Sat 22 Feb ‘25. DH, RW, TO, PCL, DL, CH, Srumpy & Maisie
After a wet week the forecast looked good for us this morning, with the prospect of blue skies and dry, so it was a bit disappointing as we headed towards Shaftesbury that the cloud was low and it looked far from sunny on the top as we passed through Gillingham. Earlier in the week I had planned our walk to repeat one from last summer when we started in Motcombe and climbed part way up the hill towards the Dorset hill top town. Once everyone had declared their intentions to walk on Wednesday, I realised that it would be four out of the five this week who walked it last year, so decided to turn it upside down and start on high before dropping down westwards and then climbing back up to finish at Skevy’s for breakfast.
And so it was that we met at the Wincombe Business Park just off of the A350, a car of three from Wincanton and a few minutes later, with an unexpected extra passenger, the car from the Ansford/Cary/Cole/Pitcombe/Bruton (take your pick) area. The skies were starting to lighten as the cloud lifted and we set off out of the estate and across the roundabout into the fairly new housing estate where we worked our way around the grid of roads to reach the far back corner, past a small play area and onto a path leading into the woods clinging to the side of the hill. Behind the fence the building of Littledown Business park were quiet for a Saturday morning, although I suppose it’s not really peak time for making hampers in the Virginia Hayward business. In the bottom we could see evidence of an improvised mountain bike track making good use of the many humps and hollows as we started our decent following the waymaker onto a small path. It was quite tricky in places as the path fell away down the hill and with roots to negotiate as well, the slippery bits were heart in the mouth moments. Eventually the small path come out onto a wider track, probably the one we should have followed initially, as we kept loosing height until a stile marked the end of the wooded section. We paused briefly at a gateway on the edge of the trees to take in our first good view of the lower ground with Motcombe just about visible.
Once over the stile there was a clearly walked path across a very level section of field as we headed towards another wooded section. As we closed in it looked rather eerie with blackened trunks and leafless branches. Richard was convinced it was worthy of a photo but having his own camera tucked away safely in his rucksack (who knows what else was in there) he had to persuade one of us that it was worth the effort. Being the very obliging sort there was more than one photo taken, which clearly delighted Richard. We arrived at a wooden gate and saw that the woods, known as Kingsettle Woods are managed by the Woodland Trust. The trusts three strategic aims include protecting the woods and their wildlife for the future, working with others to creat more native woodlands and inspiring everyone to enjoy and value the woods and trees. Just inside the gate a dull metal odd shape container had us all confused for a while, which Trevor failed to get Phil or anyone else to peek inside, before I found some writing on the side suggestion it was a visitor information leaflet dispensing system. Unfortunately there were none to be seen today. So for those who would like to know a bit more, I have summarised the below from the Woodland Trust website.
Kingsettle Wood is an attractive 21 ha mixed broadleaf and coniferous woodland on the Dorset /Wiltshire border, one mile north of Shaftesbury. It lies within the Blackmore Vale and Vale of Wardour and is also within the Cranborne Chase and West Wiltshire Downs AONB. The wood is believed to be a remnant of the former Royal Forests of Selwood and Gillingham.
Situated on top of a scarp, the wood is prominent in the local landscape from the A350 adjoining to the east and from the roads and villages to the west. The attractive landscape, is characterised by sweeping valleys and rounded Upper Greensand hills with a dominance of woodland on the slopes. Duncliffe Wood and the woods around Wardour Castle provide larger areas of ancient woodland to the south west and east respectively.
Although an ancient woodland site, it has largely been planted with conifers and non-native broadleaves, a process that started over 150 years ago. In the 1950s & 60s almost the entire wood was felled and replaced. Currently the main species include ash, sycamore, beech, oak, Norway spruce, Douglas fir and Scots pine. Only since the trust acquired the site in 1984 has the restoration of this Planted Ancient Woodland Site become an important issue.
Kingsettle is a Site of Nature Conservation Interest (SNCI) due to its historically rich ground flora including Dorset notables such as Pignut, Yellow Archangel and Wood sorrel. Wildlife know to inhabit the site include roe deer, badgers, tawny owls and an array of birds such as buzzards, wood-peckers and tree-creepers.
We made our way along the track through masses of young wild garlic plants, even covering a lot of the track, so clearly it’s not an over walked wood. To the side we spotted a small clump of bright red scarlet elf cup (Sarcoscypha cochineal) , which grows in damp shady areas of woodland, which is also known as fairies baths. Richard was again keen to grab a photo but was reluctant to take out his camera from its safe keeping in his bag once more, so thanks to Dereyk for this one. I think it’s fair to say to we would have certainly scared off any chances of seeing any wildlife from the cacophony of the ribbing Richard received from almost everyone.
As we made our way through the woods the one thing in the discription above that is 100% correct is that the area is very damp. In places there were slightly firmer routes around some of the boggy area, but just like the dogs were doing, at some points we had to go straight through the mud. Surprisingly we did actually meet someone else coming towards us as we headed deeper in. I was conscious that there was an exit at the north west corner that we were aiming for, but the track kept is winding around until we eventually emerged across a section of boardwalk to join a farm track about 200metres higher than I expected us to.
However, coming out further up the hillside allowed us a better view down onto the fields we first walked through in Delightful Dorset in September ‘24 when we started from down in Motcombe. This time we knew that by descending further down only meant one thing, we had to climb back up again! We skirted around the bottom of a private tennis court at Kingsettle Farmhouse and into what would be the filthiest of gateways today, whilst all the time there were many deep in thought, trying to recollect the three main original cast members of our unofficially affiliated comedy show, Last of the Summer Wine. Eventually a cry of delight went around as Brian Wildes name was dragged from the depths of someone’s knowledge and as such there was much elation as we headed past Grants Copse and westwards towards the large plastic greenhouses, prominent on the edge of Frog Lane Farm. On reaching the two plastic covered structures, it was clear that they were no longer being used for their intended purpose, in fact with man broken sheets and gaps all around, it was doubtful they are actually being used for any thing farming related currently. Looks another case of new owners to the county in the big farm house with no interest in maintain the other farm buildings, until there’s time to convert them to AirBnB accommodation.
After our weekly issue of sweetie rations we turned left along Frog Lane and reached the lowest (altitude and maybe morale) part of the walk as we crossed a stream cunningly diverted to run across the front of a substantial new build house. From here the climb back up started, gently at first but as we turned left onto the Motcombe-Shaftesbury road the incline increased in front of us. By now the skies had cleared and the mercury was rising steadily, so much so that hats and coats were discarded as the i internal temperatures also began to increase. As the road narrowed and traffic tried to squeeze past each other with little regard for us on the edge of the road, we turned left, through a gate and into another muddy gateway. As we crossed it towards the next gate over a stream in the corner, we disturbed a heron who had been sitting looking for his next meal by a small pond. Thankfully the climb up through the grass wasn’t too damp but there were plenty of false horizons before we made it to Thanes Farm. I think if there were any guests in the small cottage by the gate cooking breakfast we may well have all have been happy to call it a day there. However we were into the last 30 minutes now so we pushed on, up a short section of metalled lane before the last little leg through a field containing two large, but thankfully uninterested in us, horses and back onto the track we took outbound some 90 minutes previously.
When we reached the gateway with the view out to the west again we stopped for this weeks group photo before starting the climb back up through the woods. Going up was considerably slower than coming down and necessitated a couple of short stops as we gradually progressed up the wider track to the top. One final breather and then it was a different route back through the houses to the A350. As we passed the Welcome to Dorset sign, it was incorrectly assumed we must have stepped over the county boundary to Wiltshire on the walk, but actually it runs up the A350 to the outskirts of the town before heading slightly east around the edge of the trading estate which was our final destination.
We arrived back at the cars after just over 2 hours, having completed almost 4 miles, which included getting on for 500 feet (160m) of decent and ascent and I think for once we all deserved a bit of a sit down and breakfast.
It was January ‘24 when we last came to Skevy’s cafe, but on stepping inside it was clear that not much has changed. Unfortunately our useable table by the window was taken and so after we had ordered our meals we split across 2 adjacent tables. It wasn’t too long before our food was being delivered and with it a plate full of sausages for the dogs. Most of us had opted for the standard sized cooked breakfast but Trevor, using the excuse of lining his stomach before a couple of beers supporting England this afternoon, opted for the dustbin lid mega breakfast, which he polished off quicker than anyone else.
Whilst it might have been one of our most strenuous walks, I for one am looking forward to revisiting the woods in early summer when the floor should be carpeted in a mass of Dorset bluebells. Anyone else?
Comments