Lyme Regis in December

The plan had been to go walking on Dartmoor but the heavy rain put paid to that so instead we went to Lyme Regis.

It was high tide and the sea was lumpy – the Cobb looked rather spectacular from the top of the hill

Some people seemed to like the idea of getting soaked

The habour was flat

Back to Lyme Regis and the famous Undercliffs beyond

It stopped raining and the sun made an effort

The sandy beach was created for tourists with sand from France. The rest of the beach to the east is shingle and has been replenished with stone from the Isle of Wight. The huge granite rocks which form part of the sea defences came from Norway.

All rather odd for a place in the Jurassic Coast World Heritage Site.

More places in Dorset

A few more photographs of my recent trip to Dorset last weekend. Fuller photo set here. All the places (except the pub) are owned and managed by the National Trust.

This is Corfe Castle – visiting details here.

The Castle was abandoned in the 1600s

This is a pelican – a pre-Christian symbol near the gate house at Corfe Castle. The pelican according to the legend fed her young by feeding them with her own blood – see here for more details

Sheep grazing the steep slopes of Corfe Castle

The Cerne Addas Giant north of Dorchester – see here for visiting details

Captured at the local pub

A male peacock on Brownsea Island

And a rather fine free ranging chicken

Baden Powell statue on Brownsea – the place where he founded the Scouting movement

Houses on Brownsea

The ferry leaving for the Channel Islands

The ‘Castle’ on Brownsea run by the John Lewis partnership for their staff

If you missed my earlier blog on Brownsea’s red squirrels –see here – it also includes visiting details for the island.

Brownsea’s Red Squirrels

We went to Brownsea Island yesterday which in between Sandbanks and Poole in Poole Harbour in Dorset. It is owned by the National Trust and jointly managed with the Dorset Wildlife Trust. It is the last remaining refuge for red squirrels in southern England. It is a really special place and well worth a visit.

Luckily we managed to see four different animals and I managed to get a couple of half decent shots of one of them

Fortunately being an island, grey squirrels haven’t colonised these woodland so the reds can prosper unhindered by the greys

Check the National Trust Brownsea Island website here to find out when the island is open for visitors – it is rather limited until next spring so check it out carefully before attempting a visit.