A day trip to Dorset.

Another sunny day and we went to Dorset, the next county west of Hampshire. First we stopped off to see the Fovant badges. These are the badges of the regiments stationed here in WW2 that were carved into the chalk hillside.
Next stop was the litle town of Shaftesbury. it is situated on the edge of a 700ft plateau. Its most famous street is the cobbled Gold Hill (featured in the ads for Hovis Bread). There are also some abbey gardens, but only a few stones of the abbey left and stunning views over the hills.
From here we drove to Milton Abbas. This is a little village of thatched cottages built in the 18th century.It was probably the first planned village in England and consists of a single street with wide grass verges and cottages on either side. There is also a beautiful little church.
From here we drove through the countryside to Hardy's monument. This is a brick monument to Admiral Hardy who was with Nelson at the battle of Trafalgar. High on a hill there were stunning views over Dorset all the way to the coast.
After another stop at Clouds Hill home of the late T E Lawrence (of Arabia) we continued to Corfe. This little village is dominated by the ruins of its castle.The hill was probably first fortified by Alfred the great and the castle dates from Norman times.(1100s)
After the Civil war Cromwell ordered its destruction.