The Wednesday Walk 22nd September 2010

The Plan
To walk across Upton Heath

The Leader
Wendy

Who Turned Up
Wendy, Diane and Tony R, Tony H, David

The Walk
What a beautiful day. We thought the summer had gone and then we were treated to an Indian summer with blue skies and warm sunshine. We met at the entrance car park at Upton House, crossed the main road and were immediately in dense woodland. This was a recce walk so Wendy was willing to experiment with detours that had not been previously walked, and with good effect. From woodland, we passed out onto open heath. The views down towards Poole Harbour were worth stoppping to admire and the colours on the heath reminded us of full summer. We then criss-crossed Upton heath over tracks that might have taken us anywhere, but eventually led us out at Naked Cross. We will put the final success down to Wendy's good navigation rather than good luck.
After lunch we set off in the reverse direction but Tony R was held back by Chloe, the dog, who refused to go on. Tony gallantly volunteered to return to the pub and sit out the rest of the walk. A very selfless gesture, Tony, and deserving of high commendation. Once again, Wendy threw caution to the wind and treated the walk as a route-finding adventure. In the event we came out on the old Roman Road which led us straight back to Upton Park. What skill and judegment!!
A very pleasant walk which would be worth repeating.

The Pub
The Holmbush at Naked Cross. Although she was unable to walk, Beatrice joined us for lunch. The pub were doing a 2 meals for £10 special offer. With six of us now eager to eat, we were all able to take advantage. The faggots were good and the turkey was good, but a couple of the group found the vegetables a bit too hard for their tastes. Overall, however, it was good value for money.

Next Week
Meet at Beatrice and Tony's.

The Wednesday Walk 15th September 2010

The Plan
The Wareham Walls

The Leader
Wendy

Who Turned Up
Wendy, Trudy, Tony and Diane R, David. Jackie joined us for lunch.

The Walk
The air was chilly to start with but the sun was out and we looked forward to a pleasant walk. We chose the Wareham Walls with a pit stop at the King's Arms. This is an old seventeenth century pub used by Cromwell's troops in the siege of Corfe Castle. We parked in Wareham near the police station - didn't ask them to keep an eye on the vehicle. Then we climbed up onto the old medieval walls and made our way down towards the River Piddle. This is the smaller of the two rivers that enclose Wareham town. Our route brought us round to the Bestwell Walls and from here we branched off through North Bestwell Wood. At the far end of the track we curved round onto the return route which runs past the lakes. At this point we walked between the lakes and the River Frome. We came back into Wareham by the church and then walked across the bridge to Stoborough for lunch.
After lunch we walked down Melancholy Lane and, after some wandering and roving came out at Redclyffe. From there it was only a short walk back to Wareham and an ice cream on the quay.
Tea and cakes were kindly supplied by Diane and Tony.

The Pub
The King's Arms at Stoborough. We were pleased to see Jackie join us at lunchtime. The pub food was good but we wondered if we were put in the bar rather than the restaurant because we not posh enough for the favoured clients. The idea persisted when David's pie didn't appear until after others had finished their meal.

Next Week
Meet at Wendy's.

The Wednesday Walk 8th September 2010

The Plan
A New Forest walk around the Blashford Lakes

The Leader
Trudy

Who Turned Up
Wendy, Trisha, Sue, Trudy, Tony R, David

The Walk
The sky looked distinctly grey this morning but, fortunately, the dullness didn't last. We drove to Ringwood and used the car park between Northfield Lake and Kingsfisher Lake. This was a new site for all of us, pleasantly set out with walks and picnic spots. We then walked north around and between the lakes to the Blashford Lakes Study Centre. The weather improved all the time and was always pleasantly warm. The route was very well chosen and the lack of any wind over the lake water made the scenes very picturesque. We crossed the Ellingham Road and aimed to take in Mockbeggar Lake but found the path closed. So we back-tracked to the road and made our way to the Alice Lisle for lunch.
After lunch we planned to take a detour through the forest but, with one walker feeling unwell and a lack of enthusiasm for the hills ahead, we decided to take a shorter route back to the cars. Despite this, it was still a good, enjoyable walk.

The Pub
The Alice Lisle at Moyles Court. After last week's disappointing lunch we were playing it safe this week with a pub we know well. Tony had a very nice local trout, David had a stuffed chicken, two ladies had Welsh rarebits and the other two had sausage rolls that were more akin to Cornish pasties along with thick soup. The chips were far in advance of last week's offerings.

The Wednesday Walk 1st September 2010

The Plan
A walk to East Knighton

The Leader
Wendy

Who Turned Up
(All day) Wendy, Jackie, Trisha, Ros, Trudy, Tony R and Diane
(Afternoon) add Sue, Daniel, Sophie and David
(Lunch) add Beatrice and Tony H

The Walk
Everything was different this week. For a start, the weather was beautiful, a complete contrast to last week's heavy rain. Secondly, we had more people turn up - thirteen at lunchtime. Thirdly, we were bothered by road congestion getting to the start point. Finally, lunch was not as good as last week, but more of that later.
The good weather probably gave us a false sense of optimism, convincing us it was going to be a very good walk. We should have known better. It all started to go wrong with a motor accident on the A325 blocking the road from Wareham to Wool. We all had to find our way through congested diversionary routes resulting in the morning walkers getting lost and arriving late at the pub.
With two cars arriving directly at the pub, and with those drivers planning on the afternoon walk only, we had a logistics problem. Wendy solved it by devising a roundabout afternoon walk that took us across the heath at Winfrith and then back to the pub. A shuttle was then arranged to take the morning drivers back to their cars.
The walk was, in itself, very pleasant but sadly marred by the unfortunate occurences... including the food.

The Pub

The Countryman Pub at East Knighton. We must be careful what we say here in case we are accused of lible. Let's sart by saying that the chicken and ham pie was very good. The salad was also pretty good. But what about the rest. Sadly, several people had to complain that their food was below par. On top of that, the service was very poor, resulting in a long wait for the food. This was a disappointment as we have had good meals here in the past. Can't win 'em all, I suppose.