The Wednesday Walk 30th September 2015

The Plan

Tarrant Keynston to Charlton Marshall

Who Turned Up

Wendy, Sue, Jackie, Diane, Tony R, David

The Walk

Another beautiful gin-clear day with just a touch of chill in the air when we were in the shade. We parked, as usual, in the lay-by just beyond the church and took the usual route alongside the River Tarrant, past the old church and across the meadows to Charlton Marshall. A pleasant walk. From there it was a brief walk along the old railway track to bring us out at the Charlton Arms. We were ready for that pub, but it wasn’t ready for us. It was closed for refurbishment. So we back-tracked along the railway line and came out at the Woodpecker in Spetisbury.

After lunch, we took the short route back to the car.

The Pub

The Woodpecker, Spetisbury. The pub was busy inside so we had to sit outside, alongside the roar of the traffic. The quality of the food ranged from “okay” to “very nice” depending upon what we chose. But was it worth waiting an hour to be served? No. By the time we got the food we were all feeling a bit cheesed off with the service. Not a good advertisement for The Woodpecker even if some of the dishes were “very nice”.

The Wednesday Walk 16th September

The Plan

A walk to Highcliffe

Who Turned Up

Wendy, Trisha, Jackie, Tony R, David

The Walk

There were only five of us this week. Had someone warned the others that the weather was due to turn bad? We parked at the Steamer Point car park and walked along the path that runs past the now-disused coastguard training base and continued to Highcliffe Castle. We stopped in the café there for tea and coffee.

          Highcliffe Castle was built between 1831 and 1835 by Charles Stuart, 1^st Baron Stuart de Rothesay on the site of a Georgian mansion house. The castle was designed in a Gothic Revival style by William Donthorne and incorporated large quantities of carved medieval stonework salvaged from the Norman Benedictine Abbey of St Peter at Jumieges and the Grand Maison des Andelys. Lord Stuart de Rothesay was born in 1779, the eldest son of General Sir Charles Stuart. He was educated at Eton and in 1801 he entered the diplomatic service, serving in Vienna, St Petersburg, French occupied Spain, and Portugal. While in Spain, he helped the Duke of Wellington and accompanied him on the run-up to the Battle of Waterloo. After Napoleon’s defeat, Charles escorted the exiled King Louis back to Paris and became the British ambassador there. He was made Baron Stuart de Rothesay in 1828.

          I’m sure you’re glad to know that. You can impress any visitors by repeating it next time you are at the castle.

Suitably refreshed after our tea and coffee, we walked on to the pub in Highcliffe. There was a slight drizzle as we reached our destination. By the time we left, the rain was getting a bit out of hand. Within ten or fifteen minutes we were experiencing a very heavy downpour and we all got soaked. We were glad to get back to the car.

There are no photographs this week because it was too wet.

The Pub

The Globe Highcliffe. We’ve eaten here many times before and always found the quality of the food good. But there’s more to it than quality. The pie-eater awarded nine out of ten for the quality of his steak and merlot pie. But only seven out of ten for the size of the pie. And five out of ten for the size of the meal as a whole. And a few vegetables would have been nice.

Next Week

Meet at Wendy’s at 10am for a walk from the Silent Woman.

The Wednesday Walk 9th September 2015

The Plan

A walk to Lamb’s Green

Who Turned Up

Wendy, Sue, Trudy B, Trudy H, Diane and Tony R, David

The Walk

Once again, the weather was perfect for walking: dry, not too warm and not at all cold. In other words, typical early autumn weather. We met at Diane and Tony’s house and began our walk from there, making our way through the estate to the Willett Arms pub.

          This pub is in the Oakley area of Wimborne, which is a conservation area because of the large number of Lady Wimborne Cottages here. Oakley Hill, Oakley Lane and Cruxton Farm are all listed as containing buildings of local importance. The cottages date back to the late nineteenth century when they were built by Lord Wimborne to house workers on his estate. They were called Lady Wimborne Cottages because of their attractive design. Today, many have been extended but they still keep to the original design and the extensions use appropriate building materials.

          The Willett Arms (I mention it only because it’s the largest landmark in Oakley. We did not visit it today) once served travellers on the Southampton and Dorchester Railway as well as travellers on the Poole Road. When the railway line closed, the pub lost a lot of trade. Today, the old railway track is rejuvenated as part of the Castleman Trailway and brings walkers and cyclists back to the pub.

          We crossed the main road in front of the pub and carried on walking along the Willett Road, which was the main road before the Wimborne by-pass was built. Today, it’s very quiet and, in places, a bit overgrown. We took a short detour through the woods before continued to the Lamb’s Green pub on the Wimborne Road.

          After lunch, we took the same route back until we came to the Willett Arms. There the group split into two. One group of four made their way straight back to Diane and Tony’s house and enjoyed cake and a welcome cup of tea. The other three walkers, took a more circuitous - somewhat curious - route arriving back half an hour after the others.

Many thanks, Diane, for the refreshments.

The Pub

The Lamb’s Green. We’ve eaten here before and always found the food well prepared. Today, they advertised a Pie Day. Only one walker ordered a pie and gave it a well-deserved 9 out of 10. He also benefitted from a £5 discount voucher, a reward to tackling the pub’s on-line survey.

Next Week

Meet at David’s at 0945 for a 10amon-the-road start. We shall be walking along the shore to Highcliffe.

The Wednesday Walk 2nd September 2015

The Plan

Tolpuddle to Milborne St Andrew

Who Turned Up

Wendy, Sue, Jackie, Trudy H, Diane and Tony R, David

The Walk

My apologies for a lack of blogs over the past couple of weeks. Your blogmaster has been on holiday in his native Cornwall, celebrating his seventieth birthday. But you didn’t want to know that, did you?

What of today’s walk? After a week of inclement weather, we were pleased to see the prospect of a pleasant day ahead of us. We drove through Tolpuddle, turned up White Hill and parked close to the bridge over the main A35 road. We then walked across Tolpuddle Common towards Milborne St Andrew on a direct route, passing close to Manor Farm, but by-passing Weatherby Castle.

We all know about Tolpuddle, don’t we? That’s were a group of men were sentenced to be transported to the Antipodes for organising a trade union. Wrong. Trade unions were legal in those days. They were transported for swearing an oath of allegiance to the union, under a law designed to prevent mutiny in the Royal Navy. You probably knew that already.

And what about Milborne St Andrew? What do we know about it? In 1086, in the Domesday Book, it was recorded as Meleburne. At that time it had ten households, four ploughlands and one mill. There were originally two settlements here. St Andrew was to the south of the main Dorchester road and Deverel was to the north. In time, they coalesced into one village. In the late nineteenth century, the neighbouring settlement of Miborne Stileham was brought into the conurbation.

After lunch in the village, we returned to our cars via Weatherby Castle. This is an iron age hill fort enclosing about seventeen acres. Its structure comprises two concentric enclosures. Bits of Roman artefacts have been discovered here. The route back to the cars was a bit up-and-down and we were all glad to get back to Sue’s house for a welcome cup of tea and a slice of delicious home-made cake. Many thanks, Sue. Thanks, also, to Diane and Trudy for the pictures.

The Pub

The Royal Oak in Milborne St Andrew. Your pie-eating blogmaster must bow to circumstance here and confess to awarding the pub’s pie an amazing… wait for it… ten out of ten. Yes, it was absolutely the best of pies.

Next Week

Meet at Diane and Tony’s house at 1030 for a walk to Lamb's Green.