The Wednesday Walk 17th June 2015

The Plan

Whitsbury to Breamore

The Leader

Trudy B

Who Turned Up

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

The Walk

The forecast was for a humid day with temperatures in the twenties. We were glad we chose a walk with plenty of woodland cover. We drove north through Fordingbrige and parked in a layby south of Whitsbury village. From there we crossed the road and set off through the woods. The going was good underfoot and the air much cooler beneath the trees. In the morning we took the more southerly route to Breamore village. After lunch we walked the more northerly route along the Rookery from Breamore (pronounced Bremmer) passing close by Breamore House. For the benefit of our friends from overseas, Breamore House is an Elizabethan Manor House built in 1583 by the Dodington family. In the eighteenth century it was bought by Sir Edward Hulse, physician to Kings George 1 and George ll. The descendants of the original Sir Edward still occupy the house. Nearby is the church of St Mary, an almost complete example of an Anglo-Saxon church. The east window dates from 1340 and there is a ‘leper window’ in the north wall. There is also an Anglo-Saxon inscription dating from the reign of Ethelred ll. Now, don’t you feel so much better for knowing that? We passed through the stud farm but little was happening there. By now we were feeling the effect of the day's high humidity, making the last bit of the walk tiring. But it was a good walk, nevertheless. Thanks for leading it, Trudy.

At the end of today’s walk, we were treated to a cream tea with freshly baked scones, jam and clotted cream. Many thanks Trudy H and Diane.
And thanks to Trudy B and Diane for the photographs.

The Pub

The Bat and Ball at Braemore. The service last time we ate here was poor, but this time it was much improved, primarily because they had more staff. The food was good and the pie-eater was very satisfied with a nicely-cooked steak and ale pie. Customers at the adjacent table disappointed us when they had to ask for our help as to the name of the islands of the western coast of Cornwall. How silly! As if any intelligent person could not know that!

Next Week

Someone on today’s walk noticed a nice shop as we passed through Fordingbridge. Next week we will meet at David’s at 10am for a Fordingbridge walk.