Who pinched all the stiles?

Sat 1 August '26 DH, DL, PC, JB, PCl

The heatwave of '26 continues although the forecast for today was a little bit cooler than the previous few weeks, so I opted a for a walk close to home, which I had planned for the previous week only to discover that no one was available. The RV was at 0830 by the side of the road towards the end of Gyllas Way, on the thirty year old housing estate to the north east of Gillingham.

With no dogs or grandchildren this week, we set off on a narrow path between the properties which took us over a small footbridge over Shreen Water, the lovely chalk stream which makes its way south from the white hills of Mere. we were all a bit surprised to see a decent flow considering we are now officially in drought conditions. Heading over the scorched fields we passed through a few gates and climbed up to join a small road which appears to serve just a few farms around this side of the town. One of the farms has a large collection of old vehicles and other items laid out on the hillside, which looks a right eyesore and can bee seen for miles around. Clearly the property which is called Dreamers Farm should be changed to Nightmare!

Talking of nightmares, the next path we took was quite overgrown and is obviously not walked too often. initially there was ample room but as we carried on through, the gap became tighter and the brambles crossed the small space at head, waits and ankle level. JB flailed his trusty stick, as he lead the way being the only one wearing long trousers, and cleared a good many of the higher ones, but as we followed through, the lower ones grabbed onto bare skin at every opportunity. There was much cursing and by the time we escaped into the farmyard, there were a few trickles of blood to be seen on the lower limbs. thankfully back out into the open we continued east and enjoyed a good view down to the east and south, before we crossed through a field of inquisitive young cattle, and turned north, briefly stopping to grab this weeks 'groupie'.

Our route for the next half mile looked on the map as though it was a narrow path between parallel hedges, but it turned out to be a thirty meter wide field which had recently been harvested, leaving a wide open avenue in which we disturbed a hare, out searching for any new fresh shoots to nibble. There was a bit of welcome shade to the right side as the temperature started to climb once more before we came across a .small narrow footbridge, well guarded by stinking nettles, which took us over a small stream and an area that looks like it would be a lot harder to cross in winter conditions. The avenue had plenty of small gates on either side into adjoining fields, so we felt pretty confident there would be no issues en route, as we made our way slowly closer to the hills we could see rising behind Mere.

The time was pushing on and so after an hours walking i decided it was time to turn for home. There were a couple of places we could do this as our next path was no more than 100m to our current one. On our first attempt by the very nicely refurbished Forest Side Farm, we crossed an electric fence and headed to a point just off centre where our crossing point through the hedge should be. But on arriving at the hedge row there was no sign at all of a suitable point, so we doubled back and too the next track, by a barn and disused caravan and headed back south, with the previously mentioned scrapheap clearly visible in the distance.

A steady 400m diagonal across a large open field should have taken us to a crossing point in the bottom corner, but although there was evidence of a new fence, apart from a small animal run through the hedge, there was nowhere for us to cross through without causing much damage to the hedge, and ourselves. So after a bit of pouring over the map, we made another U-turn to find an alternative route onto a public right of way again. Thankfully this time the path crossed by large gates, although the next couple we tied or chained up tightly and we had to climb over them, not ideal at our age! They did serve to remind us though of the many times we have had to help Adrian over such obstacles, and in a small way we still miss those humorous encounters.

As we eventually arrived at Benjafield Farm and crossed the small Shreen Brook again, there were indeed signs telling us of a temporary footpath diversion around the farm., which of course we followed. As we passed to the west side we could hear some movement on or in the water and so decided to take a closer look in the region of a small wooden hut. A notice board on the side informed us that we were at the site of the Bejafield Weir Micro Hydro Electric Generation System. We were all quite shocked and impressed to see such a system on what appears to be a level bit of land. There was plenty of information on the board which I have copied from an article I found on line dated October 2013.

A 5.5 kW screw turbine has been installed next to the weir at Benjafield Farm. The site is on Shreen Water – a tributary of the River Stour – between Mere and Gillingham in Dorset.

The installation of this renewable electricity generation is estimated to generate 28,000 kWh/yr saving 13 tonnes of carbon dioxide a year and provides for some of the high electrical demand at this cattle farm. This farm diversification provides income to the farm from the Feed in tariff and sales of electricity.

A screw turbine was chosen to match the low head, high flows and requirement for fish protection at this site. The rated flow of the turbine is determined by the 1.8 m head and flows available. To comply with the Environment Agency Good Practise Guidelines, a 1.0m diameter turbine, taking a maximum flow of 0.320metres cubed per second, was chosen. The project included stabilisation of the west bank and construction of a timber housing for the gearbox, generator, grid connect and control unit. Extensive negotiation with the Environment Agency was required to ensure that the scheme design and methods of construction complied with the environmental standards expected to achieve the necessary Abstraction License and Flood Defence Consent. It was decided to install the turbine in a new excavation next to the existing weir. A V shaped notch in the weir has been provided to enable down river fish passage. The grid connection is arranged so that electricity generated supplies the needs of the site, only exporting to the grid when there is a surplus.

The total project budget was £70,000. and the process from initial agreement to receipt of the grant took 3 years. This is one of three hydropower projects in the area in receipt of the grant, all using different hydro turbine technologies.

We continued heading towards the grey church spire of Milton on Stour, briefly stopping for Phil to admire a small group of very horny sheep, before Purns Mill at Colebrook, (formerly Parhams Mill of Constable fame), appered in fromt of us signalling that we didnt have much further to go. Following the road around we came to the open space of Shreen Meadow and cut across to a small path leading into Frog Hollow.

Unfortunetly due to the dry weather it looks like all the frog vacated the pool long before it dried up, but certainly worthy of a revisit in damper conditions. It was then just a short walk back through the edges of the housing estate, past a couple of youngsters under going some CBT on their bikes and we were back at the cars, some 2hr 15 minutes after starting having completed four and a quarter miles.

It was then just a five minute drive into town for breakfast at the Filling Sation cafe, where the only seats we could get were two small tables out the front by the road leading to the station. We placed our orders for the A303 breakfast, veggy or just scabbled eggs plus black pudding, took a quick visit to the bike shop and then sat and watched the world go by. As our drinks were delivered the road suddenly got very busy as a large low loader arrived and reversed into the road leading to the trading etstae. Obviously a vehicle that size caused quite a blockage, which some drivers dealt with better than others. After yet another dose of diesel fumes from a passing bus, we moved inside with our drinks to a vacant table to await our food. all meals just about found room on the table and we all enjoyed what was a very good value for money breakfast.

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