk several times now, I never seem to be able to remember which gate to go through at the settlement near Compton Barn in order to join the Jubilee Trail. I got it wrong again and we waded through long, wet grass in a churned up field (with the settlement) whilst Jane was answering a call from her boiler service man!
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| Settlement near Compton Barn - SY5794 |
Jane reminded me that whilst it might be tedious walking through ploughed fields, the view up here was tremendous and I chastised myself for my lack of gratitude. Again I recalled my first visit, on a clearer day, when I'd been able to spot my parked car on Shatcombe Lane from several points throughout the day. Despite looking, we couldn't make out the lonely tree which had featured in my earlier photograph and which was on the lane where I'd parked my car on the 'please shut up about it now' visit I've alluded to far too many times!
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| Jubilee Trail, Round Hill - SY5795 |
As we approached Wynford Eagle again, I asked Jane whether she wanted the longer route or the shorter route. Foolishly she opted for the longer route. "We've got to get you some new gridsquares today," she laughed. True, I wouldn't have got a single one otherwise, so with a growing sense of excitement we re-entered the village and turned right at Manor Farm. "Now, this is new territory," I hastened to explain to Jane. "That means if we go wrong from hereonin it's not my fault." Within minutes we'd gone wrong! I blame tiredness. We'd made the easy mistake of following the farm track instead of looking out for footpath signs. We retraced our steps as soon as we realised, having already discussed the merits of always doing so as opposed to continuing on in a foolhardy, stubborn and invariably 'soon to be regretted' manner.
As we got to the top of the hill and passed a barn I remembered I had been on this footpath before and admitted so to Jane. "I remember photographing that barn," I exclaimed as if this was revolutionary news. "But I've definitely not been in the next square," I added, eager to get into it now.
At Greenford Farm a tractor was hedge cutting and we walked in vain along the edge of the field looking for the footpath sign and exit of the field. If there ever was one, it was no more, so once again we retraced our steps and went through the gate, along the road only to find the footpath sign clearly pointing into the field from which we'd just come. There was no way you could get into the field through the hedge as it was, so that's another one to report. I seldom go for a walk without having to report at least one blocked entrance, locked gate, or missing or broken footpath sign.
As we stood on the verge of SY5995 I tingled with excitement, especially as there before us was a glorious valley. We'd been walking through rather monotonous farmland and now we were going downhill (yippee) and were surrounded by the rolling hills of Dorset.
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| Valley near Cruxton - SY5995 |
It wasn't just us that were excited about being in the field. The goliath sheep herd were also excited and ran over to us immediately in anticipation of being fed. "You've been hand-reared, haven't you?" Jane asked them as she stroked their woolly backs, oblivious to the fact that her map was about to be eaten. They didn't reply but neither did they leave us alone. Just when we thought they'd got the message, they came hurtling after us again and I have to admit I was a little unnerved by this. I'm not normally scared of sheep but they were humungus and could easily have knocked a tired walker down.
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| Jane and the Goliath sheep - SY5995 |
We escaped the gluttonous sheep and reached a stile which looked as if it hadn't been used in a while, despite Jane having declared (for at least the second time that day) that this was the valley she'd walked through a few weeks ago on a walk with the group of which we are both members. (She later retracted that statement - the bit about having been in the valley before, that is.)
With the sheep safely behind us we had only pheasants and partridges to worry about and we chatted away about a multitude of topics as we entered my second new gridsquare of the day - SY5996.
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| Pheasant run in SY5996 |
This was obviously pheasant breeding territory and a crop run had been left for them with feeding stations in between. We managed to leave the footpath once again, but when we retraced our steps this time, we found that the path must have been diverted and we were actually on it. We just wondered what would happen when we reached Cruxton Manor. As it turned out, it wasn't obvious, but we wended our way onto the footpath we'd both been on before which follows the River Frome.
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| Bridge over the River Frome - SY6096 |
We walked along the road this time, guessing it would be easier than yet another muddy field. Our feet were well and truly caked in a variety of species of mud and I intended taking a photo, but forgot. We turned towards Lower Frome Vauchurch, but at 5 pm I reckoned it was too late to start figuring out enough microcache, particularly as we hadn't yet found a pen so we peered inside this cute little church and then left it for another occasion.
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| St Francis Church, Lower Frome Vauchurch - SY5997 |
Number of churches visited: 4
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