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There is a small parking area at the top of Spread Eagle Hill
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Go through the gate and follow the broad path out along the ridge.
Lat: 50° 58' 2.9'' N (50.96748°) Long: 2° 9' 50.3'' W (-2.163964°) OS ST 88582 18687 w3w: ///royally.settle.backtrack -
Go through the gap in the Cross Dykes and follow the path around to the right.
Lat: 50° 57' 52.5'' N (50.964587°) Long: 2° 10' 6.6'' W (-2.168507°) OS ST 88263 18366 w3w: ///buckets.strategy.swerving -
Shortly after the dykes there is a gate in the fence to your left. Ignore this for now and carry on along the main path.
Lat: 50° 57' 49.3'' N (50.963688°) Long: 2° 10' 13.4'' W (-2.170397°) OS ST 88130 18266 w3w: ///chop.repeated.limelight -
Where the main path starts to drop down the side of the hill, go through the gate (or over the stile) and into the field on your left.
Lat: 50° 57' 44.6'' N (50.962399°) Long: 2° 10' 28.7'' W (-2.174644°) OS ST 87831 18124 w3w: ///version.winter.extensive -
The path on the other side of the gate can be a little indistinct, but if you head up towards the trees on the horizon to you right, you should soon pick up a well-trodden track.
Lat: 50° 57' 43.6'' N (50.962124°) Long: 2° 10' 30'' W (-2.17501°) OS ST 87805 18093 w3w: ///sport.worlds.befitting -
Follow the path up to the trees and then branch off to the left.
Lat: 50° 57' 38.1'' N (50.960596°) Long: 2° 10' 38.5'' W (-2.177366°) OS ST 87639 17924 w3w: ///ghost.hazel.adjust -
Keep walking parallel to the fence on your left.
Lat: 50° 57' 32.8'' N (50.959103°) Long: 2° 10' 42.1'' W (-2.178361°) OS ST 87569 17758 w3w: ///ripe.enveloped.split -
Go through the gate on your left at the far side of the hill.
Lat: 50° 57' 30.3'' N (50.958428°) Long: 2° 10' 39.7'' W (-2.177705°) OS ST 87615 17683 w3w: ///rooting.drummers.wheat -
Follow the path back along the far side of the hill heading to the right of the belt of trees you can see up ahead.
Lat: 50° 57' 35.2'' N (50.959772°) Long: 2° 10' 27.9'' W (-2.174425°) OS ST 87846 17832 w3w: ///gushes.presumes.grudges -
Go through the gate and follow the path to the other side of the belt of trees.
Lat: 50° 57' 41.3'' N (50.961476°) Long: 2° 10' 5.8'' W (-2.168289°) OS ST 88277 18020 w3w: ///stray.earth.submerged -
From here you have a choice of routes. The easiest to follow (marked in red) is found by turning right and walking up to the top the ridge keeping roughly parallel to the belt of trees.
Lat: 50° 57' 43'' N (50.961934°) Long: 2° 10' 4.6'' W (-2.167938°) OS ST 88302 18071 w3w: ///bulges.richly.chestnuts -
When you reach the sheep-fold on your left, you again have a choice. The easiest route (marked in red) is to turn right on to the broad track along the top of the ridge, and follow this back up to the road.
Lat: 50° 57' 45.4'' N (50.9626°) Long: 2° 10' 11.9'' W (-2.169965°) OS ST 88160 18145 w3w: ///scrapping.clip.insurers -
Go back through the Cross Dykes and keep following the track.
Lat: 50° 57' 49.3'' N (50.963704°) Long: 2° 10' 6.7'' W (-2.16853°) OS ST 88261 18268 w3w: ///likening.registers.spades -
Go through the gate in the far left-hand corner of the field and on to a path that runs right next to the road.
Lat: 50° 57' 58'' N (50.966113°) Long: 2° 9' 45.7'' W (-2.162686°) OS ST 88672 18535 w3w: ///definite.storming.scans -
Ear-plugs are recommended, but fortunately this path quickly leads you back to the car park.
Lat: 50° 58' 0.5'' N (50.966811°) Long: 2° 9' 46.8'' W (-2.162991°) OS ST 88650 18612 w3w: ///laminated.herbs.middle -
One of the problems with the walk along the top of the ridge is the restricted views it gives into Longcombe Bottom. The alternative (marked in green) is to keep straight on when you come out of the belt of trees at point 11, and through a lower gap in the Cross Dykes.
Lat: 50° 57' 48.1'' N (50.963359°) Long: 2° 10' 2.5'' W (-2.167354°) OS ST 88343 18229 w3w: ///bleach.reapply.moderated -
Look out for another path that runs along the hill from further up the Cross Dykes and ends up running parallel to ours about two metres up the hill to the left. The two paths never seem to meet anywhere obvious, but you need to swap on to this higher path at some point.
Lat: 50° 57' 53.8'' N (50.964941°) Long: 2° 9' 56.6'' W (-2.165722°) OS ST 88458 18405 w3w: ///moped.diamond.yachting -
As you reach the clump of trees at the far end of the field, you will see a path branching off to the left round the back of the old dew pond. Follow this past the display board, to re-join the main route running next to the main road.
Lat: 50° 57' 57.3'' N (50.965927°) Long: 2° 9' 45.8'' W (-2.162718°) OS ST 88669 18514 w3w: ///newly.variation.remover -
My preferred alternative (marked in yellow) is to avoid the traffic noise, by carrying straight on at the sheep-fold (point 12) into the long grass.
Lat: 50° 57' 45.7'' N (50.96269°) Long: 2° 10' 12'' W (-2.169994°) OS ST 88158 18155 w3w: ///reply.blockage.included -
There is no defined track here, but if you keep heading just to the right of the Shaftesbury mobile phone mast you can see on the horizon, you will soon spot a gate in the fence.
Lat: 50° 57' 46.8'' N (50.963013°) Long: 2° 10' 12.3'' W (-2.170084°) OS ST 88151 18191 w3w: ///lamplight.mixed.union -
Go through this gate (the one we saw at point 3), and turn right to re-join the path we started out on.
Lat: 50° 57' 48'' N (50.96334°) Long: 2° 10' 12.6'' W (-2.17018°) OS ST 88145 18228 w3w: ///wizards.amazed.dorms