All the Fields - 17th August 2018

It was going to be one of my fantastically boring walks; I was convinced of that. Still, no harm in taking my good camera eh? And my binocs? And a good lunch? I had drawn out a route between Cerne Abbas and Piddlehinton many times and thought it looked quite dull so could never bring myself to do it.

So today was the day. I would lessen the blow by parking at Nether Cerne which is just such a delightful hamlet. Having parked responsibly and donned my boots and gear, I set off hopefully in the direction of a tractor's engine. Come to think of it, there was nearly always a tractor's engine running here. I've been several times doing conservation work and on several walks and can remember on most of those occasions hearing a tractor's engine running. On this occasion I was also looking at my phone map to try to determine which direction I needed to go. The tractor moved towards me slowly and the driver leaned out of his window and bade me good morning (I think - above the noise of the tractor). I asked if I was on the right of way and he said no and redirected me. It was a struggle to hear above the noise of the tractor but his arm movements helped.

This was a new path for me, a right of way up East Hill - so uphill straight away!

Foot of East Hill, Nether Cerne - SY6798

Through the Cotton, ascending East Hill, Nether Cerne - SY6798

I watched Speckled Wood butterflies dance in the spangled sunlight and mused on the origin of some 'ditches' along the farm track. Were they animal made or man-made? If man-made, for what purpose? I concluded man-made for drainage.

The good thing about walking solo is that you can record the whole walk - your thoughts and observations - on your phone without worrying what other people think! This was great. Why hadn't I thought of this before?

I walked along tapping even more often than usual into modern technology to record a gridsquare sighting of a particular butterfly or to bemoan yet again the monotony of the unfolding landscape.

After my slog up East Hill, I emerged out of the dappled woodland into arable land - huge stubble fields.

Stubble fields on East Hill - SY6798

I crossed the road and joined a bridleway through yet more arable land. At least the bridleway was very obvious - it was the only green thing in a a world of brown. 

Obvious path through stubble field - SY6798

Two earthworks broke the monoculture of the brown stubble field, but a glance at my map told me these were in the next gridsquare so I was going to have to wait to photograph them.

Earthworks near Well Bottom - SY6898

 I was delighted to see a Wall Brown butterfly here. You don't often see them away from the coast and never in Scotland. The bridleway followed an old boundary, not shown on the map, but still evident and effectively dividing the field in two. I was surrounded by improved fields whose monotony was broken only by very slight evidence of ancient field systems to the south.

Field systems near Heaves Farm - SY6897

But no, the field systems were not the only thing breaking the monotony - to my enormous surprise a Grey Squirrel leapt out of a hedge. With barely any vegetation above the height of three feet, this was a mystery. From whence had it come and where would it now head? Perhaps it was the escaping prey of some bird of prey?

I dipped into the next gridsquare and realised if I followed my route strictly, I would have to walk eastwards into the middle of a ploughed field, make an about turn of about 90 degrees and walk approximately due north. Why do that when there was a perfectly decent 'path' cutting off one part of that triangle? As long as it was within SY6997 I didn't care. There was nothing in the next field to entice me!

A blanket of brown and green near Well Bottom - SY6997

Having walked through the top left part of SY6997, I was now walking through the bottom left corner of SY6998. I'd walked only a few yards within each gridsquare but as I was making up the rules it didn't matter. As long as my feet were in the same gridsquare as the photograph for say three steps - that's a new rule I've just made up!

Bottom left corner of SY6998

I was walking towards some old barns at Well Bottom and could see a relief from the monotony of brown fields - woodland!

Well Bottom - SY6898

Cows in barns at Well Bottom - SY6898

Tyre graveyard at Well Bottom - SY6898

There was a rancid smell passing the barns with all the debris, slurry and detritus and I asked myself for the millionth time whether my quest was really worth it. I was surrounded by horrible, unfriendly, prickly stubble which resembled a massive army of diminutive size all standing erect and ready to unleash their weapons on passers-by. As well as the unfriendly army there was a horrible pong to put up with and not a lot to revel in visually. I mean, in the sphere of things, what am I achieving by simply walking into every gridsquare of Dorset? "I'll tell you what you are achieving Becky Williamson," I said out loud. "You are achieving a healthy lifestyle; you are mentally and physically challenging yourself whilst deriving benefits from being in the fresh air and engaging in physical exercise and mental stimulation. It's good for your heart, your mind, your soul. So there!" OK, so I might not be making the world a better place per se by my walking, not like a brain surgeon or a humanitarian aid worker or a lawyer, but do we need to judge all our actions by asking ourselves if it is going to benefit anybody other than ourselves?

I came out of my reverie by noticing that the earthworks I'd seen earlier were still visible albeit from a different angle. "I've just walked round in one big arable circle!" I chuckled to myself.

Earthworks near Well Bottom with the 'stubble army' - SY6898

At last I approached Incombe Wood. Beyond the gate looked dark and foreboding.

Gate into Incombe Wood - SY6898

The deciduous woodland was quite ancient - ash, oak, sweet chestnut, hazel - with evidence of coppicing a long time ago and perhaps hedge-laying as I saw several potential pleachers which were now part of huge trees.

Evidence of erstwhile coppicing in Incombe Wood - SY6898

Other than disturbing a Buzzard whilst walking through the woodland I saw very little wildlife, but felt quite uneasy walking here. It felt like mine were the first footsteps to have wandered through here for a long time and I think I've watched too many murder dramas recently which had my nerves all on edge for the duration of this woodland. A shame really as it is quite a beautiful woodland.

Incombe Wood - SY6898

 I was not sorry to see the little gate leading out into the wide open - and what would I see when I did emerge?

Gate at north of Incombe Wood - SY6899

The answer was more stubble fields with Kingrove Wood lying beyond - but that was beyond my walk today.

Kingrove Wood - SY6899

There was more of a distance between me and the stubble army this time, for which I was grateful.

I continued following the bridleway through another field, this one left fallow but devoid of flowers; I guess it's late in the season now.

Bridleway through fallow field - SY6899

I approached Kingrove Bottom with high expectations. Perhaps I'd find somewhere to sit here for a break. It looked promising, a lovely dry valley with patches of shrub and trees - and cows. Lots of cows!

Kingrove Bottom - SY6999

I was so disappointed. I will walk through a field of cows if there is no alternative, but would rather avoid it. I decided to follow the hedge at the level I was at rather than descend to the bottom and then perhaps have to retrace my steps uphill. This would mean potentially changing my route a little, but not drastically and, most importantly, I wouldn't be missing out on any gridsquares. As long as there was a way out of the field I was in and a way into the next field.

I hopped over a low barbed wire fence and walked through the next field which did have a few cows and then realised I'd have to walk past lots of cows to find the bridleway which was not where it was supposed to be. This meant walking past the cows twice, only to discover the bridleway was not longer in existence. I followed the farm track instead and came out east of Highlands Farm to join another farm track which became a bridleway within a few feet. Really, the history of some of these rights of way must be very intricate. To the modern user there sometimes appears to be no rhyme or reason to there being where they are, but I assume at one time there must have been. They must have existed, in this case, before the road was built.

I was back in SY6998, the square with Well Bottom in, so I didn't need to rummage visually round for something to photograph. Phew! It could all wait for SY7099 when all I could do was photograph the road I was on.

Road in SY7099

I was now desperate for a wee and a cup of tea - in that order! I'd not sat down since I started four miles ago. I managed to find somewhere for a wee but just couldn't bring myself to sit for a cup of tea with the smell of muck spreading around me.

I would just have to wait till White Lackington where I was hoping to find a geocache and a church.

I joined a bridleway which leads from Piddletrenthide all the way to Piddlehinton, more or less following the River Piddle or Trent. Honestly that's what it says on the Ordnance Survey map. Is that because there are two rivers there - the Piddle and the Trent - or because they can't make up their minds which one it is?

Myrtle Cottage - SY7098

The ford at Myrtle Cottage was non-existent. I continued on the bridleway which was a pleasant grassy track all the way to White Lackington.

Bridleway to White Lackington - SY7098

As I approached White Lackington a dog started barking furiously and persistently at me - fortunately from behind a secure gate. I glanced at my GPS and started navigating to the only geocache that was on this route. I ended up agreeing with what someone else had said on the Geocaching.com website - that the location of said cache appeared to be in private property and I felt too uncomfortable to snoop around looking for it. Plus I was getting hungry and tired and in need of a seat.

SY7198 was a little gratuitous really - purely for the church and a new gridsquare.

I could see that the church was not a parish church from the cross icon on the map. That generally meant the chances of it still being used as a place of worship were even slimmer than they were if the usual more church-like icon is used. So I was not surprised to discover that St John's Baptist Chapel was in fact now a dwelling place. That wasn't an option for lunch then!

St John's Baptist Chapel, 17th April 1876, White Lackington - SY7198

 I settled for the bus stop visible in the photo below and was joined by a persistent wasp which unnerved me a little. There seem to be a lot of wasps around this year. Perhaps because it's been a very hot summer?

Welcome to White Lackington - SY7198

My lunch was curtailed by the wasp and by just wanting to sit somewhere nicer. I retraced my steps and managed to find the bridleway leading south-west from White Lackington. This was actually a dual carriageway of a bridleway for some reason!

Dual carriageway bridleway - SY7097

 At the top of the hill I was amused to see an old barn whose roof was weighted down apparently by two ivy-sprouting haystacks!

Haystacks on roof - SY7097

The sun was out and it was looking quite autumnal with blackberries and elderberries all out. Having reached the top of the hill, I was now to descend into Coombe Bottom so I turned south at the barn and joined another bridleway. Here I found myself in a field of red clover where a plethora of butterflies hunted for nectar, largely Small Whites and lots of Silver Y moths.

Approaching Coombe Bottom - SY7097

Having descended, I was to ascend again and my aim was New Buildings (original name I know!). The barbed wire gate had other ideas however. No way was I getting to the footpath that way. Fortunately there was a bridleway which only meant adding on a small length to my monotonous walk.

Barbed wire gate near New Buildings - SY7096

Diversion bridleway bear New Buildings - SY7096

If I thought the worst part of the walk was over, I had another think coming! At New Buildings I joined what I had imagined would be a nice quiet road. It was not and I had to walk for a mile along it! I could see a works van and a lorry parked far ahead of me and a small car parked on the same side of the road for no obvious reason. I hoped they weren't waiting to kidnap me.

Busy road near Little Piddle Farm - SY6996

It turned out to be a lady sitting in her car and she smiled at me as I passed. I then quickly passed the works van and lorry and, with a huge sigh of relief, turned off onto a bridleway near Little Piddle Farm. You've got to laugh at these names haven't you? I mean they were the best thing abotu this walk!

My path now steered me well clear of some private woodland.

Private Woodland near Little Piddle Farm - SY6896

Yeah! More stubble! After a mile of tarmac, I was missing the little prickly stubbly army. I wasn't in this field for long, however, before I crossed another minor road and headed westwards towards Godmanstone. You could be forgiven for thinking you'd been transported to the American prairies here. For as far as the eye could see, it was beholding arable farmland which was almost blinding in its intensity with the bright sunlight shining down on it.

No end to fields near Forston Barn - SY6796

 A deer broke the monotony somewhat.

Roe Deer near Forston Barn - SY6796

As I trudged wearily towards Forston Barn I searched the recesses of my memory to recall when last I had been here. I knew the name Forston Barn was familiar. I just couldn't remember when or what it looked like.

When I eventually approached the barn, desperately hoping for something magical, something attractive, quirky, ruinous even - or perhaps just even something, sign of the promised Forston Barn. Where was it? If it exists it is hidden in a clump of trees where the footpath does not go. Disappointed and despondent, I trudged on again, glad to be nearing the end of the walk and the most attractive part without a doubt. I was tempted to go down to see Godmanstone if even just to have a break from brown fields. I knew the lush River Cerne flowed through that village and would be a welcome reminder of vitality and energy in this dusty world I had inhabited for several hours.

But that would be a gratuitous diversion, so I stayed high and was content to see the little 12th century church still reassuringly there after all these centuries. Stone work pointing to God. yes, that was reassuring in this dry and dusty landscape where creation seems to have been pushed out.

Cowdon Hill - SY6696

Church at Godmanstone - a reassuring sign of stability - SY6797

I was perhaps beginning to think nonsense after all these hours of solo walking through a barren landscape. I needed a familiar face. It wasn't quite a face, but it was familiar - the Cerne Valley opening up before me with welcoming arms. Oh greetings Cerne Valley! Am I glad to see you!

Cerne Valley towards Nether Cerne - SY6797

Number of miles walked: 10.2

Number of people spoken to: 1

Number of new gridsquares: 12