Corfe Common

My planned Easter break (English Easter not Greek Easter) got banjaxxed by an Argentinean Customs ship search - which necessitated sitting by the computer at home because trying to handle the implications of that from a phone in the middle of nowhere was not going to be a holiday anyway.

We reran the 'plan', such as it was, on the first weekend of May - on which the Monday is a Public Holiday in England. (and also happened to be Greek Easter this year - happy Easter to my Greek friends.)

As it turned out it was a good thing I stayed at home for our Easter, the phone signal in the place I went to last weekend was patchy at best; which is fabulous when you really are trying to get away from it all.

My plan had been to walk some of the South Coast Path from Kimmeridge Bay eastward.

That means East Dorset - the bit where you drive west and turn left.  There are no little fishing harbours and villages on the coast in this part of Dorset.  You will see why in a later post.  Much of the coastline there is on the Isle of Purbeck.  It is not an isle now but you can see how it might once have been so at some stage in the geological development of England.

Two ridges of hills run parallel to the sea and although spectacularly green and beautiful, they are not hugely populated - which make the whole place even more attractive from my point of view.  (A Ministry of Defence live firing range does much to keep the population down - just joking.... or not)

Kissing gate

The ruins of Corfe Castle are a major landmark in the area we were heading for.  After heading for the highest point on the firing range, to admire the views of course, we (having planned nothing) selected a camping ground at random from those that were identified on an online mapping app - and headed off through the picturesque village of Corfe Castle and got ourselves a pitch at Woodhyde Farm; right beside a steam railway.

Mr B is not fond of walking, so I set of alone to go to Corfe Castle - a place I visited last about 30 years ago.  It was late in the afternoon so I didn't expect it to be open when I got there.  I just wanted to get some nice views, fresh air and exercise, and get up close again.  The sun was shining and after the winter/spring we have had sunshine is a bonus.

I missed the sign that said "walking route to Corfe Castle" and set off along the road. 1.6 miles to destination.  Big mistake.  A few hundred yards later I saw a gate onto Corfe Common and took my chances that traversing the common would get me closer more safely than following the G**gle maps walking route.

The photos posted here are completely out of sync with the order of the day.  The flowers were photographed on the Common on the way back - bluebells, violets, gorse, and no idea what the pink things are but the bee was a bonus.  Wild strawberries were behind a gate on the edge of the village, and the primroses lurking in a shady roadside spot beside the gate onto the Common.

The village is built of Purbeck stone - at least some of it possibly recovered from the ruins of the Castle (which was blown up by the Parliamentarians in the English Civil War.)  I guess you might call it quaint.  The modern homes that line the Common are however (besides being in stone - and not photographed by me) not 'quaint' and are all potential entries for magazines that showcase expensive architectural modern homes. 

The only drawback of the route across the Common was the mud.  The ground was soggy to say the least, and the general surface condition not helped in key places (like gateways) by the ground-churning effects of the hooves of many equine creatures that call the Common home. (Shaggy little beasts they were - but hardy one suspects.)  In short - it was muddy.

Views of the entrance to the Castle - bridge and gate.

Bluebells on the Common.  I always thought they only grew under trees.  The only place I has seen them before was in woodland.  It looked more spectacular in reality - and scent was divine.

And a steam train just to establish that we were indeed staying right beside a steam railway.  The engine was called Eddystone (which is the name of a famous lighthouse down the coast a bit from here.)

In these photos the engine is travelling backwards (coal bin at the front).  It switches ends of the train at Norden and Swanage (the terminal each end), but they don't turn it around.