Townley Shentons' Seat

Tyneham Cap or Towney Shenton' seat (as I know it) is without doubt one of my favourite spots on the Jurassic Coast, with it's spectacular views along the Jurassic coast in both directions and a clear sweep across the entire Kimmeridge bowl it's easy to understand why. The halfway-ish point on our mornings walk, it was the perfect place for a break. Whilst chilling I got chatting with a chap who it turned out had been born in Kimmeridge in '44 and has lived and worked here since. How cool is that, to have that depth of connection to a particular parcel of land must be something special. His stories brought the landscape and places around us to life, stories of childhood capers, of family connections, of farming and more, the nuggets of information he shared adding to my knowledge of the area. I think he was up here visiting his brother 'Mivvi' whose ashes had been spread here a couple of years back, so after a while I thanked him for his time and left him in peace. I really find it a privilege chatting to people. I'm a huge fan of oral history and recording peoples stories, it's a resource too often overlooked and to valuable to waste. We could learn so much by listening.

Purbeck

Back to the Isle of Purbeck this morning, an early-ish start too, as the day had the potential to deteriorate...which it did, a bit.  It was another bright spring day to start, although a thin misty haze hung in the air and clouds could be seen gathering sneakily on the horizon...I see you cloud! Again we parked below the castle and set off along the footpath running along the base of the Knowle Hill, between the rough grassland and gorse of the hills and a matrix of hedged fields and small pockets of ancient woodland that define the Corfe Valley. Our path rose briefly as it transferred from Knowle Hill and Ridgeway Hill at bare Cross, affording us vistas along the Valley. They were short lived though as we soon descended again into the fields of the Corfe Valley, crossing it's titular river before rising up past Hyde Wood to the ridge above Kimmeridge, with stunning views of the Kimmeridge Bowl and along it's western arm...our direction of travel. We passed fields of bright yellow rapeseed which shone like gold, so vibrant. The western arm of the Kimmeridge Bowl is a favourite walk, views into the bowl and out to sea on one side, and into the Tyneham Valley on the other, really lovely. Out here it's hard to imagine you're so close the expansive BCP conurbation. A couple of miles undulating path and we reached the extent of our outward walk, Tyneham Cap and Townley Shenton's Seat with the most stunning view over Gad Cliffs and Worbarrow Bay towards Weymouth and the Isle of Portland. In Weymouth Bay you could see the cruise liners still hunkered down at anchor due to covid. We sat a while to take it all in before beginning our journey back. Another lovely walk, 11.7 miles. I don't mind walking alone, you can really connect and absorb, which I enjoy deeply, though it would be nice to sometimes share these walks again with others.