A SEASIDE START & FINISH Fabulous fossils can be found at Charmouth Beach, for expert RIDE 5 advice pop into the Heritage Centre & learn the secrets of what made them & how to find them. For a fabulous finale, Hillforts & the Vale back on the beach to build sandcastles & dip your toes in the sea. charmouth.org

WALK IN THE FOOTSTEPS Follow in the steps of villagers of 2500 years ago at Lambert’s Castle, which with nearby Coney’s Castle, was “Here I find built as a border post between neighbouring tribes. The inhabitants controlled trackways & trade routes, defended the coastline & Marshwood Vale below where they farmed. the ancient signs” nationaltrust.org.uk/lamberts-and-coneys-castle

PLACES OF TRUST The National Trust’s Golden Cap estate offers enjoyment for Start off with seaside and fossils at Charmouth, explore the heights o all. Ramble up the highest cliff (627ft) on the south coast for of the ancient hillforts of Coney’s and Lambert’s Castles with 360 the views, take a woodland walk at Langdon Hill, find the panoramic views over the Marshwood Vale to Lyme Bay (down to medieval chapel at St Gabriels & explore the traditional hay Start Point in Devon and up to Portland on a clear day) and to the meadows full of wild flowers in spring & summer or simply take north, Pilsdon Pen and Somerset. An optional route will take you a picnic to Stonebarrow. nationaltrust.org.uk/golden-cap to Pilsdon Pen for even more far reaching views northwards to the Blackdown Hills, Quantocks and Mendips. MYSTERIOUS ANCIENT HIGHWAYS Labyrinthine paths criss-crossing Dorset, the name Holloway Descend to the mysterious Marshwood Vale full of mystery and means sunken road and dates from 300 years ago or before. hidden beauty in miniature. A landscape of narrow lanes, high Originally they were drove trails taking cattle to market, hedge banks bright with wild flowers in spring and summer, brooks routes to ports, pilgrimage routes or boundary ditches. Many trackways are 20 – 30 deep worn away by water and use. and streams where damsel and dragonflies dart about, tangled thedorsetrambler.com copses, old cider orchards and small fields, which has been farmed since the Iron Age. FOR THE BIG KID IN YOU Join Jake Diamond and Bessie on the Smugglers Trail at Let it enchant and take you away from modern life’s hurly burly. Stonebarrow. An app is available to guide you around the trail, or find the play trail at Langdon Hill. Download audio tracks from dorsetaonb.org.uk. For Apple users download Stonebarrow Hill Smugglers from the App Store.

Explore the Marshwood SECRET WORLD Explore Dorset’s fortified Vale on foot. Search The Marshwood Vale is a secret world of its own. Weaving past - visit the hillforts & online for “The Dorset round the lanes, you’ll see glimpses of the small fields enclosed castles dotted across the Walk Bettiscombe and Pilsdon” to get you started by old hedges. High banks contain the lanes and create county and find out who a micro climate ideal for a diverse variety of wild flowers. lived there

Poetry by Jean Florence Evershot

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