Easter Break

Winter is still hanging on and the days are cold between 2-5 degrees celsius, but now the hour has sprung forward to British summertime the days are longer. The birds are singing and the sun is shining, if you can find shelter away from the wind the sun has warmth to it. Over the Easter weekend we visited my family in Dorset and on Saturday went down to Durlston Country Park near Swannage.

 There is an Earth timeline walk charting the earths formation and change from molten ball of lava through to the beautiful place it is today. Along the path there were big stones nearly six foot tall with fossils in them and this was the most stunning (top right). We visited the castle which housed a cafe restaurant - booking before you go for a meal is essential as it is quite small. If you want morning coffee or afternoon tea you can sit on the balcony if its not too cold. The views from the top of the castle were beautiful, this is looking towards Swannage and Poole (top left)

 Below the castle there is a stone planet, which was carved in 1890 by George Burt, stone mason and former owner of the castle. The stone earth records the world which has seen many changes since in names and borders. From the position of the globe you can look up to see the turrets of the castle.

As we had not been able to have lunch at the castle we moved on to Swannage for the remainder of our day. Passing the Swannage steam railway and just in time to see the arrival of the steam engine pulling a train packed with families on Easter break travelling down from Corfe Castle or Norden Station where there is a big carpark. The engine seen shunting back to the end of the station line is BR Standard class 4 80104 the picture below shows the same engine just coming into the station approach.

 We had lunch on the seafront at the Quayside Restaurant upstairs in the Mowlem Theatre. The food was delicious and beautifully presented.

The tide was in and the wind was blowing straight off the sea so it was very bracing but the sun was out so it was lovely to be there.

 On our way back through the town of Swannage Em found a friend! Jeremy The Macheosaurus Rex who has his own facebook page. He was outside The Pottery Place on his own surf board how cool is that!

The remainder of the Easter weekend were spent with the family. Amongst the Easter decorations are the two lambs I knitted from Jean Greenhowes Christmas booklet one is cream and the other rainbow splash (King Cole yarn) 

 

Hope you had a good weekend Jane x