A Bimble Along Devil's Dyke

One of the unexpected things I love about rambling through the countryside is the brief chitchat you have with other walkers whose paths you cross. There must be something about the fresh air that promotes joviality. One such conversation which comes to mind took place in the New Forest a couple of years ago. After a damp few days, Andrew and I were out walking in the Forest when a man coming the other way stopped us to say that the ford ahead was flooded and couldn’t be crossed. He subsequently remarked that he was simply ‘out for a bimble’. Neither of us had heard the word ‘bimble’ before but its meaning was clear. We thought it was such a lovely term to sum up aimless, peaceful wanders through the countryside. Thus ‘Shall we go for a bimble?’ is now a frequent question posed in our house.

A view down Devil's Dyke

On Wednesday morning we set out in bright, still weather from Burwell village toward Devil’s Dyke on what can best be described as an aforementioned ‘bimble’. Devil’s Dyke is a 7.5 mile long Anglo-Saxon earthwork which stretches between the villages of Reach and Wooditton. The path which runs along the top of the Dyke provides a lovely gentle walk with stunning views across a section of the Cambridgeshire countryside. The Dyke is a great example of chalk grassland which has been awarded SSSI status and supplies an excellent habitat for a wide range of species of butterflies, birds and wildflowers. Perhaps most notably, this site is supposed to be a hotspot for the gossamer-winged Chalkhill Blue butterflies in the summer.

Approaching the Dyke across the fields

The walk from Burwell to the Dyke should not be seen as merely a means to an end. Meandering along the ivy lined dirt track that leads out of the village, we were met by a chorus of birdsong emanating from a small birch grove. At first we caught sight of blackbirds, woodpigeons, starlings, blue tits and a lone robin. We were aware that some of the crooners were not so conspicuous – we could hear the familiar corvid cawings of jays and jackdaws, but they were keeping themselves well hidden. As we were about to leave the grove, Andrew took one last look into the canopy with his binoculars. He noticed a great spotted woodpecker resting high on the trunk. The sun strained through the trees, illuminating her black and white back, and just a tuft of the crimson underneath her tail.

A great spotted woodpecker perches at the top of a silver birch

The grove opened out onto agricultural fields as far as the eye could see. At this time of year they lie frozen, ploughed and empty, looking like stark mountain ranges in miniature. Continuing on for a few hundred metres we crossed a small road and came out onto more fields where the first signs of wheat crops were appearing, giving the land a golden sheen. I thought I had heard the song of another interesting bird species but quickly realised that I was, in fact, listening to the metallic murmurings of the pylon cables which were running along the path above us – perhaps I was being a little too optimistic! The path was flanked with thick hawthorn, brambles and nettles, creating perfect feeding spots for the fieldfares we saw darting across the fields nearby.

Winter sun illuminates a golden field

The area at the base of the Dyke is left as wild scrub, ruled by thorns and long grass. As we climbed the steps leading to the path at the top, we noticed a group of about 200 woodpigeons feeding in a field to our left. They had clearly found something worth sticking around for. On the top there was a great deal of bird activity, a robin hopped along the track behind us, and blackbirds and fieldfares flitted between bushes, feeding eagerly on the rosehips and ivy berries. We were descending into Reach when we noticed a green woodpecker dart through the trees in front of us and settle on the playing fields below. I feel really lucky to have seen two woodpeckers in one day.

Further along, bushes arch across the path, perfect for foraging birds

We headed back into Burwell along the road through Reach, thinking that we would probably see little else until we reached the fields again. How wrong we were! I paused to point out a dunnock but Andrew nudged me to indicate that he had seen something much more exciting in the other direction. There were two roe deer, an adult and juvenile, running towards us across the field! They must have been spooked by something at the other side of the field and, not noticing our presence, were now unwittingly on a collision course with us. When they were about fifty metres away, the adult deer’s senses prevailed and, looking startled, she steered her course away from us, across the road, and into the field opposite. To top things off, when we looked back to where the deer had come from, we noticed that a hare was standing on the horizon. It would have just been too lucky for the hare to have come towards us too and, unlike the deer, it kept its distance. The whole experience was exhilarating; we just couldn’t believe what we had witnessed.

The first glimpse of the deer on the horizon

At this time of year, Devil’s Dyke may not proffer a full display of its biodiversity but, as we experienced, it’s still a good birdwatching spot and, who knows, you too may witness an adrenalin-charged demonstration of roe deer agility.

Finally, the deer catch sight of us