Swanage Travel Destination In UK
Swanage, called the Gem of the Dorset coast, is the loveliest city in the Isle of Purbeck. Its atmosphere is straight away calm and the lapping of the light sea next to the caw of seagulls conjures up a state of inner peace. Swanage lies on a hill next to its white, curved, sandy beach and summery seafront. In the summertime it is busy but doesn’t appear so.
Well-liked by families who fill its many guest-houses and who frequent the Punch and Judy shows on the promenade, tan themselves on the warm sand and float without a care in the turquoise-emerald water. Superb for children, the beach is extraordinarily clean (it has won Blue Flag and Clean Britain awards recently), wide and there are no risks from currents or unpredictable waves. It’s a ultimate location to learn how to swim, as I remember doing in my youth it’s also an excellent place for ice cream.
The famous Forte family parlour was established by Italian, Alfonso Forte in 1906 and now run by his grandchild, delivering some of the finest flavours in the area. Dorset Cream Butterscotch is one of my private tops followed swiftly by Toffee and Honeycomb. For lunch or afternoon tea be certain to visit the Mowlem, which is a glorious upstairs restaurant next to the theatre and theatre that has large glass windows overlooking the ocean.
The food is succulent; freshly-caught local fish being one of its specialities. Its a fave haunt of local writers, like K Merle Chacksfield who has spent the most happy times of her life in Swanage, having written much about the area, its history and smuggling past and who was pivotal in the city’s twinning with the German town of Rothenbourg ob der Tauber. The local shops commence run along the main road and below the Mowlem building which if you continue along it leads you to the revived Victorian pier. A wonderful time to be here is in the Carnival and Regatta Week which runs yearly at the start of Aug and features boat races, carnival processions, music and ends with an impressive firework display.
The sea front has its energetic aspects , for example the humming arcade where many a teen spends coins, and in the evening are a selection of standard and modern boozers with onstage music and other events. Up the hill is the local steam train line, the Purbeck Line.
This is great fun for families as children can watch the puffs of steam appear from whistling engines as their oily wheels move smoothly along the line, burned drivers signalling in the old-fashioned way as the trains shunt out and in of the station. There’s an eaterie in an old carriage on the line and regular trips in the vacation season up the line to Norden, which is just past the important Corfe Castle. If you intend to visit the Dorset coast, then do include a visit to Swanage, it’ll definitely be worthwhile.
If you would like to spend two weeks there on vacation there’s lots to do, beach sheds to hire, ship trips available and an excellent, standard English beach experience.. And naturally do not forget the ice cream!
