Saturday 1st April ’23 Chideock - Golden Cap - Seatown
DH, RW, BFS, PCl, IP, DL, JB, Mrs's H, W, S, C, P, L, B, Sully, Scrumpy, Albus, Alfie, Newton & Nimbus
With Easter just around the corner, it was the time of year again to invite our long suffering wives to join us for their three times a year walk with the normal Saturday crew, and also an opportunity to meet up with Iain and Jackie after they left the years of life in Wincanton behind them last summer, to settle nearer the coast ready for some well earned retirement. A suitable meeting point was obviously going to be somewhere on the Jurassic coast and so after scouring the map for potential walks and lunch locations, I settled on the ascent of Golden Cap, the highest point at on the South coast at 191 metres (627 feet) as an obvious challenge for us all. After a bit of further thought and deliberation , a 5 km loop from Chideock on the the eastern side of the hill won over the 7 km route starting from the western side at Stonebarrow, mainly due to ease of parking and a suitable pub. Fortunately I found a solution to both issues in the same location and as such the instructions were circulated to meet in the car park of The Clock, Chideock at 0930 ready to get going. Unfortunately someone from the Bruton end had it in their minds that the start was at 10.00 and eventually rolled in the carpark to much muttering from the waiting group, a record breaking 20 minutes late. Clearly, although it was April 1st, we weren’t falling for the weak ‘April Fools‘ explanation, but maybe, just maybe, that failed attempted excuse might come back to bite them later In the day?
Once all introductions were made (welcome to the group Ann) and the 6 dogs had taken their chance to get acquainted, and after a brief pause to take a photo of the post box bird house on the side of the building, we headed off down the main road in front of the pub and took the right turn signed to Seatown. Passing many old and quaint Dorset cottages we soon noticed that some properties had their own post boxes just beyond the garden gate. Obviously’relocated’ from their original locations they are now used by residents for their own postal deliveries. As I guess many of these cottages are now owned by ‘non-locals’ I suppose it stops the postie from getting too close to the property. I have added all we spotted to the Postbox page here.
The climb started as we took a right fork and up Petteycrate Lane, a dead end road, passing a large garden on our left where the lawn area was totally covered In primroses from top to bottom, although my attempts at getting a good photo of them proved unsuccessful. At the end of the tarmac the track turned into a small lane alongside a large property, and with all the recent rain it was like walking up a stream bed for the first 100 metres.
A bit further up the lead walkers who were setting a good pace stopped to confirm they were still on the right route, and off to the side a gateway offered us the first chance to take in the coastal view looking eastwards. Visibility was pretty good and with Seatown in the foreground, the hills and cliffs could be followed past West Bay and along Chesil beach right round to unmistakable Portland Bill. The climb continued along Petteycrate Lane past the edge of Langdon Hill and out into an open field, where we stopped again to catch our breaths and take in the inland views as well as the coastal ones. The sky was brightening and some had decided that warm coats and hats were now surplus to requirement. All of the dogs had been brilliant on the track and now had the open expanse to have a good run around. Newton and Nimbus have matured into stunning young dogs (but lost some vital bits of their anatomy) since we last saw them and were eager to search all edges of the field. Sully was less energetic and the three smaller dogs had a great time chasing each other around.
The climb up to this point had been at a very good pace and we were already at 140m above see level, with just a further 50 metres to go to the summit. Suitably rested, we crossed through a gateway and started the final climb. The path was well trodden but had been well maintained with good solid steps and a nice thick rope provided a great handhold on the left side. Seats on the side were quickly passed as we zig-zagged upwards to the trig pillar which marks the summit. After walking 1.25 miles we had climbed the 191 metres in under the hour, far faster than I had anticipated. Whilst the congratulatory lollies were distributed by Dereyk, we spent the next few minutes taking in the view both eastwards along the route we had climbed and also westwards past Lyme Regis, Beer Head and right around to the Exe estuary and the distant cliff tops of the Cornish riviera. The views are certainly some of the best in the country and numerous photographs were taken by all. Fortunately for us there were very few other walkers at the summit and so we had the place to ourselves to slowly get everyone into position for the obligatory group photo.
As we stood around the sun was breaking through in places and whilst some were taking photos, others were using the time to catch up on recent messages. Claire was one of those that had received a text on the walk up and was keen to pass on the story of her sisters-in-laws first night away on their Easter holidays. Apparently her brother, sister-in-law and family had travelled to their holiday location and settled in on Friday, so Claire was quite shocked to read the message saying that they had been notified that there had been a mix up of locations and they had inadvertently spent last night in the wrong cottage and needed to move. Clearly shocked, but amused at the situation, she replied trying to find out more, but as we were now all rested, the option to push on and extend the route slightly, (as we were still ahead of schedule) , was agreed and we started the drop down from the summit towards St Gabriel’s cottage and church.
The descent was pretty steep but again with useful steps and rope handrail before it opened up into another large field. Dogs were let off again and pleased to be free again, Newton and Nimbus decided to take off at speed down the hill. Unfortunately one of them headed towards the coastal edge and failing to respond to calls, Iain quickly headed off after them to ensure they didn’t get too close to the cliff edges. Thankfully having discovered nothing of interest they turned back across the field towards Iain, but with sheep visible further down were swiftly regathered and restrained once again. Sully doing his normal path finding trick headed on down the hill and was stood outside the church ruins by the time the first of us arrived. As the rest of the group slowly arrived, there was some discussion about the origins and age of the church.
Thankfully there was a bit of signal available on the phone so whilst a few deliberated about the years or century of construction, ranging from the 11th to 15th century, a quick search confirmed it was of 13th century origins. Alfie at this point, clearly not interested in the ruin decided he would continue down the path and headed through the next gate towards the cottages and sheep. Once his absence was detected by Denise, she headed through the gate after him and although he had already headed round the next corner, she managed to get hold of him and get him back on the lead.
Also making good use of the meagre phone signal was Claire, hoping to find out more about the holiday ’cock-up’. Still convinced that they had made a stupid mistake, she had asked for more details before leaving Golden Cap and so reading out the response as she received it, she discovered that the cottage they were at was not the one they should have been in. It was only when Claire read out the full message and let us all know that they were being moved to April Cottage, 1 Folly Lane and with the code to the key box as 1HAHA that the penny finally dropped. It certainly caused a great deal of mirth around the group and it’s great to hear that the good old April Fool trick is still able to totally baffle the otherwise intelligent and untrickable. I certainly don’t feel qualified to suggest the recipient of this hoax was either gullible or stupid, but am certainly able to confirm that the originators are geniuses and provided us all with great deal of amusement today.
Unfortunately having dropped down to just 65 metres at the church ruins, the only option to get back on the eastward side of Golden Cap was to climb again, so we had to regain around 75 metres to pass through the original pre summit rest location. The easiest route rather than take the steep climb up a hedgerow as signed, was a steady diagonal leg from one corner of a large field to the top corner, and so at a slow and sedate pace we headed eastwards again under the shadow of the hilltop. The skies around were quite grey, although we did manage to see a kestrel or sparrow hawk hovering perfectly still in the breeze as it targeted its prey. As we approached the final third of the field a short sharp shower caught some of the rear off guard and resulted in a quick dive into rucksacks for waterproofs whilst the advance party sought shelter under a large tree, as the squall passed almost as quickly as it came.
Crossing through the gate and immediately being out of the cold wind, all thoughts turned to the descent, which would be through the fields closer to the cliffs edge. The first half down to Seatown was relatively easy and incident free, although as we got lower and the pathway narrowed as it passed through many gorse bushes, the recent rains and many pairs of feet passing through had created some really muddy sections. The steep steps and slippery conditions on the narrow footpath caused the group to spread out so the faster ones arrived on the road into Seatown and waited patiently for the remainder to catch up. Once regrouped we all headed past the holiday park shop and on towards the stream and sea to gets the mud splattered dogs washed off as best we could, and of course also our own filthy wellies and boots.
Whilst some went to the waters edge to get a good view of the hill we had just been up, others stood watching brave bathers head for a cooling dip and crazy runners take off up the hills, whilst contemplating the prospect of a swift half in The Anchor. We had made good time on the descent so with just under an hour until our table was booked for lunch a unanimous decision was taken to grab some seats in the sun and partake of some quick lunchtime aperitifs, in the form of cider, beers or coffees.
Suitably rested and refreshed we headed back towards Chideock on a bridleway through the holiday park. The half hour rest had caused a few bones and joints to stiffen up but once back into the flow, the mile back up the road was covered in good time and we arrived as one large group back into the car park to change footwear (and in some cases trousers) , perfectly timed with just 10 minutes until ‘service’.
The walk, although it felt longer, had only been 4.15 miles but with over 800 feet of ascent/descent and the many stops ’to enjoy the views’ the average walking speed of around 1.5 mph was pretty impressive.
Our tables were laid out for us in the bar (complete with a good selection of biscuits for the dogs) and as we walked past the bar to take our seats a chap at the bar recognised John. It didn’t take long to it realise that he was one of Johns pupil at King Arthur’s back in the 1990s, and he was even more surprised when he glanced round and saw Maureen, who was his form tutor for five years. I later recognised him as the son of a chap who worked on my cars and many of us have come across his older sister either as Head girl at Sexey’s school, from the Girl Guides and the gang shows or her work in the local community. It turns out he was there as it’s his partner Helen who currently runs the pub and the small world chances of seeing someone else we knew from Wincanton sat at the bar, certainly amused us all.
The lunch was soon delivered to the tables, the majority of good size portion of delicious fish and chips, with the occasional option of scampi or even bangers and mash for others. The dogs were brilliant as they crashed out after clearing the tables of biscuits, and of course the chatter and banter that had been going on all day continued at the tables. I can’t relate all the stories this week, but I know everyone managed to spend a bit of time with almost everyone else at some point (included some on the hoof medical catch ups with the Doctor and nurses). After desserts and coffees were completed and we had squared away the bill for a really enjoyable lunch with a very confused barmaid, we gathered to say our farewells in the car park where the general consensus was that the day had been a roaring success. As such I’d very much like to thank our good ladies for joining us once again today and adding a bit of glamour to proceedings. The next time for them to join us again will hopefully be in a few months time on a warm summers evening, whilst the rest of us will take the Easter weekend off and then get back into our normal Saturday morning groove, with the introduction of another new member to the group in a fortnights time. Until then - Happy Easter All!
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