Winterborne Stickland

 The main street of the village

We were in Poole for the weekend and wanted an easy walk as I gradually get back into proper walking. This one from Pub walks in Dorset by Anne-Marie Edwards seemed to fit the bill. It is a rectangular walk involving two ascents and two descents (the village and the Winterborne stream run along the valley).

We parked outside the village pub (The Crown Inn) and turned right and then left to begin the westward climb. Almost immediately I spotted a Comma, the first of the year.

You turn left into a field and have a nice, if partial, view of the 13th century church of St Mary.

Exiting the field by a path you cross a pretty stream ...

 ... and come to a road with some nice thatched cottages.

You continue climbing in a south westerly direction across farmland. Now you turn right and descend into valley along a field-edge path. It was great to be in the open country but the view across to the opposite ridge was a bit hazy and not that interesting. I took a snap anyway.

At the bottom you cross the road and climb another field edge path with Canada Farm off to the left. At the top you turn left onto Lady Caroline's Drove,  named for Lady Caroline Hambro (wife of the Danish Banker who bought the village and the land around it in 1852. We were struck by a male Brimstone flying up and down the Drove in a fruitless search for a mate. We had seen several other males, but none so systematic.

The Drove led to a short section of road and then a path which turned into a lane descending back to the village. We admired a newly built, but thatched, house. It was very well done.

 Down in the village we had a closer look at the church

... and enjoyed the lovely 16th century wagon roof, whose bosses seemed to have been painted by the local school children.

It remained only to have a refreshing drink at the pub.

Conditions: sunny and warm!

From: Pub walks in Dorset by Anne-Marie Edwards

Map: Explorer 117 (Cerne Abbas & Bere Regis).

Distance: 4.5 miles.

Rating: three stars. It was good to get out there, but field edge paths are a bit limited when there are no crops or life in the hedgerow.