Charminster once again - 22nd March

Once again I'd persuaded Jane to accompany me on what I'd warned was going to be a very uninspiring field walk. I wanted to reccie some places for the group I lead and so extended the walk so as to make it a decent length - Jane being used to walks of ten miles plus!

We didn't get off to a good start however as our planned meeting place, Charminster Church, had cones outside where we hoped to park. I guessed there was either a wedding or funeral on later in the day (Funeral as it turned out - I followed the hearse at the end of the day.) Charminster is not a very big place, but it is big enough and the streets are windy enough to get lost in. I manoeuvred the car this way and that round bends and up dead ends and back down again until I saw a sign for Wolfeton Manor and thought that was a good place to park. We were heading that way anyway. So I pulle into the kerb and parked behind another car whose occupants were just getting in and setting off, waving goodbye to the resident in the sheltered bungalow I was parked beside.

Feeling a little self-conscious, I played with my phone, wondering how to contact Jane. She'd be driving so I couldn't phone her. I texted her to ask her to phone me when she got to Charminster. Then I sat and waited. But it looked so gloriously warm outside I might as well get my boots on while I waited.

This I did, just as Jane came hurtling along waving furiously and laughing. She hadn't had a signal on her phone, but had just got the text and managed to find the place I'd so eloquently described.

Enough preamble, on with the real stuff . . .

We decided to leave the excitement of Wolfeton House to the end, which meant walking in an anti-clockwise direction eastwards. We crossed the minor road at the crossroads and headed towards Higher Burton Cottages and my first new gridsquare.

Higher Burton Cottages - SY6992

We took a sharp right turn here and headed south to join another minor road at Frome Whitfield. We walked along farm tracks to Coker's From Farm and then turned north-eastwards

Coker's Frome Farm - SY6991

The footpath headed north towards Badgers Copse [sic] and I apologised to Jane for the lack of interest on the walk. Not that we were short of conversation, we never are! In fact we had not walked together for a few weeks so had a lot of catching up to do. And of course our conversation was sprinkled throughout by my exclamation, "Oooh, we're in another gridsquare!" accompanied by the near expert technique I've perfected in getting my camera out ready for that beautiful shot!

Footpath to Badgers Copse [sic] - SY7091

A field of sheep added slightly more interest at Badgers Copse [sic].

Sheep at Badgers [sic] Copse - SY7092

"Oooh!" I zoomed right into my map on my phone, "Don't get too excited, Jane," I pleaded, "but we're entering a gridsquare for all of a few footsteps." In fact I reckon this gridsquare was the one I have been the least in to get a photograph - ever. I hope that makes sense as it's difficult to explain what I mean otherwise. The footpath just gets into the gridsquare by a cat's whisker.

Jane was excited but managed to calm down enough to take a layer off. She invariably warms up quicker than I do on walks.

The resulting photo did not match my excitement levels - by a long way. It's found its way into my top ten most boring photos in fact. The awful colour is not a reflection on my bad photography skills - the field really was yellow!

Field near Pigeon House Barn - SY7093

The scenery did not get much better as we headed north on a bridleway, but we did see something else of interest (other than the yellow field I mean). This was a curious nest box which I did look in as I thought maybe it was a mail box (which I realise does not make me sound any less of a criminal). OK, so I was nosey. What was this box doing all the way out here in the middle of nowhere?

Unusual nest box near Higher Burton Farm - SY6993

The curiosities did not end there, however. Next up was a curious bench. I've seen some benches in odd places and this one certainly topped the bill.

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Bench with a view at crossroads near Wolfedale - SY6993

"Shame it's too early for lunch," I bemoaned. "There's never a bench when you want one." "You'ren not serious?" Jane laughed. "I'm pretty certain that one wouldn't stand our weight." I checked the rotten state of the bench and we moved on laughing.

The bridleway at Lower Covert provided a little bit of interest in that there was a remnant of snow on the path.

Remnant of snow at Lower Covert - SY6994

There was certainly some interest at Roman Road Farm - a menagerie of animals, some of whom came to see us. The number of different species of animals amounted to double figures, perhaps 11: donkey, turkey, goose, hen, duck, horse, two breeds of pig, sheep, goat and llama (I think I've remembered correctly). We spent some time befriending these creatures, if only to chuckle at the wattles and teeth on the pigs. We'd never seen anything like it. They've got to be one of the ugliest creatures I've ever seen. Wow! This walk was turning into a walk of superlatives, for all its mundaneness.

"What fine teeth you've got!" - Roman Road Farm - SY6895

Teeth and wattles - Roman Road Farm - SY6895

Roman Road Farm - SY6895

We were nearing Herrison House now, which we had decided would be a suitable place to eat lunch. It's actually a village called Charlton Down,but used to be the mental institution about which I have written in a previous post. When Paul and I had espied this massive house from afar I had decided I needed a closer look, especially after learning of its history (for which I refer you to my previous post)

Herrison House (Charlton Down) - SY6894

Herrison House (Charlton Down) - SY6794

Charlton Down is quite an unusual village, quite modern and self-contained  with an almost artificial air about it. Herrison House has an imposing grandeur, but I couldn't help shuddering at the thought of its dubious past. We sat at a picnic bench in the grounds of the house, hoping no-one would tell us off for doing so, but we could see no signs to say it was private land. It was well past lunch time so we gobbled our lunch before succumbing to the cold and moving on again. More boring fields to go!

Near Herrison House - SY6795

We looked back to the village of Charlton Down with its sad history as we descended to Forston and familiar territory.

Charlton Down - SY6795

I could relax now as far as taking photographs was concerned. I knew I'd already photographed the remaining squares. I much preferred this part of the walk, however, as the path runs parallel to the River Cerne along the Cerne Valley Trail. Paul and I had done it at least twice before (as already referred to in the previous post).

We still had Wolfeton House to look forward to though, but sadly our efforts were thwarted by Private Signs. It would appear that you can only approach the house from the A37 near Dorchester. We did manage to catch a tantalising glimpse of it through the trees, however.

Wolfeton House - SY6892

 I pointed out the lumps and bumps of the medieval village of Wolfeton as we walked passed - something else to keep for another day. Wolfeton was guarding its secrets carefully!

Medieval village at Wolfeton - SY6892

Number of new gridsquares: 7
Number of miles walked: 10.3
Number of animals seen: 11 (at least)