Saturday 21st December ‘24. DH, AC, TO, PC, PCL, DL, JB, CH, Albus & Maisie
December ‘24 has not been our best month ever for walks so today was the first and also the last one of the month. On 7th the weather forced another cancellation which was most unfortunate as it was also our Christmas walk with our good ladies. However we still managed to meet up at the Walnut Tree in Mere that lunchtime for a great Christmas meal, thanks to Phil and Claire for the organising of it.
The weekend of 14th December almost everyone was busy doing their own things, ranging from being dragged around Christmas shopping or visiting or hosting of families and friends. And we have decided not to try and squeeze in a walk between Christmas and New Year, as I’m sure we’ll all be busy with other things, or maybe recovering from the excess of consumption night before. As such it was decided to break from our normal 30minute travelling rule and venture south of Yeovil for a return visit to the Ilchester estate, last visited in Easter 2022 when we also dined with the ladies afterwards in Evershot.
This weeks RV was by the church of St Osmond is the small village of Melbury Osmond, which due to the extra distance was delayed by fifteen minutes from the usual 09.00 start. It was an almost record turnout for the year so once all eight of us had arrived and exchanged Christmas cards we set off downhill through the village, which for almost everyone was their first time here. The village has a population of approximately 190, of whom about 34% are aged 65 + and about 14% aged 15 or younger. There is a high proportion of private rental accommodation, mostly owned by the Ilchester Estate, of which I will include more detail later. At the bottom of the village most of is crossed over the stream on the picturesque bridge but John decided to attempt to walk through the ford, despite being warned that the cobbled stones were very slippery. He eventually admitted defeat and stepped up onto the higher ground to complete his crossing
We then started the steady climb out of the village and at the far side took a small track which ran down the side of one of the estate property’s recently renovated and refurbished and which is currently for sale for offers over £210,000. This sounds like a bargain of the century, but if you are further interested you can ready why on the advert here.
The small track showed signs of having been a flowing stream in the recent heavy rains and was the start of what would be a mile or so of treading carefully through some rather muddy/claggy paths. We had to duck under a low bridge which although it looks like it could be from a former railway line, is actually the original northern access route from the A37 into the estate. We then had to cross a small wooden bridge over a stream before the track turned south and headed out into the countryside. There had been some recent works on the hedges which ran alongside the track and many areas cleared and new trees planted, which could be seen temporarily shielded by rings of brown plastic to protect from nibbling wild life as they established themselves. The going was quite slippery in places and there was much crossing from side to side to find the firmest ground, so it was a great relieve when the first signs of tarmac were finally detected at the one mile mark. The road in question was actually one of the main access points off of the A37 which lead past Chetnole Lodge and onto the main estate drive, which was recognised by Dereyk as the first point at which we joined the route of our previous walk here.
We continued straight across and continued through the outer fields of this high estate. The two dogs were both enjoying time off the lead and were quite happy to keep their distance from each other, although Albus was always on the look out in case Maisie fancied a bit of a tease from time to time. Unfortunately for them, there were sheep in the occasional fields and so they were on and off the lead frequently. We passed through a couple of gates and then stopped to admire the 19th century thatched boathouse on the North West corner of Lucerne Lake, a man made lake constructed in 1865, which was formerly called Wheatley Lake but renamed after the much grander lake in Switzerland. Our route then took us towards the start of the only significant climb of the day, which opened up in front of us and revealed its totally length in a single view. Dereyk thought at this point it was clearly the right time to get the sugar rush and so circulated the very welcomed bag of Chubba lollies.
The climb was certainly slow and steady, (made somewhat harder by the continued sucking of the lollies) and it certainly necessitated a couple of stops, to enjoy the view obviously! When we did reach the summit after around 250 feet of accent the views across the parkland towards the A37 near Melbury Bubb was superb, despite the slightly gloomy conditions. Once we had regained out breath and the heartbeat was again more settled we continued down the hill towards the village of Evershot and the southern most entry point to the estate. Turning right onto the metalled road we were well past the halfway distance, but even more passed the halfway point in time. But knowing it was predominately downhill and on a tarmac surface all the way I was confident enough that we would be back in time for breakfast.
The southern gate house of Lion Lodge was easily identified by the large iron gates between the lion topped pillars, but the footpath was over a small stile to the side. A notice on the steps invited walkers to use the small gate to the side, but on a walk with no stiles to date, Adrian amused us all when he opted to climb over it rather than use the gate - just because he can! We made our way over the top and then through the gates in the deer fence and into their enclosure. The deer park which originates from the 16th century stretches a long way out to the western side of the estate so it was not certain we would see any today. However as we dropped down towards the house we caught side of a small group off to the left of the track. Most were laid down but a couple stood watch and most certainly had their eyes on us. We exited the deer fences and continued around to the front of Melbury House. The Grade I listed mansion is home of the Honourable Charlotte Townshend, a major landowner in east Dorset. The house has been in the family since the 1600s and she inherited the house in 1990 through her mother, Theresa Fox-Strangways (Viscountess Galway). Mrs Townsend not only owns the 15,000 acres of land at Melbury (including its farming and estate companies), but also 20 acres of property in affluent Holland Park in west London as well as other areas of Dorset including parts of Chesil Beach and land at Abbotsbury Swannery. Further details about the Ilchester estate can be found here.
Unfortunetly the small church of St Mary, next to the house is now inaccessible to the public so all we could do was start the long walk down the north drive. The upper portion is devoid of any trees but the lower section of the avenue is lined by splendid mature trees as we increased the pace heading back to Melbury Osmond. We left the estate through another large set of gates and headed back down to the Ford, as Trevor needed to wash Maisie’s harness after she had found something obnoxious to roll in. This was also an opportunity for todays group photo.
After we finally got everyone into the shot it was just a slow climb back up through the village and a chance to take a photo of a large poster inside a shelter that explains more about the old village which dates back to the Domesday book of 1086. It also has a close association with the Dorset author Thomas Hardy, as his mother lived in Melbury Osmond as a child, and she was married in the church. The village appears as "Little Hintock" in Hardy's novel The Woodlanders, in which the heroine's name is "Grace Melbury". Hardy also incorporated a legend about the Duke of Monmouth taking refuge in one of the village's cottages into his short story "The Duke's Reappearance"
We arrived back at the church having completed almost four and a quarter miles in just over two hours, it was then just a short drive back down the A37 for breakfast at Hamish’s cafe near the idle named Ryme Intrinseca.
This was our first time in Hamish’s and we arrived to find our reserved table all ready for us. The menu had a great variety of choice fans allowed almost free reign to build the meal of your choice. Most went for the traditional cooked option of varying sizes, although having chips included was probably a first in all our walks. The scrambled eggs with salmon at only £6.00 selected by Chris appeared a certainly good value option also. Certainly a cafe to come back to again if we’re ever this far south again.
And so that wraps up our walks for 2024. We have chalked on 46 of the 52 weeks available this year and I would like to thank those who have coordinated things when I have been unavailable. Unfortunately we appear to have loss Cary Chris from the group but have involved Neil from Gillingham a few times, and hope to see him more frequently in 2025. It was back in May when Brian last walked with us, so we also hope he can work through his pain to rejoin us again soon. There are a couple of folks we have in mind who might be offered a ‘trial’ walk at some point, but as we have always said, we don’t want the group to get too large to be unmanageable or too big to fit into the smaller cafes we frequent.
So thanks again for all your company throughout 2024, for the many laughs we have had, not only of events that have happened or tales that have been told, but also at the situation we all find ourselves in health wise. We might have walked less miles this year and at a slower average pace, but the fact that we get out most weeks to find and enjoy new areas of the gorgeous local countryside we live in, makes it all so worth while. Long may it continue! Best wishes for 2025!
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