Year's end . . .

I was hoping to have a post before now on another little ramble but the weather seems to have been against us recently.

On St Stephen's Day we drove down to the Devil's Punchbowl in Hindhead.

We were later leaving home than we intended.  We stayed after Mass for Rosary which then 'evolved' into the Divine Mercy chaplet so our quick getaway was not quite so quick after all. But, hey ho!  A few more prayers probably did us more good than reaching Hindhead before the rain (she says hopefully).

Nevertheless, walk we did, despite the rain.  In fact it was very enjoyable even though we were more than slightly damp when we returned for our warming cuppa in the handy National Trust café.

The downside of the rain is that we have no photographic evidence.

Though, as in previous posts, we have done this walk before so here are a couple of shots of the beautiful heather taken when the weather was kinder.

There are probably several legends surrounding the naming of the 'Devil's Punchbowl'.

One local one says the Devil used to live at the 'Devil's Jumps', three small hills in the area.

He would often torment Thor, the God of Thunder, who lived at nearby Thor's Lie (Thursley) by jumping from hill to hill.

Thor would retaliate by trying to strike the Devil with thunder and lightening.  Once the devil in turn retaliated by scooping up a handful of earth and throwing it at Thor. The resulting depression was the 'Devil's Punchbowl'. 

It's also thought that the dip was so named because the mist lies in the bowl and appears to flow over the rim as if it were boiling over, just like a bowl of steaming hot punch.