Corscombe/Benville/West Chelborough road extraordinaire - 7.2 miles - 1st December 2017

There are three categories of walks:

1) Those you do and think 'When can I do that again?'

2) Those you think 'I will never do that again'

3) And those you know before you start that you won't ever be repeating it.

Today's walk was in the third category. I did it purely to gain the gridsquares and I did it on my own partly because I thought no-one would want to join me and partly because I knew it was a semi-dangerous walk along roads for most of the way. There is a dearth of footpaths around Benville but there was no point in putting off the unavoidable. I was going to have to do it sometime so I chose a really frosty day and off I set from Corscombe on what will probably be my last square bagging day of 2017!

Sadly Corscombe church was locked. I was so cold I was tempted to start my flask of tea before I'd even started walking, but resisted the temptation and walked into Coombe Bottom instead, immediately forgetting that the footpath has been diverted; you don't have to walk along the road for as much before turning into the field. I walked round the edge of the woodland and then descended into the valley on one of six footpaths heading south. This was a new one for me and a pleasant one, especially as the frost had made the ground harder. I could see how muddy it would be usually.

I'd walked about a mile before I was in a new gridsquare at Urlees Farm which I approached with high expectations as it has got two sizeable ponds. I couldn't see anything on them though.

Urlees Farm - ST5103

Urlees Farm - ST5103

 This farm has perhaps one of the most enviable views in Dorset. Once I'd slogged my way up to the main road and exited its elaborate gateposts I turned round and gasped. It doesn't come out well on the photo, but anyone travelling along that A356 Crewkerne to Bridport road who looks out of the window knows how high up you are and can occasionally catch a glimpse of the view. Well, I could linger and look today and what an amazing view it is. I was already beginning to wish I could bring the group just to see that view!

I wasn't looking forward to the road bit, but was relieved to see wide verges on both sides of the road which made this short stretch on the A356 much more palatable. I was in search of the Hore Stones. It has been said these may be the remains of a chambered long barrow. There is a convenient parking place next to what remains of these stones, although there is now very little left to see.

Hore Stone on A356 - ST5103

I marched on quickly to my turn off to Benville and took a photo for this gridsquare.

Near Toller Down Gate - ST5203

The air was crisp and cold and I felt very alive and was constantly listening for traffic, of which there was a fair bit as I wandered down to Benville, a hamlet I cannot recall having visited before. I took a 50 yards diversion to photograph the gateposts of Benville Manor as my subject for ST5303, my third new gridsquare of the day.

Entrance to Benville Manor - ST5303

Thatched cottage, Benville, ST5303

 As I approached the erstwhile pub, The Talbot Arms, I remembered the conversation  we'd had recently in which someone had reminded us that this pub was no longer open. The empty pub sign, though not creaking in the wind, seemed somehow very ghostly, a poignant reminder of more profitable, cheerful times, when the community gathered to share gossip over a drink or two. The nearest pubs now are the Fox Inn at Corscombe and the Acorn at Evershot, both nice pubs, but I wish I'd been to this one when it was open - and I don't think it was all that long ago either. A book I read online mentions that the 17th Century pub had been run by one couple since 2002.

The Talbot Arms, Benville - ST5403

With four gridsquares behind me, I trotted on (sometimes literally on bends in the road) to Benville Bridge. Paul and I used to come this way on our way to Evershot when we lived in East Coker, so I was familiar with this crossroads and the unusual sign on the bridge.

Benville Bridge - ST5503

Sign on Benville Bridge - ST5503

Crossroads at Benville Bridge - ST5503

I haven't been able to find out much about the origin of the sign, but there are at least two other such signs on bridges in Dorset, one on Grey's Bridge at Dorchester and the other near Sturminster Newton. I wonder if anyone ever got transported for life and if you could choose where you went to!

That was my fifth gridsquare and I was now on my way to the Red Post, although thankfully not under marching orders as some of my walking predecessors are thought to have been. There are four red posts in Dorset and there is approximately 14 miles between each red post, leading to the line of thought that they represented stopping points for guards and prisoners after a day's walk en route from Dorchester Gaol to Portsmouth. The posts are situated on the  A31 near Anderson and Bloxworth, Horsey Knap lane, Benville Bridge, Hewood and B3145 Poyntington. This information is from http://yertiz.co.uk/four-red-fingerposts-dorset/ but I don't see where Portsmouth comes into it - an interesting theory otherwise though. They may have been painted red to stand out in a plethora of signs or it may have been because many of those walking were illiterate.

Damaged red post at Horsey Lane - ST5503

I was sorry to see this red post so damaged and hoped this was due to natural causes and not wilful vandalism.

Road walking may be pretty boring, but I was learning some history as I walked and thinking of those who had gone before under pretty gruelling circumstances. OK, so I hadn't yet found anywhere to sip my hot flask of tea, but I'd only been walking for four miles, not fourteen and I knew I'd got a hot meal and a bed waiting for me when I got home.

Road walking is also pretty quick. I'd deliberately chosen a shorter walk today as I'd only got the morning to do it in. Paul works half day on Fridays and I wanted to get back for lunch, so I quickened my pace and darted out of the way of a few passing cars as I walked towards West Chelborough, turning at the fascinating Grexy Cross. Really, I must find a way of discovering the origins behind all of these names. There seems to be a dearth of information out there, even in these days of modern technology.

I leaned over a hedge for ST5504, taking a photo of Horsey Farm.

Horsey Farm - ST5504

Grexy Cross - ST5504

I surprised myself by choosing not to take the first opportunity of a footpath I'd had in miles; it was longer than the road way and it was not as if there was much traffic on the road. So I took my requisite photo for ST5404 and ignored the foopath sign at Hemlock Farm.

Entrance to Hemlock Farm - ST5404

Castle Hill from White Lane

 Opposite the footpath from Hemlock Farm is a footpath leading north-east towards the Iron Age fort of Castle Hill. After miles of road walking and hours without a cup of tea I was relieved to see the first cottage of West Chelborough, and a delightful little cottage it was too.

Thatched Cottage, West Chelborough - ST5405

West Chelborough is one of those 'land that time forgot' villages nestling in the heart of west Dorset, off the beaten track, away from the coast and where few people see any reason to visit. Enter Becky. Laden down with heavy rucksack, camera and binoculars. There was no-one to congratulate on having such a well-kept village; not a soul stirred in this quaint little village. What do people do all day? I wondered in a Richard Scarry way, not for the first time on my many west Dorset rambles.

At the church I was glad to find the door open and made hopefully not irreverent use of the organists' stool as a table for my refreshments. These west Dorset churches tend to have very narrow pews and few of them. It could not ever have seated more than about 50 and probably has far fewer attendees than that these days.

A grey memorial on the wall drew my attention and I went to read it. A sobering thought on which to ponder for the rest of my walk!

Sobering reminder, St Andrew's, West Chelborough - ST5405

Look here, my friends, behold and see

This house of clay in which I be

Pray do you not lament for me

But fear your own Mortality

For I am here in earth confind

To leave my little ones behind

As now I be you shortly must

Be here with me and lodge in dust

ELIZABETH Y WIFE OF MOSES Greenham

DECEASED JULY THE 16TH 1715

AGED 28 YEARS

St Andrew's Church, West Chelborough - ST5405

Letting the sun in, St Andrew's, West Chelborough - ST5405

Lectern, St Andrew's, West Chelborough - ST5405

Reclining figure, St Andrew's, West Chelborough - ST5405

Apparently the two treble bells in this church are dated 1275 and are thought to be the oldest in Dorset.

With all these thoughts running through my head, I turned into the garden of Manor Farm which is the footpath back to Corscombe. I remembered Paul saying he had walked this way and it looked as if they were entering a garden. We've had enough experience of walking the footpaths of west Dorset to become emboldened when it comes to entering footpaths which look as if they are on private property so I felt quite at ease entering the farmyard and even paused to take a photograph of the lopsided phone box. My sense of ease quickly evaporated when I heard the sound of gunshot, however. I often hear that in the countryside down here and it never fails to alarm me. I shall never be reconciled to it,k particularly when the shooting is for sport. Pheasant breeding and shooting is a pastime of the gentry and I have no time for it whatsoever. Pheasants were introduced to this country long ago and they should not be encouraged to breed merely for the sport of those who can afford to shoot them. That's my opinion and I do not often voice it, but when I read on a shooting forum that there is no legal requirement about shooting distances on public footpaths, I was horrified. Whatever is deemed safe is the answer apparently and also apparently, walkers are often quite keen to stand and watch whilst the shooting takes place. I've certainly never met any walkers who have or would relish that opportunity. As far as I'm concerned if there's a public footpath there and people want to shoot game, there should at least be a warning sign to say so. After all, there are lots of warning signs about cattle and bulls in fields when they're not even there. Gun shot is at least as much a risk as far as I can see.

Lopsided phone box, West Chelborough, ST5405

Rant over except to say I didn't enjoy the next quarter of a mile or so whilst dogs ran harum scarum around me and men hollered unnaturally and guns were shot randomly (it seemed). I wasn't sure whether the guns were being shot to warn other shooters there was a member of the public walking through the field or whether they were shooting game.

Shooting in Chelborough Park - ST5305

I walked through several more fields quickly, putting distance between myself and the din.

Chelborough Park - ST5304

I entered some woodland where the path had been slightly diverted and emerged close to Corscombe at Woodwall.

Footpath into woods at Woodwall - ST5304

Just a few more fields and woodland and I was back onto the road at Corscombe by the attractive Fox Inn, where we really must go and eat one day. It's one of the most attractive pubs I've seen down here. A short walk uphill and I was back at the car. Now there's definitely bits of that walk I would like to repeat but I think you know the bits I don't!

Woodland near Corscombe - ST5205

The Fox Inn, Corscombe - ST5205

Number of new gridsquares: 10
Number of miles walked: 7.2
Number of locked churches: 1
Number of open churches: 1
Number of dogs: 4