Hooke and lots of Bottoms - 16th December 2017

Well, there were two actually (of the dry valley type anyway). This was an unexpected bonus of the walk and was our reward for having worked so hard all week decorating the house, writing Christmas cards and generally preparing for Christmas. We got more done than expected so thought we could afford to take a day off walking - even if we're doing the same thing tomorrow!

It was one of my favourite types of days - cold and frosty with little wind and I quickly marked up a route of new gridsquares on my rapidly filling up Memory map. There was a few near Hooke that were still blank so we set off and parked at the church.

St Giles Church, Hooke - ST5300

There is a splendid display of the parish's history in the church form which we gleaned some interesting information, like there used to be three pubs in the village (there are none now) and three mills at various times. Again, there are none left. There is an interesting story associated with the Twine, Hemp and Thread Factory which, in the 19th century, belonged to Mr Coombes of Beaminster and employed 60 women and four men. In 1860 the foreman was sacked. He set fire to the factory and cut his throat. It's hard to believe that the tiny tranquil hamlet that survives today was once the thriving hub of business that it evidently once was!

Stained glass window and reflection, St Giles Church, Hooke - ST5300

 We left the village of Hooke via n arched footbridge over the River Hooke and headed north through Burnt Bottom. Really, truly, that's what it was called! We've had Scratchy Bottom and now Burnt Bottom. I really ought to collect all these bottoms!

Burnt Bottom - ST5200

 We scoured the fields, but, try as we might, we could seen no reason for this delightful name. We headed northwards towards Westcombe Coppice, where we promised ourselves a warming cup of tea if we could find a log to sit on.

Westcombe Coppice - ST5201

Westcombe Coppice - ST5201

We emerged from the coppice onto the Park Pale, the pale being the boundary fence of the erstwhile deer park of Hooke Park. Old maps revealed that this was the westernmost boundary of the deer park. I've drawn the old boundary on this map as it is no longer shown on the modern Explorer map.

Hooke Park Deer Park in 19th Century

Park Pale - ST5202

There were great views from here, although it was sad to see the erstwhile landmark of Rampisham masts now so drastically depleted.

Rampisham masts from Toller Down - ST5202

There's a gridsquare further west, ST5102 which I'm not sure how I'm going to get. I kind of don't want to 'cheat' by driving into a gridsquare and stopping to take a photo. I really want to walk into every gridsquare if I can,but some of them around here are nigh impossible because of the dearth of footpaths. So I'm still working on  a strategy for that one.

For now, we headed down the field into Toller Whelme, where I said we couldn't possibly stop for an early lunch as we still had too far to go, so we did not make a detour to the church (hard for me, I know), choosing instead to walk past East Farm on the Wessex Ridgeway. I dutifully took a photo of the gridsquare, not realising I'd already photographed it in Westcombe Coppice!

Lake at East Farm - ST5201

 As we headed towards Hooke, we passed a small Dorset Wildlife Trust sign inviting us into Michael's Peace, a small reserve with a lake. The reserve is described as being quite difficult to walk around, but we took a peek and saw the lake which is gradually silting up - shame for the wildlife. Again, I wondered how the reserve had earned the title of 'Michael's Peace'.

Michael's Peace - DWT reserve - ST5200

We came to a crossroads where we headed east back towards Hooke.

Crossroads near Hooke - ST5200

We had thought we might eat our lunch and drop our rucksacks off before continuing on the walk, but that would have meant quite a detour, so we decided to continue on the southern leg of the walk through Hooke Park, where we hoped to find somewhere decent for our picnic lunch. We passed Hooke Court, a beautiful building with versatility it is apparently an educational centre, a nursery, a wedding venue and a holiday let.

Aelfric Hall (Hooke Court), a building with many uses - ST5300

 Hooke Park was a new gridsquare for me, but it wasn't what we thought it was. we expected a little footpath through a great wood; instead we found a road through a great wood. What on earth was this all about? Hooke Park College, that's what it's all about. We stepped off the road to let postie pass and I commented that we'd be doing the same thing again shortly to let him past on his way back. But we didn't; the reason being that we had turned off before then.

I hadn't appreciated it at the time, but we were now in SY territory, having left the STs behind. I wish I'd realised it at the time, because the entering a new gridsquare would have felt doubly special!

Wood Barn, Hooke Park - SY5299

We took a wrong turning here, or rather we didn't turn when we should have done. There is a paucity of footpath signs and wee continued gaily on past the log barn on a path not marked on the map. Fortunately, with the aid of Memory map, I quickly realised our mistake and we turned back to find a very overgrown footpath continuing south.

It wasn't long before we started seeing unusual sculptures in the woods.

Unusual sculpture in Hooke Park - SY5299

Soon we saw Hooke Park College and put two and two together. We also found a bench to sit on for our lunch whilst I researched the college. "It's a College of Applied Sciences," I said to Paul scrolling down my phone. "Strange, I wouldn't have thought that made sense," I added looking at the wooden sculptures around us. "It says here you can do a course in microscopy," I continued, "I wonder how much that would be. I've always wanted a microscope." Still thinking there was something not quite adding up, my suspicions were confirmed when I continued reading and saw the word 'American'. "Ah, I might have got the wrong Hooke," I admitted. I was soon reading about Hooke Park College of architecture which sounded much more likely. "These will be practice designs," Paul decided. "Not a climbing frame, then?" I was disappointed. I'd got wonderful ideas for a photo but agreed the structure was far too flimsy to carry my weight!

We encountered some serious mud as we dropped down into North Poorton - and some smoke. Someone was having a bonfire.

Entering North Poorton from the north - SY5298

We bypassed another church as we walked a hundred yards down the road to turn off eastwards again onto the Jubilee Trail parallel to where we'd just walked - and it was all by necessity and not because of gaining an extra gridsquare. Paul remembered having walked this path before several years ago. My memory doesn't serve me as well, either that or I've done too many Dorset walks and they've all begun to blur into one!

In glorious sunshine we wandered across what must once have been part of Hooke Park with its stately trees and wide open spaces.

Hooke Park - SY5298

An 'octopus' tree in Hooke Park - SY5298

An 'octopus' tree in Hooke Park - SY5298

Hooke Park near North Poorton - SY5298

We entered Woodlands Coppice and negotiated more mud before entering a new gridsquare briefly - SY5398 and crossing a footbridge.

Footbridge in Woodlands Coppice - SY5398

As we headed north back towards Hooke I was very excited about the second bottom of the day and this one had an even more intriguing name - Knight's-in-the-Bottom. Sadly I haven't been able to find out the origin of that name. But I'd love to know. And, if it were my land, I'd have a sculpture of a knight on a horse there I think. Disappointingly, all that was there was two lakes and a mad cow which came hurtling towards us, but was fortunately thwarted by the lake.

Lake at Knight's-in-the-Bottom - SY5399

Lake at Knight's-in-the-Bottom - SY5399

It was my final new gridsquare and we were a stone's throw away from Hooke. It had been one of those walks which turn out much better than you think, if only because it had been an impromptu walk in an unexpectedly beautiful location with lovely apricity in the frosty, wintry conditions.

Number of miles walked: 7.7

Number of new gridsquares: 5

Number of lakes: 12!

Number of bottoms: 2 (excluding ours)