Tout Quarry, Dorset

 I believe this to be my 1000th blip, which is a poor achievement when you consider that I am a fully paid-up member and shareholder, and that I have been here since May 2010! Okay, so I don’t blip every day, but I love this place and I love catching up on other people’s journals.

This picture, and the first extra, was taken at Tout Quary, which is only one of two quarries where Portland Stone was quarried using the old methods. It is now a wonderful place for nature conservation, and in addition there are over 60 hidden sculptures to discover. There must have been thousands of chalkhill blue butterflies, as well as lots of gatekeepers, marbled whites, skippers (large and small), graylings, six-spot burnet moths, grasshoppers and a single red admiral. A couple of peregrine falcons circled overhead and a stock dove watched us from one of the rocks - or was it keeping its eye on the peregrines!