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Entry tags:

heath,
woods

Solstice Woods

By the heath, there is a wood of oaks and silver birches. Only a small wood, but the path through it loops and winds so extravagantly that following it is like walking a mizmaze, a ceremonial path that turns and twists around, until you lose all sense of progress or direction, and the point is simply to be walking, in this place, at this moment.

( Winter woods & heath )

Entry tags:

coast,
dorset walks

Heaven's Gate

Where to go walking in the wet Dorset winter? It's so hard to plan a walk at this time of year. Can't take the Coast Path - the cliffs are unstable after heavy rain. Don't want to go slogging through fields deep in mud, because I've been battling with a bad back all week, and it has just finally started to settle down. And I took the stone track down to Winspit a few weeks ago.

Decided in the end to take the track up to Heaven's Gate, to make the most of the sunshine and the views.

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Entry tags:

dorset walks

Langton Matravers

Three Norths.

‘True north’ is the direction to the geographic north pole.
‘Grid north’ is where the vertical blue lines shown on Ordnance Survey (OS) maps converge.
‘Magnetic north’ is the direction that a compass needle points, as it aligns with the Earth’s magnetic field.

In November 2022, geospatial history was made as all three ‘norths’ aligned, and met at a point in Langton Matravers in Dorset.

https://www.ordnancesurvey.co.uk/news/three-norths-departing-england

Rather a wild day up by the coast, with a cold strong wind blowing on the high ground. But the sun put in frequent appearances between the clouds, so it wasn't really a bad day to be out and about. Met up with C. & her terrier for a little walk from Acton to the neighbouring village of Langton Matravers, where she bought me breakfast at the café as a birthday treat.

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Entry tags:

At Arne

Spoonbills. For a few years now, there has been a wintering population of Spoonbills out on the harbour, but they are usually just tiny white dots, snoozing with their heads tucked in, on the mudflats in the far distance. It was lovely to have such a close sighting.

( And the usual suspects )