Hello Harry!

(Can't help thinking of Frank Bruno when I mention the name Harry!!)

A life on the ocean waves - well an afternoon anyway - with our friends 'speed-boating' around Poole Harbour, Studland Bay and out to sea.

October 2nd and at last our summer appears to have arrived! Glorious Day. We took a trip around Studland to check out Old Harry:

The cliffs here are mainly made up of chalk, with some bands of flint within them. The stacks are of course still being eroded by the sea and are therefore an ever-changing feature. Over the years, it has gradually eroded along the joints and bedding planes where the softer chalk meets harder bedrock of the rock formations to create caves. This then eventually eroded right through to create an arch. The arch subsequently collapsed to leave the stacks of Old Harry, No Mans Land and the gap of St Lucas' Leap. The large outcrop of rock at the end of the cliffs is apparently often referred to as 'No Man's Land'.

Back in the 1770's, people could still walk from the headland of Handfast Point to Old Harry, which is the stack at the end nearest to the sea. Old Harry once had a 'wife' but in 1896 the majority of Harry's wife fell into the sea leaving only a stump. New stacks are being formed as the sea continues to cut through the narrow and relatively soft chalk to form arches which inevitably collapse to leave more stacks.

There are two 'legends' regarding the naming of the rocks. One suggests that the devil himself took a nap on the rocks, although it is unclear if the popular euphemism for the devil of 'Old Harry' precedes the naming of the rocks or the other way around. Another explanation is that the name is linked to the infamous Poole pirate, Harry Paye, who used to store his contraband nearby.

There is a public pathway across the top called the South West Coast Path (you can just see someone at the end on the left on this shot). The path stretches across the entire Jurassic Coastline with stunning views of the many coastal features. It's said that this part of the Coastline provides a diary of the last 250 million years of the Southern Coast of England.

And we saw it all in on afternoon...just because we went to say hello to good ol' Harry! Shame his wife passed on.