Hare today, ….

Saturday 2 May ‘26. DH, RW, PC, CH, JS, Ralph, Scrumpy & Ember

Another week of dog sitting our son and daughter-in-laws dog so I opted for a mixed route of open fields and some road walks, hoping to avoid too many stiles for Ember and of course sheep or livestock. Returning to a walk in Wonderful Wiltshire we have only ever done once before, back in 2023, the RV was the car park at the Riverside Cafe at Fonthill Bishop. Just the two cars today but as we arrived and parked up we were greated by the owner/manager who asked us to be keep quiet, (not that we were being anything but at that point) as there was a relaxing yoga class taking place on the grass beside the stream.

After making our morning greetings and putting our boots on in almost total silence we headed away from the posh stretching class and crossed the road onto what is effectively the village green. A large stone laying at the foot of a tired Queens Silver Jubilee bench caught my attention as with its tapered edges it looked like it could be a former obelisk or part of a cross, however I can find no reference to it on the village website. Behind the green, the church and old schoolhouse looked splendid against the blue sky as we passed through the gate and into the churchyard.

On the far side of the churchyard we entered a large field bordered by a small stream and although we initially thought the dogs could go off, we quickly saw some sheep in the distance and kept them on the leads. As we made our way across we could see that there were a lot of young lambs with their mothers, mostly twins and close by, but others were a bit braver and were away from the safety of mum. Having skirted as far around them as possible, as we approached the gate we noticed a few lambs were gathered together, and we had to pass a lot closer to a lone ewe who suddenly started roaring a warning at us. Thankfully her youngsters soon ran over to her and she calmed sufficiently for us to reach the gate and pass through onto the small track at the rear of some cottages belonging to the Fonthill Estate.

Continuing along the track we soon saw the stubby tower of next church in the valley at the small hamlet of Berwick St Leonard, although we decided not to visit it this week. According to the website, thename Berwick refers to a grange or an outlying part of an estate. St. Leonard is the dedication of the church. From the 16th to the 19th century the village was called alternatively Cold Berwick; the most likely simple explanation being that it was a cold place. Today was far from chilly and starting to warm nicely as we crossed the bridge over the ‘stream’. In fact due to the long run of dry weather, there was not a drop of water to be seen in it, not a good sign with the height of summer still being some way off. We continued around the side of Berwick House, now a block of flats and onto the main road for a very short stretch before crossing it onto a lane heading onto the ridge.

Entering a large open field it was safe enough for the dogs to be finally let off and get to know each other. Ralph was convinced that a large shape ahead of us was a robot and was quite happy to wager his non existent breakfast money on it, whilst in the fields to our right, visibly through gaps in the layered hedge, a lone hare stood amongst a short grass crop, with it ears scanning the area around it. No doubt he/she (for political correctness) had spotted us well before we saw it, but thankfully neither dog got wind of its existence. It eventually took off down the field, which gave us a great opportunity to turn and take in the view leading up the valley towards Hinton, with the reflections of moving traffic along the A303 right out to Willoughby Hedge services, on the ridge above the church spire.

When we arrive at the ‘robot’ Ralph was disappointed to be told it was actually a game bird feeding station, so he smartly cancelled his initial wager and reset it by by betting the next robot was going to be a bird feeder! Unsurprisingly for him, no one took up the offer of loosing £10 to him this time! At the top of the hill we took a small path into the woods which quickly lost height, eventually coming out by more estate cottages. It was then up to the Hinton to Tisbury ‘Stops Road’ and along it for a very short stretch before turning up ‘Stop Lane’ towards the single road hamlet of Fonthill Gifford. ( No typo, one is singular and one plural)!

There is a right mixed bag of properties as we slowly climbed up the lane, some old and quirky with great character, and other newere ones squeezed onto any available gaps. The historic wooden village hall looks like it could have been left behind by the American Army who used the woods as a base during training for the D Day landings, and thankfully the old thatched cottage further up the road and set back into the hill has retained all of its quaint English cottage character.

Towards the end of the dead end road we turned left through a gate into a large field with wonderful views back down to the properties we had just passed. Not a bad view from their back windows and gardens, so worthy of the backdrop for this weeks group photo. Once again the dogs were left off of the leads and like cattle let out into their spring time pasture for the first time, they went crazy. Ember was running loops through the grass with Scrumpy barking and taking a slightly tighter inside loop to try and keep up. It really was a great English countryside scene.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lmwJGjEfHK8

Tired out from their run around the dogs stayed with us as we crossed the fields and came out near to the former rectory and parish church of Fonthill Gifford, about one kilometre away from most of the properties. Although with the Beckford Arms almost next door, it could be said the spiritual and social hearts of the village just about co-exist. We crossed by he Tisbury road again and headed for the southern end of Fonthill Lake.

There was no time today to head to the outflow through the hydro-electric station so we turned northwards and followed the wooded shoreline for the next mile. There was plenty of wildlife on the water including a mallard and a couple of young ducklings near the start, and as we progressed past the boathouse and through the trees, eventually coming out onto the road opposite the wonderful cricket ground, there were quite a few swans over the far side of the water. There were times when the light shone on the water and we hoped we would see the bright azure we had seen on a previous walk, but alas not this time. By now time was getting tight, everyone was getting hungry and Ralph was getting tired. With large gateway in view at the end of the road, we all put on a bit of a spurt and we made it to the cafe, having completed the four and a half miles in just over two hours.

We took our seats in the covered area, but soon moved tables as the dandelion type seed heads from a nearby tree were gathered under the table, causing Pete annoyance and Rich hay fever issues. Ralph took out his Acorn classhalf term ‘project’, a cuddle toy named Nutty and we were all soon tucking into another good breakfast. One more walk in the glorious Wiltshire countryside completed!