Saturday 20th April '24 DH, RW, TO, BFS, PCl, Scrumpy & Maisie
For the first time in a long time we were greeted with a bright sunny morning as we met at the Old Station car park in Sturminster Newton for our first time walk across the west side of the River Stour. Passing the cafe we'd be heading into later we walked along a dead end narrow lane where the road eventually gave way to a small path running down the bank towards the river. In the wooded area at the bottom there were many signs of the recent high water which would have totally covered this area and at Coblers bridge, the last pedestrian crossing heading downstream before the infamous Sturminster Mill, there was a large build up of logs and branches covering the whole area between two of the pillars. However the waters were calm and peaceful looking upstream towards the remnants of the railway viaduct. Once in the open it was clear that even though the sun was providing some warmth, that the steady northly breeze was still taking the edge off of the temperatures.
We took the northern route beyond the bridge across a couple of fields and out onto a minor road. not expecting any traffic the dogs were off their leads, but were quickly grabbed at the sight of a car heading towards us. On the outskirts of a farm the path took us over a tall stile and through fields as we headed away from the town in the rough direction of Bagber Common. A short debate about a stile with no apparent waymarker followed before we decided not to cross it, but 100m further on it became clear there was no exit out of the field so we doubled back and over the stile. As we approached a converted barn, with the whole family out in the yard doing a bit of spring cleaning, another farm building appeared on the ridge with a large veranda off of the upstairs room which must have had terrific vies south eastwards towards Hambledon Hill.
At the end of the farm track we doubled back on ourselves onto a wide track, which i honestly thought looking at the map would have been more than just a wooded ride. The ground was very uneven and any thoughts of increasing the pace along it were soon forgotten. We followed the ride for about one kilometre and out of the morning wind it was quite pleasant and very quiet. This soon changed as we came across a fallen tree blocking the whole ride and there was plenty of advice flying around as to the best way over, or around it. It was far to wide to straddle but with a bit of bending and stretching, we were able to pick a route through the upper branches.
As we were soon to turn back towards home there was mutterings from the rear about this weeks sweet rations without Dereyk or Adrian to do the honours. Thankfully as we stopped at a track junction i remembered that I had some of the grandchildren's sweets in my rucksack, so I quickly opened a pack of Ralphs fruity stars, which actually were very well received.
After skirting around a very large puddle at the start of the track it soon opened up into a proper farm track with wheel ruts and grass through the middle. My original plan had been to push on down to cross the river again at Sturminster Mill, but looking at the clock and he extra mile involved it was decided to save the Mill for another day and head straight back to town crossing the same pedestrian bridge as on the way out. We paused for this weeks groupie on top of a bridge crossing the River Divelish which having started on the upper slopes of Bulbarrow Hill was heading north to join the Stour above Sturminster.
Our path took us alongside a hedge row in which large patches of white wild garlic flowers were interspersed with bright blue bluebells, and strangly enough the back end of what looked like an old Austin 10 van. It was a short gently climb and as we crested the ridge the views of the town and beyond to the old hillfort on Hambledon hill opened up. It was on the downhill leg to the river that I realised that this weeks group of five were all the current or former members of staff at Sexey's School which currently make up our group of ten regulars. When I made this observation known to all, one of the group who must remain anonymous replied with the words that I have used for this weeks blog title. It was too good an opportunity to miss but is not meant with any seriousness as the current structure of our group consists of the mixed bag of backgrounds that makes the group what it is. No offence intended and of course if Dereyk had been well enough we would have been six strong today anyway.
We crossed the river again and soon made our way back up the slope and into the lane leading to the cafe. A steady 3.4 miles completed in 1hr 45 minutes just in time for our booking at the Stur of the moment. We were shown to our usual window seat with the old typewriter in it and were soon served by a young waitress. The common order was for tea all round and the smaller cooked breakfast offering this week but as we placed our orders the waitress surprised us by offering a option not on the menu - a Sturminster Stack. Phil was especially keen as it had mushrooms, black pudding and bubble and squeak so once she had found out how much it cost, he felt obliged to give it a try. Compared to previous weeks, the tea pots were gigantic and had the three tea bags which gave the tea some good strength. Overall a good breakfast and a very pleasant morning had by all.