Editing Stalbridge (section)

==Geography==
{{Location map | Dorset Geology
| caption = Geological map of Dorset. Stalbridge lies on Great Oolite clay.
| width = 300px
}}
{{maplink|frame=yes|zoom=13|id=Q1242808|type=shape|text=Interactive map of Stalbridge}}
Stalbridge lies in the [[Blackmore Vale]]. As an area of hills, this means that the town lies largely on a gradient. The [[A357 road (Great Britain)|high street]] through the town centre follows the contour of the landscape, before climbing up Church Hill past the parish church of St. Mary, heading towards the Somerset border and [[Henstridge]]. To the east of the high street, Station Road heads down the hill, heading towards the Stalbridge trading estates, passing the modern housing estates built in the 1970s.<ref>{{Cite web| title=Eighteenth – Nineteenth Century Stalbridge (1700-1899) | url=https://www.dorsetforyou.gov.uk/media/163796/Stalbridge-Part-5.2-and-5.4-Eighteenth-nineteenth-and-twentieth-century-February-2011/pdf/Stalbridge_Part_5.2_and_5.4_Eighteenth_nineteenth_and_twentieth_century_February_2011.pdf | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180103072715/https://www.dorsetforyou.gov.uk/media/163796/Stalbridge-Part-5.2-and-5.4-Eighteenth-nineteenth-and-twentieth-century-February-2011/pdf/Stalbridge_Part_5.2_and_5.4_Eighteenth_nineteenth_and_twentieth_century_February_2011.pdf | archive-date=2018-01-03}}</ref> To the West, the town climbs Barrow Hill, with older housing, some estates dating to the 1950s, and the 1990s Pond Walk.
There are two parks in Stalbridge, the larger of which is situated on Barrow hill, and hosts a football field and a cricket pitch, as well as two tennis courts. This park also has an [[outdoor playset]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://playmapp.co.uk/south-west/stalbridge-park/|title=Stalbridge Park}}</ref> The smaller park functions largely as an [[outdoor playset]], with two slides, a small football pitch and other toys.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.stalbridge.info/stalbridge-street-map.html|title=Stalbridge Street Map}}</ref>

There are several footpaths and bridleways in Stalbridge. A trailway follows the route of the disused [[Somerset and Dorset Joint Railway]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.cyclinguk.org/sites/default/files/document/migrated/tro/dorset_council_bridleway_stalbridge.pdf|title=Public Path Diversion Order}}</ref> It passes through the Stalbridge Nature Reserve, and has a hard pack surface suitable for cycles, including [[hybrid bicycle]]s, or even endurance [[road bicycle]]s.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.stalbridge.info/stalbridge-nature-reserve-and-trailway.html|title=Stalbridge trailway and nature reserve}}</ref>