Corfe Castle

Wednesday October 6
Another fabulous day today. First we visited Corfe Castle:
“The keep was built in the early 12th century for King Henry I, William the Conqueror’s son. It was designed to be impressive – and it certainly was. Standing 21m tall and on the top of a 55m high hill, this gleaming tower of Purbeck limestone could be seen from miles around. In the 17th century, as the Civil War raged around it, the castle stood firm. The Bankes family supported King Charles I (Cavaliers) against Oliver Cromwell (Roundheads). Lady Bankes defended it bravely during not just one, but two sieges, until finally she was betrayed by one of her own soldiers.
After six centuries of keeping enemies at bay, an Act of Parliament was passed at Wareham to destroy the castle. Captain Hughes of Lulworth was given the job of demolishing it. His men dug deep holes packed with gunpowder to bring the towers and ramparts crashing down, resulting in the yawning gaps and crazy angles we see today.
After a brief period of confiscation, the castle was handed back to the Bankes family and remained in their ownership for three and a half centuries, until in 1982 Ralph Bankes gave it to the National Trust along with the family's extensive holdings in Purbeck, their mansion at Kingston Lacy near Wimborne and its adjoining land.”
It was a beautiful day, with good visibility, and the views from the castle were wonderful. Having seen the castle, we went for a stroll round the picturesque village, and finished with a bite to eat in the National Trust cafe.
We then drove to Old Harry Rocks, the very eastern edge of the Jurassic coast (see extra). Thousands of years ago, Old Harry Rocks and the Needles on the Isle of Wight were linked by a line of chalk hills that eroded away. Whats left is a series of impressive rock stacks and cliffs. You reach the Rocks from Studland Bay, a 1 mile walk along the fields and grasslands to reach the clifftop. We walked along the cliff path for a bit before returning to Studland Bay, where we walked along the long stretch of golden sand, and even sat on the beach for a while enjoying the warm sunshine. We decided to eat in Swanage this evening, and picked out a restaurant using Trip Advisor and Yelp on our phones. We drove into Swanage and parked the car and used Google maps to locate the restaurant, only the directions weren’t very clear - we ended up asking a couple of people. We eventually found it, in a small shopping area down a little alley - not exactly the sort of place you’d stumble across! The food was excellent, so well worth the difficulty finding it!
28,754 steps!