Old Harry Rocks
Stand on the cliffs above Old Harry Rocks and look east on a clear day you can see the Needles on the Isle of Wight. These two famous landmarks are formed from the same continuous line of chalk that runs under the sea – a band of white limestone formed some 65-100 million years ago as microscopic plankton were compressed on the floor of what was once a tropical seabed. It runs on west as a strip of high ground – the Purbeck Hills – via Corfe Castle to Lulworth Cove.
Possibly named after local pirate Harry Paye (1360-1419), Old Harry is a gleaming wedge of chalk that has become one of Dorset’s defining landmarks. Any walk should offer views from multiple angles. Sunrise from the shoreline at Studland or on a late saunter from Swanage are both good choices, but any route has to take you up onto Ballard Down to gaze down on this series of stacks, as you try to ignore the vertiginous drop.
Up here you’ll often spot hunting peregrine falcons, cormorants and black-backed gulls. You may also see pods of dolphin, seals and even enormous sunfish cruising the waters below. And as you head back down to Studland at the end of the day you can explore the historic WW2 remains of Fort Henry, a training ground for D-Day landings that once played host to Churchill, Eisenhower and Montgomery. And if you want to sharpen your thirst before a really well-earned pint, you can stroll out across Godlingston Heath to find the 400 ton block of sandstone known as Agglestone Rock.