Places to visit in Sturminster Newton:

Enjoy our new 300 seater theatre www.stur-exchange.co.uk which has varied events all year, just a few minutes walk from Hazeldean

The Barrelhouse Club (including The Paul Hart Foundation) has some great bands and music taking place usually on the last Saturday of the month www.barrelhouse.org.uk/

Sturminster Newtons 17c Mill and picnic area, also in the town centre the excellent museum with changing exhibits and a good shop too! www.sturminsternewton-museum.co.uk

Sturminster Newtons 15c Bridge. Note the plaque threatening deportation to anyone damaging it!

Thomas Hardy's Sturminster residence Riverside Villas from 1876-1878 where he wrote "The Return of the Native". www.hardysociety.org

Sturminster Carnival is held in August www.sturcarnival.co.uk

The Annual Sturminster Newton Cheese Festival is a two day event held in September - gets better each year! www.cheesefestival.co.uk

There are 7 countryside walks in and around Sturminster featured in leaflets with maps and information, all that can be started from Hazeldean.

Sturminster is an ideal base to explore the wonderful county of Dorset. Dorset's Heritage Coastline is a must and incorporates the Dorset Coastal Path walk. The Iron Age hill forts of Hambledon and Hod Hills are close by as are Shaftesbury, Sherborne, Wimborne, Dorchester and Blandford towns all worth a visit.

The Great Dorset Steam Fair is held at Tarrant Hinton. www.steam-fair.co.uk

Nearby Gillingham Station is 2 hours from Waterloo (London).