The Waverley Paddle Steamer at Swanage Pier

Friday 9th September 2016

Well, it's been a while!!  I've been doing lots of walking over the Summer since the last time I wrote on this blog back in June I just haven't found the time to do a blog.  I will hopefully catch up with a few of them soon.  Most of our walking tends to be in much the same places at the moment and I thought things were all getting a bit duplicated but now I have decided that even if they are the same the seasons change and places look different in different weathers, so on we go!!!!

Yesterday we walked into Swanage for a coffee in a cafe overlooking the bay and realised that the paddle steamer Waverley was moored at the pier and was shortly due to depart on a day trip along the coast and over to the Isle of Wight.  Swanage Pier is epic, it's like stepping back in time and it was great to get up close to the Waverley and listen to the Captain speaking to the passengers over the public address system about the upcoming trip.

The water was very clear and calm, looking towards the Waverley at the end of the pier.

We were lucky with the weather, the forecast was dull and cloudy but we had some warm sunny intervals, so no complaints here.

A young herring gull.

I have no idea why but I thought the Waverley was a lot smaller than it is.

A closer view of the paddle.

The Waverley reversing away from the pier and out to sea.

One out, one in........ the Poole Ferry was the next thing to arrive, it was all go!!!

For information on the Waverley see here

Sea Views at Anvil Point

Thursday 8th September 2016

This week it has been much quieter in and around Swanage now that the schools are back, we especially noticed this on a wander around Durlston Country Park.  As usual for Swanage it was quite windy, windy enough to produce little white horses on the waves out to sea so we sat sea watching and drinking coffee for a while, not a bad way to spend an afternoon.

Looking towards Anvil Point.

There weren't many boats about!

There was a fair old  swell on the sea.

Anvil Point Lighthouse.

The Tilly Whim Caves, a nice spot for coffee - it was a good job we took it with us!

We walked on around Durlston Country Park.

Dry stone wall maintenance in progress.

A real end of Summer scene.

By this point we realised that our parking ticket was about to run out (having spent so long sea watching) so we had to get a wriggle on back to the car.

The Agglestone Rock on Godlingston Heath

Wednesday 31st August 2016

This was a new walk for us this afternoon.  Although it was dull and overcast it was a pleasant walk skirting round the edge of Studland Golf Course and on to the Agglestone Rock, details of which can be found here.  It's quite weird, just there all on it's own!

The Agglestone Rock with Poole Harbour beyond.

The pink tinge of heather.

Approaching the Rock.....

......and from the other side!

Very odd in the middle of the heath!

I'm glad that's nice and clear then!!!

The sun put in a brief appearance.

In the distance, Old Harry Rocks in the sunshine.

Meanwhile, back in our neck of the woods, rain was threatening so we marched on a bit quick back to the car.

Swanage in Summer - Doesn't Get Any Better!

Tuesday 30th August 2016

When the sun shines in Swanage, (and to be fair, even when it doesn't) there really is no better place, it's so easy to get away from the crowds on the main beach and relax in peace and quiet by just walking a short distance. Over the Summer there have been all types of boats moored in the bay and over the last few weeks I have taken a few photos to show some of them and to show off the beach itself.

 A view of Peveril Point that we particularly like when we walk in to Swanage the 'long' way.

All is calm at Peveril Point.

Then, moving on to the North End of the beach, I think this is Moonfleet of Swanage out in the bay.

You can see how quiet and beautiful it is.  (a great spot as long as the tide is out, you can't easily access this part of the beach when the tide is in and it's easy to get cut off)

 A Black Headed Gull (with a white head at this time of year!) drinking from the freshwater stream that crosses the beach, it was a hot day and it seemed quite thirsty.

Back at the other end of Swanage, more boats taken on a walk along the pier - on 19th August.

They say not to take photos into the sun, well I did anyway and I like it!

The old pier.

The Old Pier and a few boats, the orange one on the left is the diving school boat and the orange one on the right is the Swanage All Weather Lifeboat.

And here we have a board showing information on the dive sites that the divers visit.

Just look how clear the sea is, Swanage at it's best!

A Bullfinch Pops By

Thursday 9th June 2016

One evening this week a pair of bullfinches were featured on Springwatch and it set me thinking about the last time we saw a bullfinch in our garden.  It seems like ages ago, and looking it up it was, in January 2009.  Guess who turned up in our garden the very next day and who has visited again today a few times.....

........... a beautiful male bullfinch.

Talk about a coincidence!!   On Springwatch they explained that a pair of bullfinches, unlike other birds, do things together, however there has been no sign of Mrs Bullfinch as yet.  He certainly brings a lot of colour to the feeder, you can't miss him!  

NB on Friday 10th June we saw four different finches on the feeders - goldfinch, greenfinch, chaffinch and bullfinch - brilliant!

Church Knowle Near Corfe Castle

Thursday 2nd June 2016

It was a lovely afternoon, sunny and warm, just right for a short walk and a spot of geocaching. There is a circuit of about seven caches close to the village of Church Knowle, so we parked there and headed off uphil!  

The footpath looks a bit overgrown, a bit different to the last time we were here nearly three months ago.

The adult sheep seem to have been recently shorn and certainly don't look as cute as their little lambs!

We haven't been geocaching much of late so it was good to get back in to it today, however finding some of these proved quite tricky and one or two took us quite a while to find but we persisted and eventually found eight out of eight.

The fence on the edge of this field appears to be in a zig zag pattern all the way up but it's made by the shadows of the fence posts on the ground, epic!

Another geocache found at this location on a hairpin bend.

My initials spotted on the hillside!!

There are masses of flowers out in the hedgerows, summer's here!

Walking back down towards Church Knowle.

There are some fantastic colours in the countryside, this tree was a striking yellowy green but it hasn't come out well in this photo.  

We walked back into the village to find a final geocache.  We had to use a fair amount of stealth retrieving this one as it was opposite a house where a lady was sitting in the sun watching us.  Luckily we've done a lot of caches over the years and we've got very good at being stealthy!!