Right on the doorstep

The days are short now and the weather was poor so we thought we'd stay fairly local.

Only lived in this area now for 10 years but still never quite got around to visiting our local piece of woodland. To be honest I only found out about it  a few months ago and then by a chance conversation. To be fair it wasn't given a great write up so I wasn't expecting much and it wasn't a great priority.

However today seemed a good chance to go and see it...

Well it was bigger than I'd expected and I'd no idea it was actually a hillfort. And right on the doorstep too... rather embarrassing really but never mind.






It's a small one  just a single circuit of ramparts for enclosure and defence but is still a  Scheduled Ancient Monument despite being damaged by quarrying and mining.

A small stream runs between it and Stephan's Vale. I don't think this bridge is the original structure though somehow...

The waterfall in Stephan's Vale was a lovely surprise too. The path down to it was wet and muddy and looked steep and slippery so that is saved for another day.

It is apparently carpeted in bluebells and other woodland flowers in the spring.










And to round off a day or surprises, a rather out of season thorn. I guess it is a little confused by the mild weather we've been having.







Well it may have taken me 10 years to find the place but I think a return visit in the spring will be essential to enjoy the bluebells and other woodland flower. I certainly won't be waiting a decade to go back!

Storm Dodging in Dorset

It's been a pretty grim summer here in the UK. Today was "good in parts" so a careful study of the weather map was made and the decision taken to head down to Dorset and Hambledon Hill.

Hambledon Hill - a very prosaic name for a quite amazing site. It was originally a Neolithic site but little of that remains and it is now a prime example of an Iron Age hill fort. There is dating evidence for 2850 BCE and the site looks to have been finally abandoned around 300 BCE.

Parking the car in the nearby and quaintly named village of Iwerne Courtney we could see our destination at the end of the chalk downs of Cranborne Chase.  A quintessential English summer sight - a local cricket match.

We just hoped it didn't rain on them!

It is a pretty climb up from the village, especially at this time of the year.  The poppies are out and this barley field was almost ripe but still a little too green.



 
Everything seems to be late this year; nature hasn't appreciated the cold wet summer. Today though was quite warm. Provided that is that the sun was out. Which it wasn't all the time.

The fort itself is breathtaking. The sheer size is breathtaking in itself and the number of hours of labour it must have taken to construct the numerous banks and ditches made this no small undertaking.

 The site covers more than 1 sq  km with the long barrow on the top being approx 68 mt long. In all there is believed to have been 3 barrows here with one being buried under a later earthwork.

 From the top we could watch the storms passing by. Miraculously they all missed us - not sure how. Obviously our weather map reading was spot on.






All in all there are worse ways of spending a Sunday morning, sitting on a hill top and watching the ravens circling around. We weren't the only ones up there, it is popular with dog walkers and horse riders too but it wasn't too busy as you can see.

Blackberries and Mud - Worlebury Hillfort

Didn't want to venture far today after all the travels lately and after seeing some nice sea pictures on a blog I follow we decided to head to the nearest sea.

Well if you call Weston Super Mare coastal! This is the view over the Estuary - Some nice views of the Welsh coast too.

The tide was in so the bay was looking pretty picturesque  with the mud flats of the Severn Estuary hidden under the water.







 The walk took us over the headland at Woodspring Bay  and down on to Sand Bay. I enjoyed the first part of the walk but I'm afraid Sand Bay is not my kind of place. A long concrete promenade with lines of  retirement bungalows behind.  If I ever mention retiring somewhere like that then please shoot me first. It also brought home just how vulnerable this area of coast is to rising sea levels. If it wasn't protected by a long artificial earth mound then it would take only a small rise to flood acres of land.  To add insult to injury the promised pub was no longer there so that lunch was delayed.

Eventually we "escaped" the interminable prom and up into Weston Woods having spotted somewhere for lunch! The New Castle gave us some excellent cider and pannini which refuelled us. Taking stock we decided to abandon the planned route and  instead head up  into Weston Woods in search of the iron age hillfort. It is a long pull up but beautiful woodland, especially at this time of year with all the berries. A couple of pounds of blackberries just might have found their way into the backpacks ( I always carry foraging bags - just in case!).


At the tip of the headland we found Worlebury hillfort - allegedly one of the most notable ones in Somerset. The hillfort is iron age, on the site of earlier bronze age remains. Stone was extensively used for the fortifications and great heaps remain.

 

An interesting feature are the deep pits ( now partially covered with  blackberry plants) which are believed to have been used for food storage and later on as burial sites.






Having reached the end of the headland there was no option but to retrace our steps. Going back the views were very different. The tide had revealed the infamous mud flats and the sun had vanished behind forbidding grey clouds promising rain which duly arrived with a blustery wind signalling a rapid retreat to the car!

Uffing and Puffing at Uffingham White Horse!

Yet another wet Sunday- I can see a theme developing for Summer 2011! The white horse at Uffingham has long been on my list of places to visit. This is the oldest chalk cut figure in the UK and has been dated as approximately 3000 years old. The hill below with a flat top, Dragon Hill has legendary associations with St George and is said to be where he killed the famous dragon (!).

The car park is below the horse so it is a medium  climb up the hill to get close. The horse itself is very hard to photograph. There are no spots where the whole horse can be seen so you need to take aerial shots.

That's a bit out of budget for me so follow this link to the National Trust page which has some lovely pictures as well as some details on Dragon Hill which it seems I completely neglected to photograph despite climbing down to it and the horrible long steep climb back up!

 Directly above the horse is the remains of the Uffingham Castle, a large iron age fort.

 This is the highest point in Oxfordshire and we had some fabulous views of the rain storms heading our way. At least it gave us the chance to see what was coming.







 Dodging the raindrops we walked along the Ridgeway, a chalk by way leading to Wayland's Smithy. This is a long barrow in which the  remains of 14 people were found. The burials have been carbon dated to between   3590-3550 BCE which is a very short period of time.

The barrow is actually two, a later and much larger barrow was built on top and this is what we can see today. The white horse had been busy but we had the barrow more or less to ourselves other than for a couple of people trying to track down a reported crop circle near by. I hadn't been looking out for one so wasn't able to help.

There are many legends associated with the barrow.  The name Wayland is said to derive from Wolund, a Germanic smith and metal working God.

This  name was bestowed on the site by the Saxons about a 1000 years after it was built and subsequent foklore has it that if a traveller's horse loses a shoe he should leave the horse ovrnight at the Smithy along with a silver coin. In the morning the horse will be shod and the coin gone. Whether this tale is based on a still older folk memory of rituals and offerings at the site can only be the subject of conjecture but is interesting food for thought.

It is a truly lovely setting. Although it is surrounded by farmland it is enclosed by mature trees which lend it a secluded and peaceful air. Well worth a visit.