Ridgeway Voices Walking Festival

Walks led by people who love the South Dorset Ridgeway

Joins us for great views, great history and great company

Hardy Monument and Black Down

20 May 2011, 10.30am to 12.30pm

3 miles approx. Moderate with uneven ground and steep hill

Join Andrew Duke as he leads a walk around land his family have owned since 1942. He was given the land in 1999 and has been there almost daily ever since. Share his knowledge of the history of the monument, the flora and fauna in the woods and heathland as you journey through woodland with a visit to the military bunker.

The Lofty Ridgeway - Martin's Down to Abbotsbury

28 May 2011, 10am to 4pm

5 miles approx. Strenuous, uneven ground, muddy in parts, some stiles. Please bring a picnic for lunch.

This walk takes advantage of local bus services to explore the high ground and valleys of the South Dorset Ridgeway from the A35 at Martin’s Down to the village of Abbotsbury, following the route of the Macmillan Way. Walk with Sarah Harbige, the South Dorset Ridgeway Heritage Project Officer to share some of her favourite historic monuments and views, such as those from Tenants Hill and the Grey Mare and her Colts.

Please Note walkers will need to purchase a First Bus Day Ticket

Hardy's High Road

5 June 2011, 2pm to 5pm

6 miles approx. Some short strenous sections with uneven ground, no stiles

Walk with Broadmayne resident Janet Davis following a circular walk from Broadmayne to Poxwell and back, along droves and the 'High Road' featured in Thomas Hardy's novel 'The Trumpet Major'. Enjoy the incredible views to Weymouth and Portland from White Horse Hill.

The Broken Barrows at Bronkham Hill

7 June 2011, 2pm to 4pm

2 miles approx. Moderate, some stiles and steep slopes, may be slippery if wet

Walk with Gordon le Pard, an archaeologist with Dorset County Council to explore one of his favourite places in this prehistoric landscape.

Discover the geological curiosities of the ‘Broken Hill’ with a descent into Hell Bottom!

Came Wood to Sutton Poyntz  through 10,000 years

15 June 2011, 11am to 3pm

6 miles approx. Strenuous, one stile, steep hills and muddy in  parts

Wendy and Malcolm Beeson have been discovering the beauty of the Ridgeway since they retired to Weymouth eight years ago. Join them on this varied walk through downland, woods and unspoiled villages, with extensive views over the beautiful Jurassic Coast.

On the way we pass the sites of Mesolithic and Palaeolithic finds, a Neolithic bank barrow, bronze-age barrows and the famous Deverel-Rimbury Urn Field, an iron-age hill fort, the site of a Saxon Moot and medieval strip lynchets. Recent centuries are represented by industrial archaeology, the Osmington White Horse and the new Weymouth Relief Road. If history doesn’t turn you on, then there will also be a little geology, botany and some literary references too.