At Collyer’s Brook

Just looking out of my office window, watching the rain pour down, makes me reflect on what has been an awesome week out in the Dorset countryside. I’ve covered the best part of 100 miles on two feet and two wheels in the most amazingly clear sunshine and visited some great places. I’ve explored some new paths, looked round some lovely villages, and I’ve met some great people on the way. Oh, and I’ve seen some awesome sights too, sights like a sparrowhawk skimming swiftly through the trees.

One of the places I visited was Collyer’s Brook.

Collyer’s Brook is a nature reserve on the edge of Fontmell Magna, a delightful village between Blandford and Shaftesbury. I arranged my day so that I would arrive here in time for elevenses and be able to sit beside the beautiful pond. In fact, it is actually a series of ponds running down the valley, fed by a stream that runs off the chalk hillside.

These were ‘stew ponds’, deliberately created in the Middle Ages to breed rainbow and brown trout as a source of food. Today, they are managed by the Dorset Wildlife Trust as a nature reserve.

There is an A road running through the village but get away from that by going up one of the side streets and there is a lovely sense of peace, especially around these ponds. With beautiful spring foliage, irises in abundance, ducks, and bird song, and it all makes a great place to sit awhile in silence with just the gentle sound of the stream and the birds for accompaniment.

It’s been a good week! Not only have I been able to get out and about around the lanes and paths of Dorset, but I have also planted more veg in my garden, sorted out and top dressed my pots, done some whittling with my grandson, and made him a go-cart too with some old timber and wheels that I had – sometimes it pays to be a hoarder 🙂 !

This coming week will not be quite so active because I have a cataract operation in mid week but I am looking forward to having two good eyes again 🙂 !

Thanks for stopping by and reading my ramblings, and I hope you enjoy exploring with me.

Until next time,
Your friend
The Dorset Rambler

If you would like to contact me, my email address is terry.yarrow@gmail.com – comments and feedback are always welcomed.

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