After a couple of hours squash last night I wanted to do a reasonable mileage - that's what it'll be like on the SWCP, heading off for 10+ miles after a tiring day before. This walk was just the ticket. It looked a lovely day for a walk: Sun starting to come through, snow all going or gone (ha! I wish) and not too cold. Of course, when you start in a sheltered valley and head for the hills you should expect some change.
Easy enough start, along the road to the Ford Farm cheese factory that I mentioned before and the trading name for the Ashley Chase estate. Much of their cheese is matured 200' underground in the Mendip hills, hence their Wookey Hole cave-aged cheese. However, Ford wanted (doesn't that sound very HHGG?) to store and mature cheese locally so they dug a 7 meter hole in the hillside above the factory to create a man-made cave and then covered over the top. You'd never know from the entrance, looks very Hobbitty:
The track above the farm was a different story. High hedges and a north facing slope meant the large snowdrifts hadn't cleared yet. The snow had been sculpted into fabulous wave-like shapes that I discovered were at least thigh-deep (oops).Beautiful but hard work to get through them. Two farmers watched me with that fascination we all have for people doing stupid things (Jeux sans frontieres, anyone?).
Shortly after this the path passes by a coppice with an intriguing diversion to the chapel in the woods. This is the ruin of St Luke's chapel, built by monks from Netley Abbey (a Cistercian order near Southampton) in the mid 13th century. Seemingly it didn't do that well and was already in ruin by the mid 16th century. It is a beautifully peaceful place surrounded by the ancient woods and full of (English) bluebells in season. Today there was only a light smattering of primroses giving some welcome colour to the monochrome winter scene. Some conservation was attempted in the 1930s by David and Olga Milne-Watson who set up the altar and cross. There is an interesting account of the help they gave to a Jewish family in WWII here.
Reaching the top of the Abbotsbury Hill Fort I was rewarded with the marvellous view over the Fleet and towards Portland. <See, these walks all link up>.
The beacon was put there for the Queen's diamond jubilee in 2012 but there was a beacon nearby in Tudor times which was lit to warn of the approaching Spanish Armada. The fort itself is/was about 4 acres in size but you do have to use your imagination a bit to see some of its outlines. From there the route follows the ridge line so it was pretty exposed and I was glad I had packed some cold weather gear - the Buff neckwarmer in particular.
Once past that I turned North along the side of the old WWII airfield to follow a track I've long wanted to explore. It passes by Topparts dairy which was abandoned as a dairy in 1964 and is now available for B&B. It's a wonderful spot, with only a farm track for access and sitting at the head of the Valley of Stones, a quarry for sarsen stones used in nearby megalithic sites. The valley is now a national nature reserve.
Walking now downhill into the bowl above Bridehead (unlike Oxford, only one bride here) where some of the final series of Broadchurch was filmed. The main house is enviously next to one of the prettiest cricket grounds I've ever seen (it's the green patch in the middle distance!) with a nostalgic but new pavilion. There aren't many matches played there but if you get a chance, just go and watch one. It's a John Major moment. I saw a game involving a travelling team of over 50s from Birmingham - you can imagine the energy levels. There is a famous painting of a match there by David Inshaw who painted a copy that now hangs in Bridehead.
There are other reasons to envy the house occupants. It's owned by Sir Philip Williams (as in Williams & Glynn bank, as was), High Sherriff of Dorset for 2016/17, deputy Lieutenant for Dorset and Patron of the Swanage Railway Trust. As one is. His wife, Catherine, was a GP in Portesham for many years. The house dates from the 16th century with 19th century additions and was acquired in the late 1800s by the Williams family who had lived in Winterborne Herringstone since the time of Henry VIII. The river Bride rises here and was dammed to create the lake. Julie Hesmondhalg was assaulted just by the bridge (in Broadchurch, not really). The village of Little Bredy has a population of just 85 and must be one of the most lovely places to live. When not snowed in. There's also a lovely walled garden here if you're visiting....
Since I was now in the Bride valley itself navigation was a tad easier. I opted not to use the roads but go cross country for a bit longer, to practise my map reading. It didn't help that the footpath went via a stile cunningly concealed in the hedge:
A muddy mile later I stopped to talk to a wayside painter. No, really. From nearby Long Bredy, George Paul Sainsbury (www.georgepaulsainsbury.com) had been chasing snow scenes for the last few days to paint en plein air. We had a chat (I couldn't pass up the chance) but he declined to be photographed so I've made do with his painting which he suggested I complete with photoshop.
From here to Kingston Russell, yet another stately home, this time dating from the late 1600s but with much earlier origins, the land having been granted to the John Russell some time before 1211 presumably by William, the Bastard. By 1913 the house was dilapidated and bought (and restored) by George and Norah Gribble who evidently made a habit of this sort of thing, having previously renovated Henlow Grange in Bedfordshire. Various owners later it has been owned since 1984 by Dr HHJ Carter and Miss T Silkstone who, according to wikipedia are "the longest continuous owner-occupiers since the 1760s". Gotta be a story there. It's rather austere to my eye - the faded gentility that may be my own eventual lot (yeah, right).
I should have mentioned in passing the house Bellamont, a sham-gothic eccentricity that looks historic but was actually built in the 1990s. It is quite extraordinary and I can do no better than direct you to this BBC programme about it from 2005: https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/p03krzj6/the-curious-house-guest-series-1-3-bellamont. Clearly planning regulations were different in those days.
Finally, into Long Bredy itself. The whole of the Bride valley is an AONB and you can see why. Almost as pretty as Litton Cheney:
Litton is only a 15 min walk from here although it's hard pounding along the road. I was pleased to get home, this was the longest walk so far but still short of the 13 miles that will be common for a stage on the SWCP. The walk ended in sunshine which was a bonus.
As ever, thanks for reading this far, if you did.
I hopefully have fixed the email subscription button now but let me know if any problems
Peter
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