To ride the South Dorset Ridgeway is to disappear back into a deep time.
To a time before there were even people and the land was covered with ice.
To a time when humans were hunter gatherers roaming the land, using scattered flint stones to kill and prepare their food.
To a time when people began to settle, when monuments were raised on high ground to honour the dead.
And then to a time when young men dreamed of the sea.
And finally to my time one summer’s day when I cycled from Weymouth along the ridge and into the past.
Maiden Castle
One of five burial mounds at the top of Gould’s Hill out of the village of Upwey. This is the most prominent with a ridge around it, standing in sight of Maiden Castle. One could imagine the torch lit procession from the hillfort carrying the person to their last resting place.
The Valley of Stones
Large and small stones lie scattered across this remote valley left behind from the Ice Age. Most lie where they were left but some have been moved into circles and few were used to sharpen tools by some of the earliest people to live in this area.
The Grey Mare and Her Colts.
Another burial mound, this one a little distance from the Valley of Stones. It has been stripped of its earth cover perhaps to steal whatever precious items it might have contained. A few of the stones that would have marked the entrance to the grave remain.
Bronkham Hill
The view from Blackdown looking south towards the distant glittering sea. Admiral Hardy, the captain of HMS Nelson at the Battle of Trafalgar would have know this view. He grew up in a nearby village and the memorial to him stands behind me. It is a prominent landmark visible to mariners at sea, seeking the land.
I rode this route in the hot summer of 2026. If you would like to follow my cycle ride check it out on Komoot.
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