Straight on to Streatley (and going to Goring too!)

I am feeling bereft. A whole day's walk on the Ridgeway path and not a hill fort to be seen!!!
Quite shocking!! (heehee). But here's what did occur......

Standard issue Bank Holiday weather: Order Cancelled. Replace usual items with lovely sun shine, mix in with a bit of cloud and gentle breeze for cooling effects.... in other words, lets make it a perfect day for a walk. Nice!!!
Setting out early from home I arrived at Scatchamer Knob carpark area and was walking by 9.15am

Some lovely flowers lined my way....

To my left: wheatfields being harvested, powerstation keeping the wheels of home and industry aturning, and wide views over the upper Thames valley inc. Wittenham clumps near Dorchester

In passing under the A34 on Ashdown one learns of its historic connection: hereabouts Alfred the Great and his brother Ethelred led the West Saxons against the Danes and won (just about).

Alfred became King Alfred soon after the battle (8th January 871AD). Shame its only commemorated with a mural on an underpass though!!

After a long downhill slope, and for the first time on the Ridgeway since Avesbury, civilisation!!

Steatley!!

and then the Thames.....

and so to Goring!! Hurray! This feels like the half way point on the Ridgeway. It certainly was half way for today....as now I had to walk back to my car again!!
But, to vary things a little I follwed the Thames path up river for a time, stopping for lunch at a point on the river bank where I lunched 5 years ago when doing the Thames path, and had enjoyed watching my second and third ever views of Red Kites. None around today however.

Lunch over, I walked on passed some interesting riverside properties, like this Egyptian themed one....

or this with a WW2 pill-box worked in as a garden feature...

From Mouslford I followed a bye-way through a quiet valley full of pheasants...

and rejoined the Ridgeway, whence back to my car and home.

Sore muscles,

sore ankles,

but happy soul!

Sparsholt Firs to Scutchamer Knob

At last I was able to return to my Ridgeway walking. Today's starting point was the car park at Sparsholt Firs. Maybe it was the malign influence of the Devil's Punchbowl nearby but I was very disorientated at first. I nearly started heading off westwards for goodness sake!
The best bit about today's walk came early on. If you look VERY carefully in this shot
you may spot one of the four red kites that graced the air hereabouts. Wonderful birds!

Further onwards I reached yet another Iron Age hillfort, Segesbury Camp which seemed
bigger than earlier ones, although less generally evocative in its location (not on a significant hilly out look for example). Probably jolly nice folk who lived in it and all that, its just abit "run of the mill" as a feature. Nice wildflowers fill it now,

The other feature of todays walk that gave me some small pleasure was being able to figure out

some of the features in the distant views. Didcot power station was quite easy (!) but I also recognised the Wittenham clumps near Dorchester-on-Thames and spotted Brize Norton

over in the blue haze. Hurrah.

What's in the blue haze here, however I cannot say. I like the green stripes don't you?

I ended my walk today with a lateish lunch atop Scutchamer Knob (with a convenient car park nearby for starting the next section from!!) about which I knew nothing but you can, like me read all about it HERE
Walking thence, back to the car gave me a total of 14 miles for the day, a respectable achievement.

The Pines Garden

Leaving poor flooded Gloucestershire behind for a while (and counting my blessings for living where I do, untouched by floodwater, loss of electricty or tap water supply) I enjoyed our first decent summer week down in Kent.

Herewith a few photos from our visit to the Pines Garden in St. Margaret's. (webpage link in the title) We'd always wondered what the Pines was like.
Now we know: very pleasant.

This building was particularly interesting. It is "the Pines Calyx" and very eco-friendly made from compacted chalk dug out on-site. The roof is very "green" too! Solar panel at the back. Marvellous.

The Calyx is used for meetings and conferences.

This statue of Sir Winston (not life size!) we assume graces the gardens in respect of his Lord Warden of the Cinque Port days, as well as his links with Kent via Chartwell. Perhaps if I read the website properly there maybe an explanation. Or you could look yourself....there are more photos from around the whole garden than I took anyway, so I'd recommend a look at the webpages, or go and the place itself even!!

Leaving St. Margarets once more, back onto the familiar path to Langdon.

And for those of you who ever held the slightest doubt in your mind as to whether France is really visible from Dover, here is a photo to prove it!!! A particularly clear view today, admittedly.

I'd like to call this photo "See France, sea, France, Sea France" although I cannot tell a lie, the ferry is in fact P&O.......haaaahaaaaahaaaa!!!!!!!!

p.s. Next photo, different day, in Thanet. More lovely blue sky above scenic little Joss Bay outside Broadstairs: and a rather splendid wave cut platform etc. Don't you think??

To Berkley Castle at last.

Between doorways ancient...
and less than ancient.... lie the fascinating interior of Berkley Castle, packed with history. I'm just amazed I left it
so long before I made a visit!

Nice garden too!

And a butterfly house!

Lydford Gorge

After a dreadfully wet day in Falmouth (and down a tin mine to escape the rain!!) I headed homewards from my Eden trip, stopping en route to visit another botanists paradise: Lydford Gorge near Okehampton, on the northern edge of Dartmoor (the blog title links to National Trust page about it).

Not surprisingly, after all the rain there was a lot of water around.......

Great news for the mosses, liverworts and ferns....

and bringing some little streamlets a lease of life they might not have had in a summer like last year (remember the heatwave....? http://carter-in-gloucester.blogspot.com/2006_07_01_archive.html)

But the gorge wasn't gouged by little trickles....

At the southern end of the gorge is this spectacle....

A truly lovely spot.

But note: not even this torrent made the gorge, that was the combined effort of the Lyd and Burn, carving through rock like a knife through butter creating precipitous slopes where oak woodlands cling beautifully....

and thundering through the narrow confines of the descent from the Devil's Cauldron.

Its truly a dark, damp, noisy hell-hole. Truly Wicked!!( in both senses!)........but above: oh so green!!!

After the noise of the Cauldron a short walk further up the valley brings you to Tucker's Pool, where brown trout swim, and (though it might have tempted me on a hotter day, were that allowed!) I did not. Afteral, I had just seen what was down stream. This was the water's calm-before-the-storm moment and I left the waters, and trout, in peace.

I went and had a cream tea instead!!!!!!