Camping in Wareham
Primrose fields campsite, East Dorset, was the perfect base for exploring around Wareham and East Dorset last bank holiday weekend.
We started with a short drive to Clavell Tower, a tiny dollop of Tuscan style architecture perched precariously atop the cliffs of Kimmeridge Bay. The tower has been pulled down and re-built in recent times, putting the threat of coastal erosion at bay only temporarily, and this pint sized accommodation has been popular with writers such as Thomas Hardy and served as inspiration to crime writer P.D James. My hopes of staying here look slim though, as it's fully booked up for the next two years....
Taking the narrow path down from Clavell, we made our way along Kimmeridge Bay where my fiancé's younger siblings delighted in getting up close with the crumbling cliffs, touching the bright fossil impressions left in the stones of the beach, and feeling the different moss and seaweed that brightly lit (and stank!) up the seaside.
Arching back up from the beach toward more cliffs, the coastal path led us to "the oldest working oil pump in the UK." Standing to breathe in and admire the view back on Kimmeridge Bay from this well of the same name was the perfect end to this brief but scenic amble.
The next day, we drove up to Studland Bay and after enjoying some ice-cream and people watching as jet-skis and yachts busied the blue waters. Along the long and sun drenched path up to the beauty point, we stopped to poke around the concrete buildings and anti-tank defences constructed during World War II, offering a different perspective to the idyllic bay views before us.
Finally having reached the Studland Viewpoint, I was delighted by the abundance of bird life and warmth surrounding the tourist hot spot. The chalky cliffs are the go-to viewing platform for seeing Old Harry's Rocks, several incredible chalk rock formations jutting up from the sea in bizarre shapes - forever being re-shaped by the wind and sea.