Clubmen's Down is part of the Melbury and Fontmell Estate purchased by the National Trust in stages since 1979.  Altogether the 295 hectare (730 acre) estate represents one of the finest and largest remnants of unimproved chalk downland in Dorset.  Clubmen's Down itself takes its name from a sensible band of Dorset men called the Clubmen, who were disillusioned with the Civil War in 17th Century England and met on the hillside to protest against both sides in the dispute.  They should have guessed that neutrality in a time of civil war can be dangerous and were later rounded up and captured by Oliver Cromwell's army on Hambledon Hill.  Their organisation was named after the weapons they carried and, in those leisurely days, when few cared about "Standard" English, club found its way into the dictionary as a word meaning "An organisation of persons for social intercourse or other common object".The car park is an excellent centre for many other walks.  A few metres back along the road towards Melbury Abbas a stile gives access to a fascinating walk along Melbury Down, a magnificent "dry valley" with interlocking spurs.  A chalky lane by the side of the car park was once the main road to Compton Abbas.  A more bracing walk can be enjoyed by climbing the stile in the car park and walking along the top of the hill to Fontmell Down.  Look out for the strange cross dykes, structures whose antiquity and purpose are still hotly debated by archaeologists, but which possibly date from 500 B.C. at the commencement of the Iron Age.The whole of the Clubmen's Down walk is on chalk.  The National Trust Agent and Warden have worked hard to create a sheep and cattle grazing management system, which will perpetuate the ancient traditions of chalk downland with its close-cropped Sheep's Fescue Grass and the unique collection of plants, which flourish under these conditions.  Manor Farm can still be seen on the Greensand in the valley below and an account survives of life there in the 1870's:  "The sheep grazed on the down in the spring and summer and were drawn slowly from one end of the run to the other and back.  My youngest Aunt, assisted by an old shaggy dog, saw this was properly watched over...".  Generations of grazing like that described, probably going back to Neolithic times, have produced the man-made habitat so beneficial to certain types of wildlife, which the National Trust is determined to conserve. Start the walk by climbing over the stile by the useful and informative display board to the south of the car park.

SECTION 1: TOP OF CLUBMEN'S DOWN  (Length 196 m).

Before starting the walk, pause by the stile to take bearings.  High up to the right is Melbury Hill (height 263 metres or 863 ft) and straight ahead along the fence line is the path to Fontmell Down.  Below, in the valley, is the village of East Compton with its ruined tower, all that remains of the original church run in the 1640's by the rector Thomas Bravell who was the leader of the Clubmen.  To the left can be seen the main village of Compton Abbas which shifted away from the original centre at East Compton leaving it sleeping peacefully, well away from the noise of the A350 road.Set out boldly to your right, on a diagonal course, bearing to the left of Compton Abbas and heading downhill towards the scrub, which marks the edge of the field.  There is no path.  Watch out for cowpats under foot and low-flying but friendly aircraft, which are based at nearby Compton airfield, overhead.  After a while you should be able to pick out ahead of you at the edge of the field an old post, the only survivor of a fence which originally cut off this part of the down from the steep slopes below it.  If you miss the post, it is quite easy to walk left along the edge of the old field line until you reach it.Apart from the trill of Skylarks singing high overhead you will not hear or see much on this section of the walk.  This is partly because it is windy and exposed but mostly because it was at one time "improved" for agriculture.  The Trust hopes that in time the grass will gradually revert to its original downland state.  They are monitoring soil fertility by regular analysis of soil samples.  Already clumps of Cowslips are starting to appear and one or two of the commoner butterflies have been observed.

SECTION 2: NORTH-WEST FACING SLOPES OF CLUBMEN'S DOWN  (Length 308 m).

om the fence post walk further to the left along the edge of the original fence line until you find a clear gap below you through the scrub.  Walk carefully down the slope - it is very steep.  Watch out for rabbit holes.  Pause when you are through the scrub and right down at the bottom of the slope a hedgerow can be seen.  To your left, embedded in the hedgerow, there is a single tall Ash tree.  Walk downhill towards it until you reach a point just above the hedge line.There are a number of important points of interest in this section.  You may be slightly surprised as you pass through the scrub to find Gorse, which generally hates chalk or lime soils.  The explanation is that water percolating downwards, especially when there has been cultivation of a field at the top of a slope, washes out the lime and so creates a slightly acid soil in which Gorse flourishes.  If you look at the upper slopes of any such piece of chalk downland when Gorse is in flower you will usually see a marked golden-yellow strip.  Below the scrub you cannot fail to notice large numbers of small green humps.  These have been built up over centuries by Yellow Ants.  From an ecological point of view they are extremely important because their presence proves that the surrounding area has not been cultivated and will probably support a great diversity of plant and insect life.  Indeed depending on the time of year of your walk you may already have noticed the contrast with Section 1.  Here in Section 2 flowers like the Early Purple Orchid, Milkwort, which confusingly turns up in a multitude of colours varying from white through purple to blue, and much larger numbers of Cowslips, can be enjoyed.  Experts on the Yellow Ant claim that it expands its "hump" in an easterly direction and that shepherds in the Swiss Alps use this knowledge to navigate in the dark!  This could be useful if you are attempting this walk after nightfall, aided of course by the light of Glow-worms!  Below ground the Yellow Ants store the eggs of aphids and when they hatch escort them to the surface and herd them just like the National Trust herd their sheep and cattle.  Watch out for Green Woodpeckers, which are very partial to Yellow Ants and can sometimes be disturbed in the act of pecking into the mounds.  Notice also the tiny plants and flowers which flourish on top of the anthills.  At certain times of the year the anthills can be blue with Speedwell or yellow with Birdsfoot Trefoil.

SECTION 3: THE HEDGEROW  (Length 364 m).

From the point above the Ash tree turn right and walk northwards along the hedgerow.  There is no path but there are a number of cattle tracks.  The hedge has a tendency to develop patches of scrub up the slopes so you may have to deviate occasionally to find a way through.  Eventually you will see further up the slope on the right a Whitebeam tree.  Below it, and to your left, the cattle tracks bend down to a gate.  Lean on it and contemplate the contrast between the improved grassland on the Greensand below the gate, and the species-rich chalk downland on the slopes above.The hedgerow is wide and overgrown and provides excellent cover for wildlife including Roe Deer.  In spring Willow Warblers and Chiffchaffs can be heard in full song.  Watch the hedgerow itself for Holly Blues and Brimstones, which fly along it in spring.  Be on the look out too for the well-camouflaged little Green Hairstreak butterfly with a completely different behaviour pattern to the Holly Blues and Brimstones.  Whereas the males of these species "patrol" the hedgerows constantly looking for mates, the male Green Hairstreaks choose a "perch" on a twig which they guard against competing males and from which they sally out to investigate any passing butterfly-like objects in case they are females.  Besides acting as a route and refuge for birds and butterflies the hedgerow provides shelter for ground- level butterflies.  Although they can be seen higher up the slopes, this is the best area to spot the tiny black and white Grizzled Skippers, Dingy Skippers, Small Coppers, Small Heaths and Common Blues.

SECTION 4: SOUTH-FACING SLOPE OF CLUBMEN'S DOWN  (Length 364 m).

From the gate follow the fence, which leads northwards to the corner of the field.  Here, turn right and then left to navigate the scrub and reach a track to the left along the south-facing slope above the hedge line.  At times it splits into several cattle tracks, but it does not matter which you take as long as you head diagonally up the slope to your right.  If you have navigated correctly, you should enter the scrub at the top of the slope and find a stile.  On the other side of the stile there is a signboard labelled The National Trust, Fontmell Down.The start of this section is the place to look for the fascinating Duke of Burgundy butterfly.  Like the Green Hairstreak the males "perch" on a territory.  However their territory is usually on a knee-high blade of grass or shrub in a sheltered bay or hollow at the foot of the slope.  If you are lucky enough to see one male encroach on another's territory you will witness an aerial tournament with both males flying vertically into the sky.  After a brief period of manoeuvring like Battle of Britain fighter pilots, the two butterflies drop like stones to the ground.  The winner is usually the male who knows the territory best and who can therefore find his way back to the same place.  The females lay their eggs on the plusher Cowslips, which grow in taller grasses or on the edge of scrub.  The south-facing slope is much warmer and dryer than the north-west facing slopes of Section 2.  It will be apparent that, helped by a small resident rabbit population, the grass is shorter here and in June the Section is yellow with Horseshoe Vetch and Rock Rose.  Horseshoe Vetch is the foodplant of Chalkhill and Adonis Blue butterfly caterpillars.  Look out for the marvellous iridescent green-blue of the male Adonis and for male Chalkhills, whose colour varies from silver-grey to powder-blue.  These species have an amazing relationship with ants.  Both the caterpillars and the chrysalides are "farmed" by ants for the "honey" and amino acids, which they produce.  Even more incredible it has recently been shown that the Adonis Blue caterpillar is able to communicate with ants by producing a rasping and barking noise when it crawls.  And yet even more remarkable the chrysalides of both species are able to "sing" to ants!  Keep a careful look out too for the tiny Brown Argus, silvery in flight but chocolate brown and orange when its wings are open.  The Rock Rose is the food plant of the caterpillar...and...yes - again it is milked and cared for by ants!At the top of the slope amongst the scrub listen for the distinctive "Little piece of bread and no cheese" song of the Yellowhammer and watch for the bright yellow head of the male as he sings from a song post in the scrub.

SECTION 5: LANE WITH SOUTH-FACING GRASS BANKS  (Length 336 m).

After crossing the stile you are in a lane.  If you want a longer walk you can turn left and follow it downhill to the village of East Compton and explore the ruined church tower, which you saw in the valley at the start.  If in need of refreshment, a longer walk brings you into Compton Abbas where there are tearooms.  However for the official walk turn right up the lane which was once the main road into Compton village.  Keep walking until you come to a break in the hedge on your left, which contains some "steps" leading to a stile marked "The National Trust, Compton Down".At the appropriate time of the year the bank on your left is purple with Violets, blue, pink and violet with Milkwort, or yellow with Rock Rose, Horseshoe Vetch and Birdsfoot Trefoil.  There are also usually several species of orchid.  Unfortunately  this marvellous sheltered and sunny bank is not owned by the National Trust but seems to be kept grazed by rabbits.  In certain years it is possible to see all the normal chalk downland Blues flying at once - Common, Chalkhill, Adonis, Brown Argus and, higher up in the hedge, Holly Blues.  Watch out too for Britain's smallest butterfly, the diminutive Small Blue.

SECTION 6: SOUTH-FACING SLOPE OF COMPTON DOWN  (Length 336 m).

Climb over the stile and head to the right diagonally up the slope until you reach the fence line.  Walk back along the fence line to your left in a westerly direction until you reach the first clump of scrub.  Walk back down the slope to the hedge, turn left and regain the stile.  If you fancy a longer walk you can keep walking along the fence line at the top of the slope.  This will eventually enable you to reach the top of Melbury Hill with spectacular views.Although this is a south-facing slope, it is rather high and exposed.  As a result the numbers of Common, Adonis and Chalkhill Blues are not as high as in the lane and on Clubmen's Down.  The fence line at the top of the slope is a good vantage point for pausing and looking back over the earlier part of the walk.  The overgrown hedge (Section 3), the Whitebeam tree above the gate at the junction of Sections 3 and 4, and the small clumps of Gorse between Sections 1 and 2 can all be seen clearly.  It is also a useful exercise to see if you can spot from a distance the difference between the improved grassland, which will have little wildlife of any interest on it, and the unimproved, which is always worth investigating.  Generally the improved areas look much greener and it is possible to pick out the anthills, indicators that the grassland has not been tampered with, as little brown dots.  Note also the mosaic of scrub, which needs to be controlled in order to preserve the short downland turf.  If you wait long enough you could be rewarded with the sight of a Buzzard soaring upwards on an updraught or a Kestrel hovering on the look-out for a meal.  On a clear day the radio masts marking Bulbarrow, at 274 metres (898 feet) high, one of Dorset's highest points, can be seen far away across the Blackmore Vale to the south-west.

SECTION 7: LANE BORDERED BY SCRUB  (Length 84 m).

Climb back over the stile, turn left and continue up the lane, which is now bordered on each side by fairly dense hedgerow and scrub.  Keep going until the scrub on your left clears and you reach a small clearing with the remains of a quarry behind it.It is estimated that the age of hedges can be dated by the number of different species found in them - roughly one for every hundred years.  It is a rewarding exercise to use a good identification guide to see how many species can be picked out here.  Watch out for Hawthorn, Blackthorn, Buckthorn, Privet, Dogwood, Whitebeam, Wayfaring Tree and Spindle all bound together by sinuous strands of Old Man's Beard and Bryony.

SECTION 8: THE QUARRIES  (Length 84 m).

The quarries do not belong to the National Trust and have recently been widened by cutting away the turf.  It is worth investigating them, but only if there is clear access.  Extreme caution is required as they are often full of garden rubbish and junk, and it is possible that the owner may fence them off.  Of course, butterflies do not mind about the rubbish and find quarries desirable because of their warmth and the great opportunities they give for foodplants to flourish on the bare chalk without competition from grasses.  If you can safely do so, inspect the chalk for signs of the yellow fluffy flowers of Kidney Vetch, which is the foodplant of the tiny Small Blue butterfly.  Look out, too, for the warmth loving Wall butterfly.

SECTION 9: UPPER PART OF THE LANE  (Length 252 m).

Leave the quarries and continue to the left up the lane until you regain the National Trust car park.  The nearest place for refreshment is at Compton Abbas airfield where the general public are welcomed and rather larger flying creatures may be observed.