The Wednesday Walk 16th February 2011

The Plan
Badbury Rings and Kingston Lacy

The Leader
Wendy

Who Turned Up
Wendy, Ros, Trudy, Trisha, Sue, Beatrice, David (Tony joined us at lunchtime)

The Walk
It's snowdrop time again! The day was a little bit chilly but dry and sunny. Perfect for a walk around the rings (an ancient hill fort outside Wimborne) and the Kingston Lacy gardens. We parked our cars at the Badbury Rings car park and walked on past the rings towards The Oaks Woods. We then turned right onto King Down Drove. After a short while, another right turn took us back to the main road at Lodge Farm. We walked alongside the road until we came to the path that leads up to High Wood. From here we were able to cut onto the Rings themselves. It was an exhilerating walk that gave us all a good appetite. We drove on to Tarrant Keyneston and ate at the True Lovers Knot.
After lunch we drove to Kingston Lacy and walked round the gardens to see the snowdrops in bloom. We also found our way into the kitchen garden which is across the Abbot Street road from the main site. Here we saw some odd looking pigs that are - so we believe - due to be sent away as sex tourists in order to produce their litters.
We finished off with tea and birthday cake at Beatrice and Tony's. HAPPY BIRTHDAY SUE!!!

The Pub
The True Lovers Knot at Tarrant Keyneston. The food was good. Some walkers chose the al la carte menu and others went for the 'two courses for ten pounds' option. Even the coffee was judged to be very good, which makes a pleasant change. Unfortunately the prices were rather high. The pie (there had to be a pie!) ran to £9.50 and the coffee was £2.20 a cup. On the plus side, the service was good.

Next Week
Meet at Beatrcie and Tony's again for a recce walk at Wimborne St Giles. Note the meeting time: 10am.