3. To continue the main walk, bear right and cross the River Stour by way of a concrete and metal bridge beside a weir, following a sign ‘To Fiddlefoot Mill and Fiddlefoot Manor’. Follow a concrete path across two sets of sluice gates to reach Fiddlefoot Mill.

4. Turn right across a footbridge over the old mill stream and follow a tarmac lane, initially between buildings, to a T-junction with a narrow road. To visit Fiddlefoot Manor (English Heritage - free admission), turn right (signposted ‘Fiddlefoot Manor’), then turn right into a car park and walk across it, heading for a metal gate on the far side. Go through the gate and walk along a grass track – the manor house is to your right.

5. Retrace your steps to the point at which you entered the road, then follow the road as it bends to the right. After approximately 200 yards (183 metres) turn right onto an unsigned bridleway (opposite a bridleway signed to Hammoon). Follow a narrow track along the left-hand bank of a stream (this section can get very wet after rain) and pass a set of cottages to your left; go straight ahead along a tarmac lane until you reach a T-junction with another lane. Turn right and you soon reach the Fiddlefoot Inn on your left – this does food at lunchtimes and in the evening.

6. Keep straight ahead along the lane and, at a T-junction with the A357 road, turn right and follow the grass verge. Cross a bridge over a stream and, on the far side, turn left and cross the road to a footpath signpost to ‘Piddle Wood’. Climb a stile to the left of a metal gate and then keep to the left of a wire fence and hedge, climbing gradually. Climb a stile and keep along the right-hand edge of a field, with woodland to your right. After passing the brow of the hill and before reaching the far right-hand corner of the field, turn right through a metal gate (signed to ‘Broad Oak’) and enter Piddle Wood.

7. In a short distance, beside a wooden post marked ‘4’, bear right and follow a track through the woods, climbing gradually. Where the track forks, take the left-hand track (signed to ‘Broad Oak’). The track soon levels out. At a T-junction with a gravel track, turn left and follow it, climbing gradually once more. On reaching a clearing, follow the track straight ahead until you reach a metal gate. Go to the left of this gate and cross a small car park, bearing left to enter a tarmac lane. Turn right into the lane; in a short distance, the lane descends to the outskirts of Broad Oak village and a T-junction. Cross the road, bearing slightly to the left to a footpath signpost to ‘Hole House Lane’. Go through a metal kissing gate and enter a narrow fenced path – soon, a hedge starts to the right. Follow the path as is slopes gently downwards to reach a metal gate, Go through this gate into woodland – the path now descends more steeply (in part, climb down a short set of steps). At the bottom, cross a footbridge over a stream and then head uphill along a sunken path to a T-junction with a narrow road.

8. Turn right and immediately sharp right again (signposted ‘Town Bridge ½ mile’) into a narrow hedge-lined path. At the end of the path, go through a metal kissing-gate and turn right along the right-hand edge of a field. Follow the field-edge as it slowly curves to the left until you reach a footpath signpost. Go straight ahead through a metal gate and then bear left across rough pasture and go through a wooden way-marked kissing-gate. Go straight ahead across another field to its far right-hand corner, where you go through a metal kissing gate and then descend a set of steps before turning right and following a track to reach the A357 road. Cross the road, being careful of traffic.

9. The route of the walk turns left here, but take time to walk a short distance to the right to see the 17th-century stone bridge over the River Stour. If you fancy a drink, the Bull Inn is a short walk along the A357 on the right.

10. Walk westwards, away from the bridge, along the tarmac footpath beside the road until you reach the first turning on your right (signed to ‘Sturminster Newton Mill’). Turn right here and then follow a path to the left of the mill building. The mill, which is run by The Sturminster Newton Museum Society, is open on certain days during the summer. Turn right at the back of the mill building and cross two footbridges in quick succession over the mill sluice. Turn right and cross a third footbridge, then go through a small metal gate into a large field. Bear slightly to the right and follow a well-defined path (signed ‘Colber Bridge’), ascending gradually across the field to a metal gate on the far side. Go through a way-marked metal kissing gate to the right of the large metal gate and proceed ahead along the left-hand edge of a recreation ground (with the River Stour off to the left). Go through a second kissing-gate to the left of a large house (signposted to ‘Colber Bridge and Hunton St Mary’) and follow a path that descends gradually. Ignore the first path off to the right but take the second (beside a signpost to ‘Market Place’). Go through a wooden kissing gate, then climb a slope to reach the outskirts of Sturminster Newton. At the top, go through a metal kissing-gate and turn left into a tarmac lane and walk along it to the centre of town and the end of the walk.

The two main pubs in the town centre are The Swan Inn and The White Hart Hotel, both in Market Place.