Bella Vista

Weekend day away

by poppyrose7

I was staying with a friend for the weekend and we popped down to the seaside! She is in a house-share in North London so was also keen to get away.

I really enjoyed Swanage... the seagulls, beach and friendly people :-) It is not too far to drive for a weekend away too, it took us 2 hours.

Maybe next time we might stay here longer? I hope so :-)

Swanage and the Isle of Purbeck

by deptlads

"Isle of Purbeck"

For Christmas 2007 we rented a flat in Swanage, Dorset, with Andrew's younger brother and his family.

Swanage is on the Isle of Purbeck, which is not really an island at all, but is surrounded by the sea on two sides, Poole Harbour on the third, and is cut-off by a chain of hills on the last. This makes it a fairly isolated, and coupled with the unusual local geography and geology, distinctive place. Purbeck is at the eastern end of the Jurassic Coast World Heritage Site.

"Transport"

Despite its remote location, Purbeck has its own very well run private steam railway, which runs services between Swanage and Corfe Castle throughout the year (weekends only during winter).

There are also good bus services between Swanage and Poole & Wareham and Bournemouth.

See the following page for more pictures and info:

www.highrise.dircon.co.uk/deptlads/swanage/

Swanage & Corfe Castle

by reeka

"The Trip"

I live in one of Britain's nicest areas, but as so often happens, with me anyways, I have hardly seen any of my local surroundings. I have taken it for granted, so one day on a rare weekend off I wanted to take a day trip and start to explore and see what Dorset had to offer.

The first place that I wanted to see was Swanage. I had seen pictures on souvenir postcards and thought it looked nice. I roughly knew in which direction it was and headed out in the car.

Along the way I noticed signs for a Steam Railway and decided to have a look.

When I pulled into the car park an attendant gave me some information regarding the train and informed me that the next train was not due until an hour later. I decided not to wait around, much as I'd have liked to take the trip on the train. There was nothing further in the area besides the station and the car park and didn't want to waste the hour, so I carried on towards Swanage.

Not long after I got back on the road, I drove through the tiny village of Corfe, with the ruined remains of Corfe Castle overlooking it. I kept on driving and within moments left the village behind, but had decided to stop here on the way back from Swanage.

Swanage was only a further 6 miles away, and the scenery was beautiful. Miles of green countryside and hills with grazing sheep on them. Really a haven for ramblers.