Winds and White Water.

When walking our cliffs it is easy to forget that pretty much the whole of the southern ridge, from Durlston to Worth, would have once been a big industrial estate. Quarries of all sizes were worked along here, some for generation after generation, and these have given us the landscape that we cherish today. Following the paths that weave between the quarries may not give us many obvious clues as nature has reclaimed much of what man has done but when you reach the coast path, the workings that have changed the cliffs are more visible as well as more impressive. The amount of stone taken from here and transported far and wide without the use of today’s machinery is difficult to imagine but what remains can tell us a great deal and there are many books that can explain what we see.
On a beautiful, blue sky day when these places are calm and peaceful you may be forgiven for thinking that working here, with the superb views and cool clear air, would be a joy and maybe on some days it would be. In Winter though, when the sea is churning white and the wind blows right through you but still your very livelihood depends on every hour worked regardless of the risks, they become different.
No less impressive, no less wonderful, just different.