Mannington Heath

Location

Last Visited: 2007 View Google Map, Geocoding, Google Earth pushpin, what3words, etc.

A walk of about 3km (1.9mls) all the way round the perimeter of a large bog on Mannington Heath. The middle section of the walk is surprisingly remote from civilisation (it's even quite a long way away from Ferndown as well).

The first part of the walk takes you down a delightful path through a belt of trees separating small grazing fields used for horses on your left from the open bog on your right.

Although from a distance the bog looks like an area of rough grass, where the path turns across a board walk you can clearly see how wet it really is.

After this the path gets a little monotonous as it crosses the heath, but never quite outstays its welcome. Look out for Curlew along here as this is the only place in Dorset where they breed.

Needless to say, in wet weather this walk can get a bit heavy going. Conversely, in dry weather the light sandy soil can make the going a bit soft, particularly along the path that leads back to the parking place.

The nearby Cross Keys at Mannington is a traditional English pub in every sense of the word.