Dorset

The Ibstock brickworks on the outskirts of Swanage specialises in the production of a wide range of hand-made bricks. The business can also produce bespoke items for restoration or individual new builds.

Swanage does a good line in turrets and domes including this one which has excellent sea views.

A short domed tower at Wimborne Minster.

Weymouth Town Bridge is a lifting bascule bridge connecting the formerly separate boroughs of Weymouth and Melcombe Regis. When lifted it allows boats access to the inner backwater of Weymouth Harbour, known as Weymouth Marina. It was opened in 1930 and, is the sixth to have been built across the harbour since 1597. Today the hydraulically-operated bridge is raised every two hours, 363 days of the year. It is listed Grade II.

Albion Stone plc has operated its Portland stone quarries for many years and now extracts high quality stone from mines at the Jordans / Bowers complex and most recently from the new Stonehills Mine. The stone processing sheds and stockyard are seen here on the site of the Independent Quarry to the north of Easton.

Originally the Wareham Oddfellows Hall and built in 1889, it provided various entertainments such as travelling theatre shows, banquets and concerts. It is likely that visiting Bioscope shows were presented here at the turn of the 20th century. The cinema opened in the building in 1920 and it then named the Empire Theatre. After renovation in 1963 it was renamed as The Rex. In 1987 the running of the cinema was taken over by a group of enthusiastic local people who formed Rex Wareham Ltd. This lasted until 2009 when The Rex was acquired by the Purbeck Film Charitable Trust, and it became a not-for profit cinema run almost entirely by our dedicated volunteers. The frontage is a nice blend of brick with decorative limestone door and window surrounds. It is listed Grade II.

Sandholes Quarry on the Isle of Portland retains a crane that was once used to load stone blocks onto coastal vessels.

This limekiln is one of several that were worked in the Dorset parish of Loders. Long abandoned, it was difficult to photograph due to a large tree having fallen across the front of the kiln. The pot has been filled-in.

The kiln at Grove was built c.1900 within an enclosed yard which was principally used for dressing stone. It was constructed and operated by prisoners from the Portland Convict Establishment. It is likely that lime production at the kiln ceased in 1921 when prison became a Borstal Institution and the quarry and associated masonry works closed.