Weather: Sunny
Distance: 17 km (10.6
miles) Total Distance: miles
Margaret and the boys dropped me off at the river
crossing in Wareham and then went onto the beach at Studland. Sean made friends with a little girl and she
made friends with his fishing net.
The
first part of my walk was almost a circular tour but I thought it was not in
the spirit of the rules to miss it out and actually it looked a good bit on
the map. It was along the bank of the
River Frome and then back up to Wareham.
The most frustrating part was trying to get down to the river bank in
the first place. One path marked on the
map evidently was not there but I found the second path and a man walking his
dog confirmed that it was a good walk.
The path was a real mixture ranging from fairly straightforward stuff to
barely passable because of nettles and undergrowth - I am glad I made the
decision to ware long trousers.
There
was plenty to look at from the riverbank since the boating fraternity were out
in force and this estuary appeared to be a very popular place to more a
boat. The path back up into Wareham was
through farmland and woodland. I got a
little lost trying to find my way through the backstreets of Wareham but
eventually ended up on the main road to Poole and very busy it was too, though
fortunately it had a pavement most of the way.
In the village of Standford I could cut off down through
a housing estate and into a pleasant stretch of woodland to Black Hill. It was not evident from the map but Black
Hill is a military establishment - in fact a research establishment, the sort
of research they do not want to share with outsiders judging by the height of
the fences. The grounds of the
establishment were littered with small brick outhouses no doubt one man
research labs! I headed back up onto the
main road and towards Poole again.
When I reached the A35 the road became a dual
carriageway and banned pedestrians. The
alternative route was slightly inland through the village of Lychette
Minster. Part way through the village
there was meant to be a path that cut back and crossed the A35 again and into
the suburbs of Poole but this too was signposted as now being closed to the
public - evidently due to too many squashed pedestrians on the road.
Out the other side of the village, a road
bridge took me over the A35 and then through an affluent suburb of Poole. I had planned to meet Margaret at
Hamworthy train station. Hamworthy, we
both discovered was a council house estate where the station was well hidden
away, Margaret had had a little problem finding it.
We went into Poole and were lucky enough to find a car
parking spot on the front. Margaret and Sean then went off to visit Poole
pottery and buy some mugs. Gareth and I walked the promenade, visited the
pottery shops and had a drink and he had his bottle.
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