Dorset Days Collection 1.
12 colourfully created cards designed from original photographs celebrating aspects and details of life and landscapes in Dorset. 
A5 size. 
Blank inside to add your own greeting. 
Original Designs
 
1. MAKING TRACKS.
"They leant their bicycles against a nearby gate and sat down, their backs against the lower bars. Below them spread the Dorset countryside, shimmering in the heat of the day, the distance almost lost in a blue haze." 'Making Tracks' is designed from an original photograph taken from one of the many medieval tracks scattered across the county; this one in North Dorset. This was children's author Enid Blyton's home territory for a while. She may easily have walked up the track, stopped to admire the view, musing about her latest adventure story, 'Five on Finniston Farm.' Maybe even resting at this very spot, leaning on the gate, picturing in her mind's eye the place, earmarking it for Julian and Dick to stop on their summer cycle ride to the farm.
 
2.DORSET TRAILWAY
Stalbridge, Sturminster Newton, Shillingstone, and Blandford stations and Stourpaine and Durweston Halt opened on 31st August 1863 when the sixteen-mile section of the Somerset & Dorset Railway between Templecombe and Blandford was completed. It eventually became part of British Railways Southern Region and was closed following the ‘Beeching’ cuts in 1966. Today, thanks to a dedicated group of volunteers a section of the line has been reopened to form The North Dorset Trailway spanning 14 miles from Sturminster Newton to Spetisbury largely along the lines of the old Somerset and Dorset railway line. www.northdorsettrailway.org.uk
 
3. WAREHAM
“Where the Great Heath joins the Isle of Purbeck, Wareham stands by the river Frome where the river joins the sea by what is known as the Wareham Channel.” King Alfed is said to have laid the foundations of the English Navy at nearby Ridge which is still a boat yard. Today the river Frome is a popular space for launching canoes, kayaks and paddle boards and for taking a wonderful river cruise by boat tour down the river to Poole Quay.
 
4.MASTERPIECE
The Gothic style church was bombed in the Second World War and painstakingly restored with a set of engraved rather than stained glass windows by Lawrence Whistler. A delight to see such skilfully and exquisitely engraved windows and without a doubt is ‘Lawerence Whistler’s masterpiece’.
 
5.REMEMBRANCE TARRANT RUSHTON AIRFIELD
It should not be underestimated how very important RAF Tarrant Rushton airfield in Dorset was to the overall success of Operation Overlord and the D-Day landings. In May 1943 at a location just twelve miles from the English Channel port of Poole, the small rural Dorset village of Tarrant Rushton chosen for a new airfield, its location on the edge of sparsely populated Cranborne Chase. From then onwards a profound sense of urgency existed to fulfil plans and overcome the lack of trained glider pilots with sufficient flying hours. Here in the countryside the newly commissioned airfield became one of the most significant training grounds in the country for glider pilots. In addition, for air crew initially trained on the Albemarle and Dakota, later Halifax bombers learning how to tow Horsa and Hamilcar gliders. Nissen Huts built in nearby woods for up to seven hundred personnel.
 
6. CHESIL BEACH
This phenomenon is a vast breakwater of pebbles, varying in size from the very tiny at Burton Bradstock in the west to the very large pebbles of Portland in the east. A great curving bank about 15 miles from West Bay to Portland where sailors have been heard to say they can tell exactly where they are on this coast by the size of the pebbles. The long stretch of water known as the Fleet is all that is left of the village of the same name washed away when the sea breached the pebbles in November 1824. Today you can visit the old church.
 
7. SWANAGE RAILWAY
“The dedication and enthusiasm of the volunteers shines through at every station along the line. From Norden, to Corfe Castle, onto Harmans Cross and Herston Halt with great links with the Signal Corps before arriving at Swanage, which is a really busy station and gateway to this lovely Dorset Seaside Resort.”
 
8. BLANDFORD ARCHES
Blandford station opened on 31st August 1863 when the sixteen-mile section of the Somerset & Dorset Railway between Templecombe and Blandford was completed. It eventually became part of British Railways Southern Region and was closed following the ‘Beeching’ cuts in 1966. Today, thanks to a dedicated group of volunteers a section of the line has been reopened to form The North Dorset Trailway spanning 14 miles from Sturminster Newton to Spetisbury largely along the lines of the old Somerset and Dorset railway line.
 
9 EASTERN PROMISE KINGSTON LACEY
In 1813 William John Bankes the explorer began his Grand Tour of Portugal, France and Italy, and onto Greece and Turkey. Three years later he ventured to the Middle East travelling up the Nile from Cairo, taking in Wadi Halfa, Abu Simnel and Philae. He made extensive notes, drawings and sketches. “Soon after, William began planning a journey into Syria, to explore parts of the Holy Land. On this journey William visited places such as Mount Lebanon, Sinai, and was among one of the first Europeans to enter the lost city of Petra. Henry Bankes died in 1834, and William began redevelopment of Kingston Hall. Between 1834 and 1841, William employed architects, artists and artisans to rebuild Kingston Lacy (as it became known).”
 
10. AGAPANTHUS SWANAGE BAY
Swanage Bay showing the distinctive Clock Tower gracing the bay. Dismantled and magnificently reassembled in 1858 from its original home on Tower Bridge in London. Timed to perfection its arrival in Swanage coinciding in 1858 with the famous bell Big Ben ringing out for the first time in London.
 
11.SHILLINGSTONE STATION
North Dorset Railway is a standard gauge heritage railway based at Shillingstone Station, off the A357, in the heart of rural Dorset. The station is on what was the Somerset & Dorset Railway and opened in 1863. It eventually became part of British Railways Southern Region and was closed following the ‘Beeching’ cuts in 1966. Restoration work was started by a small group of dedicated volunteers in the late 1990s, and a charity was formed to restore this part of the railway and re-open a section of the former line.
 
12. KEEPING WATCH WEYMOUTH
The great pestilence (only later called ‘the plague’) arrived in England at Melcombe Regis, Weymouth, specifically referenced in “The Black Death in Dorset 1348 -1349” by Rev. Canon J. M.  J. Fletcher. There are varying views on dates, number of deaths and which other ports accepted plague ships into dock, but a general agreement that the plague spread along communication and trading routes out of Constantinople. If you are interested in discovering what is written on the ‘plague plaque’ at ‘Melcombe Regis,’ head for the harbour.