These boots were made for walking…

Details of future walks will be advised via email. Any new walkers from Buckland Newton and surrounding villages would be very welcome and should contact Bridget on bridget.hodges@btinternet.com for future inclusion in the group email distribution list. Contact Bridget Hodges (01300 345493) if you would like to join us for one of the walks being organised. Hardy Way Walk Three intrepid walkers and two dogs finished the last stretch of the Hardy Way and celebrated with a glass of Champagne! On Thursday 16 November, even though the weather forecast was rain all day, we decided to go anyway. The rain stopped as we started walking and apart from a few drops now and then, we did not get wet! Just as well we were dressed in full waterproof gear. In the last half mile, we were forced to walk through flood water, but luckily our feet remained nearly dry. We arrived at Stinsford Church 6 years and 15 days after the first outing on 1 November 2017. Three people and 1 dog managed the whole walk with 27 people and 8 other dogs doing at least one stretch. We walked from 5.5 to 10 miles on any one day finishing up at a hostelry for lunch. It took us 30 sections to complete. We heard that Margaret Marande who devised this walk, re-walked it in 2019 and completed it in 11 days. She was 82 at the time! The Hardy Way travels all over Dorset for some 220 miles. It starts at Hardy Cottage at Higher Brockhampton and passes through Wool, Wareham, Wimborne, Cranborne, Shaftesbury, Sturminster Newton, Buckland Newton, Evershot, Bridport, Portland and Owermoigne to Stinsford, and we visited some lovely places one only finds on foot. The path joins in various places with other walks the Lydden Walkers have done over the years, and we were able to revisit The Wessex Ridgeway and the Jubilee Way. We did not always stick to the exact written route, perhaps because we felt there was too much road walking involved or we just managed to go a slightly different way! We always say there is no such thing as going the wrong way just taking a different route. Some days were really memorable. The day we walked from Lulworth Cove to Kimmeridge, the longest walk and in very high temperatures, about 30oC as well as the steep hills. Some of us managed a swim at Worbarrow Bay. This was the same day as the Macmillan sponsored walk took place, so we were lucky enough to be able to replenish our water. We did not get lunch after this walk when it was really needed! Sixpenny Handley to Win Green, started out so well – apart from having difficulty finding Win Green. For the last couple of miles we could barely see because of the rain. In June 2019 we reached West Chelborough after a memorable days walking. We were too late for lunch that day as well. This was the last section we did before the inevitable 2-year break for the pandemic. We tried to start again in September 2021, but had to cancel as we had a minor accident in Beaminster as well as a car not functioning properly. We suffered no other injuries, and only cancelled one walk because of rain. The walks started again in December 2021 and since then we have managed to finish the last 11 sections. The Lydden Walkers now need to begin another epic route. A few ideas are in hand. If you would like to join the group, please contact Bridget Hodges 01300 345493 and she can add you to the distribution list. _______________________________________________________________ ____Diana Wells____________ Photos from the walks can be viewed at www.flickr.com/photos/lyddenwalkers