Dorset’s coastline – a magnet for walkers – was England’s first natural World Heritage site. Known as the Jurassic Coast, you can walk over rock that records 185 million years of the earth’s history.
Covering the final stretch of the South West Coast Path, this area is littered with geological oddities that rival anything you’ll find in the Lake District or Scotland.
Walk out onto the headland above Swanage and you’ll come face to face with the impressive chalk sea stack of Old Harry’s Rock. A day’s stroll round the coast you’ll find the neat horseshoe inlet of Lulworth Bay and the limestone arch of Durdle Door. Between them are a bewildering number of secret beaches, caves, quarries, and even a man-made swimming pool blasted out of the rocks. For paleontologists amongst you there’s a fossil forest near Lulworth. For the more purile… a place called Scratchy Bottom.
Coastal walking can quickly rack up an impressive ascent and, more than any other landscape, the weather really dictates the experience. So while one trip might offer the seductive calm of Mediterranean blue, the following week you can fully expect gales, an inky petulant sea and a salty wilderness experience.
Head away from the coast and Arne offers wood and moorland that’s home to all six of the UK’s native reptiles. You can walk through a slice of history at the Iron Age hill fort of Bradbury Rings near Kingston Lacey. Or why not head to Cerne Abbas where you can’t fail to be impressed by the 180ft chalk rendering of a naked man with an eye-watering erection.
Major calendar events
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Stone Mason Festival
July 2008
Held at the Square and Compass, Worth Matravers, this is a weekend of stone sculpting held in the gardens, with great walks on hand. Tel. 01929 439229
Wimborne folk festival
If Morris dancing is your bag then check out this superb low key music festival.
Deep water Soloing
The area around Portland has often been the site of the annual Deep Water Soloing festival, when hundreds of climbers ascent the cliffs without ropes.
