Dorset October 2019

Off we went to Dorset (previous Dorset walks here) and after lunch at the Blue Vinny in Puddletown, we arrived at Maiden Castle, the first hill fort of the early Iron age (800-400 BC) and its banks and ditches still standing proudly over the surrounding countryside as well as the rather more recently constructed Poundbury, one of Prince Charles’s projects, visible on the west side of Dorchester

From there to West Knighton, our beds for three days. The pub is the New Inn and on this first evening is very quiet, though it becomes livelier as the week progresses.

Next day we leave the car at Osmington Mills and head off to walk a short section of the south west coast path, heading east for a couple of miles through Ringstead, before returning to Osmington Mills on an inland route. 

We stop at a delightful little chapel, St Catherine’s, built in 1926 by the widow of a controversial vicar who used the nearby Holworth House as a holiday home. 

Lunch is at The Smugglers Inn, Osmington Mills

With the weather still gloomy we make a pilgrimage to Thomas Hardy’s Cottage (where he was born, made of cob and thatch and which is delightfully nestling in gardens and countryside.) 

Also interesting, if less appealing, was our next stop, at Hardy’s later home, Max Gate, a grand yet rather stuffy Victorian house designed by Hardy himself. Both are National Trust.

In the evening to The Wise Man, West Stafford.

On Thursday  a coastal walk beckons on the Isle of Portland. This is where Portland stone comes from and there are the remains of disused quarries and stone cranes along the shore. 

We attempt a walk starting at the north end of the island, heading towards the cliffs on the east side.  Unfortunately, the weather deteriorates with heavy rain and mist obscuring the views over the sea and Chesil Beach. We decide to head back and seek the shelter of the Cove House Inn in Chiswell.  The rain stops and the weather brightens up after lunch, so we head down to Portland Bill and do a circular walk heading up the east coast past the old cranes that were used to load stone onto boats. We cut across the island and head back to Portland Bill down the west side. 

Thursday evening, we visit the quirky and cramped Blue Raddle in Dorchester. Very atmospheric and seems as if it hasn’t changed since Queen Victoria was on the throne. 

Friday’s walk was to be between Childe Okeford and Stourpaine, ending at the White Horse in Stourpaine but we opted to visit the National Trust’s Kingston Lacy instead. 

East Kent, November 2021

 We returned to Kent following several earlier enjoyable visits to the county, this time to the area just inland from Sandwich. Although now very rural, this was once part of the Kent coalfield, the last pits closing in the late 1980s. We stayed at the very hospitable and comfortable Goss Hall, an excellent B & B in a Grade II listed manor house just outside the village of Ash. 

On the way down, we had lunch at the FitzWalter Arms in Goodnestone (pronounced ‘Gunstone’) and were given a very warm welcome and an excellent lunch, even though the heating wasn’t working and the landlady was busy preparing the food as well as serving behind the bar. Goodnestone is the estate village of Goodnestone Park, an imposing house built in the early 18th century by Brook Bridges and later passing to the FitzWalter family.  After lunch we walked about three miles through the pleasant countryside surrounding the village.

Supper was taken at the Duke William in the nearby village of Ickham, reached via a network of winding, single track lanes.
The next day’s nine-mile walk started at the north end of Deal, where we parked next to the site of Sandown Castle, an artillery fort constructed by Henry VIII. We walked northwards with the Royal Cinque Ports Golf Club on one side and extensive marshland on the other. We arrived at Sandwich in time to explore this very attractive riverside town before enjoying a light lunch (sandwiches, of course) in the Crispin Inn, next door to the imposing medieval Barbican gate. Our return walk took us across yet another golf course (the Royal St. George’s Golf Club) to the sea and then southwards for about three miles on the coast path back to our car.

The evening found us back in Sandwich for another good supper, this time at the George & Dragon, spoilt only by a bunch of youths enjoying themselves rather too enthusiastically at a nearby table.
The next morning, we parked at Grove Ferry on the Great Stour and used Walking World no. 2531 as a guide, although we walked the eight-mile route clockwise rather than anticlockwise to get most of the walk done before lunch in the Red Lion at Stodmarsh. The outward route partly followed the banks of the Little Stour.

Having made good progress, we arrived at the Red Lion earlier than our scheduled time of 1.30 pm and were told that a photoshoot taking place in the kitchen would delay the preparation of our food. We were then presented with one of the most expensive pub lunch menus we have encountered in over twenty years of walking – two courses at £32 and rather small portions – very ‘nouvelle cuisine’!

It was after 3 pm when we left Stodmarsh to walk the final three miles back to Grove Ferry, partly following the route of the Stour Valley Walk. Dusk was falling as we drove back to Goss Hall. We visited the Dog at Wingham for our evening meal, which was most welcome after our frugal lunch.
On our fourth and final day we parked in Chilham, a very picturesque village south west of Canterbury. We did a circular walk of about three miles to the south of the village, every now and then catching glimpses of Chilham Castle overlooking the surrounding countryside. Chilham Castle is an imposing Jacobean house built in 1616 by the Master of the Rolls, Sir Dudley Digges. 

After lunch in the delightful White Horse at Chilham and a quick look around the church, we headed for home after a delightful four days in this very pleasant part of Kent.

Exmoor, West Somerset, North Devon. October 2021

 For our first walking trip away since 2019, three of us returned to Minehead in October 2021. 

Having driven down in the morning, we arrived in time to have lunch at the Hood Arms in Kilve. Kilve is a small village at the foot of the Quantocks, an area much loved by Wordsworth and Coleridge, both of whom lived in the area for a while. After lunch we walked down the appropriately named Sea Lane to the beach about a mile away. The rocks here contain oil shale and formed the basis of an embryonic, but ultimately unsuccessful, oil shale industry in the 1920s. A retort dating from that time still stands near the beach. 

We had supper in the Old Ship Aground by Minehead harbour, a pub which has prospered since being taken over by a local farming family.

The following day saw us walking down through the town, across the A39 and then steeply up through the woods onto the ridge that runs south of Minehead. From a height of 230 m (750 feet) there are spectacular views over Minehead, North Hill and along the Bristol Channel coast. We walked east along the Macmillan Way for a couple of miles until we descended into the medieval village of Dunster. Lunch was taken in the garden of the unpretentious, but very welcoming, Stag’s Head Inn. 

After lunch we continued our walk north through the village to the coast, via Dunster station on the preserved West Somerset Railway. There was much to interest us here, with an ex-London Routemaster bus in the station yard and the imminent arrival of a steam train from Bishops Lydeard. Trains normally run into Minehead, but level crossing improvements at Minehead require them to terminate at Dunster. After seeing the locomotive run around its train for the return journey, we carried on towards Dunster beach and made our way along the coast path, past the West Somerset golf course and back to Minehead. 

That evening we adjourned to the bar of the Luttrell Arms in Dunster for supper.
On day 3 we headed west along the A39 through Porlock and into north Devon, to park in the Valley of Rocks, next to what must be one of the most picturesque cricket pitches in the country. The feral goats were enjoying the autumn sunshine as we walked west along the valley. At Lee Abbey we started climbing the steep hill; well worth it for the views up and down the coast and over the valley several hundred feet below. 
After a mile or two we descended into Lynton, hoping to get lunch at the Crown Hotel. We were disappointed to find that they were closed until 2 pm but a ‘phone call confirmed that the Blue Ball in nearby Countisbury was open, so we walked back to the car along the cliff path and drove there in time to have a pleasant lunch on their terrace overlooking Countisbury church and the East Lyn valley.

In the evening we returned to the Stag’s Head Inn in Dunster for supper. On the way home the next morning, we did a short walk at Luxborough, stopping to take a look at the attractive church with its unusual tower.

What's it all about?

 This is the blog for four blokes who have spent over 20 years walking together. We get on all right, we've walked in every county in England and in Wales and until recently we ran a website that recorded where we went and when.

When we started, in 2000, there were no such things as blogs, and the website was maintained manually, which wasn't always easy. When the software stopped updating we started this blog - which is a whole lot easier to look after.

Please use these links to view the first 18 years or so:

Walking Boys home

The 39 Counties of England

The 13 Counties of Wales

The 34 Counties of Scotland