Back on my favourite Beach

Hooray, at the end of last week, I managed to get back onto the beach – Studland Beach that is 🙂 ! For months now the Sandbanks Ferry that takes you across from Sandbanks to Shell Bay has been out of service and although this doesn’t necessarily stop you from accessing the beach, it does mean that you have to take a 30 mile drive around the harbour in heavy traffic. Finally, after months of being ‘broken down’, the ferry has been repaired and is operating again 🙂 !

So I walked the beach again, and I have to say, I have missed it! It was wonderful to be back along one of my regular walks which takes in not only beach but hills and clifftops as well, and I thoroughly enjoyed it. The day wasn’t without its ‘adventures’ though. I decided to stop for lunch on Studland Beach and having eaten, I decided to sit awhile and do some sketching in fountain pen and ink. I was really enjoying myself sketching the landscape when, completely out of the blue, there was a huge downpour of rain and hail and before I could pack up, everything got wet, including my ink sketch. I quickly ran to find shelter in an old coastguard lookout, now a mini museum, and dried off.

Later, as I climbed Ballard Down to do the Old Harry Rocks loop of the walk, the rain came again but this time I was prepared. And this time, instead of spoiling my picture, the rain made my picture as it produced a fantastic rainbow, well, a double rainbow actually. So the picture at the top of this post was my view from Ballard Down looking back across Studland. The picture is made up of four vertical images stitched together as my lens wasn’t wide angle enough to get the whole vista in.

I do love Ballard Down, it is such a beautifully expansive place with awesome views on both sides, one towards Poole Harbour and the other towards Swanage. I’ve walked these downs all my life, going back to childhood days when my parents took me there on long family walks. It just feels like Ballard Down is a part of me – I can remember as a child laying on the grass in the summer sun listening to the skylarks singing above.

This was a walk that was not only ‘Back on my Favourite Beach’, but back to my roots too!

Oh, and my ink sketch wasn’t completely lost because my return route also crossed Studland Beach so a couple of hours after the ‘wash out’, I sat in the same spot and re-drew the scene!

I’ll share some more pictures from that walk over the next few days 🙂 !

Thanks for stopping by and reading my ramblings, and I hope you enjoy exploring with me.

Until next time,
Your friend
The Dorset Rambler

If you would like to contact me, my email address is terry.yarrow@gmail.com – comments and feedback are always welcomed.

All words and pictures in this blog are the copyright of The Dorset Rambler and may not be reproduced without permission.