A Boot Up Mid Dorset

Mid Dorset is dominated by the chalk massif of the Dorset Downs. This was sheep country, for a generation after Thomas Hardy’s time, until most of the flocks melted away during wartime ploughing and the agricultural revolution of the 1960s.

Many of the ancient monuments have escaped the plough but great expanses of Celtic fields and settlements lie under prairie-sized fields of grain.

It is on the escarpments and hilltop ridges where patches of natural downland have survived. The characteristic flora comprises distinctive chalkland plants which flourish on impoverished alkaline soils. Several areas of open country, designated as such for public access, are crossed en route. Though the area is ringed by country towns its heartland is as sparsely populated as anywhere in Dorset. In places the road system is also minimal – which makes the paths network even more important.

These ten circular walks, ranging from 3 to 8 miles, suit the needs of families, groups of friends or individuals looking for a gentle stroll or a longer walk, and reflect the many varied facets of the area – its people, its history, and its working landscape and will help first time visitors to experience some of the great scenery the area has to offer. Many of the walks feature a pub along the route.

The ten walks are:

Up Sydling and Batcombe; Cerne Abbas and Up Cerne; Godmanstone and Nether Cerne; Buckland Newton and Cosmore; Alton Pancras and Piddletrenthide; Piddletrenthide and Plush; Dorsetshire Gap and Bingham’s Melcombe; Milton Abbas and Bulbarrow; Okeford Hill and Turnworth; Winterborne Stickland and Houghton.