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I didn't have a pleasure to traverse the Heath on my SWCP adventure but I will definitely visit the SD Ridgeway. Now, the question is, should I take Hardy with me or re-read King Lear? One of my favourite plays, read and seen a few times and yet my MS-eaten brain tricks me as I can recall very little!

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Well, it's always worthwhile to reread King Lear. Ideally the Penguin Shakespeare version with Clare's picture on the cover... While if you've got your phone, you can always find Chapter 1 of Return of the Native on my website. The South Dorset Ridgeway is high grassy downland rather than grim heath – makes a great break in the coastwalking, with high sea views and avoiding Weymouth.

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Agreed! Also to avoiding Weymouth! I had to stay there as got so ill after my first days of wild camping on SWCP (I started from Poole) that was almost unconscious but conscious enough not to have the best experience of Weymouth haha

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Oct 31Liked by Ronald Turnbull

exquisitely written

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Oct 30Liked by Ronald Turnbull

A 'hardy' soul indeed. Really enjoyed this Ronald!

(And, after our talk, I am in the process of seeking out a copy of A Pair of Blue Eyes.)

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Blue Eyes - the gender politics is a bit off. But it does feature V Woolf's dad.

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Oct 30Liked by Ronald Turnbull

Ronald, did you say somewhere that you did parts or all of the SW coast walk? Isn't the heath part of that walk? I read that the devil tossed that rock there all the way from Wight-must have been feeling stroppy that day! It definitely looks out of place. Fine writing!

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I walked the Jurassic Coast section from Exmouth to Poole Harbour (using the variant called the South Dorset Ridgeway to bypass Chesil Beach). Much less than the full SWCP, maybe 120 miles, but an excellent walk outside the summer holiday season. The Agglestone is a fine rock with some elegant geology to inspect (liesegang markings).

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Studland Beach (complete with the nudists) is the final stretch of the SWCP, rather than the heath itself.

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