The Jurassic Coast celebrated its 10th anniversary on Tuesday 13 December with a series of free guided walks.
The walks, open to the general public, included two based on Purbeck – one at Lulworth and the other at Durlston Country Park…here is a brief account of how they went:
Ten hardy souls set off from Lulworth Heritage Coast Centre for a guided walk, taking in Stair Hole (looking especially dramatic with the waves crashing though the hole), Lulworth Cove and the village on December 13th as part of the Jurassic Coast 10 year birthday celebrations. Rangers, Jurassic Coast team members and Lulworth staff past and present enjoyed a refresher on the geology of the area and all of us learnt something new from Sarah’s excellent tour.
Sally King, World Heritage Site Visitor Manager.
With the wind blowing a hoolie – but the rain luckily keeping off – a large group of people from all walks of life met at the recently restored Durlston Caslte, for a free guided tour of the park. Ranger Ben Wallbridge led us through sheltered wooded areas explaining the finer points of the vegetation such as ‘stinking iris’ which actually smells like roast beef flavoured crisps! Ben then took us out to more open country and on to the entrance of an old mine, relaying the very tragic tale of how a small boy was trapped in the winch while stone was being extracted from the mine. Then we were led on towards the lighthouse, where wider vistas of the Jurassic Coast opened up to us in all its glory, set against a dramatic sea swell caused by the high winds sweeping along the bay. And to top it all off, a Peregrine Falcon was spotted overhead – a fitting salute to 10 years of Jurassic Coast World Heritage Site status!
Julia Pulman, Jurassic Coast Marketing & Communications Officer
