January 25th 2025 - Swanage (Peveril Point) to Old Harry Rocks & Back

Well after 27 years of living only forty odd miles away from Swanage, I’ve finally managed to get here and see the place. It’s a place I’ve never visited before in my life.

When I lived up north, I had some friends who came to Swanage every year for their holidays and always raved about it and I promised myself back then that I would get there one day, and this is the day.

I have to say it doesn’t disappoint in any way, having a lovely centre with lots of independent shops, as well as some of the usual chain shops.

Being a chilly but bright January day and quite early in the morning, it wasn’t a busy place but I could see it was well geared up for the spring/summer tourist influx.

The beach was fantastic, with lovely sand and safe water. There were all the usual amenities that one would expect to find in a seaside town and  I can see why my friends came here every year.   I‘m waffling a little now so I’ll get on with my blog.

I Parked my car at Broad Road car park which is part way along Peveril Point but also close to the town centre. I was expecting to pay a fortune for the privilege but was surprised to find the cost was only £2 all day at this time of year, well chuffed.  I have no idea what the cost would be in the summer, there was no signage to say.

I could see Old Harry Rocks from the car park, in fact I could see the whole of my walk laid out before me along the sweeping curve of Swanage Bay

It was a short hop over to Peveril Point where there are toilets and a national coast watch station. The views from here were lovely in the early morning sunlight. I could see Durlston castle to the south, the Isle of Wight to the east and Old Harry Rocks with Bournemouth beyond to the North.  I wouldn’t like to be out on the waters off Peveril Point though, there was a real shambles going on, with different currents making the water very choppy.

The start of the coast path from here was down some steps onto a somewhat slippery path along the waters edge to the lifeboat station. The water was lapping over the path as I traversed it this morning but didn’t cause any issues for me. There are a couple of other options if it is impassable. 

The walk along Swanage seafront was lovely in the morning sunshine. There were gentle waves lapping onto the beach making a lovely soothing sight and sound. 

At the end of the seafront there is a choice, stick to the main path following the road upwards or stay on the beach (tide permitting) and walking along the firm sand until some steps are reached, just over half a mile further along.  It was a no brainer for me (I hate that phrase but what else could I put).  It was so lovely on the beach (and flat) that it was the obvious choice, and the tide was low enough. A point to note is there are a few Groynes to traverse before reaching the steps, but they are quite low so easy to get over, even for me with my short legs, lol.

After climbing the steps and meeting up with the main path there was a sign saying just two miles to Old Harry Rocks. The path was in good condition with just a couple of muddy areas and the climb was very gradual to begin with, getting steeper as I climbed Ballard Down, but never really strenuous, though my puffed-out appearance on my YouTube video may say different.

Close to the top of Ballard Down there is a choice of carrying on up to the top and on to Old Harry via the Trig point or turning right and hugging the coast more to Ballard Point and then on to Old Harry.  I chose to go via Ballard Point and come back via the Trig point thinking there may be more scenic views, I was wrong.  There were views back to Swanage and further round, Old Harry and Bournemouth, but nothing like the views I was to see later coming back over the top.

As expected, it was quite busy around the Old Harry Rocks area on my arrival, with people having walked there from Studland. There were many foreign visitors, mainly Chinese or Japanese. There must’ve been a coach party from Studland perhaps. Everybody seemed to be taking selfies and getting very close to the cliff edge to do so, even some people much older than myself, whom I wouldn’t have trusted to be on the path with a Zimmer frame let alone stood on the edge of a cliff taking selfies with phones that I wouldn’t have thought they could understand.

It did feel a little strange, but nice, being back here just over a year since my first coast path walk from South Haven Point.  I took a little time to reflect and look at the views before making my way back. This time I took the path following the Purbeck way to the trig point at the top of Ballard Down. Wow! The views behind and to my right going this way were stunning, being able to see across from Bournemouth all the way round to the far end of Poole Harbour and beyond. The view to my left was of Swanage and Peveril Point.

There were a lot of people on this path walking along the Down and probably doing a circular walk back down to Studland.  I lost them all when I went left to follow the coast path back to Swanage.  This route is definitely preferable to turning off to Ballard Point, coming from Swanage.

On reaching the bridge where I could go back down to the beach, I decided to follow the official path into Swanage via the road, just to film and see what it was like. After walking across a green I came into Ballard Estate which seemed like a prefab home place with small roads around it. I managed to navigate my way through the estate coming out on to a road with a shop at the corner of it. There was a sign for the coast path heading out of Swanage on a lamp post outside the shop but no sign telling me where to go to get back to the seafront. I did actually go wrong at this point but deleted it from my video so as not to look stupid.  I soon corrected myself and headed back in the right direction.

I don’t know if it’s a man thing (or just a me thing), but I always think I know where I’m going, and plough on, rather than just stopping and looking at my app or printed map. Stupid really (or stubborn).

On getting back to the sea front I’d already decided that the beach route is the best way to go by far.

All that was left to do now was stop in town at The Cornish Bakery for a Pasty and a coffee. The only pasty they had left was a root vegetable one which I’d never tried but found it to be lovely. I walked back past my car to Peveril Point, to complete the full walk there and back and then to my car to drive home.

I have to say this walk was very enjoyable and not tiring. It was just under eight and a half miles in total with an elevation gain of around 1000ft.