Bere Regis and Turners Puddle

St John the Baptist, Bere Regis

We made an impromptu decision to go to Poole for a weekend's walking. We thought we would start with this 5 miler from Bere Regis, a town we have bypassed several times already on our travels.

We parked near the fine 15th century church and walked through the churchyard to emerge on the road to Wool. We crossed the shallow, fast-flowing Bere Stream, with its attendant watercress beds, and headed through a small housing estate to follow a track which climbed steadily towards Black Hill. There were nice views to the north west past a group of oak trees.

The route then passed through a small oak wood to enter an area of heathland ...

.. and then descend to the Piddle valley and the tiny hamlet of Turners Puddle. We passed the tiny 16th century church ...

... and followed a track along the valley with the insignificant Piddle to our left. We began to surmise how the river had got its name.

Soon we turned right up a track to Kite Hill and, once there, turned right again through Piddle Woods. This narrow strip of woodland follows the line of a ridge and there are some lovely views to the north. We were delighted to catch a glimpse of Weatherby Castle (the right hand hill in the photo) which we climbed on our last walk in this area, from Tolpuddle.

Then the route swung towards the south-west and followed another ridge, this time over heathland. There were excellent views down towards Bere, with its church tower prominent at one end of the village.

We descended from the ridge and followed a sunken track to reach Shitterton, a separate village, now a kind of suburb of Bere, with a pretty group of thatched cottages.

Then it was along the High Street back to the church. There was a rich mixture of housing styles and ages along the High St, but the overall effect was strangely nondescript.

From: Dorset Walks (Pathfinder Guides).

Map: Explorer OL15 (Purbeck and South Dorset).

Conditions: cold and gray for the most part, very muddy in Piddle Woods.

Distance: 5 miles.

Rating: three and a half stars.