Studland Bay 2017

Knoll House Hotel

When Eleanor & Ian were very young we had three main annual holidays in the early 1980’s in this fabulous family-friendly hotel in Dorset. At the time this hotel was owned & run by the Ferguson family. To the amusement of many of the guests, the tannoy would occasionally call out for a Sarah Ferguson (no relation – but at the time the namesake was marrying Prince Andrew).

Agglestone Rock Walk

04 Agglestone Rock

Agglestone Rock

05 Agglestone Rock

Agglestone Rock with a view over Studland Bay

05 aSwanage

Swanage

06 The Obelisk

The Obelisk on Ballard Down
Originally erected to commemorate the introduction of flowing water to Swanage
it was hastily demolished in 1941 so as not to act as a beacon for enemy planes.
When subsequently rebuilt, the lowest section was found to be cracked,
so it was just dumped next to the now shortened obelisk
Bill Bryson in his “Notes from a Small Island” considered the views from here sensational.

07 Old Harry Rocks

Old Harry Rocks

08 Old Harry Rocks

Old Harry Rocks

Brownsea Island

The image below shows signposts from the Scout Camp on the island. Robert Baden-Powell while writing Scouting for Boys held the first experimental camp on Brownsea Island in 1907. From this experiment he developed the ideas for Scout camps in general & then also international ones. From this developed the World Scouting Jamborees which are held every four years in different countries. As a delightful coincidence, the day I am creating this page (17th October 2025) I have found out that my grandson, Louis has just been selected as part of the British contingent to participate in the 2027 Jamboree in Poland! 🤪

09 Brownsea Ferry

Brownsea Ferry port

09 a Brownsea Island

10 Brownsea Island

We had a lovely walk round the island

11 Brownsea Island

Brownsea Island

13 Lunch with peacocks

All busy in the café on phones or cameras not noticing the hungry peacock

14 Brownsea Island

Yes there were red squirrels on the island.
I had never noticed such a sign before!

Corfe Castle

A 1,000 year old castle in an awe-inspiring location. It must surely rival the Rock of Cashel in terms of a stunning initial view of a castle.