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Thanks to those who have posted comments.
I hope that everyone who follows any of the walks on the blog gets as much pleasure from them as we do. Happy walking in 2018.
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We shelved our idea of “doing the Hintons” in the last few weeks of 2017 as we thought there had been too much rain recently. Most of the paths on this walk from Milton Abbas are dry and well made up and it is a really nice area. We also wanted to see if we could buy some Romanesco at Steeptonbill farm shop. We couldn’t but we did get some multi coloured chantenay carrots to brighten our Christmas lunches. The Google map seems to show this in the wrong place so I have marked it on the walk map. We had an interesting chat with a local as we started out from our parking place on the road close to the church. The village has a fascinating history and a brief summary can be found at http://www.miltonabbas.org.uk/History/villagehistory.htm. When we arrived we noticed how chilly it seemed in the village which sits in a valley and gets very little sun at this time of year. It was a gloriously bright sunny day once we had climbed out of the valley but when we returned later in the day the whole village was still in shadow. In a similar vein to last week we decided to deviate from the main hard surfaced track into Charity Wood. We intended to then go towards Our Farm but an urgent phone call distracted the leader who missed the turn and failed to realise until half way down Whatcombe Wood. Well it was a lovely path and the beech woods were looking most attractive! So we adjusted the walk to suit. As we rounded the corner by Cliff Wood walking towards Higher Whatcombe Farm we could hear a woodpecker. We managed to glimpse him at the top of one of the pair of trees, that I rather fancifully thought were about to dance. Can you see him? He is one of the spotted varieties.
It was still bright and sunny as we crossed the road and walked past East Luccombe Farm with its holiday cottages and artisanal workshops. We then turned north on the Juilee Trail for a short while before turning onto the smaller path that took us back into Milton Abbas beside the church and only a few yards from the car. We stopped at the Worlds End in Almer for lunch and enjoyed their steak and Tanglefooot Pie even if it did cost £13.25. We counted it as a Christmas treat. The tea was a nice surprise. It was loose leaf tea, served in an infuser, in a good size pot with really hot water.
When we arrived at the car park ours was the only vehicle there. It was a decidedly dull day and there had been lots of rain but “there’s no such thing as bad weather……”. However we decided to base our walk on the eighth one down on the "Wet Wether Walks" page which follows the cycle tracks. This can become a bit tedious so we branched off onto other tracks in two or three places for a bit of variety. We certainly achieved that but it made progress quite a lot slower and more tiring as we had to watch where we treading fairly carefully to avoid wet feet.
It was difficult to find a suitable place to sit and as it was rather drizzly we wanted at least a little shelter. We ended up, at the most southerly part of the walk, on a log under a holly tree where we sat and considered whether anyone spotting us there would think we were totally bonkers! On the other hand they would have no idea how much fun we were having. We were warmed by two small glasses of anisette licor in addition to the normal soup, coffee, chocolate etc.
Our excursion off the cycle track just beefier North Oakley Inclosure convinced us to make that the last before approaching the car park. It was a short but very soggy diversion. We stopped at the Cat and Fiddle for lunch where we had to ask for there “Early Bird” menu which had been displaced by the Christmas Specials. The tea is still served at a dismal temperature but the lunch was otherwise very good value. 
It was rather dull and grey when we started out from the Langton Arms where we had kindly been given permission to park. It stayed like this all day but nevertheless this was a really enjoyable and varied walk. We decided to do this walk in a clockwise direction so with any luck we would be in the wooded section if the forecast rain appeared a little later. Turners Lane may look a little daunting judging from the contour lines but it was a fairly easy and gentle climb for the first kilometre. Looking around from the top there are very good expansive views back over the Tarrant and towards Long Crichel. They were all easy paths with nary a stile to be seen. Not much style either but that’s another story! The other thing we missed was the wild life. Turning east after Penfold Belt we noticed that the main path was rather wet and muddy but just to the north of it there was an alternative footpath that was dry and leafy so we took that. We expected to see some deer but never spotted one the whole day. We saw one farmer out spraying a field at Horse Down and he was one of the two people we saw outside the village.
We considered returning via Common Drove but decided it would be better to just carry on to Turners Lane and hence back to the car.  |
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April 2019
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