This brilliant Dorset walk circles around from the beautiful village of Halstock (with its legend of The Silent Woman, St Jude), taking in Corscombe as you follow the ancient paths of this quiet, untouched part of the county.
To follow this route using the Outdooractive App, please find the route here.
When you picture the bucolic idyll of rural Dorset in an Enid Blyton story, this particular area of West Dorset is where you’re most likely to actually find something that matches those images in your head.
This is an absolutely beautiful walk through quiet Dorset countryside – the area feels remote and peaceful, with swathes of farmland, deep holloways between ancient hedgerows, wide views and the permanent accompaniment of wildlife.
You start outside the historic Silent Woman B&B in Halstock (home of the Silent Woman legend) – there is street parking in the village, but please be considerate.
From there the route is well signed the whole way – though in the height of summer there were naturally some overgrown sections that required a little nettle beating!
Sadly, though you walk right past the door of Mark Hix’ The Fox at Corscombe, it is now closed – by pure luck we walked this route in its last week of trading, and a half way pint sitting by the river was frankly idyllic.
The gently undulating walk is filled with wide meadows, thick hedges and shady trees
This was where we stopped for lunch – grateful for the shade, we sat quietly and watched the cows gradually shift across, and then a fox ambled into view, stopping to enjoy the sunshine before moseying his casual way across and slowly out of sight.
The views all around the walk are terrific – without any stiff climbs you are rewarded with wide Dorset views
