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squiz Member Member#: 6644 Location: Registered: 27-05-2007 Diary Entries: 2898 |
23rd December 2017 Hiking - Walking: Around Portland Bill Wind Direction: Wind Stength: Surf / Sea State: Air Temperature: Sea Temperature: Weather: cloudy and mild Max Speed: Distance Covered: 5 miles + (Nautical Miles - unless stated otherwise) Friday 22nd December – travel + short walk in New Forest – cloudy We are going away for Christmas to meet up with Rob, Hannah and Arlo with Hannah’s family in Devon so after loading up a windsurfing board yesterday we finished loading the van today setting off at 11.30. There is some wind forecast for Christmas Eve, mild too so we are heading to Portland which isn’t too big a detour:) The journey south was OK, the M25 (north) was as usual a little slow but we made it to Fleet services for a break before continuing. Then just past Southampton we had had enough driving and Mag spotted Rufus Stone on the map just off the main road in the New Forest. It is very beautiful in the New Forest but so wet and muddy they must get so much more rain than us! We soon found the Rufus Stone forest carpark and were disappointed to see a sign saying that camping in the New Forest is not allowed:( There was two ponies in the carpark and it would have been perfect for an overnight stop but we decided to carry on up the road. A short way up the road we came to the main road which was busy and noisy but just before the cattle grid on the forest exit there was a nice lay-by so we decided to take a chance here. It was quite late about 3.30 so we decided to go for a quick walk down the road to the monument which marks the spot of an oak which an arrow shot by Sir Walter Tyrell glanced off on the second day of August 1100 killing King William the Second surnamed Rufus :( He was then taken in a cart and buried in Winchester Cathedral, you learn something new every day! It was like a swamp so we headed back towards the van but spotted a bike path so walked half an hour that way in search of more ponies, we didn’t see any but scared off a couple of deer! After egg and bacon for tea we watched the new Beauty and the Beast on DVD on the laptop after some trouble getting it to play, we had to make Mags mobile a hotspot and go online to make it work but when going we could turn the phone off! The film was very good and was a Christmas present from Dan and Jay. Saturday 23rd December – travel and walk ***** Around Portland Bill – cloudy but mild. A top mild night at our spot in the New Forest, relaxing start with almond croissants for breakfast we set off at 10.10 in low cloud, in fact it hardly got light all day! We decided to make the most of the north New Forest and were soon driving along a big section of remote heath with loads of ponies feeding right by the road, we even got hooted at when I stopped to take some pics, the world is full of inpatient oafs:( Mag spotted a sign for Fordingbridge which she had read was nice so we headed there. We entered the lovely market town across an arched bridge over the River Avon and soon found a carpark which was free for the day for Christmas shopping, what a top idea that was:) We needed some drinking water so set off to explore, the first thing we saw was a mini traction engine surrounded by carol singers with a Green grocers selling large pre-ordered boxes of vegetables and a butchers with a long queue of people collecting turkeys but you could also buy Xmas treats of Venison, Pigeon, Pheasant, Partridge, Mallards, Rabbits and even Hares !!!! We listened to the carollers with the funky lady Vicar playing the flute:) We continued down the high street past loads of arty crafty shops to the river and the local park where I could take a picture of the bridge. It was here Mag was chased by a couple of grumpy/cross white geese! Then we nipped into the Co-op for water and a packet of flaky pasty mince pies before leaving for Ringwood. This section past Bournemouth is always slow going but we made it to Portland Harbour at 12.53. The wind was light with only one windsurfer and a couple of kiters out so we continued up the steep hill which was shrouded in cloud to Portland Bill. It is always further to the lighthouse carpark than you think but you have to pay here and can’t stay the night:( We had seen a small carpark with a Coast Path sign and no restrictions near Southwell so returned there for soup and a sandwich. Then at 1.40 we set off down the amazing Coast path towards Portland Bill, there was four climbers in a section of rock just along the path. The whole path is a mass of small disused quarries for the famous Portland stone. There were several small fishing boats returning to Weymouth through the racing currents that the Bill is well known for! There are three old cranes along the rocks used to lower small boats into the sea with the one nearest the light house still being used! We passed the large beach hut village and café which was surprisingly closed as it was quite busy with walkers and bikers! After Mag made a quick visit to the loo she saw a map which showed that if we continued past the lighthouse we could return to Southwell from the other direction making it a circular walk:) You have to make a small detour around the MOD enclosure to get back on the cliff footpath which offers great views of the wild water of the Bill behind and Chesil bank in front! There is a huge fenced in compound which looks like a prison but turns out to be a business park. We turnrf right, inland and got in a bit of a muddle at Southwell which is huge. We amazingly found our way back to the van very quickly in the end. We had been out for 2hrs 24mins and covered over 5 miles so were pleased with the cuppa and warm mince pies - they were so good we ate two each:) We will stay here the night so set the van up, relaxed, read, dozed, played cards, sorted pics out, did my blog and had paella for tea. Fingers crossed for a few hours windsurfing tomorrow before continuing our journey to Devon for Christmas:) Photo Gallery Here |
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