Portland Museum

I went to Portland to look for the late orchid - Autumn Ladies Tresses but despite much searching round the quarries I couldn't find it.
So I went into the Museum which was a revelation - a fascinating old fashioned museum founded by Marie Stopes the woman behind family planning who was a scholar of paleontology and geology.
Portland has many ancient traditions - women inherited land equally so could become reeves completely different to the mainland.Sticks with notches and symbols were on display .
These shoes were buried inside walls of cottages for good luck.
A fascinating place - it's easy to forget Portland was once an island separated from the mainland and only accessed by boat.