Easter break – Day 4

Sadly it was our last morning on the farm and we could tell Chester and Rosie were sad to see their new friend James go. It nearly became impossible to get him into the car! Heather sent us off with a dozen of her hen’s eggs. We weren’t looking forward to the long drive home on the M3 with everyone else today so we took it easy and detoured past Dorchester to the Isle of Purbeck.

Martin had researched Corfe Castle and we weren’t disappointed. It is a National Trust property and undergoing major conservation works. Its crumbling towers loomed over us in the car park but it was so impressive even in ruin. We had fun climbing up to the castle. James is a castle expert “It’s a broken one” he announced and eagerly ran in through the old main gate to explore. He always chooses his favourite ‘room’ and this time was fascinated with the windows (small slit openings for archers to shoot from). Poor old castle was founded in the 11th century and had served as a royal fortress for five centuries before Oliver Cromwell (I don’t think I like this guy) destroyed the castle by digging underneath the towers and blowing them sky-high with gun-powder. As a result it looks like the castle is naturally crumbling with all its odd angles and gaps. The restoration work ahead is a mammoth task.

We found a high point on the grass over looking the village of Corfe Castle and at lunch followed by Easter eggs of course. A highlight was watching the steam train stopping at the station on its way to and from Swanage at the end of the line and end of the Isle. Afterwards, James descended the defences the quick way by rolling down the grassy embankments.

Upon leaving the castle I discovered that the village and indeed the Isle were the inspiration for my favourite childhood author, Enid Blyton. I loved her Famous Five series and it turns out she based the children and their adventures on the time she spent holidaying here in Dorset. What a gem!

As it turns out the drive home was better than expected. The traffic was grid-locked between the Isle and Ringwood in the New Forest, but from Southampton on it was a fairly clear run and took just under 3 hours with a stop.

We all absolutely loved Devon and Dorset and feel like we’ve had an early summer holiday! Good for the soul!

Photos are here.