On 15 November 2016 our dear friend Rob became a Sky Walker.
In Jume 2017 Clive had a stroke and is still in a nursing home.
Ray complained of chest pains for months before Peter finally convinced him to see the doctor.  He has recently had some stents fitted.
During "Lockdown" Peter has been walking around the local area.

It was a bit of a surprise to see that the last walk on the blog was now more than a year old but when any more might be added is anyone's guess.

I have however managed to transfer the gpx files for over 300 walks we did between 2004 and 2015 onto my latest mapping software so I may at some time add a few older routes.  Unfortunately many of them have very little in the way of information on the route and some none at all.  Perhaps a task for cold, dark winter evenings!

It's good to hear that at least one group is getting some enjoyment from following our walks.

We walked the few yards from the car park to the Drax Arms where we had a good meal though prices seem to have crept up a bit since our last visit.  The service was quick and very good but there were not very many customers.​

After lunch we paid a short visit to St John’s Church which has a superb 15th Century nave roof.  There is a notice inviting visitors to “light up” the roof and a series of lights pointing upwards but unfortunately we were unable to find a switch.  See https://www.britainexpress.com/attractions.htm?attraction=4556​ for more information.

Just for fun I used a "rambling man" figure as the track log icon and included it in the image below.  The icons are usually "hidden" but I thought it was time for something different! 

Yes this another repeat of a previous walk!  This one from October 2017.  Finding new walks has become quite a struggle and not that rewarding when the weather forecast is less than encouraging - snow expected later today.
There was surprisingly little frost on the forest, shame as I was expecting some interesting photos, but parts of the lakes were frozen over.  Although it was a very dull grey day it did not seen that cold while we were walking but most people seemed to have decided it was better to stay in doors.  We hardly saw anyone all day.   We did however see the lovely thatched cottage pictured below with wonderfully bow shaped walls.  We also found a few places where the local authority had kindly provided wooden walkways that took us round the edge of what would have been deep mud in warmer weather.
The paths are all quite easy to follow but some care is needed to avoid wandering too far off the route across the common.  We decided to weave a strange path through Appleslade Inclosure in deference to Ray's knee but this turned out rather well as it meant that we spotted the silver birches growing on a tiny island in a pond.  One of us could not resist the temptation to go and take a few photographs while the other sensibly stuck to the main path.
A 40% discount voucher came in very handy at The Smugglers Haunt, a Beefeater establishment in Ferndown.  As it is open all day for meals it is a little surprising that we have never, as far as either of us could recall had a walkers' lunch there before.  It was a pleasant location and good value.

The catkins are starting to appear all along the field edges and it is amazing how much pollen they can produce.
​Home Farm is often worth a quick visit but unfortunately it was closed until February.  Their little cottage is looking in need of a little, or maybe a lot, of TLC.

This walk turned out to be very different from the planned version!  Do not however get put off this area.  We have had some good walks around here on previous occasions.  A search for "Longham" will provide details.

We started from the car park at the Bridge House Hotel where we planned to have their excellent cavern for our lunch.
Turning right outside the hotel we took the Ferndown Stour and Forest Trail along the edge of the Stour but not for long.  After about a third of a mile the path was underwater and there was no way we could go any further.
We turned back and took the same trail this time leading north beside the Longham Lakes Reservoir.  Looking over what should have been farm land to the west the extent of the flooding could be plainly seen.

If you would like to see many more strange pictures of cars have a look at the International Car Forest of The Last Church.  Here's a link on Tripadvisor .  
​Eventually we found a reasonable route back and happily reached the Bridge House at 13:30 in good time for lunch.  It was a very nice lunch for a very nice price.

We managed to find a convenient spot to park right outside the Sheaf of Arrows and were pleased to find that they serve lunches until 14:30 and offer a 25% discount for the “not so young” during the week - an incentive to walk quickly.

Cranborne Manor was looking a bit bleak as we set out but.  Having been originally built as a hunting lodge for King John in the early 1200s it will have certainly seen days a lot worse than this one.
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Although it looks like a pleasant track it is worth remembering that from Manor Farm to Cranborne Farm it is more like walking on a road.  We had forgotten!
We followed the signed path around the farm though it would have been easy enough to just walk through the rather deserted farm yard.

There is no sign but the footpath turns right through a gate into the field and then up towards the road.  There is no need to walk along the edge of the road as there is a nice wide path just inside the edge of the field.  There are several places, just inside the small copse, where there is no wire preventing walkers crossing the road onto Monkton Drive.  We then had the pleasure of a stroll down a grassy track with hedges on both sides protecting us from the increasingly chilly wind.
Turning right on the road, for a short way, we joined the Jubilee Trail which soon turns across the fields and then through a little gate onto the edge of quite a steep embankment.
The wind was now becoming really chilly so we looked for some shelter where we could enjoy our drinks without freezing.​

Feeling revitalised we continued along the Jubilee Trail all the way back to Cranborne.  It isn’t all that clear but the footpath runs inside the fence line along Parsonage Lane and there is an exit point just by Creech Hill House.  There is however no option but than to walk along the road from here to the corner where it crosses the fields again.​

We were back in good time for lunch at the Sheaf of Arrows and were happy to purchase the last two steak and kidney puddings.  The couple who followed us in were not so lucky!

We stopped for a break close to Holmsley Lodge and then walked along a short stretch of the road before taking the small track on the left which leads to the bottom of Lodge Hill.  It wasn’t as wet as we feared and after passing through the gate at the bottom we had a fairly easy stroll before crossing the road and splurging our way to the footbridge over Avon Water - it is quite close to the road and could easily be missed which would prove difficult!​

We walked around the road and back towards the Tea Rooms looking for a place where we could cross the fence.  We noticed a horse rider taking the track under the road to our east and thought we would check this out for future reference.  The answer is you need a horse or very long waders.

Retracing our footsteps we went through the gate into the Inclosure and followed the cycle track for most of the way back to the car.​

Lunch at the Harvester, Cat and Fiddle, at Hinton Admiral rounded the day off nicely.