The Wednesday Walk 10th May 2017

The Plan

A Compton Abbas walk

Who Turned Up

Trudy B, Sue, Trisha, Diane and Tony R, David

The Walk

We began the walk in brilliant sunshine at Ashmore village. From there we walked through Shepherd’s Bottom and West Wood to the airfield at Compton Abbas. The walk was a little bit hilly but it was morning and our legs were still in good form. Along the way we saw a sheep seemingly in the early stage of giving birth and we also saw a sheep being examined by a farmer for some sort of head problem.

After lunch we walked across the road to Fontmell Down and took the hillside path with a glorious view of the valley below. We crossed the road into Fontmell Wood and crossed over the road that would have taken us back into Ashmore. A steep climb then took us to… well, that’s a bit uncertain. What is sure is that we somehow by-passed Ashmore and had to backtrack into the village. Happily, the brilliant weather followed us all the way back to our cars.

Our thanks go to Trisha for the freshly baked scones at the end of the walk. Thanks also go to Diane for the tea, jam and clotted cream to accompany the scones, and also the photographs – excellent as usual.

The Lunch

We ate in the restaurant at Compton Abbas airfield. It was surprisingly busy for an eatery so far away from any town. As we sat eating our lunch there was some interesting activity on the landing ground outside. We saw a North American Harvard sitting in the sunlight close by the restaurant. Actually… is it a Harvard, or is it a T6 Texan? Have a look at Diane’s photograph. The RAF called them Harvards but I have a feeling the Americans called them Texans. Either way, it’s a magnificent example of a WW2 training aircraft. If you’ve ever watched the Hollywood film Tora Tora Tora (about the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbour) you’ll have seen T6 Texans standing in for the Japanese Mitsubishi A6M Zero as there were no Zeros airworthy at that time.

Next Week

We plan on a Studland walk next Wednesday. We will meet at Canford Cliffs at 10.50 in order to catch the number 50 bus at 11.05. It should be a shorter walk than today!