Hobby Farm to Charmouth
DISTANCE: 4 miles
TIME: 1 hour
OVERVIEW: Mainly following footpaths in fields by a river. Some walking along roads at beginning and end of walk. Flat walking with no hills. Some styles to cross and gates to open. You will need to cross the river at one point which might be difficult for some. Please keep dogs on leads where sheep/cattle are in fields.
Description of Walk
This is a lovely walk which takes you through a section of the pretty village of Whitchurch Canonicorum as well as along footpaths in fields by the side of a meandering stream. Easy walking but be aware if you are taking a large dog, that the first style only has an opening for smaller dogs. You may wish to walk the first part of the walk along the road to the church and then pick up the walk from that point.
PLEASE NOTE:
Update July2023: The last part of the walk on the footpath from the Dolphins River caravan park to the A35 can get quite overgrown in the summer months and so we recommend you take a stick with you and wear long sleeves and trousers!
From Hobby Farm Campsite, walk towards the equestrian centre via the footpath. Keep going straight (and don’t turn left to the equestrian centre) but go over the style onto the road (Bluntshay Lane). Turn left for a few steps and then turn right towards Griddleshay Farm gate. Just to the left and before the gate you will see a stile and the start of the footpath. Cross the stile and head along the pathway going through more gates and styles along the left of the field. You will eventually walk through the churchyard. Here is a good opportunity to look around the church which is magnificent and with lots of historical interest.
Continue out of the main gates of the churchyard along the winding road until you reach the village hall on your right. Just beyond the village hall turn right along Becklands Lane, a country road, and walk further for about 1/4 of a mile until you see a style on the left by a bridge. Take this path which then takes you along various fields along a path with the stream on your right.
Keep going following the path and through gates and styles and you eventually come to a small wooded area including the steam. Here you will need to cross the stream but ropes have been placed to make this possible without getting wet. the bank is steep. Still with the stream on your right, keep walking following the footpath and you eventually will come to the back of the Dolphin caravan park. Go past (with the stream now on your left) and continue through a gap in the wall of the next field. Do not turn right (as per the map above which was a little mistake!) but traverse across the field towards the style on the other side of the field. the stream becomes much wider on your left turning into a river which turns left towards Charmouth. Instead of turning with the river, keep to the path to the right which takes you along the side the A35. It is a wide verge so is quite safe as long as dogs are on a lead. Continue to the wooded area and through it to a gate alongside a road. Take a left turn along the road which crosses the A35 and takes you into Charmouth. At the end of this road, turn right towards Charmouth and then the first left which takes you towards the beach by the Seadown caravan park. To the right of the entrance of the caravan park is a footpath which goes all the way to the beach at Charmouth.