CTC ride to Martin and Sixpenny Handley

We meet up with everyone at Wimborne Recreation Ground and cycle out under grey threatening skies towards our coffee stop at Cranborne by way of Gaunts Common, Remedy Oak, Horton, Woodlands and Edmondsham. Edmondsham is famous for the gardens at Edmondsham House  which is a splendid Tudor Manor House (1589) with Georgian wings and Victorian service buildings, including a fine set of stables and an octagonal dairy. 

Village pump

Edmondsham House.

Another unique feature of the village is its village pump which bears the date 1884 and an inscription  ‘HEM’ in reference to Hector Edmond Monro who was the squire at that time.






At Cranborne we meet up with a few others and enjoy a leisurely coffee and chat before continuing on towards Martin and lunch. The route to Martin takes us via Damerham which as well as being the location of notable Neolithic and Bronze Age Barrows,  was an important Anglo-Saxon manor mentioned in the will of Alfred the Great. By the time of the Domesday Book of 1086, Damerham was a major settlement in the possession of Glastonbury Abbey. 

River Allen Damerham

St Georges Church Damerham

Leaving Damerham behind we head for Martin where we plan to take lunch at the churchyard in the shelter of the porch. Unfortunately the porch is locked but we find shelter under the trees and eat our sandwiches and chat about which way to head next.

Wimborne St Giles Village Hall

We decide to head out via Tidpit and Blagdon Wood which according to Strava is a Cat 4 climb, all I can tell you is that it is close to 1.5 miles of climbing with percentages that get into double figures at times! From here we loop back to Cranborne and then on to Sixpenny Handley steadily climbing most of the way through Sixpenny and on to Dean End where we turn south and enjoy the descent. We pass through the Gussage's and on to Wimborne St Giles and the village hall where there is, over the summer months, a charity tea rooms. The tea and cakes are delicious and portions to keep even the hungriest of cyclists happy!

From here we head back to Wimborne via Knowlton, Horton and Witchampton having enjoyed another great day out in good company exploring the lanes and villages of Dorset and Hampshire.