Saturday 25th January ‘25. DH, RW, TO, DL, CH, JS, Scrumpy & Maisie
It’s already a month since Christmas Day and although the mornings and evenings are getting lighter, we must remember that we are still very much in the middle of winter, and with the recent wet weather (and more to come again this next week) , finding a suitable walk out of the muddy fields is always a challenge this time of year. Last week, before the rains the short stretch across fields was OK, but this week it was definitely a case of staying on the black top whereever possible. So it was, after a quick recce on Wednesday by Rich and myself, that we agreed on a walk around the paths and roads of Gillingham, with the Old Brewery cafe at Wyke being given a second chance, after the extremely slow serving last time, for breakfast today.
The unwashed blue Honda from the north was already parked up when the four of us Wincantonians arrived in the shiny red Honda at the car park of the Old Brewery, and it could be seen immediately that Trev and Rich were already deep in discussions about how they could resolve this weeks early dilemma. Hoping there might be help forthcoming, but sadly not, the decision was taken that today Scrumpy would have to complete her walk with the embarrassment of being restrained by Trevor’s favourite black tie, kept in the car in case of unannounced solemn moments. It was that or hope to find some loose bailer twine hanging off a gateway on the early part of the walk.
And so once everyone was ready we set of for a clockwise loop of the town whose history can be traced back to an early dwelling in the Bay area from around 2500BC. There is much evidence also of substantial Roman buildings and life, but the towns current name is of Saxon origin, Gylla being possibly the name of a local chief and ham meaning village or homestead. As we headed along Wavering Road (West) Chris related the sorry he’d been told during a potential house purchase, of it being the boundary line between two groups battling for land as it ‘wavered’ between them. How true it is I don’t know, but it may be related to the events mentioned in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle in relation to a battle fought at Penn (Penselwood) where Edmund Ironside fought and defeated King Canute and the Danes. Richard was fixated with the results of The Traitors being aired on TV and was delighted when a straw poll indicated that it was a total miss with us all. (Post note - another win for an ex soldier. Must be something to do with the training)!
John also knew the road of old and was quite surprised to see it now split into an East and West section by the closure to vehicle traffic at the narrow bridge over the river Stour. We turned left just before the bridge and followed a pedestrian path alongside the fast flowing river. Unfortunately that extra flow is causing the bank to collapse in some places and so there was a lot of Harris fencing in place, which somewhat ruins the view from the large gardens of the bungalows on the far bank.
We made our way around the edge of the Peacemarsh housing estate and although it was feeling a bit warmer, the sun was still low in the sky. In areas where the water on the track had frozen overnight it was certainly a bit slippy in places, but we received plenty of warning about the tricky patches from walkers coming the other way. We certainly didn’t want any accidents to deal with today. It was good to see new signs of life in the bushes and snowdrops and daffodils starting to push through as we made our way around to the 12 o’clock position at top of Gillingham to cross the main road heading north towards Mere.
On the wall of the roadside cottage was a large board detailing the prices of crossing through the Blackmore Vale Turnpike Road during the reign of King George IV (1820-1830). We passed through unhindered and made our way towards the area of Colesbrook, not taking the diversion to visit the old Purns mill, as we did last time we came this way. Before reaching the ford across the River Shreen, we turned into one of the many areas of green space around the town, the Shreen Measows and Shires Gate. Initially a made up track which drops down close to the river, we cut across any area of grass which was to be the only section of wet and muddy ground to cross today, and came out into Horsefields Close. Heading through a small path/ginnel/alley or what ever flavour you refer to them as, we were then onto the main road of the area, named after that original chief Gylla. We turned left along it and then right down Highgrove and through another alley into Sylvan Way and then Shreen Way before coming to the main road out towards East Knoyle, in the Bay Area of town. We were now at the 3 o’clock side of todays twisty walk and an ideal stop to take on some of Dereykks confectionery, the first real chance for a breather since we started.
Our next leg was over the river on Bay Bridge and then right up Bay Lane and past the amusingly named Baldricks End cottage, before we followed another small path around the outer boundary of Gillingham secondary school and out into the Lodbourne area of town and along Barnaby Mead to come out onto the High Street by the Methodist chapel. We turned right, over the river again and towards the older end of town which unfortunately is looking somewhat run down these days. Previously it was the centre of town and according to a tradition is where Edward the Confessor was declared King at Gillingham in 1042. Richard turned down the opportunity to pop into the pet shop to get Scrumpy a more dignified lead, before we headed through a small car park behind St Mary’s church. The settlement and church of St Mary are mentioned in Domesday Book although the church was rebuilt around 1300-50. It was largely rebuilt again in the 1830s under the direction of its vicar, Henry Deane. The chancel is the only substantial ancient part, dating from the 14th century. The church is unique in that the chancel floor is lower than that of the nave.
We then had to cross the busy town ring road, which has taken traffic away from the High Street and was constructed around the late 1980s as the town grew quickly as more land was released in the town for residential use. It is named after the Normandy twinned town of Le Neurbourg. We turned up the appropriatly named Cemetery road, past the cemetery gates on the left and further on the newer cemetery on the right after which the road becomes Rolls Bridge Lane. Passing over the Stour again we made our way along the left pavement of another newish residential area before another alley way took us through to come out on the main Wyke road. It was then just a short distance to complete the loop at the front doors of the Old Brewery cafe, where we just had time to pose for this weeks groupie before heading inside for our table reservation at 1030.
We had raced around the 3.6 miles today in just under 90 minutes, an almost record pace of 2.51 miles per hour. Our table was ready for us at the very front next to a vintage Sunbeam 500cc shaft driven motorcycle and sunlight was streaming in through the large windows as we ordered our breakfasts and drinks. It was a 50/50 split between fully cooked English options and scrambled eggs on toast today and the service far exceeded the last visit as we were all served within 30 minutes of entering the establishment this time. Maisie enjoyed some attention from a lady off of a nearby table, whilst Scrumpy still hid her head in shame at the indignation she had been subjected to all walk. The cafe was far less busy that previously so with a very good breakfast overall, hopefully the service will be the same again when we next return.
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