Weekend Break TRAVEL
took the by now fami liar w alk into Corfe,
stopping to admire Boar Mill and the more
than 150differentvarieties of gin (yes,
really) soldin the villa ge stores.
Run by over 500volunteers, the Swanage
Rail way was a 45-yearproject by the local
community to restore railway services
between Warehamand Swanage. Finally
realised in2017,Corfe stationfeatures a
fascinating museumand cinema carriage
and the six-mile route is specta cular.
We travelled on a return trip toSwanage,
stopping in the town for a walk alon g the
seafront tothe restoredVictorian pier, built
in 1861as a landing stage for asteamferry
service andto transport the prized Purbeck
stone extracted from local quarri es.
With limited time, we returnedto the
station for acoffee at the Birds Nest Buffet
in a converted railway carriage andto visit
the impressive stationshop crammedfull
of memorabili a before boarding the train.
Alth ough I amnot a railway enthusiast, I
thoroughly enjoyed this nostalgic journey.
We watched the engine take on more
water before set ting off fr om Swanage and
we reminiscedabout the old-style carriages
and marvelled at the tenacity of the local
volunt eers i n realising their restoration
dream.The train was packed and the
atmosphere upbeat. What is it about+castles in England tobe made fr om stone
rather than earth and timber. Remaining in
royal hands until Elizabeth Isold it in 1572,
the castle played a prominentrole in the
English Ci vil War.
I couldn’t help butmarvel atthe bravery
of Lady Mary Bankes, wife of the then owner
Sir John Bankes, who wasaway fighting with
Charles I. She defended the ca stle ag ainst
Parliamentar ian forces in 1643. One of the
last royalist st rongholds to fall, Mary was
eventually betrayed by her own staff and
the castle was captur ed and destroye d by
Parliamentar ians in 1645-6.
Possibly the best view of the ca stle is
fromEast Hill. It’s a steep climb, butwe
were rewarded with a bird’s-eye viewof both
the ca stle and the villa ge.
The Isle of Purbeck was afavourite of
children’s author, Enid Bl yton, who first
visited the ar ea in 1931and regularly
returned forholidays. Corfe Castle was,
apparently, her in spirationfor the Famous
Five’s Kirrin Castle and it isn’t hard to
pictureAnne, Julian, Dick, George and
Timmythe dogarrivingfor their holidayson
the Swanage Rail way steamtrain that stops
at Corfe station.
The fo llowing day we, too, followed in
the fo otsteps of the Famou s Five. After
breakfast, cooked this time in the ’van, we
ESSENTIALS
HOW LONG
Three nights
WHEN
We visited at the
end of September
HOW MUCH
FuelAverage 31mpg
(252 miles)...................£48
Site fees .........................£74
Entrance feesTwo adults;
Corfe Castle, rail trip and
harbour tour...................£70
TOTAL.........................£192If you park in Norden’s car
park (signposted from A351- BH20 5DW) you can
combine your tripto the
castle with a ride on the
Swanage Railway as it stops
in the village a two-minute
walk fromthe castle
TOP TIP
Discover the very
best of D orset
visit-dorset.com
A thousand-year-old royal
castle shapedby warfare
nationaltrust.org.uk/
corfecastle
A more intensive heritage
steam and diesel timetable
train service than virtually
any other preservedrailway
swanagerailway.co.uk
Poole’s natural harbour is the
largest in Europe
pooletourism.comINFORMATION
ABOVE LEFTA col lection of
fossilsfound on th e
Jurassic Coast*
LEFTView from the top of
East Cliff
RIGHTBoa r Mill,CorfeSeptember 2019outandaboutlive.co.uk 97