Remembering our wonderful Sully

Sat 19 Jul ‘25. DH, TO, PCL, CH, Ralph & Maisie

Unfortunately the poorly dog I returned to last Saturday straight after the walk failed to make it through the weekend. Sully was the perfect family dog and a combination of his age, 13 years and 4 months,and the very high temperatures were just too much for him to go on. He was happy laying in the garden all through the night so Denise and myself took it in turn to stay out with him through Friday and Saturday nights. By Sunday morning we knew he was not going to recover and so took that awful decision to call out the vet to put him to sleep in the garden where he had loved spending so much of his time. He has been an absolutely brilliant dog and has been on many walks and adventures with us. In the peak of his prime he used to cry on a Saturday morning as soon as I got my boots out of the shed, as he knew he was in for a good walk, in a new area with many opportunities to get wet and dirty. It’s difficult to count the amount of times he has made it back to the cafe with his face plastered in mud. He has not walked with us much since a hot walk over Stoke Trister a couple of years ago, but he was always in my thoughts every Saturday . He was a great pal to all the other dogs and Scrumpy really took a shine to him from the time she met her first other dog in the Wallers back garden. We will miss him greatly and as a tribute to him I decided that this weeks walk should be back to one of his first walks with just Richard and myself pre Covid, but also one he has done a few times with his favourite group of old men, and also at other times with both family and friends.

It was just four of the old men today, joined by my grandson Ralph, so we all jumped into Trevor’s car at Hunters Lodge for the journey out to Fonthill. We have not been this way for three years since the Bird & Carter cafe closed down, but it’s been open again under new management for the last nine months so seemed the right time to give the Riverbarn cafe a try. We parked up in the car park, couldn’t find anyone to let them know we were here as requested, so set of on the normal clockwise loop with a long but steady uphill climb. Once through the woods it was a steady walk along the top with wonderful views into the valley on our right and occasional views left over the open fields of Salisbury Plain. We were passed by a group of four runners, with many under breath comments about what a way it was to ruin a good walk. A short decline and then another steady climb through an area that has always been pretty muddy in the past, which Sully has always emerged from caked! . Ralph was starting to feel it and decided to take a rest on a perfectly carved seat in a fallen tree.

At the end of the wood we turned right onto a minor road and through the small hamlet of Rodge, where on a stone wall a box of free freshly picked courgettes tempted Phil to pop one into his pocket. We then turned right and through a small white pedestrian gate next to large electric ones protecting the entrance to the Fonthill estate and house. I included some detail about the estate in a previous write up, Fonthill Estate and information about Beckford and his failed construction in Fonthill Follies.

We carried on through the grounds and away from the house at end the end of the track stopped for our weekly lollies which I had remembered to bring this week. Setting off again it was around the edge of the field of sheep and through a wooded section before we arrived at the lakes edge. There was a big mass of blanket weed by the shore line, which Ralph had pleasure throwing a large stick into as we paused for this weeks groupie. Ralph also took a keen interest in the water flowing out of the lake and down to the hydro station and has they have solar panels on their house roof, I think he just about understood the idea of capturing energy from moving water as well. Maybe an environmental scientist in the making!

Continuing around the edge of the lake, through a short wooded area and then out onto the road for the final mile, it was good to see a large number of swans and cygnets on the water, although it was a bit of a shock to see so much oxygen starving blanket weed throughout the whole length, especially at the top where it covered the water from side to side. The large imposing gateway soon came into sight with the prospect of breakfast not far behind it. We had slightly run over our two hours this week but arrived back at the cafe having completed the 4.35 miles at an average of 2 mph.

The cafe is now run by a couple of male business partners but some of the staff are the same as in the B & C days. The young lad who took our orders was clearly new to the job but the young female was certainly more on the ball. The menu was slightly more limited than we are used to but everyone found something to their taste. Overall not too bad service, with enough time for Trevor to watch some of the first Lions test, whilst only sharing the scores with the young waitress! At least we now have a cafe again in this area of Wiltshire so can return again to complete some other local walks before too long.

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