Holloway

[puddleshark]

'Holloway' comes from the Anglo-Saxon 'hol weg', and refers to a sunken path that has been grooved into the earth over the centuries by the passage of feet, wheels and weather...

'The Old Ways' Robert Macfarlane

Dorset is full of sunken ways, paths worn deep into the chalk and the sandstone by centuries of use, but the most spectacular of the sunken ways are the West Dorset holloways.






Blackbirds flutter up in the corner of your vision, like animated fragments of shadow.



I followed the holloway known as Hell Lane. The upper reaches of the track pass through a deep dark gorge in the sandstone, where wrens trill from hidden crannies behind the ivy.






In the underworld, the tree roots are above your head.

The lower reaches of Hell Lane are always an adventure. It is more of a stream than a track, even during the driest spring on record. It's not as overgrown as it used to be - in the past I've had to fight my way through curtains of brambles - but it's still a scramble in places, round quagmires and deep ruts.




It may be rough going, but on a hot summer's day it is blessedly green and cool and damp.

At the bottom of the hill, Hell Lane gives up all pretense of being a path and becomes a proper stream.


But it's a very shallow stream. You can walk it dryshod if you have faith in the waterproofing of your boots.

Comments

[loligo]

So very cool!

[full_metal_ox]

In more than one sense: a green thought in a green shade.

[puddleshark]

Yes! That's one of my favourite lines, in one of my favourite poems.

[puddleshark]

Cool, dark, and secretive!

[aflatmirror]

Unbelievably beautiful

[puddleshark]

It is such a beautiful track on days when the sunlight is pouring through the trees.

[vriddy]

Such an incredible lane/track to follow, lovely :D 😍

[puddleshark]

Yes! Every time I walk it, I am amazed.

[kazzy_cee]

Lovely tracks! Thanks for sharing :D

[puddleshark]

You're welcome!

[ranunculus]

Looks like a perfect place for a holdup.
I'm sure wagon trains crossing the plains of the USA would have made such tracks eventually.

[puddleshark]

Heh!

Yes, perfect ambush territory!

[full_metal_ox]

Did Adam Ant just spring out of the underbrush?

[puddleshark]

Heh!

Honestly, it wouldn't much surprise me if he did, one day... It's a strange place. Anything could happen.

[full_metal_ox]

A Demotivational Thought of the Day from this-old-stomping-ground:



(Image description: a drawing of a stereotypical storybook woodland path between tall climax trees, with a yellowed-parchment placard reading, “You deserve a break. Stop healing. Choose violence. Go batshit insane. Do it for the plot.”)

Source: https://this-old-stomping-ground.tumblr.com/post/780844630203858944

[puddleshark]

LOL.

Thank you. I needed that.

[groundwiremantaray]

Gorgeous photos, thank you for sharing!

[puddleshark]

Thank you!

You're very welcome!

[chestnut_pod]

Oh, I would love to see these one day.

[puddleshark]

Last time I walked Hell Lane was in the rain, and it was very dark and spooky indeed. This time, in the sunlight, it was glorious.

[immournia]

These photos are stunning! Thank you for sharing :)

[puddleshark]

Thank you!

You're very welcome!

[immournia]

You're most welcome :)

[shirebound]

What a fascinating and wonderfully wild-looking place. It reminds me of my visit to the Natchez Trace, an ancient Native American sunken trail.

https://www.nps.gov/natt/index.htm

[puddleshark]

A lot of the old holloways here have been forgotten and have become overgrown and lost, but the ones that survive are amazing.

Oh, wow, that looks like a wonderful walk!

[linky]

Absolutely gorgeous!

[puddleshark]

It was so beautiful, with the sunlight pouring down! Not like the last time I walked that track, in the rain, when it was very sombre indeed.

[birdylion]

This looks so magical. I knew how they happened, but I've never seen one quite as deep as these.

[puddleshark]

It really is magical, the way the holloways hide themselves so completely in the landscape. You would never know the path was there, never know anyone was travelling along it, unless perhaps you heard cart wheels rumbling by at night.

[sparowe]

God, it's just beautiful! <3

[puddleshark]

It was just glorious in the sunlight. I've walked this path on cloudy days, and it has a very different atmosphere then.

[zenigotchas]

Can someone please teleport me to the UK? I need to go on an adventure

[puddleshark]

LOL

It really is quite an adventure, following that track. You can never be entirely sure where or when you will emerge... 😊

[full_metal_ox]

I’m also reminded of the one effective horror sequence in the 1967 movie The Torture Chamber of Dr. Sadism(1): a carriage ride through a dark forest track where the tree branches are festooned with human limbs.

(1) A very loose German adaptation of “The Pit and the Pendulum”, with top billing given Sir Christopher Lee as an Uberwaldian Count drawn and quartered for (and guilty of) Mad Black Magic and sadistic serial murder; his devoted servant has survived as the equivalent of a sapient fierce corpse and schemes to reassemble his boss to revive in similar condition; toward that end, he kidnaps virgin girls and torments them into a peak state of fear to heighten their sacrificial energy.

This cool premise is almost entirely fumbled in the execution, with an unlikable ostensible hero and heroine and an Idiot Plot full of internal inconsistencies (ROT-13 for spoilers):

Jurarire jr’er fhccbfrq gb or—naq gur zbivr vf inthr ba gung cbvag—vg’f orsber gur vairagvba bs nhqvberpbeqvat; ubj qbrf gur ureb erpbtavmr gur urebvar—jubz ur’f bayl rire pbeerfcbaqrq jvgu—ol ure cvnab cynlvat?

Qrns-zhgr crbcyr ner vcfb snpgb va pnubbgf jvgu gur onq thlf?

Jung gur uryy xvaq bs Qbpgbe *Fnqvfz*, univat frg uvf pyvznpgvp gbegher qrivpr va zbgvba (frr? Gur jevgref unq gur Cbr pbagrag ylvat nebhaq fbzrjurer), cebprrqf gb jnaqre bss va qvfgenpgvba?

Gur pyvznpgvp frdhrapr unf gur urebvar orvat ureqrq guebhtu n tnhagyrg bs FCVQREF!!! naq FANXRF!!!! naq IHYGHERF!!!!, BU ZL! (naq jung ner gubfr cbbe oveqf qbvat va na haqretebhaq qhatrba, naljnl?) jvgu gur trareny nve bs fbzr oenggl xvq fubivat ehoore abirygvrf va gur ivrjre'f snpr.

Zl Ivrjvat Pbzcnavba naq V cebzcgyl qhoorq vg “Pbhag Erthyn'f Oybbql Fghcvq Unhagrq Nggenpgvba”.

[yourlibrarian]

Wonderful shots, such a mood!

[puddleshark]

Thank you!

[earthspirits]

i absolutely LOVE these beautiful photos - What a magical area!

[puddleshark]

Thank you!

It really is magical. Incredibly beautiful and peaceful.

[pauraque]

This is really neat!

[puddleshark]

They are wonderful paths, the old holloways - completely hidden in the landscape. It's always a bit of a shock when you emerge back into daylight again!

[cyare]

Really amazing pictures, wow ♥___♥

[puddleshark]

Thank you!

[turlough]

Wow, what a wonderfully atmospheric place for a walk! Love your photos!

[puddleshark]

Thank you!

It is such a magical path to follow...

[scintilla10]

Wow, what a stunning place -- thank you for this glimpse, what beautiful photos!

[puddleshark]

Thank you!

Isn't it amazing? And completely hidden in the landscape. You don't know the holloways are there until you stumble into one.

[rydra_wong]

Beautiful, thank you so much for posting! There's a holloway near me (Peak District) which I often get to use as a shortcut, but it's much shallower and less steep-sided (lined with heather and gorgeous in its own way, though). I love the way you get to just vanish into the landscape.

[puddleshark]

You're welcome!

Yes. There's always something magical about following secret hidden paths...