Hod Hill from Stourpaine

A 3.4-mile two-hour circuit from the village up onto the flat-topped hillfort the Roman army built a camp inside, then down to the Stour and back along the river. Around 150 metres of climb on a chalky track, easy going, though the field paths by the river are heavy after rain. Start from the free village car park behind the White Horse in Stourpaine, only a dozen spaces or so, with careful on-street parking as the alternative. Cattle graze the fort plateau most of the year so leads up there, and the Stour at the bottom gives a proper deep swim for a dog that wants one, with a shallow gravel entry below the bridge rather than the steep banks upstream.