Taking a Hardy Walk Along the Dorset Coast

“Far From the Madding Crowd,” the title of one of Thomas Hardy’s novels, is today an apt description for a walk along the Dorset Coast or through the Dorset countryside. Here you’ll find tranquil trails where you can follow in the footsteps of one of Britain’s best-loved writers.

“If you haven’t read Hardy before you walk through Dorset, you’ll be inspired to read him by the time you return home,” says Michael West, director of The Wayfarers, a British walking tour company that leads weeklong “Thomas Hardy’s Dorset” walks from spring through early fall.

Dorset is the Wessex of Hardy novels. And Poole became Havenpool, Weymouth became Budmouth and Dorchester became Casterbridge. . . .

Hardy was a most topographically conscious novelist, and for the English lit major, it’s not all that difficult to match the place names in “Jude the Obscure” or “Tess of the d’Urbervilles” with the names on the land. Aiding those of us who read Hardy long ago are a number of locally produced maps of Dorset that feature both real and fictional locales.

One way to see Hardy Country is to join the Dorset Coast Path, which extends 72 miles along the chalky cliff tops from Lyme Regis to Poole Harbor. Another way is to head for the rolling Dorset Hills, which are laced with foot paths and country lanes that carry the walker through peaceful woods and fields, and to manors and castles and Tudor-era towns.

Highlights of the Dorset Coast Path include Black Ven, a nature reserve famous for its fossils; Chesil Beach, a 20-mile-long spit of pebble beach, and Golden Cap, a magnificent stretch of cliffs owned by the National Trust.

Most signs--and most walkers--refer to the long-distance path simply as “Coast Path.” The Dorset Coast section is part of the Southwest Peninsula Trail, which curves 515 miles around the southwest coast of England. It’s the longest footpath in Britain, and many walkers claim it’s the most scenic. Attractions include Exmoor National Park’s rugged moorlands, the towering granite cliffs of the Cornwall Coast, Land’s End and Plymouth, where the Pilgrims set sail for the New World.

The Dorset Coast Path begins in Lyme Regis, setting for the novel “The French Lieutenant’s Woman” and hometown for its author, John Fowles. It’s the quintessential English coastal town. Walkers will enjoy the town’s steep and narrow lanes, as well as post-card views of the harbor.

You can walk the stone breakwater where Meryl Streep strolled in the film version of “The French Lieutenant’s Woman.” With the angry Atlantic thundering around you and the dramatic Dorset cliffs towering above, it’s an unforgettable walk.

Lyme Regis is the site of innumerable ancient fossils. Booklets describing walks in the area where fossils can be seen en route are available at the town’s information bureau.

Public transportation in Dorset is pretty good, which means walkers can plan a long one-way journey (stopping for the evening at a campground, hostel or country inn) or a one-way day hike along the Coast Path, using the bus to get back to their starting point. If you’ve rented a car, you can leave it at a number of conveniently located trail heads--”car parks” as the British call them--near the Dorset Coast Path.

If you want to be pampered while doing Dorset, walk with The Wayfarers, who will wine, dine and guide you through Thomas Hardy Country. Walkers visit Hardy’s birthplace and grave and a dozen locales that appear in Hardy’s novels.

A walk manager transports your luggage from inn to inn, while a walk leader guides your small party (usually eight to 12 people) through the countryside. Sauntering about 10 miles a day through pasture and farmland, walkers visit the thatched village of Milton Abbas, Iron Age forts and Sir Walter Raleigh’s Castle.

“Actually, with its high chalk hills, its woods and its grand views of the English Channel, Dorset is great walking even if you’ve never heard of Thomas Hardy,” says West.

The Wayfarers also walk to the medieval monastery of Sherborne Abbey, several churches and one unabashedly pagan sight--Cerne Abbas Giant, a Bronze Age 180-foot-high figure of a man cut into a chalk hillside. The Giant, whose symbol of fertility is truly gigantic, was the focus of fertility celebrations in days of old.

Besides its history and scenery, Dorset has two more draws for the traveler afoot: climate (it’s relatively mild) and cost (fairly inexpensive for lodging and food along the way).

HIKING / Southwest England Dorset Coast Path * Where: Dorset Coast and countryside. * Distance: 72 miles, shorter walks possible. * Terrain: Chalk cliffs, sand and shingle shorelines, rolling pasture. * Highlights: Historic Thomas Hardy country; hiking part of the longest and most interesting footpath in Britain. * Degree of Difficulty: Moderate to strenuous. * For More Information: Contact The Wayfarers, 166 Thames St., Newport, R.I. 02840, (401) 849-5087.