Funny how things you conceptualised as a kid can linger for the rest of your life. That’s the way feelings about the county of Dorset have developed and remained for me, thanks to my father and the works of Enid Blyton.

Enid Blyton, Dorset, and Childhood Impressions

My neighbouring county has always felt vaguely like a distant land to me. Why? Because my dad, in his literary way, detested the works of Ms Blyton (who loved and wrote about Dorset) and, most unlike him, he banned them from the house.

So devoted was the writer of children’s books to Dorset you can now follow the Enid Blyton Trail through miles of her favourite landscapes around Purbeck and Corfe.

Class Divides and the Perception of Dorset

My father relented years later and explained that he’d been suffering from a kind of inverted snobbery.

I grew up with the vague impression that coastal Dorset was where rich folk from London went on holiday and consequently it was not really a place for working-class Westcountry oiks like me.

Walking the Wessex Ridgeway: Dorset’s Stunning High Ground

Sorry, I really must go and see a psychiatrist one of these days. Because my mission in today’s Hesp Out West is to shout the glories of Dorset from the rooftops. Or, quite literally, from the ridge-tops.

One hot summer day, poet James Crowden and I marched along the 18-mile ridgeway that starts in Beaminster and ends in Lyme Regis.

The Wessex Ridgeway: A Trail Through Dorset’s Past and Present

What we were following (more-or-less) was the southerly end of a magnificent ridge-top route crossing Dorset’s rural heartland, known as the Wessex Ridgeway Trail.

The temperature made our first climb up the steep sides of Gerrard’s Hill, just west of Beaminster, an act of mad-dogs-and-Englishmen proportions.

Dorset’s Highest Points: Pilsdon Pen and Lambert’s Castle

Past Chart Knolle and Waddon Hill, we reached wooded Lewesdon Hill and Burstock Down, and this in turn took us around Cockpit Hill to the Pilsdon Pen.

At 277 metres, this is believed to be the highest place in Dorset – though James told me there were debates over the claim.

It’ll do me though – the strange flat-topped eminence offers views over half of southern England.

Poetry and History Along the Wessex Ridgeway

It was on the steep slopes of this Westcountry mountain that we came across an elegant field gate, created by a talented carpenter called Karen Hansen, of Evershot.

It is known as the “Wordsworth Gate” because William and Dorothy Wordsworth first set up house together just a mile away in Racedown Lodge.

When James was writer-in-residence for the ridgeway, he was commissioned to write poems which he later collated into a book called Dorset Footsteps.

Dorset’s Literary Connections: Wordsworth and Coleridge

We walked on down the hill to meet Ross Dickinson, a fascinating local farmer-turned-archaeologist.

It was here that I was to hear more of the Romantic Poets’ link to Dorset. This was outlined by poetess Catherine Simmonds, who has done extensive research on the Wordsworths’ two-year stay in Dorset.

The Bottle Inn: Home of the World Nettle Eating Championships

We proceeded along the two miles to The Bottle Inn (once home of the World Nettle Eating Championships).

The pub was closed last time I passed, but I understand it is due to reopen soon.

Crossing Dorset’s Landscapes: Marshwood Vale and River Lim

We reached the ramparts of Lambert’s Castle Hill, yet another high point offering fabulous views of glorious tree-studded Marshwood Vale and the distant sea.

Our final stretch took us along the verdant valley of the River Lim, leading us southwards to Lyme Regis.

Arriving in Lyme Regis: A Seaside Welcome

Which is where photographer Richard Austin was waiting for us, having purloined four fresh mackerel for me from Harry May, a friendly local fisherman.

Max Gollop, owner of The Cobb’s Aquarium, came out to greet us and introduced Catherine to his school of finger-sucking mullet.

A Perfect Dorset Walk: Poetry, Cider, and Fresh Mackerel

Upon which word James’ father, the late Guy Crowden, arrived and handed me that rarest cut of meat of them all, the aforementioned Bath-chap—and I went home a very happy and exhausted fellow.

Not so much Five Go Mad in Dorset, but Three Walk Themselves Weary in The Land of Chalk and Ridges.

If you ever feel in need of a long, airy hike with fabulous views, this would take some beating.

Plan Your Wessex Ridgeway Adventure

To find out more about the Wessex Ridgeway, visit:
Dorset Council - Wessex Ridgeway