The Plan
St
Catherine’s Hill
Who Turned Up
A bumper
crop of walkers included: Sue, Tricia, Jackie, Trudy B, Trudy H, Diane and Tony
R, Beatrice and Tony H, David
The Walk
We met at
the usual parking spot just off the Fairmile Road. Our outbound walk took us
over the hill, with views down onto the Avon Valley. After lunch we headed back
along the line of the old railway track. This is where we look a lengthy
detour. By now we were getting quite warm and coats were quickly discarded. Did
you know that the hill is believed by some to be named after a chapel that once
stood here, although there seems to be no definite information about where
exactly it stood. The chapel was named after a fourth century Christian martyr.
It seems that St Catherine was imprisoned, tortured and condemned to
death because of her beliefs. At one time the hill was called Kattens and there
is a body of thought that thinks it was named after a pagan god. Personally, I
think Kattens sound more like a brand name for cat food, but there you go. Back
in 1332, a document recorded St Catherine’s chapel as being on the hill of
Rishton, so you can take your choice of what you believe to be the definitive origins
of the hill.
Our
thanks to Trudy H for the photographs
The Pub
The Avon
Causeway. The sign on the station platform outside the building now clearly
says HURN. Quite right too. This building was once Hurn railway station, part
of the London and South Western Railway. That railway was taken into the
Southern Railway at the Big Four grouping in 1923. It closed on 30th
September 1935, long before Dr Beeching could get his hands on it. We all enjoyed
a good meal here, including the speciality cheese dish.
Next Week
Sturminster
Newton. Meet in Wimborne for a 10am departure.
No comments:
Post a Comment