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While you're on the ferry, access the second level for a look at Brownsea Island to the north.
If you take the bus from (35) to (36) then understand the driver can't let you off the bus on the ferry.
Follow the ocean coast from (36) to (60). When you arrive at (60), walk up the paved road to (61), and look for the trail on your left side. The trail will lead you to Fort Henry at (63). Fort Henry was the largest and strongest observation post built in Britain. Built in 1943, the bunker has a recessed slit 30 metres in length, protected by a metre of solid concrete. Behind it stands a 4-inch defensive gun emplacement built in 1940.
Military rehearsals for the D-Day invasion took place on Studland Beach because the sands of Studland closely resembled those in France. In April 1944 during Exercise Smash, British rocketfiring Typhoons and American Thunderbolt fighter-bomber planes pounded the heathland. Prime Minister Winston Churchill watched the exercises from Fort Henry with General Dwight D. Eisenhower (Supreme Commander of Allied Forces), General Bernard Montgomery (Commanding the British 21st Army), and Acting Admiral Louis Mountbatten (Head of Combined Operations). A regiment of United States anti-aircraft artillery guns and troops fanned out around Studland village to defend the forces and visiting VIP spectators from the possibility of a real attack by the Luftwaffe (German air force).
Continue walking on the trail to the fence at (67), and then to the next fence at (68). The trail leads to a paved road. At the paved road, turn left and walk down the hill to the public rest rooms at (72). At (72), follow the narrow road that leads up the hill in the eastward direction. The road soon becomes a trail. At (78) is the location of the Old Harry Rocks. Stay away from the cliff edges — landslides occur frequently. From (78), continue southwest up the hill to (83).
For more information about Studland, visit www.studland.org |
