Up to this point I’d not slept that well, yet hadn’t been overly tired. So once again I was already awake when I got up at 06:30 to go for a run. This was supposed to be a 20 minute easy run, but instead turned into a 5K easy run (so about 27 mins, a 5K in 20 minutes would be my race pace and setting a new PB). Instead of running purely along the coastline this time I ran through some of the city before reaching the beach and then continued the run along it.

By 08:30 we were out on the road and heading to Swanage and Lulworth Castle. Due to having set off early it meant even after we’d stopped by the supermarket on the way it was still too early to look around the castle so we carried on to Swanage.

We didn’t spend that much time in Swanage though — we’ve been there before and nothing there seems to change. The weather was clouding over too so after a brief stop in the amusement arcade we then carried on (my sister likes to spend time in these).

Our next stop was at the Durlstone Country Park, another place we’ve been many times before, but this was so we could take a break for a cup of tea and use up a bit of time. Once the tea had been consumed we then headed back to Lulworth Castle and arrived just in time for lunch.

After lunch we looked around Lulworth Castle which cost £5.00 to get in. From the outside we got the impression that it was a stately home that might take a while to look around. Once we got inside we soon realised that the building was an almost empty shell.

The castle was built in 1610 by Thomas Howard, the 3rd Viscount Howard of Bindon. It was however gutted by a fire in 1929, although the cause of the fire is unknown it raged strongly enough to go for three days.

Whilst we were there we watched as the cloud level lowered and started to become incredibly foggy. Somewhere nearby we could also hear tanks performing some firing practice, probably at Lulworth Camp, an MOD site.

Having been a little disappointed by Lulworth Castle we then drove on to Dorchester to look around the town there. It’s quite a small Roman town and from what we could see there didn’t appear to be a lot to look at either. The shopping area too is smaller than our home town of Leicester, which itself isn’t exactly massive.

Although only early afternoon we then headed back to the house for a while. Once we’d had our evening meal we then headed back out into the city to spend some time along the seafront and on the beach.