Wytch Heath

Wytch Heath: Only the lonely! -

It was a warm summers day in August when I visited Wytch Heath for the forst time. The Isle of Purbeck was heaving with visitors around Corfe Castle, the Swanage Carnival week was in full fling and the beach at Studland crowded with holidaying school children. I stood on the highest point of the ridge that runs through the area and I could see for a considerable distance around me in all directions and I was alone! Not a person in sight for miles.

It actually is not surprising there was no one else about. It is well off the beaten track and you do not pass it by by chance and decide to stop for a walk. It is probably a bit too far to get to when you just want to take the dog for a walk.

There is nothing of note there to see (unless you want to peer though the trees at the nearby Wytch Farm oil field pumping station. There are no houses near by and certainly no tea room or shops. No, at Wytch Heath you are alone! It is a wild place, mainly bog as the high ground slopes down to the shores of Poole Harbour and it probably pays to keep to the main path that passes along the higher ground. If you want peace and quiet I can certainly recommend Wytch Heath.