Discover Dorset's delights from the comfort of your caravan
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Forget obvious hot spots for coastal caravanning, Let Mark Williams, a man born and raised in Dorset, guide you to the county's hidden secrets
Most caravanners asked if they’ve visited Dorset will say yes, and that nine out of 10 of them will then mention its coastal towns.
If you really want to get beneath Dorset’s skin, you may have to forsake the charms of ice creams, sandcastles and seagulls. To do that, you will have to put on your walking shoes.
Thankfully, Dorset is liberally sprinkled with caravan sites, especially if you’re prepared to get back to basics at a CL and dodge the odd cowpat. What you’ll quickly discover is that, away from the coastal honeypots, the site owners and shopkeepers, landlords and landlubbers are a little less world-weary and more welcoming. And they might even sport a real Dorset accent.
Shaftesbury
We all know about Gold Hill, the steep, cobbled street used in the 1980s Hovis adverts. But Shaftesbury is also the site of a huge and ancient abbey, closed in the 16th century by Henry VIII.Shaftesbury Abbey was built by King Alfred in 888AD and was the first ever place of worship just for women. It’s the final resting place of Edward the Martyr and it’s where King Canute died. It has a lovely little museum (open 10am to 5pm, Easter to October), smashing garden planted on the foundations, and the view there along Park Walk across Blackmore Vale is simply stunning.
W shaftesburyabbey.org.uk
Fiddleford Manor And Mill
Fiddleford Manor is a medieval manor house near Sturminster Newton, built around 1370 for William Latimer, the sheriff of Somerset and Dorset, now open for the public to visit throughout the year, for free.It has perhaps the most spectacular medieval manor house interior in Dorset, with astonishing arched roof timbers. Next to it, there’s the beautiful Fiddleford Mill – a smashing spot for a picnic.
W english-heritage.org.uk/daysout/properties/fiddleford-manor
The Tank Museum, Bovington
With all the hype over Brad Pitt’s starring role in Fury – the story of a WWII tank crew – here’s your chance to climb aboard the real thing. The Tank Museum helped with technical aspects of the movie, including supplying a Sherman M4. The Museum even has a special Fury exhibition.But the other stars of the museum include the world’s first tank, the Mk I, as it approaches its 100th anniversary. Leave yourself a whole day for a visit.
You can walk from here to a small memorial, which marks the spot where TE Lawrence swerved on his Brough Superior motorcycle to avoid two cyclists, and was killed. The trail also takes in his home, Cloud’s Hill, now a museum to him run by the National Trust.
Milton Abbas
In 1780, the owner of Milton Abbey decided he didn’t much like the village view from his window, so had the whole thing – pubs, houses, a brewery, the lot – razed to the ground and landscaped. Harsh. But to atone for this vandalism, he built a new village with the help, among others, of Lancelot ‘Capability’ Brown and moved some of the refugees into it.The row of identical thatched cottages, which once housed farm workers. These days they home people with Audi TTs, but if there’s one thing it is, it’s pretty. It’s won many Best Kept Village awards.
To be honest, unless you go there during the annual Milton Abbas Street Fair there’s not enough to occupy a whole day but the walks around the area are stunning.
Cerne Abbas
Cerne Abbas will chime with most people thanks to the very, er, manly Cerne Abbas Giant – a figure cut into the chalk downland turf which looms large over the village.The village itself has a lot of beautiful old buildings and some great pubs, great walks and is well worth a few hours.
The Giant was once thought to be an Iron Age fertility symbol, but more recently has been dated to the 17th century and may be a satirical cartoon – possibly a parody of Oliver Cromwell, whose grandfather, Thomas, presided over the dissolution of the monasteries, including the abbey at Cerne.
W nationaltrust.org.uk/cerne-giant
Poole
Heaven knows why Poole isn’t on the radar of more caravanners. True, it has no town-centre caravan site but it has more sand than you can shake a plastic spade at and, more importantly, a wealth of things to see and do.As a you’re within easy reach of Beaulieu Motor Museum, the amazing Buckler’s Hard (stop sniggering and Google it), Compton Acres Gardens, Corfe Castle.... the list is massive. But stay in town and go to Poole Pottery, drop in for a taste of salty seafaring at Poole Museum, take the kids to Farmer Palmer’s Farm Park, or just sit on the harbourside with a pint or a coffee and watch the world go by.
W pooletourism.com
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