The Wednesday Walk 12th December 2012

Our thanks this week go to Wendy for writing the blog. The blog master was in bed complaining about a dose of Bubonic Plague overlaid with a touch of Black Death. The nurse’s case notes mis-diagnosed it as man flu. Readers may be interested to know that this blog has now passed the ‘four thousand hits’ mark since its inception.

The Plan

To walk from Whitecliff to Poole and back via Poole Park

Who Turned Up

Sue, Tony and Beatrice, Wendy

The Walk

Quite a short walk today. We met in the car park at Whitecliff. The weather was dry and bright but rather cold. We walked along the water’s edge towards Baiter (a piece of reclaimed land on the edge of the Harbour). We passed a couple of 'Green Gyms' along the way but we had too many clothes on for us to do them justice. On arrival at Poole Quay we felt the need of a hot drink so we went into 'The Deli on the Quay'. We had an excellent cup of coffee, hot chocolate and tea. Then after a quick browse in Pavours (a shoe shop) we headed for the Antelope in the High Street. After a very good lunch we set off up the High Street, window shopping on the way. After another browse in the Dolphin Centre we headed outside and took the underpass at the bus station and walked along by the Lighthouse (this used to be called The Arts Centre). We crossed the road and went into Poole Park. We walked around the Boating Lake on the sunny side and passed the steam railway (actually it was a diesel engine) decorated with Xmas lights and tinsel. We walked under the railway bridge back to Whitecliff pausing to read the information plaques on the Flying Boats that used to operate out of Poole Harbour. And so back to the cars.

 The Pub

The Antelope in Poole. This is one of the older Pubs in Poole. We could have had coffee and cake for £2.95 but the barmaid told us that all the coffee cups were being used at a wake being held at the back of the pub, so we settled for lunch. A one course deal for £5.95. No pie eater today !! The food was hot and tasty.

Next Week

Meet at Canford Magna School at 11.15 for a walk to The Coach and Horses, Wimborne, for our Wednesday Walkers Xmas Lunch.

 

The Wednesday Walk 5th December 2012

 

The Plan

A walk from Upton Park

The Leader

Wendy

Who Turned Up

Wendy, Sue, Trisha, David

The Walk

It was a cold day but the skies were clear and we had little wind. We met at the main car park outside Upton House and set off for a jaunt around the Upton Estate. When we saw a black bull we were glad that he was on the opposite side of a barbed wire fence…and he had a whole herd of cows to occupy his attention. Later, we stopped for coffee in the café and followed up with a stroll around the art gallery. After that we had another walk around the estate, bordering on the upper reaches of Holes Bay where we stopped at the hides. Along the way we saw a smart-looking fox with attitude: he wasn’t the least bit concerned by us.
Clear skies, yes, but it was cold and we decided to call it a day after lunch.

The Pub

St Peter’s Finger. A nice atmosphere, pleasant surroundings, good service and nice food. Not bad at all. But we didn’t finish the cryptic crossword.

Next Week

Meet at Whitecliff car park at 1030 for a walk into Poole.

The Wednesday Walk 28th November 2012

 

The Plan

A walk from Coy Pond

The Leader

Wendy

Who Turned Up

Wendy, Trisha, Trudy H, Beatrice and Tony H, David (with Trudy B joining us for lunch)

The Walk

Finally, the rain has stopped! The ground is soaking and the rivers are in full flood, but nothing is falling out of the sky. We met at Coy Pond and took a steady walk down towards Bournemouth. Normally we keep a good pace on these walks, but today we noticed today that other people were overtaking us. They must have been younger and fitter! The route was mostly dry under foot, with just one pool we had to by-pass. We stopped at the Bournemouth Aquarium for coffee in their café and then went on to the Inn on the Square for lunch.
After lunch we walked back to Coy Pond on the opposite side of the river. A pleasant walk and not very demanding.

The Pub

Weatherspoon’s Inn on the Square. The drinks were cheap. The food was good and reasonably priced. The atmosphere was very noisy, including politics on the television.

Next Week

Meet at Upton House MAIN car park at 10am.

 

 

The Wednesday Walk 21st November 2012

I was absent from today's walk so I am going to copy below the email I received from Trudy B. I don't think I could in any way improve on her account of the day. Thanks to both Trudys for the pictures.

Today’s walk can only be described as one of complete contrast! We met at Francis Avenue and straight away it started to rain, black clouds all around us. Sue and Beatrice promptly decided to meet us at lunchtime in the pub and went on their way.

Ros, Wendy, Trudy H and myself decided to be brave (some might say foolhardy!) and started off through the golf course. At one stage we stopped to adjust our capes and a chap came along with a huge dog. He (the dog) just stood and stared wide-eyed at us, you could almost read his thoughts as: "where on earth did that lot come from?" Very funny.

After criss-crossing the heath, going wrong, and having to backtrack a bit, we got to the pub, soaking wet because the rain just never stopped. Unfortunately we had all believed the forecast and did not bother with waterproof trousers, big mistake.

Beatrice and Sue were there, having spent time in various shops with a coffee break in between, and Tony joined us soon after.

During lunch the sun came out and everybody decided on walking back. What a difference. We had warm sunshine and not a cloud in the blue sky. We took the red brick path through the woods before climbing up the only real hill. That path was partly steps and partly gravel, so it did get us out of breath a bit. We took another little detour down a valley where we saw a lonely deer. He didn't seem a bit fazed by us, just stood looking at us, a bit like the dog in the morning!

Back to the car and the short drive for a well-deserved cuppa and a piece of carrot cake at the home of yours truly.

The pub was The Haymoor. The food was very good (there would have been 3 pies to choose from David!) and the prices were incredible. Ros had jacket potato with cheese and beans for £2.69. We were all well satisfied with everything, even the coffee at £1.19 was good value.

Next week we meet at Coy Pond at 10.30am

 

The Wednesday Walk 14th November 2012

 

The Plan

A New Forest Walk

The Leader

Trudy B

Who Turned Up

Trudy B, Trudy H, Trisha, Sue, Wendy, Beatrice and Tony H, David

The Walk

It was an ideal day for walking. The weather started out with a few fluffy clouds and then quickly developed into clear blue skies and bright sunshine. We drove out into the New Forest and parked at Long Slade Bottom car park. From here, we followed the path along the route of the old railway line until we came to the crossing keeper’s cottage. Frome here, we turned off on a detour that took us across Brokenhurst Golf Course. Back on the main road, we crossed the railway bridge and came out onto Setley Plain. We hit the next main road close to the Filly Inn.
After lunch, we took a different route that brought us across Horseshoe Common and so back to the car park. The photographs (from both Trudys) show what a bright, sunny walk we had. They also show how nicely the trees have turned to their autumn colours. We hit one or two wet patches of ground along the route, but nothing to deter a group of serious walkers and nothing to spoil our day out. An all-round good walk, Trudy. Thank you.

The Pub

The Filly Inn near Brokenhurst. The ambience was fine and we got some serious crossword work completed. The food was okay, nothing special in view of the high prices. Three people had the beef and ale pie at £9.95. There was some disappointment with the chicken casserole.

 Next Week

To be decided.

The Wednesday Walk 7th November 2012

 

 The Plan

A Bournemouth shore walk

Who Turned Up

Wendy, Sue, Ros, Trisha, Marion (sorry it’s your last 2012 walk with us, Marion) Trudy B, Trudy H, Beatrice and Tony H, David

The Walk

We decided that the rural walks would be a bit squashy underfoot after recent rain so we elected to walk along the shore where the ground was solid and dry. The weather forecast promised us a dry but chilly day, ideal for walking. We parked in the road above Branksome Chine and took a meandering route that party followed the shore and partly took us up through the woods and gardens. We stopped for morning coffee at the Argyll Bowling Green tea room and didn’t arrive at the lunch stop until one o’clock.
After lunch we walked back along a similar line, this time taking in the new Red Arrows memorial on the sea front. The weather stayed dry, as promised, and the route was ideal for the time of the year. Thanks to Sue for tea at the end of the day. The excellent photos come from the two Trudies.

The Pub

The Harvester by Boscome Pier. They were easily able to accommodate the ten of us, probably because they seemed almost empty when we arrived. The waitress began by telling us what was “off” today’s menu. Not a good start. That was followed by the bar being unable to supply lemonade for a bitter shandy. The excuse given was an imminent change of menu. However, we were able to order suitable meals at reasonable prices and no one starved.

Next Week

TBD

 

The Wednesday Walk 31st October 2012

The Plan
Delph Woods to Lamb’s Green

The Leader

A shared role

Who Turned Up

Wendy, Ros, Sue, Trisha, Marion (welcome back, Marion) Beatrice and Tony H, Trudy H, David

The Walk

The forecasters promised us a dry morning and wet afternoon. Well, they got the second bit right. In fact we had a wet morning as well. But we don’t let a spot of rain get us down-hearted, do we ladies and gents? (Answers on a postcard) We met at Delph Woods and relocated two cars to The Lamb’s Green before we donned our boots and wet weather gear. Then we set off through the woods. The ground underfoot turned wet, boggy and, at times, redolent of the Great Grimpen Mire. Thankfully, no one was drawn into the swamp, never to be seen again. We counted them all out and we counted them all in at the end of the day.
We took the usual route across country until we hit the Higher Blandford Road, then cut off towards Ashington. On the way we passed the sign for Happy Bottom. Did you know that findmypast.co.uk has compiled a list of Britain’s most unfortunate place names? The list is headed by Shitterton (near Dorchester) and includes Scratchy Bottom (near Durdle Door) and Happy Bottom (near Ashington). We seem to have a lot of Bottoms in Dorset.
After a lazy lunch we emerged from the pub into another downpour and decided to curtail the afternoon walk. Thanks to Trisha and Tony for talking us back to our cars. Thanks also to Trudy H for sharing her rose hip jam, a product stemming from last week’s walk.

The Pub

The Lamb’s Green. Wednesday is their Traditional Pie day and Marion was persuaded to try a traditional English pie. She survived. Meantime we polished off a number of crosswords while we waited to see how the afternoon weather would turn out.

The Wednesday Walk 24th October 2012

The Plan

The Avon Heath Country Park

The Leader

Wendy

Who Turned Up

Wendy, Sue, Trudy H, David

The Walk

The forecast cold weather has yet to reach us so we confidently set out for a nice dry walk. We parked in the service road immediately alongside the A31 at St Leonards. We then crossed over the footbridge to take us into the Avon Heath Country Park – neatly avoiding the car park which is quite expensive. The walk across the heath would have been very pleasant but for the flies. Trudy resorted to using an improvised face mask. Unfortunately, the cold weather and northerly winds, guaranteed to drive them away, have yet to reach us. To Trudy’s delight, however, we saw numerous rose hips and promised to pick them on the return walk. Images of freshly made jam flashed before her eyes.
After lunch we took the reverse route back to the Avon Heath car park where the best of the rose hips seemed to be. Because we delayed here to pick several bags of fruit, we took a shorter route back to the car.

ThePub

The St Leonards Hotel. This is the one where wartime pilots signed their names on the wall. A small area has been glazed to preserve the signatures. Three of us had the carvery, which was very good value at two courses for £5.95. One person had a nice ham steak. No complaints at all. And no one had a pie.

Next Week

A Dorchester walk. Please arrive at Wendy’s within a fifteen minute time slot: not before 09.45 and not later than 10.00.

The Wednesday Walk 17th October 2012

 

The Plan

An Arne walk

The Leader

A.M – RSPB
P.M – Trisha

Who Turned Up

A.M – Wendy, Beatrice, Trisha, David
P.M – Trisha, Sue, Trudy H, David

The Walk

The forecast looked reasonable so we planned on something a little different. We drove to the RSPB car park at Arne - arriving earlier than we would usual plan - and tagged ourselves on to a guided walk led by an RSPB guide. He took us first down towards Shipstal Point where it quickly became clear that today’s high tide was more than just high, it was over the top. The path to the bird hide was under water and our guide was forced to find two wooden seats which we used to clamber over the wet stuff. From the hide he gave us an interesting talk on the bird life in the harbour. I gather that the birds were either dippers or dabblers. The actual names escape me, but I seem to recall that most were either lesser-crested, greater-crested, long-tailed, short-tailed, black-tailed or common. Leaving the hide, we saw a mother deer tending a six month old fawn in close proximity to us. Neither seemed worried by our presence. When we came to the harbour view point, we saw just how high the tide really was. The spit between Round Island and Long Island was gone, replaced by a stretch of open water.
After lunch, Wendy and Beatrice opted for shopping in Wareham, while Trudy H and Sue joined us for the afternoon walk. This time Trisha took charge and obtained a route map from the RSPB centre. Things started out well but we were quickly overtaken by heavy rain. We managed to get to the bird hide at the Western Front trench before the heaviest downpour hit us. Afterwards, we decided to head straight back to the car park.
Thanks to RSPB and Trisha for an interesting day out on Arne but the weather got us in the end.

The Pub

The King’s Arms at Stoborough.  A good eating house, and the food was well prepared. The pie was delicious.

Next Week

Meet at David’s at the usual time for a Forest walk.

The Wednesday Walk 3rd October 2012

The Plan

A Poor Common and Hampreston Lakes walk

The Leader

Wendy (by virtue of her natural leadership skills) but others were induced to help.

Who Turned Up

Wendy, Ros, Beatrice and Tony H, Trisha, Sue and David (with Trudy B joining us for a pre-walk coffee)

The Walk

We met at Haskins Garden Centre for coffee (glad you could join us, Trudy, and we hope your foot recovers soon) prior to the walk. This was also an opportunity for the ladies to do a little shopping. We then drove to the lay-by near the Angel Inn and set out along the Poor Common walk. We continued past the Guide’s camp at Dudsbury and took the riverside track to the Bridge House Hotel for lunch. The river was running high, but that was not surprising after the recent rain.
After lunch we walked alongside the Hampreston Lakes and then out to Ham Lane. After crossing the road, we continued on along the pathway until we came back to the lay-by and our cars.

The Pub

The Bridge House Hotel at hampreston. All but two of us had the carvery which has gone up in price to £5.50. It is still very good value. No one was dissatisfied.

Next Week

Meet at Beatrice and Tony’s at 10am for a walk to High Hall.

The Wednesday Walk 19th September 2012

 

The Plan

An Upton Heath walk

The Leader

Wendy

Who Turned Up

Wendy, Sue, Trisha. Diane and Tony R, Beatrice (and Tony from lunch onwards) David

The Walk

Another beautiful day for walking. After the fine day we had last week, we count ourselves lucky.
Today we met in the car park at the entrance to Upton House and set off across the heath in bright sunny - albeit chilly - weather. No raincoats, but several fleeces were used. We arrived at the Holmbush pub - approaching down Beacon Hill - at about 1145, with the intention of eating there. The plan was changed when we discovered the landlady was not yet in attendance. Instead we walked up to Corfe Mullen.
After lunch, with Tony now joining our group, we walked out onto the heath again, pausing at the glorious view of the harbour from the Upton Heath Viewpoint. With the help of a heath ranger, we trotted on along paths sandy and narrow until we came back to the old disused railway line and another trail leading down towards Upton.

The Pub

The Dorset Soldier in Corfe Mullen. This was the first time we have eaten here and we were pleasantly surprised. A three-course meal cost £8. Good value for money and no complaints about the food or the service.

Next Week

Meet at Sue’s at 0945 for a Claypipe walk.

The Wednesday Walk 12th September 2012

 

The Plan

A walk around the Blashford Lakes

The Map-Reader

Wendy

Who Turned Up

Wendy, Brian, Diane and Tony R, David

The Walk

The BBC weather forecaster said it would stay dry through the morning and we could expect showers after 1pm. He got it wrong. It stayed dry from the start to the end of this week's walk. We parked in the picnic/walks area between Kingfisher and Northfields Lakes. We then took the path past the sailing club to the Lakes Study Centre. After a brief comfort stop, we continued to the Alice Lisle Pub. It was a pleasant morning walk.
After lunch we took a detour up the hill to the top of Rockford Common.. rather a steep climb in places but it got our hearts working effectively. Our route brought us, eventually, back to the Alice Lisle, from where we retraced our morning steps back to the car. We were driving away from Ringwood when it started to rain. How glad we were that the forecaster got the timing wrong!
All-in-all it was a very pleasant day out.

The Pub

The Alice Lisle. The food was good, except that they had no pies. However, the alternatives were very tasty.

Next Week

Meet at the car park near the entrance to Upton House at 1030.

The Wednesday Walk 5th September 2012

The Plan

A Studland walk

The Leader

Trisha

Who Turned Up

Trisha, Beatrice, Tony R, David, Trudy H, Trudy B

The Walk

What an enormous difference to the wet weather we experienced last week. If this is summer, we’d like some more of it please. Blue skies and sunshine followed us throughout the day and this weather is forecast to stay with us for the next three or four days. Four of us met at the White Cliff car park and bundled into Trisha’s car for the short trip down to the ferry area. We were just in time to get aboard a ferry as it was about to leave and we were pleased to see the two Trudys aboard a bus already on board. At the Studland side of the crossing, we joined up as a group of six and headed down to Bramble Bush Bay and walked around the shore. There was a little breeze but nothing to spoil our enjoyment of the weather. When we came to the main road, we crossed over and took a path down towards the nudist beach. Just before we reached the total exposure area we turned off along a sandy track that led us across the heathland. A very pleasant walk, it took us straight to the Knoll Beach NT café.
After lunch we elected to take the bull by the horns and parade right across the shoreline, including the nudist beach. For a September weekday, the beach was remarkably busy but we kept our eyes fixed on our objective and enjoyed more of the glorious weather. At the ferry point we said goodbye to the two Trudys - who had a bus to catch - before we crossed back to Sandbanks and a small café where we enjoyed a cup of tea.
Our thanks go to Trisha for leading a very enjoyable walk.

The Pub

No pub this week. We ate at in the sunshine outside the NT café at Knoll Beach. The food was reasonable and washed down, in one case, by a bottle of Piddle.

Next Week
TBD

The Wednesday Walk 29th August 2012

The Plan

A Pamphill walk

The Leader

Tony

Who Turned Up

Tony, Wendy, Sue, Trisha, Jackie, Ros, Diane and Tony R, Brian, David

The Walk

Oh, what a grey day. We knew that rain was forecast but we couldn’t be sure how long it would last, not how heavy it might be. It was already miserably wet when we met in the car park by Pamphill school, but then it rapidly turned into a very heavy downpour. We decamped to the farm shop café for a cup of tea while we assessed the potential for the rest of the day. It eased off marginally as we sipped our tea so, being hardy types, we decided to go ahead with the walk. Our route took us from the car park down Holly Lane to Cowgrove and thence down to the riverside path that leads to Eye Bridge. From there it was a short, but steep walk back up the hill to the cars. We then drove to the pub in Wimborne. After lunch it was still raining so we called it a day as far as walking was concerned.

The Pub

The Rising Sun, Wimborne. The food was good if a little expensive. We stayed long enough to enjoy our meal and a chat and then set off home.

Next Week

Meet at White Cliff car park at 10am for a Studland walk.

 

The Wednesday Walk 22nd August 2012

The Plan

A walk around Arne

The Leader

Wendy

Who Turned Up

Sue, Wendy, Trisha, Trudy B, Beatrice, Jackie, Diane and Tony R, Brian and Pam (nice to see you both with us again), David

The Walk

The weather was perfect for a walk; warm and sunny but with enough of a light breeze to keep us from cooking. For the morning, we parked at the RSPB car park and opted for the Shipstal walk. We saw deer and… to the dismay of some ladies… spiders along the way. Birds, flowers and purple heather were there in abundance.
After lunch we took the shorter walk around the heath. We finished up with tea and cakes at Sue's house. Many thnks, Sue.

The Pub

The Horse and Groom, Wareham. We thought we might have a problem parking near this pub but managed to get spaces in Sainsbury’s car park, close by. The food was okay, nothing special. One or two people thought it was below par while others thought it was value for money.

Next Week

 

Meet by the car park by Pamphill school at 1015.