Whitecliff Fox

After a dramatic thunderstorm on Wednesday night Thursday was a beautiful day. After lunch I went for a walk through the park and around Baiter. I hadn't seen foxy for quite some time so it was lovely to see him enjoying the afternoon sun. And he had a companion! It was a real joy to watch them both.

Cerne Giant

On Wednesday morning we went to Cerne Abbas and walked up Giant Hill which was carpeted with Early Purple Orchids. The surrounding fields were blue with flowering linseed.

At the end of our walk we stopped off in the cemetery to pause a while at St Augustine's well.

Summer Solstice 2009

The Solstice weekend saw us visiting the in-laws in the Peak District. On Saturday morning we went for a walk over the very beautiful, very ancient, sacred landscape of Stanton Moor in Derbyshire following the route given on the Peak District Info Site.

We spent some time exploring Rowtor Rocks.

From there we walked to the Aigle Stone. This stone has foot holds cut into it and rungs to help you climb. Mark climbed up but since he has developed a fear of heights he didn't go all the way to the top, just high enough to peak over. Despite doing yoga I couldn't even reach the first foot hold!

We passed Cork Stone (this too has rungs and footholds) on our way up onto the moor. The moor is beautiful. Nature having reclaimed the old quarries and created the most amazing rockeries.

After a while we came to a wooded area and the Nine Ladies. Midsummer revellers were gathering. The hard core had camped around the circle. It was good to visit at this time of year to see people enjoying and honouring the space in their own way but I shall have to return another day to be able to sit in quiet contemplation and honour it in mine.

There was one more rock on our route - the Heart Stone.

On Sunday morning we were up before the lark to go to Arbor Low (Stonehenge of the north) for the Solstice itself. There was thick cloud but fortunately no rain! It was suprisingly light a good hour before the actual sunrise. Tantalisingly there was a break just before the sun came up but it closed again just as quickly as it appeared to the actual sunrise was obscured. There were around 150 of us at Arbor Low and nearby Gib Hill - a bit quieter than Stonehenge with it's 35,000- and a different type of celebrant than at the Nine Ladies (more herbal tea than waccy baccy!). It was special to greet the morning of the longest day and I recommend that you try it at least once in your life.

Later we walked from Timbersbrook up to The Cloud returning via the Bridestones, a Neolithic chambered long barrow.