East Dorset

[pyrometol]

Four of us are renting a cottage at Corfe village at the end of October. Any ideas on areas that are not immediately obvious for interesting pics? We know about Lulworth etc but would like to hear of unusual spots. pyrometol (East Devon).

 

[David Henderson]

Suggest you buy "Images of Dorset Country" by Roger Holman/Dorset Books because it will contribute to your ideas but also because has some much better photographs than you might expect from this sort of publication.

I've got to know the area quite well because we've rented a house on Sandbanks for a week nearly every summer for the last 20 years, and quite often Photography has won out over Monkey World and Poole Park as a means to occupy my time (surprise). You might like in addition the deserted village of Tyneham ( get there early or on a weekday) and also the sunset over Poole Harbour from Sandbanks itself. There's also quite a nice view east from the bridge on the S edge of Wareham just at or before dawn. There's a couple of these in the "English Landscapes" gallery of my web-site www.photography001.com . You'll spend much of your time on the coast though.

 

[Dave Miller]

I too recommend a vist to Tyneham, very poignant, however as it's in the middle of an army firing range, check the weekday opening times.

 

[Stan160]

Dancing ledge, on the coast not far from Corfe, is an old stone quarry and landing place where the stone was loaded onto ships. The walk eastwards from there, along the coast to Swanage is very pleasant. I'm afraid I can't show you any of my pictures as when I visited at Easter my FE was suffering from light leaks, so I only had a DSLR!

 

[Baxter Bradford]

It's all pretty good!

Lots of pictures of these places on my website:

Agree Dancing Ledge plus Mupe, St Aldhelm's Head inside the Chapel too, Old Harry, Kimmeridge where best to head right away from the crowds eventually getting to Broad Bench, Chesil Beach (Huts on the Fleet too), Portland (not just the Bill). Some lovely images to be made on Weymouth Town Beach. The coffee at Cafe Blue is knockout, cakes are pretty good too.

Then there is somewhere called Durdle Door(!) and to the left, St Oswald's Bay and to the right (from effectively same vantage point) majestic cliff's of Swyre and Bat's Head.

For the next morning I recommend.......... apparently there is an old castle at Corfe which is worth a look!

Timesavers:
Durlston Head isn't great, Swanage your options are limited, Chapman's Pool is a long way down for not a lot. Winspit and Osmington Mills similarly limited, but easy access and Spyglass Inn at latter can justify a visit!

Comparitively, I don't think Tyneham and Worbarrow Bay offer that much to make such strong images. When open, tends to be crawling with visitors too.
HTH

 

[pyrometol]

Thanks for your help. Will need to look into the recommendations; it's always useful to be able to make contact with members who are knowledgeable of the area. pyrometol