Pop down to Washingpool Farm shop & fill the picnic hamper from the hut up with delicious food & drink 

Then head up to the top of Lewesdon Hill or Pilsdon Pen, two of the highest points in Dorset. Pilsdon offers 360 degree views from the top where as Lewesdon is shady & wooded on top, you can walk down the otherside of Lewesdon heading the in direction of Broadwindsor if you fancied a longer walk.

If the weather isn’t great then why not head to the beach for a blustery & bracing walk, coming back to the car to enjoy your picnic goodies in the good ‘old fashioned steamed up car windows’ way that we remember from our childhood when we sat in the back with bags of crisps & apples as our parents or grandparents sipped steaming tea from a thermos in the front.

You could head over to the nearby village of Symondsbury where you can park up in the Tythe Barn car park & walk for miles around the estate ending up on the top of our famous landmark Colmers Hill that you can see from the shepherd’s hut. Pop into the Symondsbury Kitchen café for a reviving cuppa afterwards.

Allington Hill is a Woodland Trust wood & there are footpaths all around the fields that lay around it. You can from there walk over to Symondsbury & Colmers Hill if you fancied a real leg stretch! The hill itself has little paths all over it that lead up to the top where you can walk along looking down over the countryside.

West Bay is a must if you are a fan of the television series Broadchurch. The harbour & beach was used extensively in filming. Pop into The George or The Bridport Arms, enjoy fish & chips from one of the many kiosks there, try your hand at crabbing off the harbour nets can be bought from the Angling Supplies shop there or just sit on the beach with an ice cream & soak up the sound of the ocean. Samways fresh fish shop would be a super place to pick up some fresh caught sea food to come back & pan fry back up at the hut.

A quieter beach & fantastic all year round for dog walking is Cogden. It is a National Trust beach, park up at the top & head out across the fields. They are farmed by the organic Tamarisk Farm in West Bexington & the wildflowers & insects are a delight. You can drop down towards the beach & then walk along the back of the water reeds & then pop out onto the shore coming back along the beach & back up to the car park. The Three Horseshoes in Burton Bradstock would be a good place to pop into on the way back for food or just a pint of local Palmers ale.

Bridport itself is a quirky little market town. Wednesdays & Saturdays you will find the two main roads packed with stalls, adding to the highstreet mix of well known chains & great independent shops. Try Aroma coffee shop down near Waterstones, Soulshine Café in South Street, browse in vintage & antique shops in St Michaels Trading Estate, try superb ever changing ales from In Pursuit of Hoppiness or a cocktail from The Venner Bar upstairs at The Bull Hotel.

Furleigh Estate is only ten minutes walk from us here & they do great tours of the vineyard, you would get to find out all about their award winning English wine & they sell what they make in the shop there so you can wander back to the hut to enjoy it as the sun sets!