The Wessex Ridgeway 2014
Day Five: 10th September
Weather: Sunny for a change
Route: Donhead St Andrew to Iwerne Minster - 17.1 Miles
After a great night out in the, most difficult to find, Forester Arms I awoke to the stillness of a perfect day. Amorous soft murmurings whispered my senses awake and the doves gathered in the idyllic garden below. A lovely and faultless setting at the B&B for breakfast, sadly, the owner, Mrs Frosty, was a little unuser friendly, but it didn't detract from a nice stay with good company. Once again the weather Gods had blessed my journey bringing sunshine into my life – by the end of the trip I was a real redneck!! Not a great path out of Donhead St Andrew to start, being a confusion of nettles, stalky fields and having to pass by a great stinking pile of poo at Dengrove Farm before nipping up and over a hill via a farm track and a narrow nettled lane to Milkwell, and along the valley sides to Mullins Bridge. From here the Wessex Ridgeway took it’s route up and over a small hill, but I decided to cut that one out and followed the road around to the village of Ludwell. The pub here looks nice, provides accommodation and could be an alternative to Donhead, but it’s had some shocking reviews on Trip Adviser and elsewhere, which is why I steered clear. Shame because the route was directly opposite and wandered south to emerge alongside large water cress beds, like a Chinese paddy field, looking a little out of place in a typical English landscape. All that was missing were the cone straw hats as workers raked up the plants. A steady ascent for a couple of miles uphill to Pickets Nose, crossing large fields and the views improving as I gained height. Crossing a roman road and a cross dyke the steep ground to the east was lit up with shafts of sunlight near to Donhead Hollow. A short walk up to the viewpoint at Win Green followed, with good views all round from up there. The choice of routes down was rather dictated by the old knees which were creaking a little bit today, as I could have dropped down the valley along Ashcombe Bottom, continued around on the old Ox Drove track and over Berwick Down. But I opted for the line of least resistant down over field margins and a gentler slope, passing by big fields of corn, and dropping down to meet the Wessex Ridgeway once more. A short green walk followed into Tollard Royal and a short diversion to the King John Inn in time to catch a bowl of chips and a pint of shandy. Very welcome in the heat and an old banger manoeuvred around the car park, for all the world looking like Toad of Toad Hall, gears crunching and oil dripping as he trundled out onto the lane, all the while aided by his faithful hound – paws on seat. After that quick pit stop it was uphill along Bench’s Lane, an endless overgrown track that hid wide hilltop views and snuggling game birds in secret nests, before it spat me out to moonwalk across ploughed fields, scramble through a dense thicket before emerging in the quiet village of Ashmore. A delightful village pond invited me to sit and ponder the view with beautiful houses surrounding the pond – a real pond, not manicured to the extent it felt false – it’s probably not changed for a long long time. From Ashmore the route had another five miles to run before reaching Iwerne Minster. Halfpenny Lane took the track alongside fields being harvested and the chaff was floating through the air, enough to cause a ‘coff or two, ahem. The track led into Ashmore Wood and long the edge of the woodland heading west, with plenty of pheasants buzzing in and out of the undergrowth. The last couple of miles along undulating ground was pleasant with the sinking sun providing long shadows and yielding soft light through the tree canopy, until Preston Hill where the ground dropped steeply down towards Iwerne Minster, mellow and pleasing to see after a long hot day. Another pleasant village with the church taking on a rosy glow in the late afternoon sunshine. No pub quiz tonight but a couple of pints of cider and I was fit for many zzzzz
nettled to start the day off
the water cress beds at Ludwell
a little bit of paddy fields
gently ascending out of Ludwell
good views over to Charlton Downs and Posessions Corner - great names once more
on the way up to Picket's Nose and Elliot's Shed
looking back down on Donhead Hollow to Ludwell
the sun lighting up the hollow beneath Win Green viewpoint
the beech clump up on top of Win Green
wide views to the north west from Win Green
along the field margins way above Ashcombe Bottom. Berwick Down across the valley
looking down to Ashcombe Bottom which meets with Ashgrove Bottom. Lots of bottoms round here
fields of corn - I took the path not the route through the crop
almost down in Ashcombe Bottom
green lane all the way down to Tollard Royal
Mr Toad and his dog. It must take some wrestling with the steering wheel
up an overgrown Bench's Lane
down towards Ashmore
the lovely village pond at Ashmore
fields alongside Halfpenny Lane
plenty of bridleways around the county and well signposted
into Ashmore Wood
more fields
and a little bit of shapely lane near Lime Pit Coppice
dappled late afternoon sunshine
tracks through the woods on the way to Preston Hill
looking down on Iwerne Minster
the last piece of field walking for the day
the parish church bathing in the late afternoon sunshine 
