Martinstown Mileaters – Toller Porcorum
It’s a good time to get away. As schools returned, and holiday price levels fall from their exaggerated highs, many Mileaters takn the opportunity to go off on holiday. This left a select dozen members to enjoy a circular walk starting from Powerstock Common, part of Kingcombe Nature Reserve, and owned by the Dorset Wildlife Trust. We initially walked along the abandoned Maiden Newton to Bridport railway line to Toller Porcorum – a small village 10 miles north-west of Dorchester. Dorset village names can be fascinating. Toller was apparently the original name of the local river, which was possibly in turn named after Ethelread the Unready’s daughter. (Did anyone ever call him “unready” to his face? And survive?) The word Porcorum comes from the Latin for “of the pigs”, and wild boar used to be common in the area, even hunted by King John, though seldom sighted these days
After a visit to the church, with its 13th century tower and gargoyles, the walk then crossed a variety of fields, studiously avoiding both cattle and cowpats, successfully evading the rain that had been threatening all week. A coffee stop gave us a view of Eggardon Hill, the Iron Age Hillfort, following which we entered the nature reserve and ultimately rejoined the route of the old railway.
Toller Porcorum may be a lovely village, but it misses a critical aspect of any Mileaters’ walk. It doesn’t have a pub, so we returned home via Stratton, and particularly the ever-reliable Saxon Arms, and a splendid pub lunch.
David Haslam
