A stroll over Beacon Hill on the northern fringe of Ilminster in South Somerset.

On Easter Sunday I decided to go for a stroll up Dillington Park Drive to Beacon Hill on the northern fringe of Ilminster in South Somerset.  The weather was warm and sunny with plenty of blue sky so I took my camera with me even though the horizon was a little hazy and not ideal for photographing landscapes.

One of a pair of gates and stone pillars at the entrance to Dillington Park Drive near Ilminster in South Somerset.

After entering Dillington Park Drive it was not long before I came upon the remains of Ilminster’s World War Two defences in the form of dragon’s teeth in the undergrowth and a pill-box covering the old London Road east of the town.  Ilminster, along with several other neighbouring towns, was fortified as an Anti-Tank Island to provide a bulwark against any German armoured forces advancing from the west. 

World War Two pill-box in Dillington Park Drive, South Somerset.

Before the drive reached Dillington Park I branched off left onto Beacon Hill, which at its highest point reaches 338 feet, and followed the hedgerow alongside a vast field of rapeseed.  Numerous Peacock butterflies danced around, sometimes settling on the flowering rape, but not long enough for me to take a photo of their colourful wing markings.

Greater Stitchwort in the shade of a hedgerow.

The view from Beacon Hill, near Ilminster in South Somerset, toward the village of Puckington.

I walked as far as Old Road, now just a track between the hedgerows, where I took some photos of the view to the north.  The village of Puckington was clear enough, but the Curry Rivel Ridge was a little hazy.  Nevertheless, I could see the Burton Pynsent Monument and thought I could make out the windmill on Walton Hill on the Poldens, but not positively.

The view from Beacon Hill near Ilminster in South Somerset toward the Curry Rivel Ridge.  The Burton Pynsent Monument was just visible on the skyline to the right.

I returned by the same route.  All in all it was an afternoon well spent enjoying fresh air and gentle exercise with fine views of the English countryside to boot.