Explore the landscape of the Melcombes. Several villages with similar names, but all with a different history. Discover the deserted village, the manor and the farm surrounded by footprints of the past. Climb the medieval trackways to reach the Dorsetshire Gap, an ancient junction of five routes, linking the northern and wild Blackmore Vale to … Continue reading Melcombe Horsey
Wander around the small hamlets that combine to make the parish of Hazelbury Bryan. From escaping the Black Death and the flames they used to extinguish it, the settlement has shifted away from the church leaving it isolated and alone. Skim the tip of the valley of the River Lydden that fed the old mill, … Continue reading Hazelbury Bryan
Circle the steep horseshoe bowl of Lyscombe Bottom. Explore the surrounding ancient landscape, filled with ancient earthworks, Iron Age hillforts and medieval trackways to find the remains of a lost, little village. Clamber the ruins in the valley, follow the river upstream and scale the slopes to the views, all in the central heart of … Continue reading Lyscombe Bottom
This second part of the Wessex Ridgeway bike ride begins high on Okeford Hill with views stretching across both south and north Dorset. Travel along the ridge of Ibberton and Bulbarrow to reach the Iron Age Hillfort of Rawlsbury Camp. Cycle downhill into the first valley to rise again at the ancient junction of Dorsetshire … Continue reading The Wessex Ridgeway, part two. Okeford Hill to Alton Pancras.
