Stourpaine to Tarrant Gunville

Stourpaine (ST862095) to Tarrant Gunville (ST926127) and Tarrant Hinton
Tuesday 05 March 2013

Detailed descriptions of the Trail with maps may be found the booklet 'The Dorset Jubilee Trail - A Rambler's Guide' © Dorset Area of the Ramblers' Association 2008.   For Ordnance Survey mapping, see Explorer 118: Shaftesbury & Cranborne Chase.

 

The White Horse, Stourpaine

The next part of the Jubilee Trail to be tackled was from Stourpaine to Tarrant Gunville.  Stourpaine is a village straddling tha main A350 road.  It has a church, The White Horse public house and Post Office Stores and is served by a regular bus service between Blandford Forum and Shaftesbury.

Tarrant Gunville is situated about a mile north of the main Blandford Forum to Salisbury A354 road.  There are buses only on Tuesdays and Thursdays on different routes.  Tarrant Hinton, however, is served by a regular service serving Salisbury, Blandford Forum, Dorchester and Weymouth.

 

Tarrant Gunville Curch

I caught the bus from the Crown Hotel, Blandford Forum to Stourpaine and alighted at The White Horse.  The Trail is clearly way-marked following field and woodland paths with some trackways and surfaced lanes.   All ascents are easy.   Some sections could be muddy after rain.

The village of Pimperne can be reached by taking a short diversion from the Trail.  Here there is The Farquharson Arms public house and a regular bus service between Salisbury, Blandford Forum, Dorchester and Weymouth. 

Tarrant Hinton Church

I left the Trail at Tarrant Gunville in order to catch the bus at the Tarrant Hinton layby.  I followed the road south from the village as far as the bends near White Kennels, where I continued along the lane towards Barton Hill Dairy, taking the footpath on the left (before the Dairy) at ST930118, towards Tarrant Hinton, emerging at the church then taking the lane down to the main street, turning right down to the main A354 road.

 

Winterborne Stickland to Stourpaine and
Blandford Forum

For detailed descriptions of the Trail with maps, see the booklet The Dorset Jubilee Trail - A Rambler's Guide © Dorset Area of the Ramblers' Association 2008. For Ordnance Survey mapping, see Explorer 117: Cerne Abbas & Bere Regis.

 



St Mary's Church Winterborne Stickland



 Winterborne Stickland (ST833045) to Stourpaine (ST862095)
Thursday 28 February 2013

 

My original intention was to walk this section of the Jubilee Trail from Winterborne Stickland to Stourpaine, using bus links with Blandford Forum to the beginning and from the end of the walk.  Winterborne Whitchurch is served by buses between Dorchester and Blandford Forum and Stourpaine by a service between Shaftesbury and Blandford Forum.  The distance of this section is approximately 6 miles. The walking is easy along clearly way-marked field and woodland paths and trackways and some surfaced lanes.  All ascents are easy.  Some sections could be muddy after rain.

 

At Winterborne Stickland there is The Crown public house (Ringwood Brewery) and the Winterborne Stickland Post Office and Stores for refreshement and supplies and St Mary's Church. 

 

On the way to Durweston

I followed the Trail as - I had intended - from Winterborne Stickland, through the Forestry Commission Field Grove to Shepherd's Corner and down to Durweston. 

At Folly Barn it started to sleet so I stopped to put my waterproofs on.  As is so often the way (in my experience, anyway) shortly afterwards it stopped sleeting.  I kept my waterproofs on anyway!

 

The Mill at Durweston



Stourpaine Chuch

The Trail crosses the River Stour at the mill at Durweston shortly before reaching Stourpaine, passing by the church on the way into the village.

 

In the village is The White Horse and Post Office Stores.

 

As mentioned earlier, there is the regular bus service between Shaftesbury and Blandford Forum, which I had intended to use.

 

In the event, however, to avoid an hour and a half wait for the bus, I decided to return to Blandford on foot, along part of the Stour Valley Way.

 

The safest way to do this would have been to retrace my steps and to pick up the Stour Valley Way at Manor Road at the bottom of the hill in Stourpaine.  Instead I chose the slightly more direct route along the main road to Durweston Bridge.

 

This route is not recommended!  The beginning presented no problems, following the pavement beside the main road and then up the trackway to the left, passing a number of houses before emerging at the junction with Bushes Road (unclassified).  The section of the main road between Bushes Road (ST863089) and the traffic lights near Durweston Bridge (ST863087) can be busy and is narrow: it is not suitable for pedestrians!

 

I joined the Stour Valley Way to the south of Durweston village.  Some care may be necessary navigating through Bryanston School.  When I did this walk the way-marking was not clear and some of the marks appeared to be missing within the school grounds.  Once through the school grounds navigation back to Blandford was relatively easy.