Universal rides reopening
For more holiday ideas see pages 42, 43 & 45
on down past the Coastwatch station on the coast path, with alarming drop-offs into the sea.
This brings you to disused Winspit quarry, which looks like the remains of a cathedral carved into the cliff. Then Dancing Ledge, with its hand-cut, tide-filled swimming pool used by the quarrymen to wash off the day’s dust. Double back up the Winspit valley to Worth and recover by a log fire in the Square and Compass, an unmodernised stonecutter’s pub that serves its beer from a hatch in the corridor. See squareandcompasspub.co.uk.
Digging history Kimmeridge
Kimmeridge is a thatched and handsome estate village that sits at the back of a sheltered stony bay on the far side of Purbeck, where it is overlooked by Clavell Tower, rentable via landmarktrust.org.uk. This is the setting for a
UNIVERSAL Orlando is welcoming guests again from Friday.
But the Florida theme park, shut since March, will enforce strict measures, including mandatory face masks for staff and guests.
Parking will be limited, modern-day treasure story, with its unlikely main character a plumber with an obsession for fossils.
Steve Etches’s lottery-funded Etches Collection in the heart of the village showcases his best finds, using CGI recreations. Look out for the ichthyosaur with its belly of food. It is a fraction of what he has found on the local shoreline. See theetchescollection.org.
Ghost village Tyneham
Beyond Kimmeridge, the abandoned village of Tyneham sits in the midst of the
Lulworth Firing Range on land that was commandeered by the MOD during Second World War.
The village is usually visitable on most weekends. And despite its with two empty spaces between each car, and visitors will have temperatures checked before being allowed in.
There will be distancing regulation on rides, while interactive children’s play areas will remain closed. use for military purposes in wartime, the surrounding landscape is completely peaceful and unblemished, with cattle grazing undisturbed.
You will find the South West Coast Path running through the coastal section although occasional red flags limit access.
The displaced people of Tyneham thought they would return to their old homes – until the compulsory purchase orders came through in the 1960s. So in the tiny school there are still coats on coat hooks and pegs with children’s names chalked beneath them, as if they had all just gone out to play.
A sign on the church door reads “Please treat our village kindly. We will be back.” They weren’t. But you might want to be. Public access days for Tyneham and Lulworth Firing Times are posted on gov.uk.
QI BOOKED a flight with British Airways to Bangkok, leaving April 9. In March, BA offered me a voucher – because the flight had not been cancelled and I’m in the high-risk group, I accepted it. The flight was cancelled later and BA says I can’t get a refund because I got the voucher. What can I do?
ABECAUSE you are in a high-risk group, travelling before there is a vaccine is not wise. Yours is a cautionary tale for those with flights who are invited to claim a voucher. Because you accepted BA’S offer, that is the end of the matter. The Civil Aviation Authority says you can’t change your mind and pursue a refund instead. But don’t give up on a trip – the voucher is now valid until April 2022.