Footpath in southern England
Sign for the Stour Valley Way
The Stour Valley Way is a 64-mile (103 km) long-distance footpath [ 1] in southern England . From Stourton , Wiltshire, the path travels southeast through Dorset to Hengistbury Head near Christchurch .
The Stour Valley Way at Muscliff
The path uses public rights of way and permissive paths to follow the course of the River Stour . About 3 miles (5 km) from Stourton, west of Zeals , the path crosses briefly to the Somerset bank of the river where it intersects the east-west Monarch's Way footpath, then enters Dorset north of Bourton . The route later passes through the towns of Wimborne and Gillingham , and the villages of Silton , Milton-on-Stour , Ecclife, West Stour , Stour Provost , Fifehead Magdalen , Marnhull , Sturminster Newton , Child Okeford , Stourpaine , Bryanston , Blandford St. Mary , Charlton Marshall , Shapwick , Oakley, Canford Magna , Knighton, Dudsbury and Holdenhurst .
There are ferry crossings between Hengistbury Head and Christchurch town quay or Mudeford quay.
The path has two alternative sections which can be used to form circular walks: one to the southwest of Wimborne, and the other to the southwest of Bournemouth Airport .
The footpath is waymarked and is shown as a series of coloured diamonds on Ordnance Survey 1:25,000 and 1:50,000 maps.
See also
References