Living in North Dorset

[LosingGrip]

sparks_190e said:

Still say Blandford, there are more new houses going up just near the Tesco, might be of interest. Bellway homes I think.

Will have a look, but a bit too far from Gillingham for my other half.

Would be perfect for me mind you!

[sparks_190e]

LosingGrip said:

sparks_190e said:

Still say Blandford, there are more new houses going up just near the Tesco, might be of interest. Bellway homes I think.

Will have a look, but a bit too far from Gillingham for my other half.

Would be perfect for me mind you!

It's definitely within 30 minutes to get to Gillingham!

[LosingGrip]

For some reason I thought it was further away! 31 minutes! Added it to our list of places to have a look!

[Prolex-UK]

LosingGrip said:

For some reason I thought it was further away! 31 minutes! Added it to our list of places to have a look!

Nice trip on tbe higher shaftesbury road as well.

Much better the the A350

[LosingGrip]

Sadly my girlfriend doesn't like driving .

But yeah much better road!

[sparks_190e]

The roads round here, well you couldn't ask for much more really. They're great.

[Prolex-UK]

sparks_190e said:

The roads round here, well you couldn't ask for much more really. They're great.

Not as good as from 1977....

The a350 through spetisbury... On way home from jolly miller in poole was a point of honour to take off over the hump in the road half way thru the village... 4 up as well..

Now its all 40 50 most places

[Zetec-S]

Depending on what sort of house you're after then Shaftesbury will be in budget. 10 minutes from Gillingham which sounds ideal for your girlfriend, and Poole is about 45-50 minutes on some decent driving roads

[brisel]

GT03ROB said:

Take a drive around the areas between Salisbury & Blandford Forum. There are a number of small villages in lovely settings that would meet your commuting requirements.

You won't get a lot of house for £200k there though. Glad I get accommodation with my job in the area. Stunning bit of countryside.

[GT03ROB]

brisel said:

GT03ROB said:

Take a drive around the areas between Salisbury & Blandford Forum. There are a number of small villages in lovely settings that would meet your commuting requirements.

You won't get a lot of house for £200k there though. Glad I get accommodation with my job in the area. Stunning bit of countryside.

I'd missed the 200k bit....yeah you are probably right!

I was originally looking in the New Forest area, but discovered this area & found the value for money far far better & frankly its quieter & nicer.

[Petrus1983]

I’ve spent a lot of time in Shaftesbury and quite like the place - some good enough pubs, with some really nice ones not too far away. Just an hour down to Bournemouth/Poole in the summer, nice walks around, good range of shops etc. It’s biggest problem (For me) is it doesn’t have a train line - but Gillingham isn’t far away and I’d never want to live there.

[bluey1905]

Prolex-UK said:

sparks_190e said:

The roads round here, well you couldn't ask for much more really. They're great.

Not as good as from 1977....

The a350 through spetisbury... On way home from jolly miller in poole was a point of honour to take off over the hump in the road half way thru the village... 4 up as well..

Now its all 40 50 most places

Sorry, slightly off topic, but I notice the two old speed cameras on the A350 at Spetisbury and Charlton Marshall have been replaced by a couple of all seeing, all dancing new ones. I take it these are anpr and speed combined, maybe even average speed cameras.
Back on topic, I live in Blandford, and like it. Beautiful countryside close by, nice pubs in the surrounding villages, Poole within 30mins, decent roads.

[LosingGrip]

bluey1905 said:

Sorry, slightly off topic, but I notice the two old speed cameras on the A350 at Spetisbury and Charlton Marshall have been replaced by a couple of all seeing, all dancing new ones. I take it these are anpr and speed combined, maybe even average speed cameras.
Back on topic, I live in Blandford, and like it. Beautiful countryside close by, nice pubs in the surrounding villages, Poole within 30mins, decent roads.

https://www.dorsetroadsafe.org.uk/enforcement-operations/digital-cameras/

Digital cameras .

We're looking at Shaftesbury as we can get more for our money there.

Not ideal for work, but it's not the end of the world.

Found a lovely place...if only it was 18 months time!

[Solocle]

bluey1905 said:

Sorry, slightly off topic, but I notice the two old speed cameras on the A350 at Spetisbury and Charlton Marshall have been replaced by a couple of all seeing, all dancing new ones. I take it these are anpr and speed combined, maybe even average speed cameras.
Back on topic, I live in Blandford, and like it. Beautiful countryside close by, nice pubs in the surrounding villages, Poole within 30mins, decent roads.

The A350 isn't the highest quality road. Also the A352 to Dorchester - the C12 is a higher quality road. It's also, well, higher. It's also better than the B3143 through the Piddle Valley, although the Piddle Valley route is probably better on tired legs when on the bike...


The Stur Newton trailway is lovely for recreation. Shaftesbury is hill central, Gold Hill in particular... I snapped a chain once there! If you use country lanes, you may end up stuck behind a tractor, it happened to me on one cycle to Shaftesbury...


But yeah, lovely part of the world.

The best route to Dorchester from Shaftesbury may well be down the high road to Blandford, then the A354, my view's coloured be being a bit further west.

Edited by Solocle on Tuesday 2nd June 11:01

[Petrus1983]

I was on the hill this weekend (that’s not me)! A guy was doing a proper tour of Dorset on this bike too! Must have good balance as it’s not the easiest Hill to get up!