Blandford Forest

Sat 6 Dec ‘25. DH, RW, PCL, DL, JB, CH, Scrumpy & Albus

The rain we dodged last weekend had certainly returned in bucket loads during the week and so with the ground damp all around the local counties I decided a walk on good forest tracks would be our best option today, it was just a question of which and where. A good trawl over the green patches on the OS map to the south of our 30 minute area, I identified a large area of woodland in which we have not previously walked south of Sturminster Newton. Combined with the knowledge of a recently opened cafe in the area, the RV was set for the Black Cat cafe just off of the A357 near Shillingstone, with the walk into the hills on the south side of the road, a large area of mixed woodland forming just a part of Blandford Forest.

Richard arrived just a couple of minutes after the Wincanton car, despite taking a lengthy detour around Northern Dorset and once we were all sorted out we headed out of the car park around 08:40, straight across the main road and around a metal barrier onto a woodland track. The climb started immediately and there was plenty of evidence of the heavy rains of the previous few hours by the fallen leaves swept aside to allow the torrents of water to escape down the hill. It would appear that we were unknowingly participating in a Picture Trek, Countryside Activity Trail as we spotted the first sign on a nearby fence post. The wood was mainly deciduous and according to the Forestry Commision website here around 50% of it is Beech.

Once the two dogs were off the leads they spotted some of the local wildlife crossing the track and immediately ran up the slope in pursuit. Thankfully the squirrel and pheasant were too quick for them both who gave up the chase without too much of a care. The same can’t be said for the six of us (racing up the hill that is) , as we engaged a low gear and started the steady climb. As we gained height we could see the valley below through the trees but not really well enough to see the high levels of the River Stour which we had crossed on the way down. Taking it slow and steady the pathway just kept going up and up, although Chris thought he saw the top at one point, only to be disappointed when we reached another false summit.

Our path started looping to the left as we crossed a large open area. The views north east across towards the area of Cranborne Chase north of Blandford were stunning especially as we all expected to be walking in cloud or even rain today. We skirted around the top of the large valley of Hillcombe Bottom and just before we exited the woods we came across a large wooden structure, which with a large veranda and notice boards looked like a forest school of some sort. John was especially keen to see what it was all about as he works with many Dorset schoolchildren on numerous outdoor activities. On closure inspection it appears to belong to The Dorset Coppice Group, a volunteer organisation who aim to promote coppicing and its products and service, and preserve the native woodlands.

On the far end of the building, a sign identified it as a Living Classroom, which was opened by HRH Princess Anne in 2007 and is a base from which the volunteers can work with schools and local communities to develop environmental projects. The classroom is equipped with toilets, water and mains power and they also harvest rain water and produce much of their own electricity through solar generation – a truly ‘living’ and sustainable building.

Leaving the outdoor facilities behind we emerged out of the woods and followed the track down to a minor farm road where we turned right and walked along the tarmac road to Shepherds Corner Farm. The farm yard was large and open with what appeared to be some holiday cottage lets on the right side and we crossed through onto a grassy track at the far side. Our route had been remarkably clean until this point, and so with an infrequently walked pathway and little to no puddles we managed to keep our boots cleaner for a bit longer yet. We pushed on alongside a hedgerow to our left and open fields to our right until we came to a significant cross track where we stopped to regroup and partake of our weekly confectionery next to a well worn wooden finger post.

On two opposite sides of the post there were waymarkers which we had not seen before, giving direction for any walkers on the St Edwards Way. Unfortunately no one was able to share any information about this path at the time so a bit of www research later reveals it to be a 32 mile route between Wareham and Shaftesbury Abbey. The walk was set up in 2021 by the Dorset Ramblers to commemorate St Edward. He was murdered, possibly on the orders of his stepmother, at Corfe Castle in 978 AD and this pilgrimage walk follows the route of St Edward's body, when for political reasons, it was taken from his first internment at Wareham to Shaftesbury Abbey. Further information can be found on the LDWA site here

We turned to the north and along a muddier track with some puddles as we re-entered the woodland along a winding track along which a horse or two had been ridden earlier in the morning. We were passed by a labrador and it’s owner and carried straight on across a couple of cross tracks along which the only other people we saw in the woods were walking. The whole expanse of mature deciduous woodland was remarkable quiet and far less dirty than we had expected it to be. We exited onto a large open area with views to the north which we used as the backdrop for this weeks groupie. The field in front of us had what looked to be a young crop of beet of some sort, although growing in a pretty haphazard manner, so we tried where possible to stick to the line of the pathway across it, as we started our descent back to the cafe.

We veered slightly to our right and rejoined the track we had taken through the open area some sixty minutes previously, then turned left and dropped back through the woods and down to the road. As we crossed and approached the cafe, just a few minutes later than our 10.30 booking, the owner was stood at the doorway looking for us. Despite her saying it really didn’t matter, we opted to go back to the cars to change out of our boots before entering the cafe. As I stopped the clock at just over two hours, we had walked 4.6 miles with close to 200 metres of climbing. Unfortunately as we walked back round to the cafe, a white van of builders arrived at the same time and whilst we took our seats at the table, they jumped in first to place their orders. By the time we had all selected our breakfast options it was evident that we would be waiting quite a while, as it’s only a small kitchen area and with just two staff, one sorting drinks and the other doing a cooking. We received our drinks quickly, butIn the end it was almost an hours wait whilst we filled the time with the normal chats and banter before our very tasty breakfast final arrived. Worth the wait and I’m sure we will be back again in 2026.

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