A 07:30 walk on gorgeous #FontmellDown before the mercury soared to 32C today! Far reaching views across north Dorset. #nationaltrustsouthwest #cranbornechaseaonb

August 09, 2022 at 09:51PM A 07:30 walk on gorgeous #FontmellDown before the mercury soared to 32C today! Far reaching views across north Dorset. #nationaltrustsouthwest #cranbornechaseaonb

A gentle warm breeze made this morning’s sunny walk on Holt Heath really rather special! #nationaltrustsouthwest #ntkingstonlacy

August 06, 2022 at 11:08AM A gentle warm breeze made this morning’s sunny walk on Holt Heath really rather special! #nationaltrustsouthwest #ntkingstonlacy

If you’ve ever driven up the A9 towards Inverness you’ll have passed signs for the Pass of Killiecrankie and the Soldier’s Leap. . Today is the 333rd anniversary of the Battle of Killiecrankie on 27th July 1689. It was the first and most significant of the battles of the first Jacobite rebellion, and the only battle that the Jacobites actually won! . Legend has it that one Donald MacBean, a supporter of William III, on seeing the battle was lost, is said to have cleared the gorge, from one bank to the other, at The Soldier’s Leap, thus immortalising this beauty spot for ever more … . #killiecrankie #soldiersleapkilliecrankie #jacobiterebellion #scotlandshistory #a9

July 27, 2022 at 08:43AM If you’ve ever driven up the A9 towards Inverness you’ll have passed signs for the Pass of Killiecrankie and the Soldier’s Leap.
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Today is the 333rd anniversary of the Battle of Killiecrankie on 27th July 1689. It was the first and most significant of the battles of the first Jacobite rebellion, and the only battle that the Jacobites actually won!
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Legend has it that one Donald MacBean, a supporter of William III, on seeing the battle was lost, is said to have cleared the gorge, from one bank to the other, at The Soldier’s Leap, thus immortalising this beauty spot for ever more …
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#killiecrankie #soldiersleapkilliecrankie #jacobiterebellion #scotlandshistory #a9

Have you discovered iNaturalist yet? . It’s proven invaluable on my walks this year! Rather than just notice a pretty flower but then be unable to name it, now iNaturalist suggests what it most likely is, and then later on another user will helpfully confirm the identification. . It’s nothing short of brilliant, and best of all its totally free to use. Oh, and I’m not on a commission for telling you about it! . By recording and sharing my observations, I’m creating research quality data for scientists who are working to better plot, understand and protect nature. . Take or import a photo and view the top 10 most visually similar species matches and tap through to get more information. (You can view these suggestions even before creating an account.) Search ‘iNaturalist’ in your App Store. #inaturalist @inaturalistorg #cranbornechaseaonb #newforest #wildflowers

July 26, 2022 at 06:18PM Have you discovered iNaturalist yet?
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It’s proven invaluable on my walks this year! Rather than just notice a pretty flower but then be unable to name it, now iNaturalist suggests what it most likely is, and then later on another user will helpfully confirm the identification.
.
It’s nothing short of brilliant, and best of all its totally free to use. Oh, and I’m not on a commission for telling you about it!
.
By recording and sharing my observations, I’m creating research quality data for scientists who are working to better plot, understand and protect nature.
.
Take or import a photo and view the top 10 most visually similar species matches and tap through to get more information. (You can view these suggestions even before
creating an account.)

Search ‘iNaturalist’ in your App Store. #inaturalist @inaturalistorg #cranbornechaseaonb #newforest #wildflowers

Every summer we plan an early evening walk somewhere on the Dorset coast. Yesterday we went to Chapman’s Pool near Worth Matravers. It’s a very remote, horseshoe-shaped natural cove, accessible only by a mile-long footpath. You need to really want to go there, which certainly helps to sort the wheat from the chaff in terms of numbers visiting. An uneventful descent, but coming back up was seriously steep, such that clinging onto a secured rope was absolutely essential! I was very pleased not to fall at all, but I did experience several dizzy episodes!

July 25, 2022 at 12:55PM Every summer we plan an early evening walk somewhere on the Dorset coast. Yesterday we went to Chapman’s Pool near Worth Matravers. It’s a very remote, horseshoe-shaped natural cove, accessible only by a mile-long footpath. You need to really want to go there, which certainly helps to sort the wheat from the chaff in terms of numbers visiting. An uneventful descent, but coming back up was seriously steep, such that clinging onto a secured rope was absolutely essential! I was very pleased not to fall at all, but I did experience several dizzy episodes!

I started tackling my gone-berserk #privet hedge today … there’s an awful long way to go when you’re reducing the height by about eight feet! Fortunately there’s no hurry, as long as it’s done by the spring that’s fine.

July 23, 2022 at 08:54PM I started tackling my gone-berserk #privet hedge today … there’s an awful long way to go when you’re reducing the height by about eight feet!

Fortunately there’s no hurry, as long as it’s done by the spring that’s fine.

Up before sunrise this morning so took full advantage to walk up to Hampton Ridge and thence to the Napoleonic Rifle Range. Tried my hand at catching the sunrise on the trig pillar – OS label and mounting rings. Better on the label than the ring! #timelapse #trig_bagging #trigpoint #sunrise

July 18, 2022 at 09:40AM Up before sunrise this morning so took full advantage to walk up to Hampton Ridge and thence to the Napoleonic Rifle Range. Tried my hand at catching the sunrise on the trig pillar – OS label and mounting rings. Better on the label than the ring! #timelapse #trig_bagging #trigpoint #sunrise

Conditions were perfect this morning for a walk on Hurst Slit. Warm, with a gentle sea breeze. The spit is not a nice place if there’s a stiff breeze! My assistant tested the water temperature but I didn’t dip a toe myself.

July 05, 2022 at 08:11PM Conditions were perfect this morning for a walk on Hurst Slit. Warm, with a gentle sea breeze. The spit is not a nice place if there’s a stiff breeze! My assistant tested the water temperature but I didn’t dip a toe myself.

Today’s guided tour of the interior of the Lancaster Tower at Old Fonthill Abbey was nothing short of wonderful, fabulous, unforgettable. The present owners are carrying out substantial sympathetic restoration of the Grade II building. Loved seeing remaining building features from Beckford’s time such as the tiny fireplace in the saloon, one of five in the same space! Expectations weren’t just met, they were exceeded. All in all I am one very happy bunny tonight! #fonthillabbey #williambeckford #fonthillgifford

June 30, 2022 at 10:32PM Today’s guided tour of the interior of the Lancaster Tower at Old Fonthill Abbey was nothing short of wonderful, fabulous, unforgettable. The present owners are carrying out substantial sympathetic restoration of the Grade II building. Loved seeing remaining building features from Beckford’s time such as the tiny fireplace in the saloon, one of five in the same space! Expectations weren’t just met, they were exceeded. All in all I am one very happy bunny tonight! #fonthillabbey #williambeckford #fonthillgifford

TODAY I get to see inside the remains of Fonthill Abbey. I am so excited!!!! REPOST • @x333xxx I was in my seventh heaven today when I paid homage to my hero, William Beckford (1760-1844) by truly walking in his footsteps at Old Fonthill Abbey near Fonthill Gifford, Wiltshire. The 276ft high abbey was built by cash-rich but expertise-poor Beckford between 1796 and 1813, However, due to its hasty and poor-quality construction, it fell down (for the final time) in 1825 and was later all-but demolished, apart from a section of the north wing, the Lancaster Tower, that remains. A modern house has lately been built attached to part of the original cloisters/arcading. The abbey grounds are only open to the public one day a year, and today was that day, albeit a very wet one so I just had to go along. The estate is magnificent with possibly the tallest beech trees I’ve ever seen – so majestic. I’ll definitely return another year, hopefully on a sunny day. In 1825 Beckford was called to the deathbed of the man who had built his extravagant and unique country house. The vast heap of wild gothic imagery had been designed by James Wyatt from 1796 onwards and had as its centrepiece an immense and unprecedented tower, 276 feet tall. It was the tower that weighed on the conscience of the dying contractor. He told Beckford that he had never laid down the foundations specified by Wyatt. The whole thing might collapse at any moment. Beckford might have been more upset had he not sold Fonthill three years earlier. He passed on the warning to the new owner, John Farquhar, who thought he was exaggerating. The tower collapsed before the year was out. No one was hurt. Even Farquhar was less upset than might have been expected. On being informed of what had happened, he said he was glad, for now the house would not be too large for him to live in! #oldfonthillabbey #williambeckford #fonthillestate #lostheritage #cranbornechaseaonb

June 30, 2022 at 08:42AM TODAY I get to see inside the remains of Fonthill Abbey. I am so excited!!!!

REPOST • @x333xxx I was in my seventh heaven today when I paid homage to my hero, William Beckford (1760-1844) by truly walking in his footsteps at Old Fonthill Abbey near Fonthill Gifford, Wiltshire. The 276ft high abbey was built by cash-rich but expertise-poor Beckford between 1796 and 1813, However, due to its hasty and poor-quality construction, it fell down (for the final time) in 1825 and was later all-but demolished, apart from a section of the north wing, the Lancaster Tower, that remains. A modern house has lately been built attached to part of the original cloisters/arcading. The abbey grounds are only open to the public one day a year, and today was that day, albeit a very wet one so I just had to go along. The estate is magnificent with possibly the tallest beech trees I’ve ever seen – so majestic. I’ll definitely return another year, hopefully on a sunny day.

In 1825 Beckford was called to the deathbed of the man who had built his extravagant and unique country house. The vast heap of wild gothic imagery had been designed by James Wyatt from 1796 onwards and had as its centrepiece an immense and unprecedented tower, 276 feet tall. 
It was the tower that weighed on the conscience of the dying contractor. He told Beckford that he had never laid down the foundations specified by Wyatt. The whole thing might collapse at any moment. 
Beckford might have been more upset had he not sold Fonthill three years earlier. He passed on the warning to the new owner, John Farquhar, who thought he was exaggerating. The tower collapsed before the year was out. No one was hurt. Even Farquhar was less upset than might have been expected. On being informed of what had happened, he said he was glad, for now the house would not be too large for him to live in!
#oldfonthillabbey #williambeckford #fonthillestate #lostheritage #cranbornechaseaonb