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Blandford Forum » Leisure And Entertainment » Outdoor Pursuits
Blandford Forum Outdoor Pursuits
Stuck for ideas for a birthday celebration or stag weekend? Or perhaps just looking for something fun to do for the whole family. You've found the right place with Ufindus Entertainment and Outdoor Pursuits. Paint ball is an increasingly popular activity for men and women, try your hand at one of the UK centres listed here, including both outdoor and indoor paint ball! Or for less strenuous days out, make an historical visit to Great British Gardens. Find Great British days out here with Ufindus. Not forgetting the smaller members of the family, there is a separate days out listing for children?s activities. Keeping the kids amused during school holidays couldn't be easier with our comprehensive register of holidays and camps.
About Blandford Forum - show infohide info
Blandford Forum is an English town in the county of Dorset. Blandford rests on the River Stour, and has a neighbouring small village called Blandford St Mary. Blandford has been a fording point since Anglo-Saxon times. In the Domesday Book it was recorded as Blaen-y-ford and as Blaneford, which means ford of the river of blay or gudgeon. In the 13th century, Blandford Forum was a significant market town, with its livestock market serving the nearby Blackmore Vale with its many Dairy farms. The word forum is Latin for market, and was recorded in association with Blandford in 1540. Blandford was a welcome break for those travelling between port of Weymouth and the capital London. There is still a weekly market held in the market place, which has remained roughly unchanged for over two hundred years. The parish church of St Peter and St Paul is a classical Georgian style building with a copula on top of the tower and was rebuilt in the 18th century having been destroyed in the fire of 1731. Blandford Forum is considered one of the finest examples of a Georgian town in Britain. 'The Old House', in The Close, built before the fire of 1731 is one of the oldest buildings in the town. Following Blandford’s fire of 1731, much of the town ended up in tatters. John and William Bastard oversaw the town’s reconstruction for the next 30 years, creating the fine Georgian town seen today. To the south of the town a six arch stone bridge spans the slow-moving River Stour. Blandford Forum continued to prosper however, helped by the deliberate destruction of the neighbouring market town of Milton Abbas between 1771 and 1790 by the Earl of Dorchester, who replaced it with a more modest model village, Blandford St Mary. New housing grew along Dorset and Orchard Streets, and later after the arrival of the railway, in streets running off from Salisbury Road. One of the largest industries currently in Blandford Forum is the Badger Brewery which supplies beer and ale to public houses across the region.
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