| Dorset shares its
borders with Devon, Somerset, Wiltshire, Hampshire, and the sea.
The jewel
in Dorset's crown is its coast, most of it designated a Heritage Coast .
Lulworth Cove, Durdle Door, Chesil Beach and Weymouth are well known, but
a short walk from these places leads to equally spectacular but much
quieter areas.
Inland are the chalk and limestone hills extending up to central
Dorset. Here are the wide spaces, the open skies and extensive views. Two ridge ways
extend across Dorset. The southernmost runs eastward from
Abbotsbury to the coast at Ringstead and eastward again across the
Isle of Purbeck to the chalk cliffs near Swanage. The northern ridge way cuts across central Dorset and links the East Devon hills to the
downs of Cranborne Chase.
The vales of Dorset, to the west, have retained
a pattern of small fields, mature hedgerows and small fields. This is a
more compact and secretive type of landscape with hidden villages and
lanes, lush meadows and rivers banked with willow and alder. The highest point in
Dorset Lewesdon Hill is in the west as is Pilsdon Pen
which many people mistakenly believe to be the highest.
In the east, around
the towns of Christchurch, Bournemouth, Poole also the valley of the river Frome north
of the Purbeck chalk downs, are remains of heath land - once part of a great area
of heath stretching from the New Forest into the heart of Dorset , and
much featured in the novels of Thomas Hardy.
Dorset Facts:
- The county covers 2653 square kilometers
- 1,126 sq kilometers of Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty covering 50% of
the County
- A coastline, virtually all of which is defined as Heritage Coast
- 143 Sites of Scientific Interest
- 9 National Nature Reserves
- 861 Scheduled Ancient Monuments
- 224 Conservation Areas
- 53% of the county is designated as an Area of Outstanding Natural
Beauty
- 50 % of the population of the county is in the Bournemouth/Poole
conurbation
- 3,000 miles of rights of way made
up of approximately 4700 footpaths, 1700 bridleways and 37 byways open
to all traffic. The majority of these are maintained by
Dorset County Council, the remainder by the Unitary
Authorities of Poole and Bournemouth.
- There is moor, heath and down, but no mountains
- There are no motorways in the county
I
|
|
|
The Jubilee Trail
Guide Book contains a description of the route with newly designed,
detailed maps showing the route for each short section. Features of
interest are described alongside the route description.
A comprehensively
revised, third edition of the Jubilee Trail Guide Book ISBN
978-1-906494-10-0 will be available from the
beginning of July. Price
£5.50 +£1.00 p&p from the Jubilee Trail Contact through this website or
from Tourist Information Centres in Dorset
and from bookshops.
Click here to find out more
|
| Copyright
© Dorset Area of the Ramblers Association 2001 to 2008 All Rights Reserved |
|
Unless otherwise indicated (copyright ownership of information, data, text, images, graphics and the selection and
arrangement of such and links, software and source code on this web site
rest with the Dorset Area of the Ramblers
Association. Some material is owned by the Ramblers Associations Groups
within the Dorset Area and/or with Ramblers Association members.
In accordance with the provisions
of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 extracts are permitted
for personal private use. No part of
the web site may be reproduced commercially in any form or by any means without the
prior written consent of the Dorset Area of the Ramblers Association. All trademarks are
acknowledged as trade marks or registered trade marks of their owners.
The Dorset Area of the Ramblers Association name and logo and all related product and service
names are the trade names, service marks or trade marks of Dorset Area
of the Ramblers Association and may not be used without prior written consent.
The
Ramblers’ Association is a company limited by guarantee, registered in
England and Wales . Company registration number: 4458492. Registered
Charity in England and Wales number: 1093577. Registered office: 2nd
floor, Camelford House, 87-90 Albert Embankment, London SE1 7TW |
|
