Blandford Forum

Blandford Forum, or Blandford is a town on the River Stour in Dorset, England. In the 2001 census the population was 8,747, now estimated to be 9,000 people. Blandford is the location of North Dorset's district council. The town  is situated 25 km (16 miles) northwest of Poole, the nearest major town.

The parish church of St Peter and St Paul is a classical building with a copula on top of the tower and was built in 1732. To the south of the town a six arch stone bridge spans the slow-moving River Stour. One of the largest industries in the town is the Badger Brewery which supplies beer and ale to public houses across the region.

Blandford Forum is often given as an example of a Georgian town, as the entire center was rebuilt at once in the 1700s, due to a fire, and is hence uniformly Georgian. All facades remain in fair to good condition.

A number of renowned private schools are near Blandford, such as Knighton House, Bryanston, Clayesmore and Hanford Schools (the general area of Dorset holding many of the nation's famous schools).

Some 2km northeast of the town lies Blandford Camp, which has long been home to the Royal Corps of Signals, the communications wing of the British Army. The base incorporates a modern technology training college plus a cinema for military personnel, and the National Signals Museum (a museum of World War Two cryptographic equipment) which is open to the public.

Sights in the town include Blandford Corn Exchange and Blandford Church. There's a medium-size Tesco supermarket (not 24 hour) and a Home Depot on the edge of town. Blandford has versatile shopping such as appliance, bike, bedding, curtain, sports, electronics, antique and book stores. There is resasonable car parking right in the town square. The Crown Hotel in the town center overlooking the river is the main residential hotel. There are a number of busy pubs, such as the Three Choughs and the Greyhound.

Thousands of people attend the titularly Georgian Fayre which fills the town center and is held in the first week of May each year.

One less pleasant local resident is the Blandford Fly, a local biting insect. In recent years the weed beds in the river have had to be sprayed to stop it breeding.

(Source: Wikipedia, 13/07/2006)