Saturday 29 January 2021, DH,RW,BFS,TO,DL,Sully, Scrumpy & Bill
A mild January morning saw us venture the furthest south we have ever been for a morning walk, as we headed for the Dorset (former) market town of Sturminster Newton. Allowing for the extra travelling time, the RV this week was at 0915 in the old station car park.
Also for the first time since the walks began we had to pay for pre walk parking and having cash ready I was all sorted with ticket in hand when the Bruton/Cary gang arrived a few minutes later.
Despite being told the exact cost of the parking for 4 hours, they came cashless and so relied on the technology of plastic to pay, or so they thought! Numerous attempts to get a card to register all failed and so thankfully Deryck dug deep into his pockets to find the required amount of change. Who says cash is dead!
Whilst all this was going on, our cycling correspondent had been chatting to an elderly gentleman who had just parked up and was struggling to work how how much to pay as he planned on being there longer than the maximum 6 hours. He gave Brian his whole life story in 5 minutes; ” down from Chippenham for the day, cycling to Wimborne & back on his new electric bike. Previous one lhad been pinched off the back of his car by a couple who had been tracked by car registration number back to their house, but police did nothing about it”! Brian certainly felt sorry for him, but just couldn’t get away from him. I think he would still have been there when we got back if we hadn’t dragged him away.
The route this week included the first stretch of the the North Doset Trailway, which now extends approximately 14 miles from Sturminster Newton to Spetisbury, (with a section in Stalbridge planned to be linked in due time). It provides a safe route for walkers, runners, cyclists, equestrians and people with mobility scooters. The Trailway is largely made up of sections of the old Somerset and Dorset Railway which linked Bristol and Bournemouth until the 1960s.
The plan was to go round in an anti-clockwise direction and through the fields first to allow the dogs a good run, out to Fiddleford and beyond before heading back on the trailway. So a mere 200 metres into our walk, we dropped down to the left of the track and under a low bridge certainly constructed for the trains to travel over “back in the day”.
We headed out towards the river Stour and having swiftly avoided a few very large cattle, perhaps even a bull, we we soon striding out, listening to Trevor’s latest tales of medical mishap. For late January, the fields were relatively dry although after his usual early roll and paddling through whatever mud and water he could find, Sully, despite being bathed and groomed on Thursday, was soon displaying his usual two tone coat.
The sound of running water greated us as we approached Fiddleford manor & mill. Crossing a narrow bridge over the weir we paused to admire the view and the churning of water at one side of the bank. It turns out it was the outlet of the hydro power setup which has brought new life and power into the mill.
Continuing through the mill, we had a short section on a minor road through Fiddleford village before heading back into fields. A slight, almost unnoticeable navigational error as we skirted around the edge of the fields found us a hundred metres or so off the public right of way, but thankfully a deer run through a hedge allowed us to cross into a field with an openable gate onto another road. A short walk north, with views up the Blackmore Vale towards Duncliffe Woods and Shaftesbury and we were soon at the trailway, ready to head for home. The track was not too busy as Sully and Scrumpy wandered along side by side, only being called back occasionally as cyclist passed. The 2 kilometre walk back to Sturminster was timed to perfection as we arrived back at the cars to change out of muddy boots at 11.00 on the dot. The tracking unfortunately didn’t work again but around 3.5 miles and over 10,000 steps In 1 3/4 hours.
A short walk into the town and across the main road, we headed into the pre-booked Stur of the Moment cafe, to a warm welcome, well Portia and her team we certainly pleased to see the three dogs! The friendly waitressing team soon came to take our orders for the Big Stur or the smaller Moment breakfast and drinks and returned moments later with treats for the dogs. Sully found the water bowl and was soon lapping it up, and dribbling a good amount back onto the floor, (sorry Portia). Bill managed to find a few drops to quench his thirst but Scrumpy decided the slobbered in remnants left by Sully were not really to her taste.
Cups of tea in china cups, quickly followed by freshly cooked breakfasts with toast soon silenced the banter at the table, less for Trevor who was glued to his phone waiting for his “lot” to come up on the Wincanton auction site. He turned down the option of some oars, a rucksack and many other ‘priceless’ items whilst waiting his turn to bid. A very tasty plateful, good sausages, scrumpy bacon and some of the best mushrooms every tasted on a Saturday morning had us all agreeing that this was another cafe we would certainly be returning to in the future.
Suitably filled and all paid for we headed back to the cars, Trevor still clutching his phone and hoping his signal didn’t die on the journey back to Castle Cary before his number came up. Did he manage to get what he was after? perhaps we will have to wait until next week to hear the full, and hopefully successful story. He will certainly have LOTs to tell us!
