Wednesday 1 June 2016

The Wednesday Walk 1st June 2016









The Plan
Fiddleford Manor to Sturminster Newton

Who Turned Up
Tony H, Diane and Tony R, Trisha, Trudy H, David walked all day. Beatrice and Sue did the afternoon walk.

The Walk
The day started overcast but it stayed dry and that was a blessing. We parked at Fiddleford Manor. It’s a medieval manor thought to have been built around 1370 for William Latimer, the Sheriff of Somerset and Dorset. It’s now owned by English Heritage.
From the manor we crossed the main road and made our way up into Piddles Wood Nature Reserve. We’ve walked here several times before, but always with a confident leader. Today we were on our own and our navigation proved to be a little bit out of kilter. On previous occasions we had been able to walk through the fenced off enclosure, but today we found the gates removed and only a high fence in front of us. While attempting to make our way around the enclosure we got… well, a little bit unsure of our location. Okay, let’s be honest. We didn’t really know where we were going and we ended up walking round in a circle. We eventually hacked our way into a field and from there we reached the main road not far from the Bull Inn. After that, there was no problem getting into Sturminster.
After lunch we took the old railway trail from Sturminster back to Fiddleford. That was a straightforward and pleasant walk which we accomplished with consummate ease. On the way we passed the Fiddleford hydro electricity generator. We were happy bunnies by the time we got back to the cars.
Tea was provided at Beatrice and Tony’s house with delicious scones, jam and cream courtesy of Trisha. Thank you, all three of you.
Our thanks go to Diane and Trudy for the photos.

The Pub
The White Hart in Sturminster. A pleasant environment and well-cooked food, but no beef and ale pies. Oh well, we can’t have everything.

Next Week
A walk at Ringstead Bay. Details to be confirmed

Promo spot
We know that non-rambler guests log into this blog – and very welcome they are. So here’s a bit of blatant advertising for them: The Heathrow novel is now out in paperback.


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