This walk did not work out as planned.  It is shown here for record purposes only. 
Do not attempt to do this walk for the following reasons.
1) It is on private woodland owned by the Drax Estate.
2) The paths are not where they are shown on the OS map.

The walk leader had failed to recognise that this is NOT an area where walkers can wander about as they please.  The ONLY public route is along the marked Bridle path.
As we wandered along we were met by a gentleman, in the old fashioned sense of the word, who asked us if we were aware that we had strayed a long way off the bridle path.  One of our band immediately recognised Richard Drax and said he missed him on the TV!  After a short conversation he very kindly gave us permission "on this occasion only" to complete our walk as he had no wish to spoil our day.  It was already not that wonderful as the rain had started several hours earlier than forecast and we were pretty wet.
So we continued but … the paths are not quite where they appear to be and several paths have been re-routed and turned into tracks suited to quite large vehicles.  We were very pleased to have a GPS and good tracking system so we could relatively easily see where we were.  Without this we could easily have become lost.
In spite of the weather this walk was quite enjoyable.  It is really a bit of a shame that we will never be able to repeat it in the sunshine.
We saw several small herds of deer, some beautiful swathes of bluebells, a wide variety of trees, and a wonderful playground for paintball enthusiasts.

Clive, Peter, Ray

A very pleasant sunny day but with a cool wind.

We parked by the church at Winterborne Zelston and had a nice stroll past some interesting property up to Marsh Bridge.  The route then crosses the busy A31 where some care is needed.  We were also surprised to find quite a high volume of traffic along the B3075 which runs past the Worlds End pub.

We then found our way across the fields towards East Morden and avoided going back on to the B3075 by keeping inside the field boundary until we reached a point level with the footpath on the opposite side of the road.

We stopped for our coffee break at the St Mary's Church in East Morden where we admired the Lattice work windows.  The lower part of the West Tower is of the late 13th century; the rest of the church was completely rebuilt in 1873, the architect and builder being Joseph Siller.

We then joined the Wareham Forest Way for a short distance before turning back NW towards West Morden.  It was a short distance from here were we saw what is probably the largest ivy plant we have ever seen growing on a tree.  It had been cut through and looked almost like a separate trunk of the tree.
At Pound Wood we dropped down into a little valley where there were bluebells on the slopes above us and primroses growing in the woods.

As we re-entered Winterborne Zelston it was good to see the stream running beautifully clear with Lady's Smock, aka the Cuckoo Flower, growing along the verges and Comfrey lining the banks.

The Botany Bay was closed for refurbishment  so we decide to try the Worlds End which we recalled as rather disappointing.  It was however really much better than expected with reasonable choices and prices and good service.  

A lovely bright start to the day when we arrived at Rushmore and started walking about 10:45.  It was however still a little chilly.
Heading north we walked along the road turning left at Bridmore Belt and then taking the track across the fields.  Unfortunately the first field had be ploughed and the footpath had vanished so we kept to the edge where the ground was a little rough and stubbly.  The second field had also been ploughed but the alternative path along the edge of the wood was very good.  Lots of bluebells and Ransomes to be seen here shortly.  We then dropped down into the valley and along to Tinkley Bottom where we stopped for refreshments.  More wild flowers were coming into bloom along all these paths.  There are also some lovely old trees in this area, in fact all over the Rushmore estate.  At Minchington Down we went into the field and across to Ferney Way which although it looks like a path on the map is actually a well made up road.  We then went through the woods to Woodcutts Common where we got a surprise.  What should have been a Common was planted with rape which was about 2 to 3 feet high.  We took a detour around the edge of the field and the edge of the Golf Course which also extends onto what was once the Common.  I have not been able to find a good map of the golf course or any explanation as to what happened to the Common.  It was, however, easy enough to find our way back to the car park.
Lunch at the Golf Club was very good but the price of the excellent gammon seems to have escalated dramatically.  The all day breakfast was the slimmers' delight and was a lot cheaper!
A very pleasant walk with a variety of views across Cranborne Chase

Starting at Athelhampton House we walked for a short distance along the road towards Tollpuddle before turning up a track beside the church.  Turning left just past the church then took us along by and through the gardens of some houses.  The next stretch is a gentle climb along well used farm tracks to Little Copse and then on to Broomhill, Mansel's  and Southover Plantations.  Just by Mansel's Plantation is a notice headed Bladen Woodlands that says responsible pedestrian access is welcome throughout the woodlands but it is not clear which area this covers.  A little research shows that it is what is called a Welcome Woodland and it is owned by a company called UPM (indicated on the notice) which claims to be the UK’s leading forestry and timber harvesting company.  http://www.upm-tilhill.com/about-us/.  This might be an interesting wood to walk through at another time.  This main track through the wood was quite wet and muddy and not particularly interesting at this time of year.  We were surprised to see a large vehicle in the wood but in view of its commercial nature this is not so surprising after all!  It may be a lot better through this area when it has dried out and the bluebells are in flower.

The walk becomes much more interesting after crossing onto Pallington Heath.  The path is then pretty good until just past Tincleton Hang where there is a Clay shoot and other activities which seem to attract off roaders who have torn the track up into another muddy mess.  Other socially minded people seem to have found this a good area to dump their rubbish.

We arrived back at the car quite early and drove to TableTable at Holes Bay for lunch.