For much of our time in Dorset I think our activities will be taking us over well known ground because we were here for a month in 2021, 12 nights in 2022 and a week in 2023! However, when well known ground is as lovely as Dorset that really isn't a problem!!
Wednesday 2nd October - A nice mostly sunny day for our 70ish mile transfer from Devon to Dorset. We arrived just after 1pm and after setting up it was a quick trip to Aldi in Upton to replenish our supplies for the next few days. Then once we got back we spent out time sorting out our favorite places here and how we would fill out time in the next couple of weeks
Thursday 3rd October - A bit breezy but lovely blue sky for most of the day! For our first outing we drove the short distance to The National Trust's carpark under Corfe Castle from where our walk started. A short trek along the roadside took us to an overgrown stairway that quickly gave way to a steep hillside that ascended almost vertically via steps (about 200 of them 😳) to the top of Rollington Hill.
From there we trod in our old footprints and walked along the elongated rolling ridge of 9 Barrow Down which is the northern ridge of the Purbeck Hill on the Isle of Purbeck. Apparently it is so named for the Bronze Age and Neolithic burial mounds that cover it's summit and according to folklore, the nine barrows are the graves of nine kings who died in a nearby battle!
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| Corfe Castle from 9 Barrow Down |
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| Couldn't quite catch the Baby cos he was pinging along too quick |
As we walked we also had spectacular views of Poole Harbour and Bournemouth on our left side and to start with Corfe Village and Swanage Steam Railway to the right.
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| Poole Harbour |
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| Corfe Village |
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| A Puffing Billy from Swanage Railway |
Later as we neared our turning point where we had lunch we looked down into Swanage and more distantly out to sea.
Our return hike was mostly via the same route but after a couple of miles we took an alternative path that led us right down into Corfe Village where we stopped to collect drinks and ice cream before returning to our car for a quick nip into Swanage itself from where we could spy white cliffs of the coast of the Isle of White.
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| Taken with lots of zoom |
Friday 4th and Saturday 5th October - 2 lovely sunny days but the weatherman says this good spell isn't going to last! Therefore, we wanted to make the very most of the sunshine and to do that we continued on repeat from almost exactly the same date 3 years ago!!
On Friday we took ourselves of to The National Trust's Ringstead Bay for a high level 9 mile there and back walk to Durdle Door!
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| Above Ringstead Bay Looking left towards Portland |
We could have chosen to walk on the coastal path as we did 3 years ago but we already knew that would entail lots and lots of steep ups and downs so we decided to take what we thought would be the easier route by staying on the high ground but even then we couldn't avoid all the hills!
After a couple of hours we arrived in the Lulworth Castle Estate Carpark above Durdle Door and that was when we were very glad we'd walked because if we'd come by car we'd have been robbed! 😠 The price to park was £10 for 4 hours or 20 quid for the day!
But maybe it's worth it cos the views there are fantastic and it's a place we nearly always visit when we're in Dorset.
We took a slightly different route back - we followed a track away from Durdle Door which took us to a little cove and my next pic might give you a clue as to it's name!
And if that didn't look no further than my next pic!!
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| Durlston Castle |
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| The Globe |
As we meandered along the rougher Coastal Path took over and we passed by places named Tilly Whim Caves, Boulder Ruckle, Catte Troughs, The Pormenade, Fisherman's Ledge, Guillemot Ledge and our views were of much of the quarry workings from a bygone era!
After about 3 miles of rough ups and downs we came to Dancing Ledge and this was were we paused for lunch - the blustery wind encouraged the incoming waves to crash up onto the ledge sending plumes of seawater high into the air.
Then once we'd had our fill of watching the waves we trundled back to Durlston via the high route that took us through the Castle's nature reserve to complete our walk!
Sunday 6th October 🎶Happy Birthday to me🎶 John says this is the 37th Anniversary of my 30th Birthday so I'm not getting old after all😂 🎶!!!
We woke up this morning to cloud and murk and the weatherman had told us the rain was going to come full pelt by lunchtime - and boy oh boy, he wasn't wrong!! Therefore we really needed an indoor activity for our entertainment today and for that we choose The Tank Museum at Bovington which claims to be 'The Biggest Day Out in History'! The museum houses about 300 tanks which represent moments in every major conflict since the First World War. Exhibitions took us from the mud of the Somme, to the beaches of Normandy, through the Suez Crisis and to the deserts of Iraq and Afghanistan.
We met the very first tanks that were produced around 1916 - specifically to be used in France in World War One.
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| A Rolls Royce Converted for action |
Tuesday 8th October - Almost an absolute washout with torrential rain through much of the preceding night and from about midday until after bedtime! However, we had been forewarned so we'd already decided that most of it was going to be a duvet day but we had spied a bit of a window in the morning when we could nip out for a walk on the Sika Trail that adjoins the campsite!
Unfortunately, that needed to be cut very short because the flooded paths were trying very hard to over-top our walking boots and rather than a walk it very quickly became a paddle!
But not to be defeated we tried going in the opposite direction and out onto the campsites nature trail - we did manage about a mile along it but we were still dodging huge swathes of water and eventually it led to nowhere!
Once we were back in the van the rain came tipping down and at times it was just like bullets hitting our roof but we stayed snug and dry and we didn't float away 😂
Wednesday 9th October - Well, the rain mostly stopped about 1am (or at least we didn't hear it after that) and the morning dawned mild and with glimmers of sunshine so after yesterday's forced inactivity we were chomping at the bit to go out! Poole was today's destination, partly because we needed to restock our supplies and partly because it offered us somewhere dry and not muddy to walk.
We browsed around the shops and managed to pick up a few DVDs to add to our collection - I picked a film but for John it was 'Steptoe and Son' - I can almost hear him roaring with laughter now😂😂😂🦁!
After our shopping we soon found ourselves on the Harbour where hundreds of yachts and super yachts were moored but they all looked a bit forlorn and lonely bobbing about with nobody paying them any attention!
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| We also met this chap (again) and he looked a bit lonely too so I stopped for a chat! |
We lunched on the waterside and then proceeded on into Poole and Balter Parks which we've visited many times before but the walk was very pleasant in the intermittent sunshine and at least we got today's steps in - just over 10,000 and my tracker reckoned 6.5 miles!
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| Pool Park Lake |
Thursday 10th and Friday 11th September - Cool cloudy days with sunny periods. On Thursday it was a walk from The National Trust's carpark at Corfe over high rolling fields called West, Knowle and Ridgeway Hills (all part of Purbeck Hills).
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| This took us past the folly of Grange Arch which is also known as Creech Folly. It was built in the 18th century and is located near the second highest point of the Purbeck Hills, and today it is another acquisition of The National Trust! |
Another mile or so from there landed us in parking area above the Lulworth Ranges which are mostly closed to the public because the Military use the area for live firing practice from tanks and other armoured vehicles and have done so since the 'tank' was invented back in 1916.
Once we'd devoured our lunch we ambled most of the way back by the same route we'd came but with about a mile to go we picked up a track that went steeply down hill and past a lovely view of Corfe Castle!
On Friday as we stepped out of our door we were greeted by this cute chap!
Today our destination was Studland to visit The Bankes Arms where we had a delicious lunch and then on to Old Harry Rocks and beyond over Ballard Down!
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Ballard Down is the start of the Purbeck Way and from it's lofty heights we had lovely views down to Swanage with it's old Victorian Peer and on the other side more of Poole Harbour.
Then it was back into the very busy town of Wareham to visit our favorite butcher and this will facilitate the yummy indulgence of Dorset Steak for tea on Sunday😋!
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| The Grand Staircase |
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| The Library which has a huge collection of old books |
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| A portrait of Marchesa Maria Grimaldi and her Dwarf Apparently her lavish dress demonstrates her wealth but I did wonder how she would ever manage to eat wearing such a huge collar😂? One of the guides told me she had to be fed with a special spoon! |
Eventually we came to the Egyptian Room and in there we found this Nile Crocodile which is said to be the second largest reptile in the world with an average adult reaching 5 metres in length! He's at the top of the food chain and it often sits in wait to pounce on it's prey - but I think this one was pretty harmless😂.
The use of this crocodile's head was likely to have been as a hunting hide with the head being placed on the front of a canoe and the hunter lying behind it with his gun poking through a hole in it's mouth!
At this point our inside tour was complete but there was still loads to explore outside and we were able to admire the formal gardens that were still full of dahlias as we went.
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| At first glance we thought it was a rose garden at the front of the house but no, the blooms were dahlias |
Our first stop was by the Obelisk which was one of a pair and it's called the Philae Obelisk which was erected at Philae in upper Egypt in the 2nd century BC. It was discovered by William John Banks in 1815 and he had it brought to Kingston Lacy. The Greek and Egyptian Hieroglyphic inscriptions on the Obelisk played a role in the decipherment of ancient Egyptian Hieroglyphs and it was set up in the garden in 1830 and 19 horses were needed to raise it into it's position!
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| The Japanese Garden |
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| The Sika Trail |
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| Luckily they sailed off out to sea and missed us altogether 😂 |
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| Not scary at all - they just Mooooved over as we passed by! |
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| Seacombe Ledge |
