Saturday 11th November’23. DH, RW, TO, AC, DL, JB, CW, Scrumpy & Albus
It was a cool and misty morning with some areas receiving a ground frost as we met at Thorngrove Garden centre reading for a circumnavigation of Gillingham. No sooner were we out of the cars than the saga of last weeks missing boots resumed, with Dereyk sporting a brand new pair as the missing one have still not surfaced. Our new member Chris, clearly not put off by the shenanigans on Cock Hill last week was back and raring to go, but in his rush to get out of the house had forgotten to put in his walking boots and was facing the prospect of walking in a pair of black brogues. So more in hope than anything else and seeing everyone booted up ready to go, he asked the simple question ‘has anyone had any spare boots with them please’? Thankfully in the back of my car was a spare pair of size 11’s which although a bit bigger than normal were readily accepted and put on. The only delay then was when Richard went into a minor panic as he had lost his ‘red bit’, and went off back to Adrian’s car in search of it. Once we realised he meant the petals from his old style poppy, I produced a spare out of my pocket from which he used just the button to secure it back together with the safely found leaf and petals.
We headed back down the drive and left at the end heading back towards Gillingham. Just as we entered the built up area we took a right down a mettled road and walked down towards a couple of dogs with one being the size of a small bear. 200 metres down the lane we followed the signs into a field and were met with 4 Dalmatian’s bounding towards us. The mist was still down as we passed through a couple more fields adding to the disorientation which meant by the time we slowed to get the dogs on the lead and I asked if anyone knew where we were I was met with some pretty blank faces. Eventually with the neon lights of the petrol station price board visible through the hedge, the penny dropped that we were coming out opposite the Waitrose store on Le Neubourg Way.
We took the pathway through the trees and between the stores main and overflow car parks and headed for the wooden bridge over the river Stour and then round the open ground, where the fair used to be at carnival time and out onto the old High Street. Just before the exit a large display board told the story of the relationship between the famous artist John Constable and the town of Gillingham. John Constable visited Gillingham twice during the 1800s, staying with his friend, the vicar John Fisher. During these visits he made sketches around the town and completed two works in oils – 'The Bridge at Gillingham', and 'Parham's Mill',
We crossed the High Street and headed up a residential road by the side of the church and followed it around to a small path between houses at the end of the cul-de-sac, which soon opened up into a grassy area to the rear of the town’s secondary school. As the pathway bent around to the left we turned off it and onto a no-through which lead down to the area of Bay. Just before the road, we passed a cottage which with an unusual name which appealed to our collective sense of humour . Clearly the owner was a great fan of Blackadder and his halfwit sidekick Baldrick.
At the road we turned right and after a lady driving past in a car stopped to admire Scrumpy, we turned left by another appropriate sign and back into the fields on the eastern side of town. The mist was still unfortunately obscuring any chance of a view, as with dogs back on leads we passed through a field of recently ’peeled’ sheep. To our left the meandering brook of Shreen Water and beyond those the rear gardens of bungalows on one of the large residential estates that have been developed over the last thirty years.
The fields were damp from the mist and at the crossing point of a small stream a wide area usually crossed was underwater. Richard found a bridge of old decking boards but after tentatively putting one foot on it opted to find another route. John however was having not of this ‘will I won’t I’ and promptly took off over it with the boards going underwater as he strode across. The rest of us picked our way over stones and bricks that had been thrown in the hollow and we all made it through unscathed. Further on the lead group encountered some very boggy ground in a slight hollow but thankfully everyone behind skirted around it without issue. We crossed a very strong bridge over a feeder stream to Shreen Water and climbed up a muddy slope to a minor road. From here on it would all be lanes, tracks and footpaths back and so with time just about right we started the return leg in time for breakfast at 11.00, or so we thought!
100 metres or so along the road we came to Colesbrook Ford, a crossing point over the fast flowing Shreen Water. Thankfully a bridge around the side kept our feet dry as from the measuring stick in the water the river was running across the ford at around 12 inches deep. We progressed to a T junction where we had to make a decision about going to see Constables famous mill for ourselves or not. Any diversion was clearly going to cause us to run late but as it was clear that this was a good opportunity to see the historical water mill, we turned right and headed down the lane for about 400 metres to the mill building and complex of other buildings.
Prior research had indicated that the best view of Purn mill was from the road, but although we could hear water thundering down a drop, all we could see was the fast foamy run off. A public right of way led to the side of the mill so a few intrepid curious ones headed across for a closer look. Unfortunately the wheel has long since departed the mill and in its place a 6 x 8 shed stood atop the gantry. A large cog and axle was all the metal running gear which remained and the water was all running down the overflow channel instead. Clearly this is an opportunity for a 21st Century turbine which considering the rest of the buildings are in business use, seems a great waste of an opportunity to cut energy bills. Back on the road and now some 15 minutes behind schedule, we took the opportunity to regroup and reenergise from a new bag of Dereyk lollies before we put our best steps forward to close out the northern part of the walk.
At the end of the road at the junction with the B3092 heading towards Mere we paused briefly to consider how much this passage would have cost us years ago at one of the Turnpike cottages still on the outskirts of Gillingham. The board details loads of different horse drawn carriages and include the cost per head of beast. Thankfully there was no one taking our money today so we crossed the road and followed a good track around a well planted area on to the rear of the Peacemarsh housing estate. A good winding track took us alongside the meandering River Stour and along the back of some large but total not private back gardens. There was evidence of recent heavy rains as parts of the bank had been washed away and were cordoned off with Harris fences.
By now it was closing on 11.00 on Armistice Day and I feel guilty that we didn’t stop for a minute or so to pay our respects, but with still a good mile to go to the cafe we had to keep going. Through some more green public spaces we went (who knew Gillingham had so many?) we climbed up from the riverside and crossed the Wincanton Road carefully. It was then a steady stroll along the pavements eventually leading to the driveway back into Thorngrove. The skies had cleared and with a blue sky overhead we made it back for a rest, a cuppa and some breakfast. The Mill detour had added on about half a mile and most guesses were that we have covered around 4 miles. By the time I stopped the clock after 2 hours and 15 minutes we had walked 5.2 miles, the furthest we have done for a bit. Thankfully, for Adrian as well as us, this was a route devoid of stiles and with plenty of solid ground, so we had cracked along at a pretty good pace. The cafe was pretty quite and we were soon seated around our table ready for orders.
Trevor was the only one who opted for the biggest offering with the rest of us choosing a rasher of bacon and a slice of black pudding less, and there was even less meat again for the 2 vegetarians. Drinks were quickly sorted and the two lads running the front of house were very attentive. The kitchen team didn’t hang around either and we were soon getting stuck in to our well earned food. Scrumpy was content sharing some of Albus’s lunch and with the odd pieces of sausage also going their way, I think it’s safe to say we all have a very good breakfast.
Once paid it was back to the cars and gather in the loan boots which had certainly enabled Chris to get around the route. Let’s hope we don’t have part three of the boot saga next week!
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