Heading home from Lyme Regis, we took a diversion to Symondsbury, parked roadside and walked the holloways of Shute’s Lane and Hell Lane, which link the villages of Symondsbury and North Chideock. The paths lay at the feet of Colmer’s Hill, and Quarry Hill, and it has believed that the carts used to transport stone from the latter – were partly responsible for the deep erosion of the holloways themselves.
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| Shute's Lane walking west from Symondsbury |
Shute’s Lane appears to hold most of the carvings and graffiti cut into the soft sandstone walls of both ‘ways. Although we did not traverse the full length of Hell Lane, due to the deep, wet mudded ruts which extended for a distance west, it was clear the natural stone walls had fewer engravings, and were the more arresting for it.
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| entrance to Hell |
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| in Hell |
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| the turnaround |
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| Quarry Hill and beacon |
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| Colmer's Hill |
Ending the walk abruptly at the muddy mess we retraced our steps to Symondsbury. Hoping for a lunch stop at the Ilchester Arms we were a little disappointed to find the pub fully booked for service, but then on a fine day, and at the start of a school holiday, it was naive of us to have not booked ahead. A quick pint and salty snacks were the only option available to us, and it would have been rude not to?
