Places you could visit to celebrate Dorset Day

Dorset Day is here and what better way to celebrate than by visiting some of the county's popular locations.

The annual celebration sees the yellow and red county flag, known as the Dorset Cross or St Wite's Cross, being raised on civic buildings across the county.

Sarah, a mum living in the county, recommends a family walk at Golden Cap.

The National Trust managed coastal hill between Bridport and Charmouth is a popular walking route because of the views from the highest point on the south west coast at 191m (627 feet) above sea level.

She said: "From the National trust car park it is an easy just over 1.5 mile (2.4km) walk. It took us 50 minutes through wood land before we walked up the steps to the top of the coast path.

"Once at the top you can carry on the walk along the coast path, but we headed back the way we came."

Sherborne is a market town that is home to a boys school, an 8th Century Abbey and was the home of suffragette Evelina Haverfield.

Julia Findlater runs a walking group for women about the history of Dorset women and says walking from the Abbey to the Digby Hotel you can see the history engrained in the Sherborne Stone and Hamstone buildings.

Findlater said that Haverfield founded the Sherborne suffragette branch in 1909: "Evelina travelled the country with Emmeline Pankhurst after becoming a suffragette.

"But of course, then World War One came, she went to Serbia and it was there that she met Vera Holmes, also known as Jack.

"Vera is a fascinating character. Vera was Emmeline Pankhurst's chauffeur. And Vera and Evelina, or Eve as she liked to be known as then, became a couple."

Found above the Dorset village of Portesham, Hardy Monument is one of the highest points in the county.

The stone tower, built in 1844, was not built to remember the world famous English novelist and poet of the same name, but another Dorset son.

Vice-Admiral Sir Thomas Masterman Hardy who went to sea at the age of 12 and eventually ascended to the top of the British Navy.

The 72ft (22m) tall tower has 122 steps.

Gold Hill in Shaftesbury is best known because of a 1973 TV advert for bread.

It was the directed by a young Ridley Scott, who went on to bring us Alien and Gladiator.

An annual cheese race takes place with competitors sprinting up inclines of up to 17% carrying about 20kg of cheese.

A 1967 film adaptation of Thomas Hardy's Far from a Madding crowd was filmed on the hill as well.