The Wednesday Walk 18th March 2009

The Plan
Meet at Beatrice and Tony's at the usual time for a walk to Damerham.

The Leader
Wendy

Who Turned Up
Wendy, Beatrice, Tony, Trudy, Pam, Ros and David

The Walk
Today was daffodil day: they were found in bloom all along our walk. We parked by the church in Alderholt and set off across country to Damerham. The weather was beautiful: not a cloud in the sky and hardly a breath of wind. Most of us came with warm clothes but had to discard them later. There were one or two muddy spots but, by and large, the walk was dry underfoot. This walk has numerous stiles, to the consternation of those walkers with the shortest legs.
After lunch we returned by a longer route which caused one or two problems. At one point the way was not clearly marked. In the confusion, Pam and Archie got separated from the group by a herd of horses who seemed intent on holding them both in isolation. Tony went boldly to the rescue and found a safe route for them. Despite the minor hiccups, it was a very pleasant walk. By the time we got back to Beatrice and Tony's house, most of us were feeling in need of a cup of tea and feet up!

The Pub
The Compass at Damerham. Six of the group had omelets which were served with chips. David had a pie which was totally devoid of potatoes. A potatoless pie!!! This was an Egon Ronay eatery. Does he not know that pies need potatoes? £8.95 for a pie (good as it was) without potatoes was a bit steep. But the omelets (with chips) went down well.

The Wednesday Walk 11th March 2009

The Plan
Meet at David's at the usual time. Ros will be leading us on a walk in the Forest. Lunch will be at the Red Shoot.

The Leader
Ros

Who Turned Up
Ros, Trudy, Pam (with Archie), Brian and David met in the morning. Wendy, Beatrice and Tony joined us at lunchtime.

The Walk
We parked the cars at the Linford car park. The access track to that parking spot badly needs resurfaced. The walk was a pleasant ramble through the forest. Part of the time we followed the major tracks, but at other times we had to take the minor trails which were sometimes boggy. Brian took a short cut to the pub while the other four took a longer route. He had his first drink finished by the time we arrived at the Red Shoot - obviously knew what he was doing! Wendy, Beatrice and Tony arrived soon after.
After lunch all eight of us set off for the return walk to Linford, a slightly shorter route than we took in the morning. It was a pleasant walk and a pleasant day: dry with just an occasional spot of sunshine.

The Pub.
The Red Shoot. We have eaten here several times before so we know the form by now. David was pleased to find they had a home-made special steak and kidney pie (excellent!). No one tried to stop him eating it. His beer was spot on. Tony had to get his changed as it was a bit smoky. We failed to sort out the last two clues in Wendy's crossword.

The Wednesday Walk 4th March 2009

The Plan
We will meet at Whitecliff at the usual time of 0945. Then we will take the bus from Sandbanks to Swanage. We will walk back along the front from Swanage town in order to have lunch at The Pines.

The Leader
Wendy

Who Turned Up
Wendy, Trisha, David. We were pleased to see you well enough to join us on a walk, Trisha.

The Walk
How lucky we were with the weather today! The forecasters predicted snow, sleet, gloom and despondency. In fact we had a lovely day along the shore at Swanage.

We caught the bus at Sandbanks, using our OAP free passes. From the bus station at Swanage we immediately went for a cup of tea. Well, we had to get our priorties right. Then we walked along the shore front until we got to the steep steps that lead up to the Pines Hotel. On the way, we saw a man swimming in the sea. As he headed towards the shore we speculated on whether he would walk up to us and say, "I am Pierre from Calais. Is this Angelterre?" In a French accent of course.

Trisha counted ninety steps up to the hotel. When we got to the top we were nicely ready to sit down and eat.

After lunch we walked back along the same route and continued out to the end of Swanage Pier. It was at this time we spotted heavy rain showers over Bournemouth and the Isle of Wight, but they didn't bother us.

Finally, we caught the 1525 bus back to Sandbanks. All-in-all it was a very pleasant day. No snowdrops, but Wendy did spot some other early flowers to make up for it.

The Pub

Lunch today was in the bar of the Pines Hotel. The food was good and reasonably priced. The poached salmon with plenty of potatoes and vegetables came to £6.50. Wendy's pork came out at the same price. The hotel do plan on layout changes so we would need to check before going there again.

The Wednesday Walk 25th February 2009

The Plan
Meet at Wendy's at the usual time of 0945. We will walk to Dewlish and have lunch at the Oaks.

The Leader
Wendy

Who Turned Up
Wendy, Ros, Trudy, Sue, Pam (and Archie) and David

The Walk
It was an overcast day, but calm and relatively warm. The two cars were parked about two or three miles from Dewlish and we set out across country. The walk was very pleasant and we arrived in Dewlish - a quaint olde worlde village - shortly before twelve o'clock. After lunch we headed back across the countryside and arrived back at the cars just as a slight drizzle started. Perfect timing. Once again, snowdrops were much in evidence throughout the walk. Snowdrops here, snowdrops there, snowdrops everywhere. At the end of the walk we had tea and cake at Wendy's. Pam's cake had a lighted candle to celebrate her birthday. Happy birthday, Pam!

The Pub

The Oak at Dewlish. This was where Michael used to enjoy a nice faggot. Today, five of the six walkers followed suit and each enjoyed a plate of tasty faggots. Significantly, the five faggot plates were wiped clean, but on the sixth plate the chips remained uneaten.

The Wednesday Walk 18th February 2009

The Plan
We will meet in Wimborne at 1015 (note the new time). Park in Venator Place, near B and T's house. We will then drive to Witchampton and walk to the Horton Inn.

The Leader
Wendy

Who Turned Up
Wendy, Ros, Trudy and David (and Trisha for lunch)

The Walk
I suppose we should call this the snowdrop walk. We met masses of snowdrops all along the walk, morning and afternoon. Look at the top photo and you can see them in the background.

We drove to Witchampton and left the car opposite Ye Olde post office. We then walked cross country to the Horton Inn. The air was calm and a hazy mist covered the distant views making it feel eerie and yet spring-like. Ros, being eagle-eyed, found a car key on the muddy path and, ten minutes later traced the worried owner. We arrived at the Horton Inn only five minutes before Tricia who joined us for a two hour lunch - and we still didn't get the answer to that last cryptic crossword clue!

After lunch, we crossed the main Cranborne road and walked up to Chalbury village. A light drizzle caught up with us just as we got to Chalbury church. Nothing serious, but it put us off the muddier route back, so we took what we imagined to be the easier route. In the event we came to an abrupt halt about two hundred yards from Witchampton village, facing a deep, swampy barrier. With a bit of sidetracking and swamp paddling, we managed to deviate round it.

It was a pleasant walk. Thanks go to Ros and Trudy for the photos.

The Pub

The Horton Inn. We spent two hours over lunch, and not just because David had a very large pie! It was proclaimed to be top rate but, unfortunately, Wendy's prawns-in-a-spud wasn't properly cooked and had to be exchanged.

The Wednesday Walk 11th February 2009

The Plan
We will meet at The Oaks at 10am. The plan is to walk from Delph Woods to the Lambs Green. And - with sharp memories of the last time we did that walk - we will do our best not to set the pub on fire!

The Leader
Wendy

Who Turned Up
Wendy, Trudy, Ros and David (Tricia joined us for lunch)

The Walk
The snow has melted and the rain has stopped. If it were not for the flooding, we could almost be back to normal. Anyway, it was a nice sunny, if somewhat chilly, day. Just right for a winter walk.
We met at the Oaks Cafe where we had a cup of coffee. We were visited by a black cat (is that lucky?) who seemed mainly interested in the only male walker. Must be significant! We then drove to Delph Woods.

We left our cars at the far end car park and walked through the woods to the old railway track. Then we headed off through the trees towards Lambs Green. At times the going was a bit spongy underfoot, but we met only one water barrier so deep and wide that we couldn't get past. It meant a short detour, but nothing too onerous. After lunch we headed back along the more direct route to the Willett Arms. Tricia came a little way with us. From the road, we had a spectacular view of the River Stour in flood near Wimborne.
We guessed the walk ran to around six miles in total which was just enough to get our blood circulating again. A pleasant day after last week's appalling weather.

The Pub
The Lamb's Green, Corfe Mullen.
The food was good and the service was very prompt. And... can you believe it... no one tried to burn the place down!
Tricia arrived at around the same time as the walkers. She passed on some good news about Marion's health. We wish you well, Marion! We know that you keep up to date with our adventures on the blog.

Wednesday 4th February

There was no walk this week because of the weather. We have had snow since the weekend and the roads and footpaths are still slippery. More snow is forecast before we see the end of it.