It was not the best of days but we set off to Witchampton expecting the weather to improve.  It didn't.
The rain was slight when we parked by the village hall but it steadily increased.  We were very kindly invited in to the hall for a coffee and spent an hour or so sitting comfortably in the dry having coffee and biscuits while we watched the rain steadily get worse and worse.
Eventually we decided that even if it stopped the ground would be saturated so we headed off to Wareham Forest where we knew the paths would be reasonably dry.  When we arrived the rain had stopped and although the clouds were still very grey the sun was doing its best to peep through.
We started along the outside of the boundary fence along paths which we had not used before and they were reasonably dry and pleasant.  The walk was unplanned so we took whichever paths seemed likely to result in a reasonable walk of around 6 miles.  Being able to keep track of the distance on MapFinder was a considerable help.  The heather was coming along nicely and the rain had made all the colours really stand out particularly as the trunks of the trees looked almost black.  We did not see any other people the whole way round just a small number of cows including some young calves.
It turned out to be a very enjoyable walk on decent dry paths with lots of water along the edges.

There was only one other car in the car park when we arrived just before 10:30 but it was pretty full when we left after our late lunch.
We had all forgotten what a long walk it is from the pub down to the stream that runs into Sway Lakes and eventually feeds the Avon.  It was starting to feel quite warm out in the open.  When we arrived at the stream we were a bit surprised to find a lot of water.  So we wandered around trying to find a crossing.  Not the first time we have hit this problem but we found a route a bit more quickly this time.   Have a look at 14th January 2015 and you can see what I mean!

Once that was sorted it was a pleasant stroll back to the Rising Sun for lunch - and very good it was too.
Ray had decided to go vegetarian.  Rob and Peter chose the chicken and ham pie and - yes you guessed it - Ray had the same.  We also had a proper decent sized pot of tea with extra water supplied as standard.

Every so often things don't work out quite as one might expect and this was one of those days.  Clive's plan was a good one and it looked as if it would be an excellent walk but ... a few obstacles were put in our way.  We overcame them all - who would have thought any different - but none of them made our life easy.
We set off from a quiet, pleasant little parking spot in the lane, walked back to the laniard found the well marked path.  Well marked but rather overgrown.  We battled our way through the brambles and came out onto some open fields.  We then had a reasonably gentle stroll up towards Lopshill where the signs vanished and the route became rather obscure.  We meandered our way down to some farm buildings where a quite unpleasant lady told us we are not on the proper path.  We, very politely of course, invited her to put us right, which she abjectly failed to do.  So with a little effort we found the clearly marked path to Lopshill Farm.  There we met with the local post who advised us NOT to try to walk through the farm as there were a couple of Dobermans on the loose.  Memories kicked in and three of us remembered past problems in this area.  We decided that valour was not on the menu and set about re-planning the route.  This worked out pretty well until just after the B3078 yet another clearly marked path turned out to be impassable.  Yet again we found a way to overcome our difficulties and eventually arrive safely back at the car.  Well three of us did.  Ray was viciously, and quite unreasonably, attacked by a wasp that stung him on the eyelid.  An antihistamine tablet (later, in conversation with the eye hospital, referred to as a hysterectomy tablet) helped reduce the swelling and an iced eye patch added to the cure.
The lunch at Swans seemed very good but three eggs turned out to be a disaster for Rob who was still feeling poorly the next day.
Beware the barbed wire!  
I decided to "Google" Lops Hill Farm and was surprised to find they are inviting people there for holidays, caravans, mobile homes, a new  luxury barn and fishing.  So I have emailed them to ask where we can walk safely across their property.  If I get a decent reply I will amend this post accordingly.

This is a slightly unusual walk as there were just two of us and we travelled by bus from Westbourne into Bournemouth and then on to Bear Cross where we started the walk.  On the return we caught the bus from Wimborne to Poole and then back to Westbourne.  Thanks to the bus pass!
It was quite  a grey day but it stayed dry and we had a very pleasant walk.
We have walked most of this route before but the last time was over five years ago.

After a good lunch we were back on the main route and soon heading across the fields and into Wimborne.  The allotment gardens just before Wimborne are beginning to look rather neglected and we wondered if this area has been scheduled for development as it is unusual to see allotments in such a sad state.  We arrived in Wimborne in good time to take a few pictures of the masses of flowers outside the Green Man before our bus was due.