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Stourhead Day Walk
Friday 8th September 2023
Sue Peachey
On Saturday 2nd September 2023 a group of 6 people and 2 dogs enjoyed a pleasant stroll around the Stourhead Estate in Wiltshire, which is on the western edge of Cranborne Chase, an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. We started at Alfred's Tower and then descended through woodland. As there was mist in the valley the view was not as good as it could have been, but this did not spoil our enjoyment of being surrounded by nature at its finest.
On reaching Stourton village we enjoyed our lunch in the pub courtyard, along with many other people who seemed to have appeared out of nowhere! We then made our way up past Stourton House, which is now owned by the National Trust. It was originally built by Henry Hoare, who also moved several monuments to his estate, which we saw along the way. One of these is St Peter's Pump, which marks the source of the River Stour.
By now the mist had lifted and the sun shone as we followed a large grassy area back up to Alfred's Tower and said our goodbyes, but not before the ice cream van had been visited by one or two of our group!