Hambledon Hill

On my third day in Dorset the weather was decidedly better and I decided to go out early and climb Hambledon Hill which is very close to Iwerne Minster. Not only is Hambledon Hill an Iron Age hillfort of international importance but it is also a National Nature Reserve which is home to a wonderful array of wild flowers, grasses, butterflies,insects and birds. The photograph above shows the impressive ramparts of the Iron Age fortifications.



I started by climbing a path through a woodland area and came across this rather impressive bracket fungus on one of the trees.



Just to give you an overview of the site and help you get your bearings, I came up the path next to the P marked on the left and then turned right to begin my climb and when I reached the top I walked to the southern end and then turned and walked down the centre of the hillfort from south to north and eventually back to my original starting point. Clicking on any of the photos will enlarge them so that you can see more detail.



I approached from the west side of the hill which is about 470 feet high so is quite a steep climb. Rather than go straight up I started walking round and gradually climbing as I went. The thin chalk grassland was awash with flowers, I am making no firm statements about the one above but I think it's yellow rattle. As I climbed steadily up and round I was lucky enough to have two seperate sightings of a red kite, a bird I've never seen before. Both flew up right in front of me so I had a really good view of them, they were gone before I could photograph them though.



I'm even less sure what this is but have decided that it might be a milkwort of some sort.



People were occupying this site long before the Iron Age, this is part of a Neolithic causewayed enclosure which dates back over 5000 years to between 2900BC and 2600BC.



More wild flowers - the Early Purple Orchid



I think this is Horseshoe Vetch but am open to correction - if it is it is the food plant of two rare and beautiful butterflies - the adonis blue and the chalkhill blue both of which are found on Hambledon Hill.



These two photos are taken from the web - I only wish I'd had the privilege of seeing these beautiful butterflies myself. The chalkhill blue is on the left and the adonis blue is on the right.





















This is another milkwort - chalk milkwort I think. There are several kinds of milkwort and telling them apart isn't easy.



This is a long barrow, a Neolithic burial chamber, it lies at the highest point of Hambledon Hill and is 230ft long. I am standing at the narrow southern end about to walk up and over the top.


Looking out over the village of Childe Okeford and showing clearly the steep ramparts that were built using only picks made from deer antlers, wooden spades and shovels made from animal shoulder blades. Can you imagine the effort involved in making something like this using only these tools? These people must have been both physically fit and mentally strong to have the vision and staying power to build on this scale. The area enclosed by the ramparts is about 30 acres!



A somewhat hazy view over the lovely Blackmore Vale, still a lot of cloud around but it was warm and dry and I was willing to settle for that.



I'd arranged to meet up with friends in Sherborne in the afternoon but as I drove along the road from Childe Okeford ( I love this name!) I passed a layby that I thought might be the access to Hod Hill, another Iron Age fort practically next door to Hambledon Hill. I turned the car and went back to check and I was right so I decided I still had time to go and explore.



Hod Hill is the largest Iron Age hillfort in Dorset and was home to the Durotriges, the Celtic tribe who occupied this area of Britain. Around 43AD it was attacked and taken by the Roman Legio ll Augusta commanded by Vespasian who later in his career became Roman Emperor. The photo shows part of the double bank and ditch defenses - it's quite a steep climb getting up there. It was unusual for a hillfort to be re-used by the Romans but in this case they built an auxiliary military camp in the north west corner. On the ground I could see the lumps and bumps where it had been but there was nothing that would really show up in a photograph. If you click on the previous photo there is an artist's impression of the Roman fort which has been excavated so they do know exactly what was there - apparently 600 legionaries and 250 cavalry were garrisoned here.



I walked all round the perimeter but even though it is larger than Hambledon Hill it doesn't compare for either beauty or atmosphere, it was a pleasant enough walk but nothing more. It did have its interesting moments though. Click on the photo - can you hear the conversation? 'Hey boys, look over there! Who's that? Let's go and check her out!'



They all came ambling over, curious as cows always are. There was no threat but they all started trudging along behind me so finally I turned round, held up my hand like a policeman and said 'Halt' and to my utter amazement they did. 'Okay, what now?' enquires the leader of the herd. I explained that I had nothing interesting for them to eat and that I was really pretty boring so there was no point in them following me.



There was obviously some discussion and then they decided that actually I was a bit of a disappointment on the entertainment front and, with a little encouragement, they turned aside and wandered off again. They really were as close as they look in the middle photo,I'm not using any zoom - actually they all posed rather nicely I thought:)



Like Hambledon Hill, Hod Hill is rich in wild flowers and butterflies, this is wild mignonette which I thought was very pretty, I've never seen it before.



This is a very ordinary sight, a field thick with buttercups which I walked through on my way back to the car. Buttercups may be common but seen en masse like this they are really beautiful. I went on my way to Sherborne well satisfied with my morning, it was full of historical and botanical interest, I'd had a good deal of exercise and I'd had both places virtually to myself to drift and dream to my heart's content.

On To Dorset via Salisbury

It was early on a grey,cool morning as I left Sussex and headed towards Dorset,my early start was to give me as much time as possible in Salisbury.The first thing that took my attention as I walked from the car park was the medieval Poultry Cross where once upon a time country people would sell their eggs and poultry, it is the only survivor of the four market crosses that once stood in Salisbury's market place. In the background are some half-timbered buildings one of which is...



.... The Haunch of Venison which was built originally to house the craftsmen working on the cathedral spire, it has been there since at least 1320 and is Salisbury's oldest inn.



Relations between the citizens of Salisbury and the clergy of the cathedral were not always entirely harmonious and there was constant trouble to the point that in 1327 Edward lll granted a licence for the building 'an embattled wall of stone' around the cathedral and Close. The photo shows High St Gate, one of four gates which were, and still are, locked at night. This gate had a portcullis which could be dropped across the entrance when the citizens got too out of hand!





The West Front of the cathedral with its life size statues of saints. Salisbury is unique in that it was built to a single plan in a remarkably short space of time, the foundation stone was laid in 1220 and the cathedral was complete by 1266. The chapter house and cloisters were added by 1280. It didn't have a spire to begin with, this was added around 1335 and at 404 ft is the highest in England. Clicking on the photos will bring up more detail.



The interior of the cathedral looking towards the east window.

The rather splendid tomb of sir Richard Mompesson and his wife Katherine who owned Mompesson House, one of the houses in the Cathedral Close and now owned by the National Trust.



This is the oldest working clock in the world, it was made about 1386 and only strikes the hours. It doesn't have a face as it was originally in a bell tower and only heard not seen.



The cloisters and behind them the octagonal building is the Chapter House. The Chapter House is the only part of the cathedral where photography isn't allowed so naturally it is also far and away the most attractive and interesting part! It has a wonderful vaulted ceiling and a superb medieval carved stone freize depicting scenes from the books of Genesis and Exodus, including Adam and Eve, the building of the Ark, and Abel's murder at the hands of Cain. It is fascinating to walk round with the information card explaining which each one represents. The jewel in the crown though is one of only four of the original forty or so copies of Magna Carta still in existence.


I couldn't resist looking for an online image of the freeze and this is the only one I could find - Noah's Ark with Noah and the returning dove. Isn't it wonderful?



Walking through the close I saw this lovely sundial on the wall of Malmesbury House.



This is another of the gates of the city - St Ann's Gate this time and the rain was beginning to fall quite heavily again when I took this photo, hence the rather grey and depressing look to it. The great composer Handel was a friend of the owner of Malmesbury House and in 1739 he is said to have given his first concert in England in the room with the arched window above the gate. In the house that you can just see on the left of the gate lived Henry Fielding, the author of Tom Jones. He liked to have a good time and was apparently giving one of his frequent noisy parties as Handel performed next door!



I love the beautiful statue on the portico of The White Hart which is an 18th century building - again you need to click on the photo to see it properly. It was one of Salisbury's grander coaching inns and must once have been the scene of a good deal of noise and activity as the stage coaches clattered down the street and turned into the inn yard.



The House of John a'Porte who was a wealthy wool merchant and six times mayor of Salisbury. The house was built in 1425.



The church of St Thomas Becket was originally built around 1220 as a place of worship for the craftsmen working on the building of the cathedral but the present building dates from around 1450. Over the chancel arch is the largest 'Doom' painting in England dating from around 1475, the offering of a grateful pilgrim safely returned from his journey. It was whitewashed over at the Reformation and rediscovered in the 19th century.



It isn't everyone who carves their own memorial! Humphrey Beckham was Chamberlain of the Joiners Guild in 1621 and Warden in 1635 and obviously intended to be remembered.



In the Lady Chapel of St Thomas' there are more medieval wall paintings, this one is The Annunciation....



.....and this is The Visitation. Paintings of The Visitation are quite rare in English churches partly because the churchmen considered it an 'indelicate' subject!



Eventually the rain stopped and I decided to walk through Harnham Water Meadows to see the view of the cathedral which John Constable painted though in 1831 the Meadows seem to have been rather more watery than they are now, though judging by the rainbow in his painting it was raining while he was in Salisbury too!


It was really nice to get out of the busy city streets and walk through this lovely rural scene.



This lovely old building dates back in parts to the 12th century, in 1550 it was rebuilt and the course of the River Nadder was diverted to flow under it and it then became Harnham Water Mill, Wiltshire's first paper mill. It's my favourite of all the buildings that I saw in Salisbury.



This is a detail from the walls which I found both fascinating and beautiful. I think this is the original 12th century part



I crossed the 15th century Crane Bridge over the River Avon as I walked back into the city to retrieve my car and continue the journey to Dorset. I think there is still a good deal of interest for me to see in Salisbury and I'd like to go back there - preferably on a nice,dry day next time!

A Wet Start and a Detour

I've just spent a week in Sussex and Dorset and when I left home the weather was so bad that I decided to stay off the motorway and find my way down to Northampton on the ordinary roads. I left at 6am in pouring rain so at least there wasn't much traffic while I navigated on strange roads. On the map the route looks perfectly straightforward, on the ground it's full of roundabouts, narrow roads through small towns and a general lack of signposts where you need them most! However by 9am I was driving through Leicestershire and the rain had eased and suddenly I saw a large brown sign that said 'Bosworth Battlefield'. Working on the theory that 'I may never pass this way again' I did a sharp left turn and set off to see what I could find. It was too early for the Visitor Centre to be open when I arrived but there was a walk around the area of the battlefield with good information boards at intervals.



The Battle of Bosworth took place on the 22nd August 1485 and was the final battle of the Wars of the Roses. It changed the course of English history as the Plantaganet king, Richard lll, was killed on the battlefield and Henry Tudor became Henry Vll, father of Henry Vlll and grandfather of Elizabeth l. Above is Ambion Hill where Richard's army camped the night before the battle.


The battle standard of Richard lll which would have been flying on Ambion Hill on that fateful day when Richard was betrayed by Lord Thomas Stanley who waited to see which way the battle was going and finally committed his large private army on the side of Henry Tudor and attacked Richard and his cavalry and Richard was killed, the last English king to die in battle. His body was treated shamefully by Henry Tudor, he was stripped naked and tied to a horse and taken to Leicester where it was exposed to the public gaze for two days before being buried without ceremony at the Church of the Greyfriars. At the time of the Dissolution of the Monasteries his coffin was dug up and his bones thrown into the River Soar. This was followed by the blackening of his reputation by supporters of the Tudor dynasty in particular Sir Thomas More. William Shakespeare's play, Richard lll, was largely based on the book written by More. During his lifetime contemporary sources suggest that he was an able and greatly loved administrator who did much to improve the living standards and liberties of ordinary people.



A cairn covers the spring where King Richard is said to have stopped to drink during the battle.



This is the board standing just in front of the spring, The Fellowship of the White Boar was the original name of the Richard lll Society



St James Church, Sutton Cheney where Richard is reputed to have heard his final Mass on the eve of battle.


The memorial to Richard lll and his followers which is on a wall of the church. A poor photograph because of the way the light was shining on it. Loyautie me lie translates as 'Loyalty binds me' and was the motto of Richard Plantagenet. The memorial was placed there by the Richard lll Society.My own interest in Richard began after I read a book called The Daughter of Time by Josephine Tey - it's a detective novel which I have read several times and it never gets any less intriguing. However we'd better carry on to Sussex now.



I was in Sussex to do a course called Food for Free at the Weald and Downland Open Air Museum, it was a pleasant enough day but to be honest I can't say I learned a great deal that I didn't know already, it didn't rain anyway and we had a pleasant ramble in the woodland but other than that it wasn't very notable.One thing to do when you are out in the country is to notice not only what is available now but what might be worth coming back for later in the year - in this case the wild strawberry flowers will eventually become small,sweet fruit.



This is a fungus that grows on dead ash trees and is called King Alfred's Cakes - and they do look like little cakes left in the fire too long. They aren't edible but they are very useful for anyone who is living off the land and needs to start a fire.


They can be either brown or black and the black variety can be very useful for lighting fires because the inner flesh, once dried out, will easily catch a spark which will ignite the flesh of the fungus and, although it burns slowly like a barbecue briquette, once it has been lit you can get a flame started. It can also be used to carry as a living ember if wrapped in birch bark or fresh grass. "Oetzi", the 5000 year old Iceman who was found in the melting ice of an Alpine glacier in Italy in 1991, was carrying a piece of tinder fungus in a leather pouch. They are rather attractive when they are cut open too, the inside reminded me of tree rings.



This is burdock, most widely known in its context of Dandelion and Burdock - one of the world's most wonderful drinks in my opinion:) The root can also be eaten as a root vegetable provided you have sufficient strength and stamina to dig it up! It has several medicinal uses too.



Good King Henry is not only wild but was widely grown in cottage gardens in the medieval period and used as a potherb. It can be cooked like spinach and you can also use the stems which are known as Poor Man's Asparagus. The Henry part has nothing to do with English kings - Good Henry was a kind of Anglo-Saxon elf!


We were shown how to hot smoke fish on an open fire using a couple of baking tins and a tray from a disposable barbecue. You shave half a dozen slivers of wood such as apple, beech, hazel, or oak into one of the trays,put the fish on the grid over the top and season it, then put the other tray over it. Do NOT use woods like yew, pines or horse chestnut as they are toxic, you really do need to know what you are doing when using wood for anything like this.



Put the lot straight onto the fire and put a big rock on top to keep the lid on, leave it for 10 minutes or so and...



...smoked cooked fish. Very nice it was too. Afterwards I went back to where I was staying and went to a local inn called the Keepers Arms to eat a beautiful steak closely followed by a beautiful creme brulee! No foraging required!