Social Secretary on Tour - Swanage

I first visited Dorset, circa 1959/60 on an evening trip from Bournemouth to Corfe Castle, but after a mate gave me some magazines from the Swanage Railway (the preserved line that runs from Swanage to Norden) I decided to join in 2007 and as it was their Beer Festival and Diesel Gala from the 9^th to 11^th May, I decided (along with a mate) to visit the line and sample some of the local pubs in the area.

Our first pub was the Good Beer Guide entry, The Red Lion in Swanage. I personally found no fault with the quality of the beer, but the range was boring, viz.Timothy Taylors Landlord, Caladonian Deuchars, IPA Ringwood Best Bitter and 78. After a walk around the town we found nothing better.

The next day, after riding or photographing the special trains, we headed for the Beer Festival at Harmans Cross. What a shambles! The beer wasn't in any order or even labelled, so what a job the staff had. However, when you found the beer you wanted, you couldn't fault the quality. Whilst I'm not a ticker, I did find a new brewery, Small Pauls Brewery from Gillingham, Dorset- Pale 4.5%abv. Also sampled was Sherbourne Cheap Street and 257; Dorset Brewing Company Durdle Door 5%abv and RCH Steam Pole 4.9%abv. That ended our first visit.

As the trains were running until nearly midnight, Steve and I caught the 19.10 to Corfe Castle. Personally I found it a beautiful village dominated by the Castle, offering superb views. We visited the Castle Inn first, where we sampled Wadworth 6X, then The Greyhound where Isle of Purbeck IPA was drunk and in the Bankes Hotel we sampled another pint of Ringwood 78, before catching the train back to the festival. Beers sampled included Yeovil Ales Summerset, St Austell Proper Job and Palmers Dorset Gold, plus 200, before arriving back in Swanage around midnight.

Before we left, I was determined to visit a couple more Good Beer Guide pubs, so on Saturday 10^th May we set off by bus to visit The Bankes Arms at Studland, home of the Isle of Purbeck Brewery. The pub featured 3 of their own brews, Solar Power, Fossil Fuel and IPA. All these were duly sampled; It also had 4 guest ales. The views from the cliff top garden were superb, over Poole Harbour towards Boscombe. We returned to Swanage to catch another bus to Wareham, to visit another Good Beer Guide pub, The Duke of Wellington. This had 6 guest ales on.  I sampled Goddards Fuggle Dee Dum 4.8%abv and more Isle of Purbeck Fossil Fuel 4.1%abv, before leaving.

I will return as I have one pub I long to visit, The Worth Matravers Square and Compass, a pub listed on CAMRA’s National Inventory, pubs of historical Interest.  Unfortunately it's difficult to reach by public transport, but all in all, I did enjoy my first visit to Dorset for many years. 

K Satterly

This page last updated: April 15, 2011

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