Doynton to Dryham Loop
This walk was created on the back of a previous walk - the golden valley ramble that we did earlier on in the year. Because of a slight miss judgment on my part we prematurely missed our intentional route, thus missing out this section of the walk. We decided to tackle it at a later date - today! Sadly Mark was tied up (not literally) and could not make it today. Myself and Nigel did not begin this walk from a pub car park but instead we parked outside a church in the heart of Doynton
We did this walk in the evening, it was a sunny spring evening in May and apart from me and Nigel Doynton was deserted. Set against a rural backdrop this peaceful village is quite a desirable place to live. It certainly boasts some rather large abodes that me and Nigel could only dream of living in. We left Doynton behind; following Doynton Lane all the way to Dyrham which is a quite a steady route along the road with some great views out across the local farm land.
I have to apologise because I only have images of the second half of the walk. When we did these walks (2014) I had no idea that I would be writing a blog about them so the photos where not taken with this in mind. Next year (2015) I shall aim to take many more highlighting more of the journey.
Once we hit Dryham Village which was another idyllic living location out in the middle of nowhere - We found the right path this time! It took us off the concrete and along a footpath that was slightly overgrown with nettles. It was a good job that we were both wearing trousers and I had my walking stick. In the photo above was our view to the the right of us.
We were finally in open land crossing a large area of grassland that lead up to Sands Farm up on the hill. We headed on down the valley into some woodland, the canopy of the trees blocked out most of the sunlight. It was quite gloomy as islands emerged with routes despairing underwater. Our path lead us between a series of large ponds. I wished I had gotten some photos of this place now, it felt like being a kid again exploring.
We came out of the woodland on the brow of hill and along what looked to be a farmers track, the views from here were quite spectacular.
As you can see from the image above there is a small lake/pond in the distance - when does a pond become a lake? Anyway as we ambled down the path I thought to myself wouldn't it make a fantastic photo if the area was lightly covered in snow and ice. The sun was rising just under the clouds and the reflection of the rising sun and the colours in the sky was reflected on the icy surface of the frozen lake.
When we got to the end of the track and went through a farm gate. We saw a herd of cows below us. A few of the younger ones were a bit inquisitive and started to wonder towards us. I picked up the pace as I did not fancy being trampled on by the approaching beast. As they neared Nigel started clapping loudly which halted them. This gave us chance to hop over the sty and in to the woods.
Our surroundings had changed again, we were now in Dyrham Wood. This was a well kept area, the path was maintained and the general feel of the place was welcoming. It felt good to be taking in the evening air and enjoying nature. We noticed a large green box at the side of the path, it had a space for letters and could be opened from the top. It was probably a suggestion box of sorts. We climbed a small slope and left the woods and headed towards quite a busy road (Gorse Lane). Luckily we did not have to venture on to the road as we were able to walk alongside it for most of the way - even though it was next to a large pile of manure, which was quite sweet smelling.
The road was quite busy so instead of walking along it, we crossed over and waked parallel to it along the edge of a ploughed field. You will notice on the map that the footpath that we needed crosses the road and cuts across the field that we were in. Once we saw our opening we nipped across the road and back in to open countryside.
From here we had a great view down over the valley and could just about see the spire to the church in Doynton. The field we were in had a lot of cows in it, luckily they were not as inquisitive as the last lot. They just rose their heads whilst maintaing a chewing motion before ducking again for another mouthful of tasty grass and buttercups.
The whole route back from here was pretty much down hill passing styes every now and then from one cow field into the next. One field had lots of single trees dotted about the place and we saw a very strange cow pat that looked like it had been sprayed rather than placed. That cow certainly had some issues! Doynton was approaching, we veered right and followed it along; exiting on to the road at a recognise spot. We had seen this route before and wondered where it led - now we know. We changed our foot ware and complimented the walk, it was a really nice route. We then got in the car and headed to the Crown in Wick for a well earned pint!