An awfully lovely day at Corfe Castle

During our sojourn to Dorset a very happy few hours were spent in the town of Corfe Castle, a village nestled in the Purbeck Hills. A picturesque home to said castle, the village is also famous for being the inspiration behind Enid Blyton's Famous Five books. Stories I will always love. (And the reason for the very cheesy title of this blog.)

It was one of the most English places I've ever visited. A paintpot blue sky with perfect white fluffy clouds, quaint stone cottage buildings clustered around a church. Sweetshops, bookshops, a deli selling pork pies & cheese, National Trust tearooms with low ceilings, wonky staircases and a garden sitting right at the very edge of the castle. After stopping for tea in the garden - and getting rather hot in the sun - we explored the village station. It's full of gorgeous retro railway ephemera and there's a fully functional steam train running through to Swanage - I felt like I was in a scene from the Railway Children, or Goodnight Mr Tom, or about to board the Hogwarts Express.

We then roamed around the castle, taking in its wild beauty - crumbling stone walls, gorse bushes, hidden walkways and panoramic views of the Dorset countryside. You can easily see the resemblance to Blyton's books. A picnic was eaten sitting amongst the ruins - almost like the Famous Five themselves. If only we'd had a dog, jam sandwiches, fruit cake and lashings of ginger beer!