Rock around Wimborne

The hamlet of Pentridge is just off the Blandford/Salisbury road and an easy half hour drive north from Wimborne. It lies at the foot of Pentridge Hill with Penbury Knoll (606 feet) at its highest part. This is wonderful rolling downland country and you can walk via numerous paths up to the Knoll and on to Martin Down which is managed by English Nature. In the Spring this is a mass of wild flowers but it is great walking country in any season, and the birdwatcher should always have binoculars at the ready. Yesterday was a grey day so I foolishly left the binocs at home, a decision very soon regretted as there were hares to be seen frequently and one of my fellow walkers insisted he has seen them performing the Mad March Hare routine. On February 1st?? It's been a strange old Winter!

This is also a very historic area. You can include in your walk a stretch of Ackling Dyke, the Roman Road from Badbury Rings to Old Sarum, or take in a length of Bokerley Dyke built to repel the Saxon invaders! The Knoll at Penbury was fortified thousands of years ago, and if you look closely at the photo of us lunching, you can just see the lines of the ramparts (R. of centre of the picture). Park by the Church in Pentridge and soak in the atmosphere of times long past. This is a beautiful place to which one can return constantly. Take a picnic; there is neither shop nor pub!