This weekend we came down to deepest Dorset for the wedding of Nick, my cousin Martin's step-son, and Rumbi in the picturesque village of Askerswell. We've been down this way before, when hiring a delightful farm cottage near the town of Bridport, and love the rolling countryside and easy access to the sea. In fact yesterday we came down early in the afternoon and spent a happy few hours crabbing off of the key at Mudeford and generally larking around:
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| Yes crabbing is popular here - very popular! |
This morning though I wanted to get a short run in as part of my attempt to 'get back into running' and where better than the quiet countryside? I had, it must be said, hoped to achieve this goal in the week but work was very busy and I just ran out of time. So before breakfast I jumped out of bed and seized the opportunity to explore the roads leading from Uploders to Askerswell with half an eye on how far it might be to walk back to our B&B late at night!
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| Askerswell is quite compact! |
What you can see from the map is that to the SE of the village there is a road, Litton Lane, that crosses really quite a large number of contour lines and is rather steep - which we discovered when driving down it in the dark. So I decided to run up it, to the main road, as you do. First though I had to get to the lane and I don't mind saying that for the first mile or two I really felt my lack of fitness; where once I had zip, and even zing, now there was nada. Not great.
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| View from the top |
In time though I navigated my way through the village and even quite enjoyed setting a steady, maintainable pace up the steep ascent. To run without seeing another person, let alone a car, is something of a novelty and certainly I enjoyed the experience. Even better the way back was all downhill since Uploders really does nestle in the heart of the valley and out of sight. A rather nice start to the day.
Distance: 5.0 miles
Time: 42m 19s