The beautiful village of Little Bredy holds a very magical place – A waterfall that captures you within its beauty.
I have my Katie to thank for sharing it with us, as a few years ago Katie was an angry, rebellious little teenager who managed to get herself a split timetable from school with a local pupil referral unit. This meant that on Tuesdays she would meet up with Sue – her counsellor who took her places to talk and the waterfall at Little Bredy became their ’special’ place. I could always tell when she had been there as a very angry little girl would become ‘chilled and relaxed’.
She always said she wanted to take me there, so last summer on one of our family days’ out Katie asked if we could go to the waterfall, so we drove there and parked on a grass verge next to a wooden shelter. We had to walk down a steep road and we could see Katie was positively bouncing with excitement.
At the bottom we took a left turn, walked past some houses which had little bridges leading from them over a stream. Already it was beginning to seem magical. Soon we reached a bridge and by the time we were halfway across it we could hear the waterfall and as we turned the corner, there was the waterfall, flowing, bubbling and welcoming you into its wonder. Katie is no longer that angry little girl and this is now one of our family’s special places. Our last visit involved a picnic, tennis racquets and a football, and built memories I will treasure.
Like Katie, both my partner Charlie, and myself wanted to share this magical place, so we took our friends Duncan and Angie, out there on one of the many occasions they are down this way, and I believe it is now a special place of theirs in beautiful Dorset.
I always look forward to our trips to Little Bredy waterfall and the memories that the day will bring. I can’t thank Katie enough for sharing this wonderful place with us and of course I will be eternally grateful to the waterfall for helping to chill my Katie to the wonderful girl that was hiding behind the angry peer pressured teenage exterior!
Sarah Jane Penfold
This artice was first published in The Dolmen Grove Magazine
