It's good sometimes to get off the highways when driving, and give yourself some time at least to glimpse the hidden treasures around you.
Going from Yeovil to Poole via Dorchester, you can either zoom down the A37 or select the A352, which passes through sumptously named spots such as Seven Ash Common, Minterne Magna, and Cerne Abbas. If the A352 is an 'A' Road, then my garden path is an Autobahn. But it slows you right down and you begin to have a few William Cobbett moments as you dream of rural rides.
Cerne Abbas is a tiny village with a couple of pubs and The New Inn offers accomodation from £45 B&B for one person. It is a 16th Century former coaching inn, a grade 2 listed building, with a comfy olde worlde bar, a fine garden, and some very interesting bedrooms. The restaurant serves home-cooked food 7 days a week, and though I didn't try it (I ate in the Royal Oak - see other reviews) fellow guests seemed to be enjoying. The landlord gets up early to rustle up a massive fry-up for your breakfast.
I guess the New Inn gets a lot of its custom from tourists who go to see the Cerne Abbas Giant. I wouldn't go out of my way to go there again, but no regrets that I did. Pace of life : 1 mph. read more