The Wednesday Walk 6th May 2009

The Plan
Meet at Sue's for a walk at Arne.

The Leader
Brian

Who Turned Up
Brian, Wendy, Sue, Diane and Tony R, Beatrice and Tony H, Trisha, David

The Walk (this week courtesy of Diane)
The walk this week was led by Brian. He took us around the Arne nature reserve.Using the hides we saw several wading birds and deer. The day was dry but a little windy. There was a mist over the Purbecks which gave the photos of Corfe Castle a magical touch. Brian mislaid his precious walking stick but was relieved when it was handed in to the warden's office. Lunch was at The Halfway which in the main was good except Wendy's which was overcooked. Tea was served at Sue's. Only Trudy,Ros and Pam were missing.

The Pub
The Halfway Inn. We have eaten here before and found it to be a pleasant hostelry. The food was generally good although Wendy seems to have drawn the short straw.

The Wednesday Walk 29th April 2009

The Plan

Meet at Beatrice and Tony's for a walk on Cranborne Chase

The Leader

Wendy

Who Turned Up

Wendy, Beatrice, Tony H, Diane, Tony R, Sue, Ros, Tricia, David

The Walk

We did this walk in two parts. For the morning, we drove to Garston Wood to see the spring flowers in bloom. Look at the photo above to see the bluebells which were a carpet of blue at the top end of the woods. We also saw numerous other flowers which added to the colour spectacle of blue, yellow and white. Tony spotted a small roe deer but it ran out of sight before we could photograph it. A bright yellow butterfly also escaped before we could focus our cameras.

We left the woods and drove to the Inn On The Chase at Cashmoor for lunch. Afterwards, we left our cars at the Inn and walked a circular path through nearby fields and lanes. Not so many flowers this time, but we did find the Wimborne Model Flying Club practicing their flying skills.

Thanks this week to Beatrice and Tony for tea and cakes.

The Pub

The Inn On The Chase at Cashmoor. The food was not cheap but it was good. Meals ranged from boar faggots, through quiches to the inevitable pie. Sadly, we had to cheat and look up some of the answers to Tricia's crossword puzzle.

The Wednesday Walk 22nd April 2009

(This week, the write-up is courtesy of Ros)
The Plan
To met at Wendy’s and walk to Winterborne Clenston

The Leader
Wendy

Who turned up
Pam, Archie, Beatrice, Tony, Sue, Trisha, Diane, Tony and Ros

The Walk
It was good to see Diane back and a warm welcome to Tony who joined us as well. With two Tony’s in the group, we shall have to name them Tony 1 and Tony 2! It was a lovely bright sunny warm morning but by the time we got to the start point at Winterborne Clenston Church it was overcast. It was a perfect day for a walk because it wasn’t too hot. We walked up through Charity wood where the spring flowers were in abundance, bluebells, garlic, primroses, cowslips and anything else I might have missed!
After lunch we took the upper path which followed the road along back to the meeting spot. The newly born lambs in the field across the other side of the road were very vocal! All was well until we came across a stile that was broken. The various ways of crossing this was quite amusing until the two Tony’s put the plank of wood across the stile and trod it into place making the ascent and descent a whole lot easier!
On our return a very welcome cup of tea and cream doughnuts were enjoyed at Wendy’s.

The Pub
We enjoyed lunch at the Milton Arms, Winterborne Whitechurch. They had a varied menu with Tony 1 enjoying his favourite, faggots!

The Wednesday Walk 15th April 2009

The Plan
Meet at Wendy's for Michael's walk.

The Leader
Wendy

Who Turned Up
Wendy, Trisha, Sue, Beatrice, David

The Walk
I must begin by stating that I am under threat of excommunication unless I mention that we saw a wide variety of flowers in bloom: bluebells, primroses, daffodils and others I've forgotten the names of, but never mind because we saw them and that's what matters. Oh yes, we also encountered a lot of yellow gorse. Good, that's me guaranteed tea and delicious cream scones for the next week or so.

The walk: we drove to Turnerspuddle and parked at our usual spot by the farm. Then we walked along the lane to the start of Michael's Walk. That's where you can see the plaque nestling in a sea of greenery with bluebells just starting to bloom in the surrounding woodland. Very peaceful and idyllic, perfect for the remembrance of Michael. We walked on through the woods before crossing the main road and veering back towards Bere Regis alongside the watercress beds. The weather was nice at the start of the walk but got a bit cool towards the middle of the day. I won't say enything here about the pub, you can read all about it later.

After lunch we went to the shop next door for an ice cream and then made our way back along the shorter route to Turnerspuddle. That's when it started to rain so we had to break out the foul-weather gear for a while. But it soon cleared up again. After the walk we went back to Wendy's where we were treated to hot scones with jam and cream. Delicious. Thanks, Wendy.

The Pub

Ah yes, the pub. Well, what a disappointment that was. We went to the Royal Oak as we've eaten there before, but half of it was closed up, and the other half wasn't serving food. No food! So we walked on to the Drax Arms (past the village store which was closed down) and found their specials board advertising a nice home-made pie. Oh joy! But then we were told they were only serving snacks today. Oh heck! So we had a mixture of baguettes, panini and spud. It was okay, but not like the real thing. Is this the recession biting home in Bere Regis, we ask ourselves, or were we just plain unlucky today?

By the way, if you want to save any of the blog pictures, first point to it with your cursor, then click the left button to enlarge it. Then click the right button and select "Save picture as..." You will then need to specify where on your computer you want to save the picture.

The Wednesday Walk 8th April 2009

The Plan
Meet at Beatrice and Tony's again for a walk to Cranborne.

The Leader
Tony

Who Turned Up
Tony, Beatrice, Trudy, Wendy, Trisha, Sue, Jackie, David

The Walk
We met at Beatrice and Tony's and drove to the layby at Lower Holwell on the B3078 Cranborne to Alderholt road. We then walked along Mill Lane back to Cranborne for tea and coffee at the garden centre. The tea was all right, but Tony reported the coffee was not up to scratch which, at £1.85 for a cup, was a poor show. I suppose they could be equally scathing about us in view of the mess our walking boots made on their carpet. We then walked down to the Fleur de Lys pub with the idea of having lunch there. However, Trisha was put off by the dirty curtains and Tony discovered the ladies toilets were overflowing, so we walked on to the Sheath of Arrows. It was much better.
After lunch we walked back through the fields and woods on the opposite side of the main road. As Wendy rightly pointed out, our path was emblazoned with bluebells, wood anemones, violets, primroses etc. Spring is here. The sky was a bit more overcast than during the morning but we still enjoyed a very pleasant walk. We finished off with tea and cake (courtesy of Trisha) at Bea and Tony's place.

The Pub
The Sheath of Arrows at Cranborne. On arrival, the first thing we noticed was that it was much busier than the Fleur de Lys, which was hint that this is a popular pub. We soon discovered why. The food was excellent. Sue was hungry, but her all-day breakfast left her very satisfied. A certain member of the group had a chicken and mushroom pie which he rated at 10 out of 10. Trisha had some very tasty scampi. And the prices were very reasonable. This is a place worth visiting again.