What the heck is a lek?
Males great bustards perform spectacular courtship displays, gathering at a ‘lek’ or small display ground to try to impress the females.
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These walking routes have been created to compliment our Hardy’s Wessex exhibition and to help visitors to explore the beautiful Wessex landscape.
A gentle stroll around Dorchester. Explore the history behind modern day Dorchester and its links to Thomas Hardy’s Casterbridge.
A leisurely stroll round Durlston Country Park to enjoy stunning views, history and exceptional wildlife.
Enjoy a stroll around the old town centre of Poole and see it through the eyes of the novelist Thomas Hardy.
A circular walk from Cranbourne,walking the route Tess of the D’Urbevilles would have taken between Chaseborough and Tantridge.
A short circular walk in Fyfield Down Nature Reserve to visit one of Dorset’s least known Neolithic sites (unless you are a reader of Thomas Hardy’s ‘What The Shepherd Saw’).
A step free stroll around the historic centre of Salisbury, Thomas Hardy’s Melchester.
The chance to follow the beautiful River Avon out to Old Sarum.
An exploration of the links between the writer and the town of Devizes.
A walkabout in Thornecombe Wood where he was born and grew up.
A varied walk through woods, open countryside and heathland, enlivened by references to Thomas Hardy’s writings of his fictional land of Wessex
Males great bustards perform spectacular courtship displays, gathering at a ‘lek’ or small display ground to try to impress the females.
The great bustard has a dignified slow walk but tends to run when disturbed, rather than fly.
The hen-bird on display at The Salisbury Museum was one of the last great bustards to be eaten in the town!