Country diary: Quarries dot the coastline over the milky blue Channel

Purbeck, Dorset: Rooks caw and peck at the turf; reddish-brown cattle lie facing the south-west wind and the distant Portland BillAhead, the lowering ruins of Corfe castle dominate the gap in the chalk ridge. Here, on nearby common land, yellow tansy, mauve water mint, and thickets of ripe sloes, hips and haws brighten the splashy and undulating land.Uphill on to Challow Hill from busy Corfe, our downward gaze necessarily concentrates on the extremely steep steps, but sideways a few blue harebells catch our attention. Continue reading...