Maria Donovan

Walking over the Giant’s Head – Allington Hill from April into May.

From my kitchen window is this view of the sleeping giant, head resting on Allington Hill. Often looked at and photographed (by me) and in April, when walking near home was the only kind available, often climbed. In this post, the photos take us from April into May, up the hill, over the hill, through the giant’s beard and back through his hair.

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April into May: a time of tremendous transition. Here the Sleeping Giant still looks bristly and bare.

The photos begin from 10 April after I cleaned the windows. One consequence of the C19 lockdown was that the window cleaner didn’t come. I had to remove the seagull strike myself: an unusual pattern like sperm swimming upwards.

The climb begins. Here at last is the view looking back over a misty Bridport from the spot where the road stops and the path enters the woodland. Still a way to climb to reach the top.

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There are many paths on Allington Hill so the walk can be varied every day. Despite my worries about meeting people, it was always possible to divert or step aside. The days were sunny and dry, sometimes chilly in the early mornings, or when caught by the breeze. Sometimes hot in the sun. You get to know people by sight and greeting: the same dog walkers, mostly, sometimes parents with children. Not crowded except with flowers beneath the trees here on the way to the top.

Out into the open again and the grassy summit beyond the stand of trees that make up the giant’s beard and hair.

I imagine that the people we meet – if they think of us at all – might call us, from our use of trekking poles, the skiers.

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From the top and on the far side; the coast and glimpses of the sea to the south are not quite in the picture. Here looking west over the village of Symondsbury towards Colmer’s Hill.

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On the way back, walking eastwards again, one of the paths takes us under tall beech trees newly dressed in young green.

On the way down the slope again on the eastern side, walking through a meadow and looking back up at the leaf burst of the giant’s hair.

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And home again, back to the view from the kitchen window and the end of the month. After so many dry days, April rain falls at last and the trees and the garden are glad of it. What an eruption of colours and change in the course of a few weeks!

We have walked into the view, under the trees, over the hill and seen the other side.

The sun shines on the giant’s head: the 1st of May. No maypole celebrations: but nature’s dancing.

Are you walking more now that exercise is rationed?

Has your walk changed because of the restrictions? What have you discovered and what are you missing?

If you have posted photos of your walk, please feel free to share a link.

And thanks for coming with me.