The Sandbanks ferry, or the chain ferry as the locals tend to call it, fits perfectly the category of being very useful, but not vital. It crosses the
300 entrance to Poole Harbour in about 4 minutes saving up to 25 miles of driving, depending on where and when you are travelling. For us, driving from Bransgore to Kimmeridge, the ferry wasn’t a necessity, but did allow us a more interesting route and a pleasant stop for lunch along the Studland Bay beaches.
The ferry itself is a classic chain ferry, and although the crossing is short the tidal currents it has to contend with are strong. There have been a few collisions over the years between the ferry and small craft, and these were mostly attributable to the currents. One little curiosity this was the first time I’d been on a ferry together with a double-decker bus.
South of Poole Harbour is the Isle of Purbeck, which is in fact just a just a peninsular, not an island. But other than its main town of Swanage on the southeast corner it gives the feeling of remoteness typical of an island, with the military’s Lulworth Ranges restricting access to the west, almost completing this insularity. Most of the traffic that heads south on the ferry that is not going to Swanage is destined for the sandy beaches along Shell Bay and Studland Bay, which means that ferry traffic is very seasonal. Mid-week October was very easy for us, but as we approached the ferry terminus at Sandbanks we passed hundreds of yards of road markings indicating ferry waiting lanes. Be warned
—an hour of queuing in summer peak time my not be worth the time saved from driving around Poole Harbour.
Away from these beaches the Isle of Purbeck is a mixture of farming and heath with a very varied and unique geology that forms high ridges and interesting coastal cliffs. From our lunch spot on Studland Bay we could see Old Harry Rocks, a set of chalk sea stacks that are a continuation of The Needles, just visible on the Isle of Wight a few miles across the sea to the east. Our aim for the day was also geological, not just to admire the geomorphology of the area but to visit the new
Etches Museum in Kimmeridge.
The Purbeck shoreline is part of the Jurassic Coast that stretches along 95 miles of England’s south coast. The cliffs near the village of Kimmeridge have become a major source of fossils from the late Jurassic period and the The
Etches Collection Museum of Jurassic Marine Life in Kimmeridge displays many of these, including the recent find of an enormous, almost complete Pliosaur skull. A small and well executed modern museum, well worth a visit.
And the village of Kimmeridge itself is quiet and laid back — and has a decent tea room.
Runs every 20 from 7 to 11 year-round
300, 4
£5.30 for a car and occupants (2024)
The Bournemouth-Swanage Motor Road and Ferry Company
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