by Mike Leigh’s 1976 comedy Dorset Nuts opens in May with Keith and Candice-Marie taking the chain ferry from Sandbanks across the mouth of Poole harbor to the Isle of Purbeck, where they camp, visit Corfe Castle, walk along the mighty Jurassic coast and end up in an altercation with a young Brummie couple called Finger and Honky. For me, it’s an annual tradition to watch Nuts in May, along with visiting the peninsula where it was filmed. Most of us have places to which we feel a strong pull; Purbeck is one of mine. And since this peninsula has recently status as the first “super” nature reserve of England, I am beginning to understand why.
Being a relatively remote peninsula, Purbeck has seen little major development in the last 70 years, despite its location on the south coast. On a human scale, the landscape has not changed since Keith and Candice-Marie went on a camping trip half a century ago. Behind the scenes, however, years of conservation work by seven organizations – including the National Trust, RSPB, Dorset Wildlife Trust and Natural England – has created an almost constant rush of restored habitats, making it is the first designated super center in the UK. a nature reserve, which stretches clockwise from Brownsea Island and the Stud peninsula to Arne, further west of the bay.
The removal of the fences allowed continuous grazing: pigs, cattle, ponies, donkeys have free rein over 1,300 hectares; don’t be surprised to see them blazing on the roads, woodlands and heaths. This work, along with Purbeck’s wide mix of habitats – from the limestone cliffs at Durlston and Kimmeridge to the lowland, heathland, bay and sandy beaches – has earned the peninsula the highest biodiversity in England. . According to Peter Robertson, senior site manager at RSPB Arne, although most conservation work is based on slowing the decline of biodiversity, the situation is growing.
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The crowning glory of Purbeck’s biodiversity – and an area often visited by visitors – is the northern Erne peninsula, which combines health, ancient woodlands, secluded beaches, estuaries and the southern reaches of Paul’s Bay. It is expected here that the eagle of prey and the bald eagle will breed this year. The RSPB reserve is a great place to see other wading birds, including hummingbirds and hawks, as well as waders, spoonbills, terns and ground-nesting reptiles and birds such as grebes, stone ponies, lizards sand and the lark. On a warm late spring or summer evening the clatter of heavy boots is a common sound; Encountering these prehistoric birds is a magical experience. A good place to see them is Hyde’s Heath at dawn. On another part of the reserve, Coomb Heath, walkers can enjoy good views of the eagle feeding stations by the estuary, with a small pond full of wasps and spiders.
Purbeck marks the end (or start) of the South West Coastal Path and includes two spectacular chalk sea cliffs: Old Harry Rocks and the natural arch of Durdle Door. Inland, all roads lead to Corfe Castle. Its iconic 11th century ruin sits on a steep hill between two higher slopes. Often busy with traffic and people, Corfe is home to a model village, an excellent ice cream parlor and one of four stations for the Purbeck steam train, which runs from Swanage to Norden. The Scott Arms in Kingston is a huge stone inn with a beer garden overlooking the heather and Corfe Castle that serves great pub fare, and on weekends from Easter to September its seasonal chef opens a Jamaican JerkShak in the garden, serving Delicious jerk chicken, callaloo and salted fish.
Purbeck’s only serious contender for the title of “best pub ever” is the 18th-century Square & Compass in Worth Matravers. What this pub lacks in a small hatch to collect drinks it makes up for in its enviable location. It offers sea and sunset views, award-winning ales and ciders, and regular country sessions in the main room with an open fire.
On a warm late evening, the sound of the heavy jars being raised is a common sound and meeting these prehistoric birds is a wonderful sight.
At the other end of the Square & Compass is a fossil museum with cabinets containing the remains of sharks, crocodile teeth, ammonites and dinosaur bones. The museum serves as a reminder that Purbeck, as part of the Jurassic Coast, is rich in prehistoric finds and fossils: an impressive array of dinosaur footprints can be found at Kearnes Quarry, just off Priest’s Way and Spyway near Acton. The most comprehensive range of fossils from the entire Jurassic Coast, however, is at the Etches Museum in Kimmeridge, a village that gained national fame after a plissaurus skull was found floating off a cliff edge in 2022. A subsequent BBC program told the story of his discovery, David Attenborough and the Giant Sea Monster, he helped put the museum on the map. Artfully displayed is a mix of donations and the 40-year collection of fossil expert Steve Etches which includes the world’s first ammonite eggs, a pterosaur skull and the world’s largest remains of a Chimmerosaurus.
I spend most of my Purbeck evenings at the Bankes Arms in Studland, the Kings Arms in Langton Matravers or the Square & Compass, watching the sun set over the Jurassic Coast with a pint of Otter, a pasty and falling into conversation random with it. strangers about Tiny Tim, Cathar heretics and how best to grow artichokes. During the day, however, I am walking the heath, the moors, the cliffs and the woodlands, not only for the scenery but – as a keen birder – for the wildlife too. For a chance to see bottlenose dolphins, fulmars, fulmars, guillotines and orchid carpets, I follow the spectacular coastal cliffs west from Durlston country park, then east to Dancing Ledge, where a small breeding population of puffins can still be found.
On Dunmcha Graí and the nearby heathland, which stretches from South Beach to Hill Beach, I keep my eyes peeled for reptiles. All six native species – including the sand lizard and the rare smooth snake – are found here, as are Dartford harpies, falcons and mine wasps.
“My business is to protect life in our countryside and our heritage,” cries Keith near the end of Nuts in May, trying to stop the ignorant young Man from lighting a fire when he shouldn’t. Back in 1976 part of the “oddball” nature of the comic characters Roger Sloman and Alison Steadman were environmentalists and vegetarians who refused to eat factory-farmed eggs. Today these are qualities and lifestyle choices that most of us value.
Thanks to many years of work by environmentalists, the RSPB, wildlife charities, conservationists and reptile trusts – whose day-to-day business is really to protect life in the countryside and our heritage – insects, birds, reptiles and flora are becoming more abundant on Purbeck. Reason enough to fall in love with this beautiful corner of Dorset. That, and the odd pint of Otter’s Head.
