The Wednesday Walk 18th November 2009

The Plan
Meet at Upton Park and walk to Broadstone.

The Leader
Wendy

Who Turned Up
Wendy, Sue, Trudy, Ros, Beatrice, Trisha and David

The Walk
This was more of an urban walk than our usual rural jaunts, but a good exercise for all that. We left our cars at the Upton Country Park car park and set off towards Creekmoor. The route took us around the Creekmoor Ponds, along with a couple of exploratory detours, and then through the Creekmoor housing estate until we came to the old Roman Road. Then we followed the straight path up to the top end of Broadstone. The town's charity shops were visited before and after lunch and the general opinion was that Broadstone must be doing well if the charity shops are full of quality goods. After lunch we headed back to the Roman Road and this time we continued out onto the heath, following the line of the old S&D railway. All in all, a good walk which was different to our normal style.

The Pub
The Stepping Stones at Broadstone. This was a new eating place for us and turned out to be good value for money. Several walkers had the 'two courses for £5.95' deal which went down well. Naturally, one person had to try the steak and ale pie, which also turned out to be nicely cooked.

Next Week
Meet at Wendy's at the usual time.
Plan A - Arne.
Plan B (if wet) - Swanage.

The Wednesday Walk 11th November 2009

The Plan
To walk from Stinsford to West Satfford

The Leader
Trudy

Who Turned Up
Trudy, Sue, Trisha, Wendy, Beatrice, Tony H and David

The Walk
It was another of those days when the weather could have been for us or against us, all on a matter of chance. Fortunately, it worked in our favour. We parked the cars in the village car park at Stinsford, near Kingston Mauward and then we headed off through the churchyard where the Hardy family are buried. To be accurate, Thomas's heart (or what's left of it) is buried here and the rest of him is in Westminster Abbey, but the tombstones of his relatives are lined up in the churchyard at Stinsford. A little farther on Tony spotted a buzzard as we headed across the water meadows. The walk to West Stafford was very pleasant and we arrived in the village ready to do justice to the pub lunch.
After lunch, Wendy, Beatrice and Sue opted to take what they thought would be the easy way back to the car park. The other four set off at a brisk pace on a longer, more circuitous route. It was a very pleasant country route marred only by a significant number of styles - one in particular. Tony put a foot wrong on a bridge following that style. It was slippery and Tony's feet decided to reach for the sky. Per ardua ad astra, Tony. Now we know why we set out from Sue's place near Ad Astra road. To our surprise, we four hardy walkers arrived back at the car park in Stinsford only two minutes after the group that took the easy route.
The day was nicely finished off with tea and cakes at Sue's.

The Pub
The Wise Man at West Stafford. They had a two-course meal deal for £10 which suited several of the walkers. The staff were courteous and the food was good.

Next Week
Meet at Upton Coutry Park (the parking place near the gates) at 10.30 for Wendy's walk to Broadstone.

The Wednesday Walk 4th November 2009

The Plan

Meet at Sue's for a walk from Worth Matravers

The Leader

Trudy

Who Turned Up

Trudy, Trisha, Tony H and David. Joined after lunch by Wendy, Sue and Beatrice.

The Walk

The forecast was for mere showers and the sun was shining so we went prepared with light raincoats. We should have had less trust in the forecast. We drove to the car park a mile or so beyond Worth Matravers village and were immediately aware of strong winds coming off the sea. We told ourselves it was bracing and set off towards the coast. There we stopped to admire the view (top photo) and saw that part of the cliff was loose and showing signs of an imminent landslip. We then turned inland along a path that soon became very muddy. However, the air was dry and the sun was out so we ploughed on (middle photo). Actually, it was a really pleasant morning walk but for the mud. When we reached the main road, we crossed over and went a short distance along the planned route but it was even muddier, so we retraced our steps and walked along the road to Kingston with views of Corfe Castle (Bottom photo).

Our three companions joined us at the pub where we failed to finish Trisha's crossword. That should have been an omen: while the company and the morning walk were pleasant, the day wasn't going entirely in the right direction. When the meal was finished we had coffee while a light shower passed over and then set off towards the South West Coast Path. This route would take us past Hill Bottom and Renscombe Farm. However, before we got that far black clouds bubbled up. "Just another shower," we reasured ourselves. We were wrong. It was heavy rain that left us all waterlogged by the time we got back to the car. Three of the hardy walkers (Hardy walkers in the Hardy land! Get it?) set off towards Worth village while our three afternoon walkers were shuttled back to Kingston. Finally, on the journey back to Sue's, Tony was so wet he had to divest himself of parts of his trousers. The rest of us sat in wet clothes and steamed up the car windows.

Thanks to Sue for hosting the occasion, despite her building work, and for entertaining a wet and bedraggled band of walkers.

The Pub

The Scott Arms at Kingston. The food was all right but a bit pricey. One person had the two course special, thereby holding up the proceedings for those who wanted only a simple meal. He might have finished quicker if he'd been able to finish Trisha's crossword.

Next Week

Meet at Sue's again. The walk will be somewhere in the Dorchester direction.