Ridgeway Hill walk

The wind blew fiercely and at times you'd think the sky was about to crash into the grounds as low cloud and mists obscured the distance. But when the Sun came out, it just had enough power to take the edge of the chill and its light, like a sweeping searchlight, illuminated the hills and combes. One of our best walks of recent times, it took in the familiar, the long ago walked and the new.  Starting in the undulating dampness created by long extinct clay workings, now recolonized by scrub, which is the woodlands below Knowle Hill we made our wet way to Knowle Hill wood or Norden Wood as it's sometimes known; a deciduous woodland which clings to the steep side of this section of Purbeck ridge. The climb up towards the ridge was slippery, but the views from the summit were worth it. In any light, in any weather or season the Purbecks exude a beauty uniquely their own and today was no different.  We walk this way often and never become bored. The ridgeway undulated, our views changed as combes opened and then disappeared only to expose another or a clearer view in another direction. On reaching Ridgeway Hill I spied the Great Wood, which covers the landward side of this section of the hills; I've not walked in these woods for more than 20 years and felt an over whelming desire to reacquaint myself with them.  Steep and quiet, the woods made a welcome break from the wind and we wound our way, following a cut path, along the slope westwards towards Grange Arch. The wood appears to be thriving, a wide variety of deciduous can be identified, birds chatter amongst their bare crowns, many of the trees are Ash and King Alfed's Cakes were frequently visible on their fallen boughs, Jews ears too; bountiful deer tracks, squirrel feeding points and badger latrines, show the wood is well used by wildlife.  My heart is lifted by such natural beauty; I sit awhile, taking in what nature kindly gives. After reaching the Arch and taking in the wonderful views, we turn and return through the woodland, though on exiting them I decide to take a new route, past a majestic Bronze Age Barrow and along a ridge which affords us new perspectives on the familiar.  As we make our way back through the extinct clay workings I'm already planning a return visit.