Buzzards over Beacon Hill near Ilminster, South Somerset.

On Christmas Eve the rain stopped, the wind abated and the skies cleared for a while, so I went for a stroll in Dillington Park and on to Beacon Hill just outside Ilminster.  I used the gently sloping cycle path from Bay Hill to walk up to the park.  The path starts between two Lodge Gatehouses and is not difficult to spot.  Finding somewhere to park for more than an hour or two in Ilminster is not easy, although the town does have ample pay and display car parking.

The town was one of those fortified as "ant-tank islands" on the WW2 Taunton to Axmouth "stop-line", a defensive line designed to block any German advance from beachheads further to the west.  A pill-box and dragons teeth can still be found in Dillington Park Drive, on the eastern outskirts of Ilminster, in a position to cover the old A303 London Road.

On Beacon Hill, near another pill-box, I saw three buzzards circling overhead in clear blue sky.  I had my camera with me so took some pictures.


Buzzard over Beacon Hill, near Ilminster in South Somerset.