Goats and Shadows

Date                  25th February 2021

Destination         Duncliffe Woods

Distance            22 miles 

Duration          4 hours with lots of stops.

Weather         11 °C. Sunshine

After last weeks disorganised start I was ready and waiting for JC this time, with everything charged, adjusted, mounted and stored in preparation for our longest ride to date.    

We set off from Templecombe in an easterly direction towards Buckhorn Weston, pausing briefly on crossing the River Cale.  Water levels appeared to be much lower than we'd seen in previous weeks. 

  

River Cale

 "I'm the king of the castle get down you dirty rascal." came to mind on seeing Billy Goat Gruff perched on top of a staircase,  his smaller friend on a much lower level.   Various goats  of different sizes were to be found amidst all sorts of paraphernalia, located in a field solely for their entertainment .  The friendly owner on hearing his dog bark and seeing us looking at his goats came out to chat to us and explained how he had acquired the animals and his future plans for them.

Billy Goat Gruff and one of his friends

Continuing on our way it wasn't too long before we were crossing  the A30 at Bowden and heading towards Fifehead Magdalen, a small hamlet situated on a hilltop overlooking the River Stour.

Crossing over the A30 at Bowden near Gillingham

Previously whenever we have visited  Fifehead Magdalen we have always sat on a grass verge at the top of Fifehead Hill,  that is until we found a much better place to take a break .  The wall to the south of St Mary Magdalen Church offers a much more practical seating arrangement with wonderful views, thus it is here that we rested awhile.

Perfect spot for a break.  

Feeling rejuvenated we continued downhill  crossing the Stour at Trill Bridge.  According to an article in Dorset Echo (Dorset Echo Trill Bridge) Trill Bridge was badly damaged by a large lorry laden with steel girders in June 2018.  It must have taken sometime to remove the lorry and presumably also to repair Trill Bridge.   The Stour  continues on its way around the southern edge of Fifehead Magdalen before turning south to be  joined by the River Cale, Bibbern Brook and River Lydden to the west of Marhull.   

River Stour, Trill Bridge, Todber

Not much further on from Trill bridge we joined the B3092, heading south for few hundred yards before turning left into Shave Lane.

With Duncliffe Woods in sight we cycled towards  Stour Row, stopping en route  to look at an unusual group of buildings.  The main residence and all of its outbuildings were all very colourfully painted.  

Two of the colourful outbuildings

Just before Stour Row we turned left,  making our way up to Duncliffe woods, via Hawkers Lane,  named not because travelling sales people used to come and sell their wares but  because a farm situated on the lane was owned in 1664 by Robert Hawker.   Stour Village History

Duncliffe woods from the other side of the vale

Only half way though our journey with ten miles still to cycle we pressed on along Scotcheney Lane and  Scotcheney Hill crossing back over the A30 at East Stour.  We then found a bench along Witch Lane for our 2nd refreshment break.  It is possible that Wych Elms grew here, hence the name.  Although there is a story of a witch living in East Stour in  "Dorset up Along and Down Along"  or check out the following podcast Alfred Daily   Listen at 21:28 minutes.

Not exactly sure of our route we took a wrong turning at the end of Folly Lane, turning left instead of right.  We soon realised the error of our ways and understood we were possibly not the first to have made a similar wrong turning given the clearly visible signage.

Wrong turning leading to a dead end

Back on track we made our way to Eccliffe Mill, now a private residence.   The River Stour, already joined further upstream by the River Lodden and Shreen Water, divides into two at Eccliffe Mill.  Part of the river passes under the mill whilst the rest of the water is diverted  through a channel and around Eccliffe Mill, with both bodies of water joining forces again further downstream.  

Water diverted around the disused mill

Leaving Eccliffe we made our way steadily up hill along Nations Road and Harpitt Lane. Nearing the top of the hill we paused to listen to a large flock of starlings  roosting above us, hoping they might start murmurating.  Conscious that I wasn't ideally positioned, my decision to move on was made very quickly when my action camera and crossbar bag were suddenly splattered from above.

We walked up the rest of Harpitt Lane,  mounting our bikes at the top of the hill to continue cycling on towards Buckhorn Weston.  As we travelled westwards for the last few miles, I pulled my helmet down as much as I could to shield my eyes from the sun, which was by now very low in the sky.    

We were very lucky with the weather for our ride today.  The sun shone the whole time creating shadowy patterns en route, an inspiration last year for my Christmas present from JC.  A beautiful handmade rug which now has pride of place in my lounge in front of my wood burner.

Handmade Rug  by JC

Inspired by shadows 

When JC and I started cycling we were rather unfit and could only cope with much shorter rides of about six to ten miles.  Over time we have built our fitness up and today we managed twenty two miles making   it from one side of the Blackmore Vale to Duncliffe Woods on the other side and back again, quite an achievement compared to four years ago.

 

Route