Durlston Country Park, the Great Globe, Anvil Hill Lighthouse and Durlston Castle

Today, we visited Durlston Country Park, Swanage in Dorset. It had been raining on and off for several days, but it finally stopped today, and the sun appeared, ever so slightly.

I'd like to say we followed the footpath along the cliff tops, but when we got to this point, it became a bit precarious underfoot and steep, so we did a slight detour.

Anvil Hill Lighthouse was in the distance. Apparently, you can stay in the keepers’ cottages that are attached to the tower, but I bet they're quite expensive.

After doing a circular walk, we made our way back to the country park where we found some great views over the bay and of the Old Harry Rocks that are 65 million years old and are chalk outcroppings that mark the end of the Jurassic Coast. SourceLegend has it that Old Harry got its name after Harry Paye a local pirate, or was it the devil?

Durlston Castle nearby, was built between 1887 and 1891. It isn't actually a real castle but was built to use as a restaurant for visitors. Source

Around the place were various stone tablets carved with quotes from the Bible, Shakespeare, and other poets and playwrights.

Walking down the steps from the castle, is the Great Globe, which is one of the world's largest stone spheres. Source

The surface of the globe shows the continents, oceans and other areas of the world.

To deter people from writing graffiti on the globe, two stone tablets had been strategically placed for people who are anxious to write their name somewhere! You always get some idiots wanting to vandalise things, so it was a great idea and appears to be working.

It was a lovely coastal walk along the cliff tops, and lots of interesting things to see around the castle. Apparently, a lot of work has been done by volunteers to maintain the area. What would we do without volunteers? It is well worth several visits.