BBC Radio 4's Open Country explores Dorset's sunken paths

Presenter Helen Mark and editor Robin Markwell visited Symondsbury Estate last month to record a programme for BBC Radio 4’s Open Country, featuring Hell Lane and Shute's Lane as well as other British holloways.

It will air at 3pm. 

The term holloways comes from the old English word 'hola weg', meaning sunken road. It refers to sunken lanes which have been carved into the countryside by people, animals and carts with tall banks and canopies of trees growing over them.

Rosie Cummings of Natural England taking a look at some of the graffiti built up on the holloway over the years (Image: Natural England)

In January last year, Hell Lane and Shute's Lane were the first holloways to be officially mapped as part of Natural England’s scheme to map all of Britain’s sunken paths.

Helen and Robin took a walk up the holloways and over Colmers Hill, chatting to Any Jeffries and Rosie Cummings from Natural England about the ecology and archaeology of these paths. They were also joined by local storyteller Martin Maudsley and Catherine Woodward, Nature & Outdoor Learning lead at Symondsbury Estate.

L to R: Helen Mark, Robin Markwell and Andy Jeffries (Image: Symondsbury Estate)

The programme will delve into different aspects of the sunken lanes including how cave spiders and goblin’s gold moss thrive in the cracks of the holloway rockfaces and about the folklore of the Dorset colpexie - mischievous sprites that can taunt the unwary traveller.

Catherine Woodward described the sunken paths as “otherworldly” and is excited for the programme to air.

She said: “It will be a really nice overview of all the different ways people appreciate holloways. People visit them for different reasons, some are interested in the history of them, some are interested in ecology and some like the carvings. 

“They’re really beautiful but there hasn’t been much about them in the past. They’ve become lost paths that people forget about but now they're seen as something more intriguing."

L to R: Andy Jeffries, Catherine Woodward, Helen Mark, Rosie Cummings and Martin Maudsley (Image: Symondsbury Estate)

Catherine also shares her fond memories of the day and hopes the programme will encourage more people to come and see the holloways.

“It was a really exciting day; we could tell the whole team were enthusiastic to be there as everyone lit up when they saw them. I think they knew it would be something special but you can only fully appreciate it when you’re right in the middle of it. 

“We’re very lucky to have holloways and we’re very fortunate to say these are the finest examples in UK and they’re on a lot of people’s doorsteps."