Thornicombe

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19 April 2017
Thornicombe
Clive
Clive, Peter, Ray
6.9 miles
Lay-by
​Coach and Horses Wimborne  ★★★☆☆

We parked in a lay-by on the road that is between Thormicombe and Charlton Marshall just off the A354.  From here we followed the footpath leading to South Lodge.  Although this is shown as going through the woods it is actually impossible and the only path is along the west side of the fields and through a gate out on to Wards Drove.  Crossing the road, carefully, and following the path past Maggot Clump and Little Down things got much easier.  Though it should be noted that the map rather curiously shows the footpath going out into the middle of the field and back again while there is a perfectly sensible path straight along the edge of the field. This actually feels quite a long steady rise and the surrounding fields seem enormous.

Vibrant Countryside

Once again rape fields are plentiful though there was an interesting and colourful band of campion growing across one green grassy area.  This was an attractive open area good to walk through on this bright sunny day though Clive reminded us that our previous walk in the area was rather wet.

It was not until we reached Charisworth that we found anywhere reasonable to stop and have a drink but here we managed to discover a convenient fallen tree.

We took the now obligatory group photo from near the top of Charlton Down.  Behind us was a mother rape field and what looked like a large patch of blue.  As we got closer we could see that this was in fact a large solar panel installation. It is apparently around 36 acres and powers about 2000 homes so not one of the biggest as the largest ones supply around 20,000 homes.  Nearby at  Gorcombe is an Adventure Activity Park.  The countryside is certainly different from the way it was when we were young!

People

Power

We were soon back at the car and on our way to The Coach and Horses at Wimborne.  Hard to resist two meals for £9.99.  The Hunters Chicken was very good but there was one low point.  All - can you believe all?? - their teapots had been broken and not replaced and we had to have tea by the cup.