Ridgeway

Cranborne Chase again this morning, the Ox Drove above the Ebble Valley to be precise. 11.7 miles of stunning views. Not a soul in sight either. Well, beyond a convoy of 'off roaders' (think Fast Show) rumbled past, but that was a momentary intrusion. This is a magical landscape, it's call is timeless and intoxicating. Our earliest ancestors were drawn to it, their lives and those of subsequent settlers still mark the land through 5000 years of activity and monument. Where ever your eyes fall, barrows, ancient banks, boundaries, historic through to modern buildings pock the landscape, and none appear out of place, all should be there. This is a landscape shaped almost entirely by human hand, yet it's still nature who holds dominion really, it's we who dance to her tune. Yeah, we think we've primacy, but nature's in it for the long haul, and knows she'll out live our kind. So in the meantime she's come to an accommodation with us, and our majestic landscapes are the result. Recommended walking.