The Plan
An Arne
walk
Who Turned Up
Wendy,
Trudy H, Trisha, David
The Walk
The day
started bright and calm. The water of Poole Harbour showed hardly a ripple. We
parked at the RSPB car park and straight away sussed out the new café on the
site of the old toy museum. It looked a suitable option for a light lunch.
Did you
know that Arne village was owned by Shaftsbury Abbey until its dissolution in
1539? By 1894 its population was only 123. The school closed in 1922 but you
can still see the building – now a private house – as you pass through the
village.
Here’s
something interesting. Holton Heath, only three miles away from Arne village,
was once the site of the Royal Navy Cordite Factory. During WW2, it was an obvious
site for German bombing so several decoy sites were set up. At the first sign
of approaching bombers, tar barrels and pipes containing kerosene were lit,
giving the appearance of a burning factory. On the nights of 3rd and
4th June 1942 the decoy was used in anger. Enemy aircraft bombed the
open countryside as a consequence. The fire burned for six weeks.
After the
war, the village of Arne was largely derelict. In 1966 it came under the
jurisdiction of the RSPB.
We took
our usual route through the nature reserve and were lucky to catch a deer in
the process of feeding.
After
lunch we took a shorter route as the morning sunshine had given way to an
overcast afternoon.
Thanks to
Wendy for much appreciated tea and cakes.
Lunch
We ate at
the new RSPB café. It only does snacks and is a bit pricey, but it is clean and
pleasant, and it saved us the bother of driving back to Stoborough.
Next Week
A
Cranborne walk.
No comments:
Post a Comment