Bridport, Allington 1902

Photo ref: 48399

More about this scene

DORSET'S RURAL HEARTLAND is best explored on foot, for walking the lanes and paths which thread from village to village is the only way to seek out the scenes captured at a vital time in their history by the Frith photographer. Other forms of transport are too swift: the greater delights of Dorset's scenery are missed by using them. Each mile of the way, you will know that you are treading in the footsteps of Iron Age man, Roman legions, quarrymen, farmers and poets. It says a lot for this landscape that artists of all kinds have responded to it and interpreted it in diverse ways. This rural hinterland is both beautiful and mysterious, filled with history and crammed with legend. Until the 19th century it would seldom have been visited by the outsider; its deep wooded valleys, chalk downlands and secluded heaths form a physical and mental barrier to the intruder. The locals themselves would hardly have strayed much beyond their villages, except to visit nearby market towns, or to drive livestock from parish to parish along the ancient droving routes which can still be followed today. Only the adventurous minority—tinkers, smugglers, rebels and the gentry—would have gone further.