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.