Was this and that, now Corfe Castle!

[Ming]

Oooooh! I would give anything away to pay a visit at Corfe Castle. I envy the British Blytonites!

“Envy is a symptom of lack of appreciation of our own uniqueness and self worth. Each of us has something to give that no one else has.” - Unknown.

[Viv of Ginger Pop]

Purbeck is full of passages. The trouble is that they are old mines and highly dangerous. Dorset is famous for two types of building stone. Portland you are all familiar with, because most of London is built of it! It is mined in big open quarries, whereas the Purbeck stone comes in thinner seams and is therefore mined. These quarries are often accessed from the coast, with the stone being shipped by boat. If you know the book Moonfleet it gives a good description of Purbeck stone quarries. Up until the 1960s the Tilly Whim caves on the coast were open, and Blyton is likely to have visited them, being less than an hours walk from Swanage. They were old Purbeck stone quarries but are now considered unsafe.

A few years ago John & I went exploring at Winspit, also on the coast, and went into a huge cavern. It was the size of a couple of football pitches, only 2-3m high, with the roof held up by sections of rock left in place, none thicker that a tree trunk. It felt unsafe, and I knew that if the roof did fall in we would become instant fossils!

More recent quarrying has been for Ball Clay (the fine clay that makes Wedgewood Pottery, and toilet bowls!) and there were underground mines up until 30 years ago. I recently had an interesting conversation with a chap wo suggested that the underground cave where Anne & George were held prisoner in Mystery Moor may be based in the mine at Creech barrow (he had been in it & I hadn't!) Looking at Paulo's picture, this mine is on the other side of the hill on the left, and a mile along

Corfe Castle is 3 miles from the coast directly, and abounds with rumours of passages, none of which I can find anyone who can actually show me one. (Grotty English - it's late) Take for example the rumour of a passage from the castle to Vineyard cottage (?) on the Church Knowle road. (to the left of Paulo's picture) The passage would be incredibly steep to clear the castle mound, and then to go under a stream, and then almost vertical climb up again to the cottage. The NT archaeologist can't find any evidence - yet! Paulos photo is already halfway up the castle mound (which is the shape of a sandcastle)

A better bet is a possible passage from Morton's House Hotel in East Street (it is Elizabethan - over 400 years old - and full of proper wood panelling) to The Sweet Shop in the Square. It may go under the Ginger Pop Shop! A couple of years ago repairs were being carried out in my building, and a lady said she could hear the sound of the builders hammering in her cellar 250m away in East Street, the other side of the church.

Could this be real evidence for a passage? I live in hope!

Viv

[Adventure]

Thanks for information, Viv.