The Pinnicale

 

The Pinnicale

Isle of Wight

 

Being were we are on the coast you get so used to seeing the Isle of Wight a certain way, from Purbeck though you get to see it from a whole other angle. It's always nice to get another perspective on things. The island looks so different too, much bigger. Until 100 thousand years ago Purbecks' Old Harry Rocks and the Isle of Wights' Needles were part of the same a chalk ridge created at the time of the Cretaceous Paleogene extinction event. Time and the elements did for that though.

Old Harry Rocks and one of the Pinnacles

At the furthest east point of the Purbeck Ridge are Old Harry Rocks and the Pinnacles; if you look east in the distance you'll just see The Needles and The Isle of Wight, once these two chalk headlands would've been joined as a continuous chalk ridge. If you know Purbeck and you ever visit to the The Isle of Wight you'll spot the similarity in geology and environment immediately.

Studland dawn

As much as I love the forest, and I do, it's ease being as it is on my doorstep sometimes leads me to neglect the other local landscapes in my holy trinity, Cranborne and the wonderful Isle of Purbeck. With the summer dog walking restrictions lifted we rectified that, and this morning we watched the Sun rise on Studland beach. As we made our way around Shell Bay, with a grey mass of cloud hanging on the horizon I wondered whether we'd see the Sun rise at all,  although as we approached Studland Bay the clouds yielded at the appropriate moment, and very nice it was too. We were early enough to be the first ones on the beach and so had the broad sands to ourselves from the ferry all the way to Knoll Beach, about 2.5 miles; after that it was up on to Ballard Down, round Old Harry and back along a beach by now well populated; lots of dogs so Geoff was happy.

The Pinnacles and Old Harry

 

Ballard Down and the eastern end of the Purbeck Ridge, and the furthest point eastwards of the Jurassic Coast, are famous for the bright white chalk stacks and arches of the Pinnacles and Old Harry rocks.