Why We Love Purbeck

SARAH BROOKES  Nurse and Community Organiser Every community needs someone like Sarah. She trained as a psychiatric nurse, but her energies seem to buoy up so many different projects in Purbeck; from organising local responses to COVID to fund-raising for.... Read More

WILLIAM SPICER    THE VETERANS’ FORGE Walking into Will Spicer’s barn-sized forge is a revelation. His tools and techniques are not just a blast from the past, they’re a testament to how to build a future. Will arrived in Purbeck after.... Read More

SAM KERWOOD    HEAD OF SCIENCE, FOOD, and NUTRITION at THE SWANAGE SCHOOL   During her first teaching job, Sam accompanied an A-level biology field trip to Purbeck. When the minibus stopped at a viewpoint, Sam remembers thinking: ‘I am going to.... Read More

RACHEL FOOKS    POTTER & ENVIRONMENTALIST   Rachel spent her childhood in Corfe, but after years living away, she knew she needed to get back to Purbeck. Its open space, countryside and sea make her feel part of not just a community,.... Read More

PHIL SAMWAYS  FARMER Phil has one of the best ‘views from the office’ of anyone; he and his wife Pauline farm the land around Seacombe Valley, between Acton and Worth. As we walk into a field of his cows, they.... Read More

NEIL READ    DRY STONE WALLER  Neil Read is scanning a pile of old stones. He’s repairing a dry-stone wall above Herston; one that’s really showing its age. Gnarled ivy roots have undermined its structure. It’s sagging and bulging as if.... Read More

MICHAEL O’SULLIVAN RETIRED LIGHTHOUSE ATTENDANT    Michael was about to start a career in the merchant navy when he saw a job advert.  ‘Would you like to be a lighthouse keeper?’ it asked. Michael liked the sea and enjoyed the idea of.... Read More

LIZZIE CONSTANTINE NHS PULMONARY EXERCISE SPECIALIST and NORDIC WALKER    Lizzie Constantine describes her move to Purbeck from Buckinghamshire, three years ago, as the best decision she’s ever made. Last year, during the lockdown, her partner proposed to her in a.... Read More

Rhiannon Shutler Autor, Illustrator and Conservationist Rhiannon is a busy person; along with raising two children, she is currently working two jobs and somehow finds time to write books and poems in her spare time. The natural world has always.... Read More

Liv Cooper BIRDS OF POOLE HARBOUR OSPREY PROJECT Liv Cooper has one of the most unusual mothering roles in Purbeck. Liv lives near Wareham, but through summer months, she preps fish for osprey chicks on the shores of Poole Harbour. She.... Read More