Transport in Dorset
Owing to its position on the English Channel coast, and its natural sheltered harbours, it has a maritime history, though lack of inland transport routes has led to the decline of its ports.
The West of England Main Line runs through the north of the county at Gillingham and Sherborne.
Railway closures in Dorset began with the West Bay line south of Bridport in the 1930s.
The Beeching Axe of the 1960s led to the closure of other Dorset lines, the Lyme Regis and Bridport branches.
The biggest loss was the entire Somerset and Dorset Joint Railway, between Bournemouth and Bath.
Through Dorset, this line roughly followed the Stour Valley, serving the market towns of Blandford Forum and Sturminster Newton in the Blackmore Vale, and is being converted into a long-distance trail for cyclists and walkers.
These routes do not follow a straight line but do all link up forming an asymmetrical ring road around the built up area.
[1] Queen Anne Drive at Gravel Hill travels east and becomes Magna Road.
The road then travels west forming the border between Canford Heath and Oakdale, crossing the Fleetsbridge gyratory and terminating at the Upton Services at Holes Bay North Roundabout.
The A349 road begins at Oakley, travels south on Gravel Hill past Broadstone and Creekmoor, through Waterloo and terminates at Fleetsbridge.
