Some natural wonders of the Dorset coast

The county of Dorset, on the south coast of England, has one of the most fascinating coasts of any county, with many features of interest packed into a short distance. Here are some of Dorset’s natural wonders along this stretch of the world-famous Jurassic Coast.

Chesil Beach

This is a shingle ridge that connects the massive lump of limestone known as Portland to the rest of Dorset. It stretches for a total of 18 miles (29 kms), is up to 60 feet (18 metres) high and has created a salt-water lagoon, known as The Fleet, between itself and the mainland. At the far western end of The Fleet is the famous Abbotsbury Swannery.

A strange feature of Chesil Beach is that the pebbles that comprise it are graded in size, from “duck eggs” at the eastern end to “marrowfat peas” at the western end. Experiments have been done that demonstrate the process by which this happens – marked large pebbles will eventually be transported by the sea from west to east by the process of “longshore drift”.

The material that comprises Chesil Beach may have originated in landslides at the end of the last Ice Age, after which the sea gradually pushed the eroded material onshore. Chesil Beach has probably been in its present position about four or five thousand years.

Lulworth Cove

This is a small natural harbour that was created thousands of years ago when the sea broke through a narrow band of limestone rock and eroded the softer clays behind it, before being restricted by harder chalk rocks that now form a cliff at the back of the Cove. This is therefore a microcosm of the geology of much of southern England, with the broad swathes of Jurassic limestone (such as the Cotswolds) and Cretaceous chalk (such as Salisbury Plain), separated by broad clay vales, being reduced to a compass of a few hundred metres at this point.

Next door to Lulworth Cove is Stair Hole, which is a more recent example of erosion of the limestone. Eventually, Stair Hole and Lulworth Cove will join together. Stair Hole also shows evidence of ancient folding of the limestone in a dramatic “zigzag” of the strata at the back of the Hole. This is known as the “Lulworth Crumple”.

Lulworth Cove is a popular stopping-off point for sailors of small boats as they proceed up the Channel coast, as it offers a safe and sheltered anchorage.

Under the cliffs just to the west of Lulworth Cove a “fossil forest” can be seen. These are the fossilised remains of ancient tree stumps that were growing some 150 million years ago.

Durdle Dor (or Door)

A mile or so west of Lulworth Cove is another example of the power of the sea in eroding ancient rocks. The narrow band of limestone that once stretched along the whole coastline juts across a small bay, and a large hole has been cut through this outcrop to form a perfect example of a sea arch.

In calm weather it is possible to swim or canoe through the arch, or it can be admired from the shingle beach nearby, especially when the evening sun catches the Dor’s inner walls.

The name Durdle comes from Old English “thirl”, which means “to pierce”, and “pierced door” sounds like a perfect description.

Old Harry Rocks

These mark the eastern end of the Jurassic Coast, although the rocks are composed entirely of younger Cretaceous sediments.

The series of rocks that jut out into the sea from the end of Ballard Down are sea stacks that are entirely due to coastal erosion. There is local controversy over which of the rocks is actually Old Harry, but the consensus is that this honour belongs to the cylindrical stack that is furthest out to sea. However, within historical times there were other stacks further out than this one, which were given various names including “Old Harry’s Wife and Children”.

At low tide it is possible to walk along the shore from the north side, but walkers should beware of rock falls from above, given the process of erosion that is always taking place.

From the cliff top one can look across to the Isle of Wight and The Needles, which are also sea stacks carved out of chalk. At one time there was a continuous band of chalk between Old Harry and The Needles, before this was breached and the large expanse of Poole Bay was formed.

So who was Old Harry? One candidate for giving his name to the Rocks was the famous pirate Harry Paye, who was based in Poole Harbour and created havoc to Spanish and French shipping in the late 14^th and early 15^th centuries. Another possibility is that the name simply refers to the Devil, one of whose nicknames has long been Old Harry.

© John Welford

Worth Matravers, Dorset

Worth Matravers is a village on the Isle of Purbeck in Dorset, although the word “isle” is misleading because Purbeck is only surrounded by water on three sides.

The village owes its existence to stone quarrying, there being a number of quarries (active and disused) in the area from which Purbeck stone and marble has been extracted and used in the building of many houses, churches and cathedrals. The houses in the village were originally occupied by quarrymen and stonemasons.  These are grouped around a small pond that has a resident community of ducks.

The village pub, the Square and Compass, takes its name from two of the tools used by stonemasons.

The local fields, which are virtually treeless, are criss-crossed by dry stone walls, and it is possible to spot ammonite fossils (coiled cephalopods that lived at the same time as the dinosaurs) in some of the stones.

There are splendid views to be had along the Jurassic Coast from footpaths starting in the village. Also to be seen are medieval strip lynchets alongside steep valleys leading to the coast. These are terraces that were formerly used for agriculture.

Worth Matravers Church, dedicated to St Nicholas is Norman in origin, although much restored in the 19^th century. In the churchyard is the grave of Benjamin Jesty, a farmer who discovered the secret of inoculation for the prevention of smallpox some twenty years before Edward Jenner, who is usually credited with this.

On a nearby headland is St Aldhelm’s Church, a square building with only one small window, that dates from the 12^th century. It is said to be the only church in the country with no east wall, because the four corners are at the points of the compass.

© John Welford

Maiden Castle, Dorset

Maiden Castle is a huge hill-fort two miles southwest of Dorchester, the county town of the English county of Dorset. It was the capital of the Durotriges tribe that gave its name to Dorset and was routed by the Romans in 43 AD. However, there had been activity at the site long before then.

There was a camp at the eastern end on the hill long before 2000 BC, the proof of this being a chalk image of a mother-goddess that has been discovered there.

The first Celtic inhabitants arrived at about 300 BC, digging a single rampart, fortified with timber, that enclosed about 16 acres. They lived in timber huts and stored their supplies in large circular pits. The enclosure was enlarged to the present size of 47 acres after 250 BC.

The invention of the slingshot, which could kill at a range of 100 yards, inspired the digging of fresh fortifications that formed a series of ditches and ramparts all round the site. Even today it is possible to walk round a rampart and look down into a 50-foot deep ditch. Attackers would be forced to drop down into the ditches and thus be vulnerable to arrow fire from above.

However, these defences were no good against the sophisticated ballistae of the Roman invaders, led by the future Emperor Vespasian, when he swept westwards. One grim discovery made at the site was a spinal vertebra of a defending Celt transfixed by a ballista bolt.

By 70 AD the site was deserted, with the survivors forming part of the new Roman town of Durnovaria, now known as Dorchester.

However, there was another period of occupation at Maiden Castle in around 380 AD when a Romano-British temple was built. Another grim discovery dates from around 635 AD, this being the remains of a sacrificial victim with a hole cut in his skull.

Today’s visitors can marvel at the intricate defences built by the Durotriges, especially around what would have been the gated entrances, and enjoy the superb views to be had from the summit of the hill and the surrounding ramparts.

© John Welford

Chesil Beach, Dorset

Chesil Beach is the seaward side of Chesil Bank, which stretches 29 km (18 miles) along the coast of Dorset. It has the effect of connecting the Isle of Portland to the mainland, trapping a tidal saltwater lagoon known as the Fleet. It is an example of a tombolo, the name given to a spit that reaches to an island. 

Chesil Bank probably formed offshore and was driven onshore by waves and tides. It faces southwest towards the Atlantic and the prevailing winds, so it is in no danger of returning whence it came. That was also a problem in past centuries for sailing ships that found themselves driven on to the beach, because there was no way of setting the sails to allow an escape. 

Like most storm beaches, Chesil is steeply sloped with a gradient of up to 45 degrees on the seaward side. 

Chesil Beach is studied as an example of what happens under conditions of variable wave energy. At the Portland (eastern) end wave energy is much greater than at the western end. This means that smaller pebbles are washed offshore by the strong eastern waves but onshore by the weaker western waves. This graduated effect can be traced all along the beach, such that a blindfolded expert could tell exactly where he/she was if dumped at any point on the beach, simply by feeling the size of the pebbles, which are pea-sized at one end and potato-sized at the other. 

© John Welford

Clouds Hill, Dorset

This tiny cottage was the final home of Colonel T E Lawrence (1888-1935) who achieved fame as “Lawrence of Arabia”. It is an isolated former forester’s cottage a short distance from Bovington Camp, which is a training centre for the British Army’s Royal Armoured Corps, in the Wareham Forest of east Dorset. T E Lawrence was an archaeologist who had worked in the Middle East before the outbreak of World War One. In 1914 he was recruited by the British Army and became the leader of an Arab brigade that used guerrilla tactics against the Ottoman Turks. He later wrote of his exploits in his book “Seven Pillars of Wisdom”.

Lawrence first rented Clouds Hill in 1923 and bought it in 1925, although he did not live there full-time until shortly before his death in 1935.

He died in a motorcycle accident near Bovington Camp when he swerved to avoid two boys on bicycles and was thrown off. The cottage at Clouds Hill is now preserved exactly as Lawrence left it, even down to the absence of electric light. 

© John Welford

The Cerne Giant, Dorset

The chalk hills of southern England are renowned for a number of figures cut into the turf, mostly in the shape of horses. However, some of the figures are very different in nature, and Dorset’s Cerne Giant must surely count as the most remarkable.

The Cerne Giant

This is an outline, with internal details, of a giant man with a huge gnarled club in his right hand. He stands 55 metres (180 feet) tall and his club is 36 metres (118 feet) long. However, it is not the club that is the feature most often commented upon, given that this giant is distinctly X-rated, sporting as he does a massive erect phallus, complete with testicles!

The giant is carved into a west-facing hillside close to the village of Cerne Abbas, and is visible from the main A362 road that runs from Dorchester to Sherborne. Enter “Cerne Giant” into Google Maps and you will soon be able to see him in all his glory!

The mystery is therefore to do with why he is there, who put him there, and when? Also, is he supposed to represent anyone in particular?

An ancient image?

The chalk hills of Dorset were occupied from at least the Bronze Age (c. 2000 BC) and particularly so during the Iron Age (from around 250 BC). There are many examples of Iron Age hill forts that were used as refuges when danger threatened and were reinforced with extra banks and ditches at various times.

However, these proved to be of limited use when the Romans under Vespasian conquered the Durotriges tribe who lived in this region. One such fort, known as the Trendle, is very close to the Giant’s head, so could the inhabitants of the fort also have been the creators of the Giant? It is known that many other English chalk carvings date from around this period, or even before.

As to who the Giant represents, various theories have been put forward. One is that he is an image of Hercules, which would preclude him from predating the Roman invasion.

Local legend and customs

There is a legend that he marks the place where a real giant lay down on the hillside to sleep, but the locals cut off his head and marked his outline on the turf, rather in the manner of murder squad police officers in more recent times, to warn off any other giants who might be around.

Whatever his origin, his purpose has generally been agreed to have much to do with strength and virility. For centuries it was the custom of local couples to spend the night before their wedding sleeping on the Giant’s phallus in order to boost their fertility. Presumably, given the fact that this area has produced many generations of children over the years, the practice has something to recommend it!

One surprise is that the Giant has never fallen foul of any of the regular bouts of religious Puritanism to which Britain has been subjected at various times. Even the Victorians, who covered the legs of pianos lest they be thought too provocative, allowed the Giant to maintain his pride and joy on full view. Perhaps it has something to do with Dorset people having more sense than to fall for such nonsense!

Or is he more recent?

However, if the Giant is so ancient, and he is a pagan fertility symbol, why is it that no mention of him appears in the record before 1694? John Aubrey, the 17^th century writer who was very interested in the antiquities of the Dorset and Wiltshire downlands, makes no mention of the Giant, for example. There are references in medieval texts to the Trendle, but the massive and remarkable chalk-cut figure right next to it was apparently not worth a mention!

The 1694 reference is to a payment made for maintenance of the Giant, something that has to be done from time to time to keep the outline clear. The giant must therefore have existed before that date. There are 18^th century references, one of which asserts that the figure was less than 100 years old at the time.

Recent research has indeed suggested that the Cerne Giant only dates from around the time of the Commonwealth (1649-60) when Britain was a republic led by Oliver Cromwell. The Cerne estate was then held by Denzil Holles, who had been on the Parliamentary side during the Civil War but later became violently opposed to Cromwell, who was likened by many opponents to Hercules. Could the carving of a Herculean and priapic figure in the turf of Cerne have been Holles’s way of mocking the arch-puritanical man he so despised?

Whatever its origin and purpose, the Cerne Giant continues to be an attraction to visitors and a world-famous iconic image. There was controversy in 2007 when an image of Homer Simpson holding a doughnut appeared alongside the giant, although this was done in washable paint and has disappeared long since. Dorset is justly proud of its Giant, and will doubtless continue to be so for the foreseeable future.

© John Welford

Day trips from Yeovil, Somerset

The important thing about making day trips (assuming that one has access to four wheels, or two with an engine) is that the time on the road is kept as short as possible and a reasonably high proportion of the day is spent at the places one wants to go to. From that perspective, a visitor to England’s West Country could do a lot worse than make Yeovil their base.

Yeovil is in south Somerset and very close to that county’s border with Dorset. It is a “crossroads” town, where the east-west A30 crosses the north-south A37, although visitors travelling down from London are more likely to use the much faster A303, which passes within a few miles of the town. Yeovil also happens to be where two rail routes cross, those from London to Exeter and from Weymouth to Bristol. Day tripping is therefore made easy even if one does not have a car.

Yeovil is not without interest in its own right, but the visitor is likely to want to explore beyond the town’s boundaries before long. One day trip could be to potter through the country lanes that surround the town and connect it with a host of attractive villages with fascinating names, such as Ryme Intrinseca, Hardington Mandeville and Chilton Cantelo. One village that should not be missed is East Coker, to the south of the town, which is not only exceptionally pretty with its thatched hamstone cottages, but was also the inspiration for the second of T S Eliot’s “Four Quartets”. The poet’s ancestors came from the village and his ashes are buried in the village church.

The area is notable for several large historical country houses, some of which are open to the public. A day trip could take in one or more of these, along with a drive through the villages.

Montacute House, four miles to the west of Yeovil, is one of the finest Elizabethan mansions in England. It was built between 1598 and 1601 for Sir Edward Phelips in the English Renaissance style and is noted for having the longest “long gallery” in the country. The house is full of period furniture and textiles and there are fine formal gardens and parkland walks to enjoy.

Another house from this period is Barrington Court, only eight miles from Montacute. The gardens and outbuildings are particularly impressive, including a stone-walled kitchen garden and the “white garden” in which all the plants have white flowers.

Another house to visit in the area is Lytes Cary Manor, former home of the medieval herbalist Henry Lyte. There are also the gardens of Tintinhull House to the northwest of Yeovil.

An attraction of a very different kind is the Fleet Air Arm Museum, seven miles north of Yeovil. This is the world’s second largest museum devoted to naval flying and includes more than ninety aircraft and 30,000 other artefacts, plus two million documentary items. Not every item has a direct naval link, with one of the aircraft being the first British-built Concorde airliner.

Five miles east of Yeovil, over the border in Dorset, is the historic town of Sherborne that can trace its history back to Anglo-Saxon times. Sherborne Abbey has traces of Saxon and Norman architecture but most of what can be seen today dates from the 13^th to 15^th centuries. This beautiful building, in golden-yellow hamstone, has many interesting features both inside and out, including the tombs of two Saxon kings.

Sherborne has two castles. The “old castle” is a hilltop ruin of a 12^th century building that was severely damaged during the English Civil War. The “new castle” is a fortified manor house built by Sir Walter Raleigh in 1594, although he did not have much chance to enjoy it as he was imprisoned in the Tower of London for most of his life after 1603. The house can be visited on Saturdays but the extensive grounds are open for most of the year.

There are several possible day trips that call for a bit more time on the road but are well worth the journey. One of these is to Stourhead, about 25 miles from Yeovil. Although Stourhead House is well worth a visit, it is the world-famous landscaped grounds that most people come to see. Henry Hoare (1705-85) inherited the estate from his father and proceeded to create a landscape based on the paintings of Claude Lorrain and Poussin.  A large lake was created, around which the land was carefully planted with exotic trees and shrubs and various temples and grottoes were built to afford “classical” views as one walked around the lake. With the trees at full maturity, today’s visitors can see the grounds as their designer never could.

Almost due north of Yeovil is Glastonbury, reached after a journey of about 20 miles. The best approach is via Somerton and across part of the “Somerset levels”, a mysterious yet beautiful area of countryside that was reclaimed by draining the marshes in medieval times. The sight of Glastonbury Tor with its solitary tower can be seen from many miles away, and the view from the top, if you have the time, is well worth the effort.

The town of Glastonbury has a “new age” feel to it, as if the 1960s hippies never left (in point of fact, some of them never did!). It is associated with ancient myths and legends, including those of King Arthur and Joseph of Arimathea, who is said to have come to Britain and founded a chapel at Glastonbury. The “Glastonbury thorn” that grows on Wearyall Hill (but which was vandalised in 2010) was supposed to be a direct descendant of the thorn that grew when Joseph thrust his staff into the ground. Glastonbury Abbey was built in medieval times and its ruins, which purportedly contain the graves of King Arthur and Queen Guinevere, are a peaceful place to visit.

Further on still (six miles beyond Glastonbury) is Wells, which is England’s smallest cathedral city. The cathedral, however, is magnificent and well worth the journey. The astronomical clock in the north transept dates from 1392 and is one of the oldest working clocks in the world. A walk round the moat of the old Bishop’s Palace might be rewarded by seeing the swans ring the bell by the bridge for food.

As mentioned earlier, what counts as a day trip depends on how much driving you are prepared to do as opposed to sightseeing. Yeovil might therefore be regarded as a base from which to visit attractions such as Roman and Regency Bath, Dorchester and Maiden Castle, Cheddar with its caves, Longleat Safari Park, Stonehenge and Salisbury. This is certainly a part of the world that has so much to offer the visitor that he or she will be forced to make some very difficult choices.

© John Welford

Best beaches in Dorset and Devon

The coastline from Bournemouth in east Dorset to Plymouth in west Devon is well over 150 miles in length, to which must be added the north Devon coast of at least another 70 miles. There are so many beaches along both these stretches that it would be impossible to describe more than a few in a short article, and what constitutes “best” must depend on one’s particular circumstances.

However, from the point of view of a family taking a seaside holiday, there are certainly some that must be mentioned in advance of others.

Bournemouth to Sandbanks

The stretch of sandy beach runs for seven miles, part of which is in Bournemouth and the rest in Poole (Branksome Chine to Sandbanks). Many people take the view that this is the best beach in the whole country, let alone the Dorset/Devon coast. The current writer is, of course, entirely unprejudiced, despite having grown up only a couple of miles away!

The first thing to state is that this is one of the safest beaches you can find. It is regularly patrolled by lifeguards, and a flag system shows when bathing is safe and when it is not. The beach is also very clean, and it regularly wins awards for the quality of both sand and seawater.

The views from the beach are magnificent, with the chalk cliffs of Old Harry Rocks to the west and the Isle of Wight to the east being visible on a clear day. You can also watch the sailing boats in Poole Bay and the ferries making their way into Poole Harbour.

The more popular stretches of beach get very crowded in summer, these being around Bournemouth Pier and at Sandbanks itself. However, a walk along the Promenade will soon bring you to a less populated area where you can play beach games without interfering with other people.

All the facilities are here, from watersports to beach hut and deckchair hire. There are “dog friendly” stretches of beach and plenty of opportunities to buy ice creams and other food items. Bournemouth and Poole rely on tourism as a major source of local employment, and the beaches are a vital element of this.

Shell Bay and Studland

Take the chain ferry from Sandbanks across the narrow mouth of Poole Harbour and you will find a very different kind of beach that is far less commercial but just as safe and family friendly. The beach closer to the ferry faces north-east and is known as Shell Bay, but round the corner is south-east facing Studland Beach that stretches for two miles to the village of Studland.

The beach is backed by sand dunes and heathland that form a nature reserve in the care of the National Trust. There are therefore fewer tourist facilities here, although what is there is adequate for most needs. If the children tire of building sandcastles they might enjoy walking a nature trail in the company of an official guide. The nature reserve is noted for being home to all six native British reptiles.

If you decide to walk the whole length of the beach you may well come across people who are “au naturel”, given that part of this area is designated and maintained as a nudist beach, with National Trust approval.

Weymouth

Weymouth can claim to be Britain’s first seaside resort, as it was here that King George III came to bathe in the sea and encouraged a habit that people have followed ever since. The beach is part of the town, and not all that large, so it can get quite crowded in high season. It is however a very safe and clean beach.

One particular feature that makes Weymouth beach special is the quality of the sand that makes it perfect for sand sculpturing. Amazing sculptures by local artists have been a feature here since the 1920s.

Weymouth Bay is also perfect for sailing, hence its use for the Olympic Sailing Regatta in 2012.

Lyme Regis

Although there is an excellent sandy beach at Lyme Regis itself (Lyme is near Dorset’s border with Devon), the beaches to the east and west of the town are renowned for another activity that appeals to all ages, namely fossil hunting. The cliffs comprise rocks of Jurassic age that formed as a sea-bed during the age of the dinosaurs. Due to their instability, every storm washes more material on to the beaches and reveals fossil ammonites, belemnites and more, that can be found very easily by any beachcomber.

Care should be taken when fossil hunting, and cliff climbing is not advisable, so taking a guided walk in the company of a professional geologist is a good idea.

Children will also be keen to explore the rock pools that are formed when the tide goes out.

The English Riviera

This is the title long held by the 22-mile coastline of Devon’s Tor Bay, next to which are the towns of Torquay, Paignton and Brixham. There are 20 individual beaches on this coast, ranging from sheltered rocky coves to wide, sandy expanses. The geographical setting of this area makes it the mildest place in Britain, with palm trees growing on the sea front.

Among the beaches, those around Paignton offer the best facilities for families, with safe conditions for swimmers and paddlers, excellent sand for castle builders, and a pier and town for entertainment and food.

Other beaches are ideal for exploring rock pools at low tide.

Croyde Bay

This is a relatively small beach on Devon’s north coast, but mention of it must be made as it is the best surfing beach in the area. This is because it faces due west and thus receives the full force of rollers coming in from the Atlantic, plus the effect of local geology that throws up waves to delight experienced surfers. Surf schools operate here for those who wish to learn, while others might prefer to watch!

Woolacombe

The writer still bears the scar from a childhood accident suffered here, but he still reckons that it counts as a great beach! North of Baggy Point, which separates it from Croyde Bay, and south of Morte Point, Woolacombe beach stretches for nearly three miles of wide, flat sand, backed by sand dunes. If swimming is what you want to do, wait for the tide to come in or you’ll have a long walk!

As with many British beaches, if you want to get away from the crowds you need to walk a bit, but finding a place all to yourself should not be difficult on such a large beach. It is safe for swimming, being patrolled by lifeguards, and very clean. At the north end of the beach, Woolacombe village offers the usual facilities.

You might want to warn your children that jumping off sand dunes without due care and attention could lead to them being scarred for life, but you don’t really want all the gory details, do you?

As mentioned earlier, a short summary of the “best” beaches along so many miles of coastline must leave out many that others would want to include, and their omission here must not be taken as any sort of judgment. The aim has been to point out the excellence and variety that these two coastlines offer the visitor in terms of beaches.

© John Welford

Brownsea Island, Poole Harbour

When I was a lad, growing up in Poole, Dorset, Brownsea Island was somewhere to be viewed from a distance but never visited. It is the largest of several islands in Poole’s extensive harbour (reputed to be the world’s second largest natural harbour after Sydney) and it is the most prominent in that it sits closest to the harbour mouth. When walking along the harbour shore, or the Quay at Poole, its forested profile is a constant presence.

However, it was owned by a strange old lady named Mrs Christie (Mary Bonham-Christie to be exact) who bought the island in 1927 and lived there in total seclusion, never leaving the island and never allowing any member of the public to land on it. She refused to allow any creature to be killed, and that included mosquitos, or for any commercial activity to take place there. The farm animals that the previous owner had kept were shipped off and so were all the estate workers apart from a few personal servants. The island was allowed to return to its natural state, which meant, for example, that the rhododendrons went berserk and took over much of the available land.

However, Mrs Christie died in 1961 and the island became the property of the National Trust. A huge amount of work needed to be done to restore buildings and clear undergrowth, not to mention dealing with the mosquitos, but eventually the island was ready to accept visitors once again.

It is certainly somewhere well worth a visit. The island can be reached either by the short ferry crossing from Sandbanks or the longer one from Poole Quay. It is open from March to October.

The landing stage is at the eastern island of the 500-acre island. This is a small village here, St Mary’s church and Brownsea Castle. The castle is not open to the public, but the church is – it was built in 1852 in neo-Gothic style and contains some fine Italian sculptures.

There is no motor transport on the island, so it is a place for walkers. The island is divided into two sections, one of them being the nature reserve on the northern side that is leased by the Dorset Wildlife Trust. This incorporates a lagoon (see photo) that is a haven for thousands of wading birds including oystercatchers and avocets. The woodland area is home to many bird species including treecreepers, woodcock, jays and tawny owls. Brownsea is one of the few places in England where you can see red squirrels, and there are also sika deer here.

On the southern side of the island is an open area that offers splendid views across the quieter part of Poole Harbour towards the other islands and the Purbeck Hills. On a fine day this is a very peaceful spot with the water lapping at the shore and the cries of seabirds.

The grassy area is highly significant for any visiting scouts or guides, for this is where Robert Baden-Powell held a camp in 1907 for local boys who became the world’s first Boy Scouts. A stone monument marks the site.

Brownsea Island is a place that is well worth spending time to explore and on which to relax and enjoy the views and the wildlife. However, it is a good idea not to relax too much and miss the last ferry back!

© John Welford

Tyneham, Dorset

Tyneham is a village in Dorset, England, where nobody has lived since 1943 and which lies mostly in ruins.

The village was commandeered by the War Ministry during World War Two because it lay within an area designated as an Army training range. All the villagers had to leave at short notice but had every hope that they would return when the War was over.

However, this never happened and the village has been part of the Lulworth Ranges ever since. Many of the buildings were hit by shells as the Army practised their artillery skills and fought mock battles round the village. However, care was taken not to damage the church, and this has stayed remarkably intact.

One beneficiary of the Army’s presence has been local wildlife that has flourished in the nearby woods and fields that have not been cultivated for more than 70 years.

In recent years it has been possible for people to visit Tyneham once again at weekends and during the month of August, when the ranges are not in use. However, the fact that unexploded shells are quite likely to lie undetected in the area is a good reason to stick closely to the designated paths!

The photo is of the ruins of the former rectory.

© John Welford