Purbeck Wall Lizard

The Wall Lizard (Podarcis muralis) isn't one of our native reptile species, although there are now several colonies dotted around Southern England, especially Purbeck, and climate change is encouraging their flourishing; Winspit Quarry has had a healthy colony since the mid 80's. I've read two accounts of how these reptiles arrived in Purbeck; either they escaped from a local breeder/owner, or were purposely bred and released.  Whichever, they're certainly established now.  I don't know how the other colonies are doing, but the Winspit massive appears to be thriving; we saw dozens of wall lizards, and the undergrowth sounded alive with them. 

Winspit

Destination Purbeck again this morning, this time the post industrial landscape of Winspit. I don't know when it began operations, though until 1940 Winspit was a a stone quarry producing high quality stone for use in important London buildings. Over the years it's been a location for numerous TV and film projects including Dr Who, most recently for one of the forthcoming Star Wars series 'Andor' set before the events of 'Rogue One'. Winspit is a rugged terrain of dangerous caves, mining waste and rocky cliffs. All the works of man haven't been able to tame or take the wild from this landscape, it's magnificent; beautiful on a sunny day like today, awe inducing in a storm, and always atmospheric.

Winspit

Purbeck is also known as the 'Isle of Purbeck', and there is a definite sense of other in the place. Standing on the high ridge of hills which stretch from coast to coast, and looking across the Great Heath, across the expansive harbour to the creeping metropolis whose nucleus is Poole, Bournemouth and Christchurch, though now spreads well beyond, inching into the countryside, you feel you're on an island, the difference so striking. And, even more striking is when you stand on Purbeck's rough grassland coast with views over the rugged limestone cliffs where land abruptly meets sea. Magnificently wild and exposed, a foreign land, and yet so close to the south coast's biggest conurbation. The older houses too are rugged, telling of hard lives lived and worked in this hard landscape, on the land, on the sea and underground in the warren of shafts, galleries and quarries providing dressed stone of quality for high status buildings around the world. That industry, though still going, is on a considerably smaller scale than its hay-day, all that's left of that now are scars in the form of abandoned and decaying workings. It's a landscape worked and shaped by man for millennia, though through it all its wild spirit remains unbroken. 

Rocky coastline

It was a glorious day along the Purbeck coast. The sky was blue, with just enough cloud to make it interesting, the air was clean and fresh driven by a chill wind, and above a sun which gave a hint of better weather to come; perhaps, you can never be sure these days. Todays' walk was to be along the coast between Winspit Quarry and Round Down and back along the ridge. The heavy clay soils of the coastal hills are sodden and the paths are slippery, making walking difficult and, at times, slow. I lost my footing on several occasions and nearly ended up on my arse. It could have been worse, the coastal path is close top the cliffs and the cliffs are sheer.  

First stop Winspit Quarry.  I couldn't count how many times we've walked this way, and still after all the years I never bet bored of the views or the terrain. What I did find noticeable this time was that the fissures and cracks in the fragile rock faces and roofs of the quarry galleries looked to have expanded, everything looked loose and fragile, giving the galleries an even more foreboding air than usual. We didn't venture in. The last time I entered any of these coastal galleries was a few years back at the Seacombe Quarry, and I was genuinely scared. 

Talking of Seacombe, that was our next stop. The clear water rivulet that seasonally runs through the valley is flowing well, its crystal water cascading over the rocky steps which lead out to the sea ledges. Cutting through time as it goes, at one point cutting through a 100 million year old ammonite.  The quarry was last used in the early 1940's to produce hardcore for the runways of the New Forest airfields, today it's a tranquil spot, a haven for wildlife and a great place to bath in the summer. 

Next was Hedbury Quarry, one of several smaller quarries than the previous two and one which makes a good spot for a nights wild camping. Which reminds me, we must camp here again soon. A group of climbers were preparing to attack the quarry wall, the quarries along this section of coast are popular with climbers and on a busy day the quarry walls are as fly paper stuck with brightly coloured human flies.

Soon enough we were off again along the viscus coastal path path. Of the quarries on todays' walk, finally it was Dancing Ledge.  We made our way down into the quarry and then down onto the dancing ledge, so called as in certain seas the ledge appears to dance.  So they say.  This afternoon there was no dancing only white foamy waves which rolled up over the large rocky ledge, filling the rock cut swimming pool and thumping into the adjacent caves.  The quarries galleries have been blocked, with only steel grill covered accesses; this has been done to create safe roosting areas for local rare bat communities. 

Back up again and on the path.  We continued along the coastal path, through rough grass covered terrain, past the most enormous cows, before rising up on to Round Down, with its spectacular views in both directions along the coast. The walk back to Worth Matravers along the ridge was little better than the coastal path, wet, muddy and slippery.  Tiring of the walking quite quickly, we decided to make for further inland at Spy Barn and the far easier walking  of  the Priests Way, the path the Medieval priests would have taken between the Churchs in Swanage, Worth Matravers and the chaplel out on St Aldhelm's Head. 

All in all a very nice walk in very nice weather in a very nice part of the world.

Dorset Wall Lizard

I saw a few of these fellas scurrying about the rocks, and in and out amongst the stubby grass of Winspit Quarry today; I was unsure as to what they were, they weren't Common or Viviparous Lizards (Lacerta vivipara / Zootoca vivipara) nor were they Sand Lizards (Lacerta agilis), so I took some photos and sent one off to the Amphibian and Reptile Conservation Trust. They turn out to be non native, Wall Lizards (Podarcis muralis), these ones commonly referred to now as Dorset Wall Lizards, having at least one breeding colony in the area; it happens that they can be frequently, though sometimes not so frequently, spotted around the Purbeck coastal quarries.Another effect of climate change, maybe?

Wrack and ruin

We've passed this way regularly for over thirty years on countless walks along the coast and never until today had I noticed this building tucked away into the hillside. How could that be? It is set back from the track, nestled amongst a small stand of trees and shrubs; but still.  As I looked about in wonder taking in the sights and sounds of the day I thought I saw something and so took a few steps back, yeah, it looked like a chimney top or something, no I thought; but, being an inquisitive type I scrambled up through the undergrowth and to my surprise found a building going to wrack and ruin. It's a strange building with a striking facade, built, in part, right into the hillside, with one of the rear rooms having nature rock for walls; it appears to have been constructed ad-hoc, made out of a wide mixture of materials: concrete, dressed stone, brick, wood, all with a corrugated iron and wooden roof, which in part has collapsed, although most of the building remains water tight. A strange place for sure. Out buildings are cobbled on, built into and extending up the hillside too, on terraces; there's the remains of a planned garden, now hard to distinguish and well overgrown. It must have been a lovely spot at one time, a holiday home or something maybe. As I say, I've not noticed it in over 30 years, and surely would have if it had been occupied during that time; nor did I remember seeing it on the map, I checked on my return and no, it's not shown on the map. Another mystery.

St Aldhelms Head and Winspit

The sun shone hot today, like it was summer, and the air was warm and thin, even on the coast no refreshing breeze was to be had; the cool sea looked so inviting as it rolled gently over the rocky shore, that if I'd brought a towel, which I'd considered though then thought, no, I'd have braved a dip. But, it's not summer is it, and that nagging thought wouldn't leave my mind; no matter how wonderful, or welcomed, days like these are, they're not right and there'll no doubt be consequences, that I know. Our climate is changing, no one can't, with any honesty, deny that; though many still do either through willful ignorance or greed. You certainly couldn't deny our part in it standing here on St Aldhelms Head with a thick band of ugly coloured filth hanging in the air a few miles of shore and extending as far as you could see in both directions along the coast; that's pollution for sure, that is, our pollution.

Like many others I do what I can to limit my 'carbon footprint' as we call it; well, as with most of us, not what a 'could', more what I'm prepared to whilst still maintaining as comfortable a lifestyle as my conscience allows. For instance, I could not have driven here today; I cycle and walk when I can, but still without a car I couldn't get to places like this and I really don't know how I'd manage that. Like the green prozac of the woodland, these environments keep me sane(ish) in our increasingly psychologically damaging and spiritually oppressive world. It's easy to justify our actions, look, I just did; we make fine and sound arguments as to why we do what we do and that's why the climate's fucked in the first place and why technological solutions to our problems look so appealing to many; we all want to save the world, as long as that also maintains our status quo; we can sacrifice a few islands, some low lying landscapes, so some places get a touch arid or some icebergs melt, that's not too much to loose to keep the lights on, surely? Particularly if all those things happen 'over there'. Of course, I'm being silly and that's not how I think, not at all; and climate change, although people would like to think so, doesn't just happen 'over there', it happens all over, including here; and where ever it happens we're all culpable. I, like so many, try to negate, as much as I can, my complicity in our climates degradation; I drive as little as I can, meaningless?; I recycle, worthless?; I turn things off when not using them, delusional?; I try not to consume too much, pointless?; the problems are systemic and therefore as laudable as all our individual efforts are, the solutions have to be systemic if any chances of realistic change are to be achieved. Don't get me wrong, I'll still try to limit my impact, though in the honest knowledge that I'm only really easing my conscience and of course doing what's right, rather than actually easing the planets burden to any real extent.

Still, it was a lovely day at the coast.