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BLANDFORD FORUM , the gateway into mid-Dorset from Bournemouth, owes its latinate name not to the Romans but to medieval pedantry - the original Saxon name Cheping, meaning "market", was translated as Forum by Latin-speaking tax officials in the thirteenth century. The Romans weren't far away, however - their main route from Old Sarum to Dorchester ran through the Iron Age fortification of Badbury Rings, just east of the town, where it made an uncharacteristic bend. In 1731 Blandford was all but destroyed by fire, the fourth such conflagration since the end of the sixteenth century. The phoenix that rose from these ashes - as the Fire Monument near the church puts it - was designed by the unfortunately named Bastard brothers, John and William, whose "Blandford School" produced buildings characterized by mellow dapplings of brick and stone. Sleepy Blandford still boasts one of the most harmonious and complete Georgian townscapes in England, with its centrepieces being the Town Hall and the Church of St Peter and St Paul , built in 1739. Outside, the church's distinguishing feature is the cupola perched on its handsome square tower; inside, it has fine box pews and huge Ionic columns. It doesn't quite look as John Bastard intended, though: the church was daringly altered at the end of the nineteenth century, when the chancel was sawn off the nave, stuck on wheels, rolled out of the way so that a new section could be built in the gap, and then stuck back onto the extension. The town museum in Bere's Yard, opposite the church (Easter-Sept daily 11am-4pm; GBP1.50) offers a pithy account of local history, while Mrs Penny's Cavalcade of Costume at Lime Tree House, The Plocks (Easter-Sept Mon & Thurs-Sun 11am-5pm; Oct-Easter same days 11am-4pm; GBP3), presents over five hundred items of costume and accoutrements from 1730 to the 1950s. Blandford's tourist office is in the car park on West Street (Mon-Sat: April-Oct 10am-5pm; Nov-March 10am-1pm; tel 01258/454770, ). There are numerous B&Bs along Whitecliff Mill Street to choose from, or try Gone Walkabout , at 3 Alexandra St (tel 01258/455699, 101454.1674@compuserve.com ; no smoking; under GBP40), a Georgian house close to the town centre where walkers and cyclists are welcome. The local Hall & Woodhouse brewery supplies many local inns - the Greyhound , in quiet Greyhound Place (off Market Place), is a good-looking pub with outdoor seating and great food.
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