HelpHound

My partner and I come to Dorset for a holiday every year, and we visit Dorchester every time without fail. It is one of my favourite places in Dorset for shopping and is a bit more upmarket compared to other towns such as Weymouth. I am always amazed every time we go here of the amount of bakeries! Not that i am complaining, the cakes and pastries are always so nice in Dorset! You''ll find the usual shops here such as Borders, Boots, WHSmiths, Newlook and Next, and then you''ll also find lovely quaint shops that sell kitchenware or gifts. If you are looking for somewhere to eat, i highly recommend ''The Bistro'', situated down a side street. Fantastic food, lovely and fresh, and reasonable prices. After some shopping in this market town, you should take a walk to the nearby park. If you have a child, this is a great place for them to let off steam! There are a huge amount of slides, swings and other play equipment. Parking is quite difficult here. There is a car park in Somerfield, found just off the high street, although spaces are pretty limited. We always get the Dorchester Park and Ride which can be found at Tesco, a few miles just out of Dorchester. One thing as well we do is visit the massive market (500 pitches). If you get the park and ride, the bus will drop you off right outside the market. The market is held every wednesday, and there is a car boot sale here held in the same place on a sunday morning. In conclusion, this town has a lovely relaxed atmosphere, and we will still be visiting Dorchester for years to come.

Dorchester is a small town a with few attractions. Dorchester town centre is one high street with a limited amount of shops, which tend to be very small. A fab example of this is the Next which is absolutely tiny! There are three popular museums in Dorchester being the County one which is large, the Dinosaur Museum which is cool for young children but rather expensive and small and the Tutankahmun museum which is the same as the Dinosaur museum in that it is small and expensive. Thomas Hardy is famous in the town and the Hardy walks are quite popular! Maiden Castle is well worth a visit, it is described as the oldest hill fort in Britain whats more its absolutely free which is even better

Poundbury (Dorset''s own Truman Show)

With Gordon Brown citing Poundbury as a model for rural expansion it''''s high time to take a long hard objective look at this exemplar.

I remember when, back in the dark ages, the Prince of Wales PR machine first mooted the idea of a rus in urbe idyll on the western fringes of Dorchester. Oh what optimism what hope. At last, someone committed to real architecture on a human scale, someone who understood the vernacular and who had both the funds and the influence to see it through.

Oh woe! Alarm bells started ringing with the announcement of the involvement of Leon Krier, known, if at all, as a Belgian anti-modernist (he currently resides, sensibly, in the south of France). In my experience, if you want something done, employ someone pro-it, not anti-its opposite.

The other worry, for those who had previous, was the Duchy of Cornwall. Nominally subservient to the Prince, the Duchy trustees have a reputation for putting economic criteria before all. See Poundbury''''s own website for ''''Charles, Can we have our Parks back please? Are the Poundbury Parks that we were promised being eaten up with development?'''' High density housing (there are no semis in Poundbury) plays well with planners and the green lobby; it also means more houses to the acre when it comes to sell.

The architecture

My what a mish-mash. Every form of half-hearted copy is represented here - faux Georgian, neo-French second empire, late 20th century Tesco, quasi-Chelsea terrace, even ''''ye olde peasant hovel'''' but with solar and hot-tub. There are statement buildings for every phase of the project and these are the true horrors. My powers of description fail beside the ghastliness that is Mey House. Herr Speer would have done better. I''''ve had to post a picture.

What seems to be lacking?

Garages. With Poundbury being 19 miles from the nearest main line rail-link, you''''d think they''''d recognise that maybe the owners of these 21st century architectural miracles might like somewhere to park the old jalopy. And woe betide you if you have the temerity to park a caravan in your drive - its against the estate rules.

Pubs. ONE. The Poet Laureate. The what? Named after Ted Hughes (why not call it ''''The Ted Hughes'''' then?) The only pub. I dont'''' suppose most beer drinkers can pronounce Laureate let alone tell you what one does. ''''Expensive'''' and ''''Posh nosh'''' are two comments on the web.

Integration. Theres a seven foot high wall separating Poundbury from the adjoining housing estate. There''''s debate locally about who''''s being kept apart from whom.

The vernacular. A big noise has been, and still is, made about this. But there seems to be an awful lot of concrete where you''''d expect stone and heaps of render where you might reasonably expect brick and/or flint.

Living in a perpetual building site. The fist sod was turned in the mid-eighties and they''''re still at it. Cranes. Dumper trucks. Mud in winter and dust in summer.

Prices. There a 3 bed house on with Elder & Froy (Yep, there might not be too many pubs and restaurants but, sure enough, the big-knotted tie brigade are here) at 475,000. Now thats quite a price in the post-boom market. But homes in Poundbury ''''are very popular with people moving down from Esher.''''

At the end of it all I don''''t suppose I would have much of a problem with Poundbury if Mr Barratt or Mr Bovis''''s names were appended. They are (used to be?) in it for the profit. But it sticks in my throat that such a pastiche continues to be foisted on the honest burghers of Dorchester in the name of good taste when it is manifestly as much about good taste as Bishops Avenue.

If you want to make up your own mind the BBC and ''''Mr Smug'''' - Ptolemy Dean (well he was never going to be a bricky with a name like that) are airing a show aptly named ''''A perfect village'''' (Poundbury is strictly speaking a suburb of Dorchester) on Friday 1st September. My money is on a feast of arslican.