Back to basics

24 January ‘26. DH, RW, DL, JB, JS, Scrumpy & Albus

Another wet week and so the decision was made to repeat a walk from the previous January around the paths and roads of Gillingham, keeping out of the mud and puddles as much as we could. The forecast was for the early part of the day to predominantly dry and as we met at the rear of the Old Brewery cafe in Wyke, the morning was looking pretty good. There were just the five of us and we set of on time to complete the route in the reverse direction to last year.

We headed out onto the main road and then dropped down a narrow path into the housing estate which took us through to Rolls Bridge Road. We walked along the pavements towards town passing over the river Stour and then cut the corner to reach Le Neubourg Way. We crossed and passed St Martin square and then the parish church of St Mary the Virgin. A church has existed on the site since before the Norman Conquest and it was rebuilt in the early fourteenth century in the Decorated style.  The only medieval part of the church to survive is the chancel.  Some parts of the Saxon nave, especially the arches, may have been incorporated into the medieval building.

In medieval times the parish of Gillingham became one of the largest in Dorset, covering an area of fifteen thousand acres and we have previously walked through the area of King Johns Royal Court at the far end of town. At the beginning of the 17th century Gillingham was still a small village. The present High Street consisted of houses and dwellings of the period with at least two inns, the Red Lion and The Phoenix.  Before and during the Civil War extensive rioting accompanied the enclosure of the old forest. In 1694 a major fire destroyed much of the town.

We passed through the older end of town and stopped on the bridge over Shreen Water by a blue plaque commemorating the visits of the artist John Constable, who was a friend of the Reverend John Fisher, vicar of Gillingham. He visited Gillingham in 1820 and 1823 and as a result, produced five oil paintings and four sketches of the local area, some of which are now in the town museum.

We turned left onto Barnaby Mead, a small development of detached bungalows and houses and found a small footpath in the top corner which would lead us around the perimeter fence of Gillingham Primary and Secondary schools. We were now at the end of town known as Bay, and walked down Bay Lane and out onto Bay Road. More info here.

Crossing the Shreen again we then made our way northwards through another large estate to join Gyllas Way and then on a path in Horsefields before skirting around the edge of a muddy recreational area and out into the area of Colesbrook. We were only about an hour into the walk at this point so took the opportunity to turn right and pop down to see how the water level was at the ford.

We paused by the waters edge for this weeks groupie and then headed onto the footbridge over the river to check out the depth marker. As we stood there debating the unit of measurement we glanced a farm vehicle heading down the road towards us. This was an ideal ‘stuff of kids dreams’ opportunity to grab a photo as it headed through the river with bucket high in the air, at a reasonable speed sufficient to push a large bow wave in front of it. Pleased with our experience we headed back up the road and then decided to repay a visit to Purns Mill, one of the buildings that Constable painted a couple of times. As we approached it there were good views across towards the Mere downs and westwards to Pen Selwood.

Unfortunately the view down the side of the mill is not as good these days as when Constable visited over two hundred years ago and there was no sign of the water wheel, although there was plenty of water coming down the chute to the side of the wheel housing. The mill originally called Parhams Mill apparently burnt down in 1825 only a couple of years after the artists last visit so there is a good chance the current building is considerable different from the old one. The fire engine which visited the scene is now in Gillingham museum. Although the signs show the mill as being used by an animal feed manufacturer, other information on line says that the business ceased to trade in 2003, although there is certainly some other business happening behind the large gates.

As we were making our way back towards the Milton on Stour road, JB decided we were all in need of a further session of Tai Chi, so whilst we stood arms distance apaon the grass bank, he subjected us to a simple rotation of the torso and shoulders, although yet again in plain view of anyone watching from the cottage opposite. Suitably stretched we carried on and paused again by the toll house to read the wooden board detail the charges for the many different types of carriages using the road.

We then crossed the road and onto a footpath around the side of the Neals Yard Remedies Store buildings and into the residential area of Peacemarsh where we followed the path alongside the River Stour. We have walked this path a few times now but every time we do, it’s frightening to see how much more damage has been done by the fast flowing water to the river bank each time. There are many areas now where Heras fencing has been put up to keep the path users safe. Along the way we saw many catkins, one of the early signs of spring, initially the yellow ones of the hazel but further down the river were the purple longer and more knobbly catkin of the Alder. A catkin is a long slim flower which often has no petal and whose seed is dispersed by the wind or by insects, playing an important role in the pollination of the plant.

When we reached Wavering Lane we only had around fifteen minutes left to get back to the cafe so with the cloud building and not wanting to get unnecessarily wet we pushed on before the rain started. We made it back just in time having completed just over 4 miles in 1 hour 50 minutes and we’re shown to our table near the front of the cafe. We placed our orders and then whilst Deryck went to chat with a bowling friend on the next table I showed others our recent contribution to the ‘Pointless Stiles’ Facebook Group.

Our food was served far quicker than our first ever visit to this cafe but unfortunately there has been a change to the sausages since our last visit and although substantial larger than previously they was a step down in taste and texture. Likewise the sourdough with the veggie left a lot to be desired, but all other meals were pretty tasty. Let’s hope the weather improves in the coming weeks and we can get back to walks in the woods and fields in the near future.

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