119 The Acorn Inn circular walk, Melbury

1) Exit the Acorn Inn by the front door and turn left, heading downhill. Where the road forks, keep left, heading into the Illchester Estates. Continue on the paved road to Lion Gate, guarded by two giant stone felines, and climb over the stile on the right. The paved path wends its way through Melbury Park estate – keep an eye out for deer, including fallow, red and sika. Continue past the great house on your right and out to the other side of the park, emerging at the bottom of the beautiful village of Melbury Osmond.

2) Continue briefly along the road until you reach a few pretty thatched cottages - here turn right, along a narrow bridleway between the cottages. This passage is overgrown with hanging foliage, creating a mysterious woodland atmosphere. Where the path splits, take the right path under the low stone bridge, and follow the route over a small wooden bridge.

3) After the bridge, follow the track as it climbs a bank and emerges in a field with three gates on the opposite side. Take the second gate from the left, which is marked with a blue arrow, and follow this grassy path fringed by trees as it tracks between fields. Continue heading south along the path, over a paved road by Chetnole Lodge and onwards through woodland and fields.

4) Hugging the right hand side of the field, go right through the gate at the end and immediately turn left through a second gate, to continue on the bridleway, which bends around to the left and continues alongside Lucerne Lake. Follow the bridleway through the gate and onwards through Banger’s Moor until the road forks – here, take the right hand bridleway all the way uphill and down until you rejoin the road that returns you to Evershot and the Acorn Inn.