Even More Dorset

I published my last set around this time last year. That was from a visit in 2021, which was our first family holiday as a family of three. This set is from a couple of years later in 2023, when we went for another week-long stay (in the intervening year, we visited Cornwall – but made sure to visit Dorset on the way home).

The first thing we did on this holiday – at least that warranted some photos – was one of my favourite walks, from the town of Swanage around Durlston Bay to Durlston Castle. This has been a favourite walk of mine since I was a boy. Of course, back then, the walk was the longest I would ever do. Now, the mile and a half or so of the walk is not far off my regular walk to the station for my commute. One of the big spots of this walk is the handful of points where you can look back the way you came, across Durlston Bay to Peveril Point, and then across Swanage Bay to Old Harry Rocks, with Bournemouth in the background.

This was shot with my Sony DSC-RX100IV – back then I used that more often when child wrangling – but it does mean the focal length in the EXIF data looks a bit funny.

There is one particular spot – marked since Victorian times with the inscription “Rest and Admire” – where the view is helpfully framed by a tree.

This might be a familiar view – I’ve probably shared it before, and (spoiler) I’ll almost certainly be sharing it again.

On another day, we were sitting on the beach when the Coastguard helicopter came by doing some manoeuvres. One thing I learned when I was a kid was that you never know when something like that might happen in Dorset. On this occasion the helicopter passed right by the Moon.

It literally flew over our heads, near enough.

Possibly related, the Swanage Lifeboat was also out in the bay at the same time.

Probably worth mentioning, because I’m a pedant like that, that this is actually a relief lifeboat. The actual Swanage Lifeboat is boat 13-13, although I believe it was away for maintenance during this week. It doesn’t make much difference from a photographic perspective, other than the number on the side, as it’s the same class of boat. It certainly still looks impressive when making speed.

Shortly thereafter some other dudes left on a slightly less impressive boat.

Another common trip is to ride the steam railway up to Corfe Castle. From the castle itself are some lovely views of the old village.

We usually end up staying in Swanage, the town we always stayed in growing up, and with that I usually end up wandering around up to Peveril Point, which is where the cottage we used to stay in is located (now sadly kept private and not let out). That means taking photos of some of the fishing accoutrements often seen up that part of town.

I also photograph the views. The view of Old Harry Rocks from Peveril Point is forever engrained in my memory. Partly because one holiday I sat down and drew the view in pencil (something I’m sure I still have a copy of, but need to dig out from wherever it’s hiding), but mostly because it was a view we saw every day from the front garden of the cottage we stayed in.

From the boat park slightly up the hill you can get a view of the bay flanked by he old clock tower.

Evening golden hour in Swanage can be really lovely. Because the bay faces east, the sun sets behind it, so on a sunny evening everything you see from the shore is illuminated in a lovely golden light. One evening towards the end of the holiday I caught sight of a small dingy near the shore, and snapped a quick shot.

I suspect this trip is what ultimately made me buy a better camera. Or at least, it started out with me wanting to buy a better lens, which quickly morphed into me wanting to buy a better camera, which happened a month after we got back from this trip.

As ever, the images above are a highlight reel; there is a slightly more full set in the gallery below.