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 Swanage will delight those who are looking for the traditional English seaside town. The sheltered bay and sandy
beach are ideal for the family and the regular diet of candy floss, toffee apples and seaside rock is in plentiful
supply. Amusement arcades and punch and judy. Mini Golf and deck chairs. All within easy walking distance of the
beach with its own recently renovated pier with boat trips and facilities for those who want to fish.
 Indeed it was as a fishing village and small port that Swanage first made its appearance
on the map. The port was used for the shipping of Purbeck stone which was quarried locally and ended up around
the world in places as famous as St Paul's Cathedral. The town only began to develop as the resort it is today
early in the 19th Century on the initiative of a local landowner by the name of William Morton Pitt. But Purbeck
has always defied communication with the outside world and it was a long time before this side of the town really
developed. Although popular as a destination for people who lived to the east in Bournemouth - who travelled in
for day trips by steamer - the town continued for some time to be reliant of the stone trade which was built up
towards the end of the 1800s by John Mowlem and his somewhat eccentric nephew George Burt.
 The railway arrived in 1883 and this marked the real beginnings of the seaside town and the demise of the export
of stone. Today the stone trade is all but dead. Up to the west of the town up above Durlston Bay the remnants
of the old mines can still be seen even if many areas are closed off to the public since they are no longer safe.
Durlston Country Park, however, is perhaps better known for its scenic coastal walk. Up here, high above the
sea, there is much to be seen: kestrels, dolphins and the more common fox and rabbit and you would be foolish not
to visit Durlston Country Park Centre which is rich with educational material about the area
Back in the town there is much more to see. Swanage has the range of shops, hotels, restaurants and pubs which
come with such a tourist town but also, despite its youth compared with other towns and villages on the Purbeck,
it has its own sights and monuments of historical interest. You can visit the Old Town Lock-up just off the High
Street. Built in 1802 it was used to lock-up drunks and vagrants for the night and still carries the inscription,
‘Erected for the Prevention of Vice and Immorality by the Friends of Religion and Good Order’.
 Further back along the High Street and off to the right is the Tithe Barn an 18th century building which has
been converted into a museum and is well worth a visit. From here you are only a stone’s throw from the railway
station. This must surely count as one of Purbeck's most outstanding recent achievements. Linking Swanage to Corfe
and on through there to Norden the steam engines compliment the character of the area whilst adding to its vitality.
The whole project is run by enthusiastic voluteers and now has the go-ahead to extend the line through to Wareham
itself. With the existing connection from Wareham to London Waterloo this will be a development whose significance
probably remains to be appreciated.
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