The island’s motorists are facing a lot of disruption, especially when they drive to and through Douglas, because there are so many roadworks taking place at the moment.

In today’s Manx Independent, we ask why.

Inside the paper, we catch up with Chris Walmsley {http://www.iomtoday.co.im/news/isle-of-man-news/one-day-i-will-dance-with-my-son-chris-1-5439261|Click here to read our most recent story about him} to find out how he’s getting on. It’s encouraging news.

We also report change in name for the former Whitehoe children’s secure unit. It’s more than just a name change, though, the government minister in charge says.

The paper has a page of news on the Summerland disaster’s 40th anniversary. One campaigner is hoping to get the whole site turned into a memorial.

Crowds packed the Southern Agricultural Show at the weekend.

In today’s paper we have the results of the competitions.

And we also meet a gay couple who ‘adopted’ a Loaghtan sheep. They visited the show to see her.

The paper also has our usual great sports coverage and the island’s two-page what’s on guide.

Two motor vehicles parked in York Road, Douglas, were ‘keyed’ between 5.15pm and 6.15pm last Thursday.

The police are investigating.

Police are appealing for any information after an act of graffiti committed on Tuesday.

It occurred at about 3pm in the area of the Riverside on Leigh Terrace, Douglas.

A small group of youths was seen in the area and are asked to contact police with any information.

Anyone with additional information should call Douglas police headquarters on 631212.

The airports and harbours divisions of the Department of Infrastructure have been merged.

Minister David Cretney MHK said despite the change, it would be ‘business as usual’ for staff in both divisions.

He said that initially, the merger will be an ‘interim situation’ while work continues regarding the review of the structure and Scope of Government.

Ann Reynolds, who previously held the position of airport director, will lead the new division as the new ports director from today (Thursday).

Announcing the change, Mr Cretney said: ‘I do believe that bringing these two divisions together under one director is a policy change that fits well with the ongoing work of making Government more efficient.

‘And whilst this is an interim position at the start, I am sure that this will proceed well, given the independent overview I commissioned before taking this step.’

The move follows the retirement of Captain Michael Brew.

He spent more than 30 years as director of harbours.

Mr Cretney said: ‘I wish Captain Brew a happy retirement and thank him for his years within the department, and wish Ann Reynolds good luck with the new Ports Division.

‘I believe that bringing the two teams of people together, under one director, is the right thing to do.’

The Minister said that he had ‘decided to retain political oversight of this change in the time ahead to ensure a smooth transition’.

Kathryn and Reggie Berrie, proprietors of the Victorian guest house, Aaron House, won Isle ofMan Newspapers’ Awards for Excellence Quality of Customer or Client Offer in 2007.

As nominations flood in for this year’s event, they explain how quality and high standards have been key to the success of their business…

‘Friendliness, care, anticipating their needs and using the best Manx produce we can possibly find,’ is how Kath Berrie sums up their award-winning customer offering.

Aaron House is like a little time capsule, a step back in time to the days before Facebook and mobile phones and meals bought ready-prepared in a foil tray. Overlooking Port St Mary’s Chapel Bay, it harks back to the days when people sat down around a table to eat home cooked food and life was somehow a lot simpler.

These views are stunning, all the rooms are immaculate, the welcome is delightful and the food is top quality – it all adds up to a recipe that makes guests want to come back for more.

Kath, who does all the cooking, uses locally-sourced, organic, where possible, and sometimes home-grown produce and everything from the bread and cakes to the jams, marmalade and cordials is made in her kitchen.

She and Reggie greet guests in Victorian dress, Kath in black with a white mob cap and apron, Reggie in a waistcoat and bow tie.

Reggie is the talker. He loves nothing better than welcoming guests and encouraging them to chat to one another at meal times. It’s not just socialising, he explains, it enhances their holiday experience because they tell each other where on the island they have each been that day, and where they recommend.

Reggie is also the one who keeps all the authentic Victorian bedrooms immaculately clean: ‘I love cleaning!’ he says.

When he and Kath bought Aaron House it had been used for many years simply as an annexe providing extra bedrooms for the guest house next door. That meant that little had been done to the décor and fittings so it still retained all of its original Victorian charm and atmosphere. Reggie and Kath have added some carefully chosen detail to this, with authentically aged wallpaper and collections of old black and white and sepia photographs on the walls.

They also brought the extra ingredient of hospitality. The welcome begins the moment a guest walks up the steps in through the front door. Reggie and Kath will be there to greet them and Kath will have the kettle on and home-made cake at the ready.

In addition to the bread and cakes, Kath is also responsible for making the award-winning Berrie’s Christmas pudding – as sold by Fortnum and Mason – and their son, Karl, is a chocolatier with his own brand of exclusive chocolates, Cocoa Red. The care that is taken in sourcing the ingredients reflects in the quality of the finished product.

Reggie says: ‘If you go that extra mile for the customer, it’s well worth it. Kath puts herself out 100 per cent to give guests the best of what’s here..’

Are you proud of the quality and standard of your company’s products and services? Why not let everyone know by entering this year’s Awards for Excellence?

The 16 categories include awards for businesses, public sector and charitable organisations. Then there are the individual categories, for Business Person of the Year, Young Achiever of the Year and Volunteer of the Year – maybe you know someone whose contribution to the local community deserves to be recognised?

Every year, the standard of entries is consistently high and the prestige of winning even higher. To say nothing of the glamour of being part of such a glittering occasion, with comprehensive newspaper coverage both in the lead-up to the prize presentation and on the night itself.

This year’s Awards night takes place on November 21. The event will be compered by Hugh Dennis, star of the hit TV comedy ‘Outnumbered’, and screened live via the web to a worldwide audience.

For further details on how to enter the awards, contact Trudi Williamson at Isle of Man Newspapers on 695695.

iomtoday.co.im/afe

A batch of fake Manx £20 notes are in circulation in the island.

A police spokesman said: ‘The notes are printed on inferior quality paper and the edges are not cut uniformly.

‘On some of the notes there is a visible, black vertical line evident down the right hand edge of the note (when viewed from the rear side).

‘Please contact us at police headquarters via 631212 if you have any information or are passed one of the counterfeit bank notes.’

The island’s ports bosses have issued a warning about ‘tombstoning’.

The ports division of the Department of Infrastructure has issued a press release urging members of the public to be aware of the dangers of playing near harbours, particularly if this involves jumping into or swimming in a harbour.

It reads: ‘The department is concerned that members of the public, particularly children and young people are unaware of the dangers from boats manoeuvring, the shock that can occur from entering cold water suddenly and the hazard presented by not knowing the depth of water.

‘Jumping from harbour breakwaters or piers is sometimes referred to as “tombstoning” because of the risky nature of this activity. Although we have been fortunate in the Isle of Man not to have had any serious accidents, this is not the case in the UK where there have been several well publicised incidents of people suffering severe injury or worse, as a result.’

Ugandan Andrew Wanzonele has raised £180 for Hospice.

Mr Wanzonele, aged 27, has spent the last year on the island as part of a Scripture Union Ministries Trust mission.

He raised the money by completing the Parish Walk in June.

He was also raising money for medical treatment for his step-mother who is HIV positive in Uganda.

Mr Wanzonele is pictured presenting the cheque to Terri Cook of Hospice’s fundraising team.

He has been staying on the island with David and Christine Roberts, of Douglas.

They are both keen supporters of Hospice so he felt it only right to give some funds to the local charity.

He completed the 85-mile event in 41st place in a time of 19 hours, 15 minutes and 54 seconds. His training only involved four ‘small walks’ prior to the event.

Terri thanked Mr Wanzonele for his support of the local charity and congratulated on his endeavours for his step-mum.

Picture: MW130723-18

Children taking part in a Youth Service holiday venture scheme indulged their sweet tooth with a visit to The Original Manx Fudge Factory, in Ballasalla.

Pictured is Rick Wardleworth handing out fudge to the children.

The week-long scheme, for children in school years four to seven (ages eight to 12) was based at Cronk-y-Berry School.

Activities included a range of outings, crafts and activities to keep young people occupied whatever the weather.

It’s one of a number of schemes being run during the summer holidays.

Themed weeks will also take place.Picture: JM130725-33

A report on the suitability of using bendy buses on Manx roads should be made public, according to its main author.

The 50 page report is currently being considered by the Department of Community Culture and Leisure and the Department of Infrastructure who will then make a joint recommendation to Council of Ministers.

Bus Vannin bosses say bendy buses, if introduced, will save £300,000 in staffing and fuel costs, plus £3m of capital costs saved in replacing older buses – and if they do not prove suitable, the savings will have to be found elsewhere.

A month-long trial was carried out earlier this year at a cost of £10,000.

But the exercise was dogged by embarrassing breakdowns. A replacement bus had to be shipped over after one bendy developed a fault on the first day of the trial. The same week a second one broke down near Fairy Bridge. Then in the last week of the trial, there were two breakdowns in two days.

Results of the trial were considered by an independent working group comprising TravelWatch chairman Brendan O’Friel and representatives of the DoI and the Department of Education.

Mr O’Friel said the report ran to 50 pages but he could not at this stage disclose what its conclusions and recommendations were. But he added: ‘One of the issues will be are they going to publish the report in due course? There may be different views on this but my own view is that it should be published - what is the point of this report if it is not in the public arena?’

The independent report was finally signed off this month, having been delayed pending technical assessments carried out by the DOI.

Mr O’Friel has previously said the issue of bendy bus breakdowns was a red herring but it had skewed people’s perceptions of the vehicles.

Thanks a million. That’s what this group of island businessmen and women had to say to one another.

Pictured are members of ‘Manannan’ the local chapter of Business Network International (B.N.I.) who meet once a week, usually at breakfast time, with a ‘givers gain’ philosophy.

Together, they have been successfully generating referral business over the last 24 months which has, as of June 18, totalled a whopping £1,044,446.38

Membership co-ordinator Martin Corkish was delighted with the level of business members of the group have passed to one another.

He said: ‘It’s a brilliant result for everyone involved and what’s special about it is that it proves the ‘‘givers gain’’ philosophy really does work.

‘Each of us represents just one sector of business such as accounting, building, recruitment, finance, insurance, estate agency, electrical contracting, removals, landscape gardening and others too.

‘We work hard to get to know each other and each other’s business really well.

‘This way we quickly recognise opportunities that arise to refer one another and most importantly, do it confidently because we genuinely trust one another and know that the client will have a great experience, which reflects well on us too.’

Paul Maddocks, local director of the group explained what ‘‘givers gain’’ really means.

‘The Givers Gain philosophy is about thinking of ways in which you can help someone else first and finding out what it is they need or what introductions they need to help them grow their business and delivering on that.

‘After which, there is an expectation that sometime later that person will be more likely to want and be able to reciprocate and deliver back.

‘It’s a very refreshing change from the usual networking scenario where members try and promote themselves to people in the room, normally with the aim of selling to the people directly in the room.

‘In our meetings you’re far more likely to hear things like, “so- tell me how I can help you in your business’’ and “how can I help you connect with such and such a person”, rather than, “My business offers this… we just won this award, or that award… and now we are expanding to this, that and the other!” ’

The Manannan group see their next target as achieving another million pounds of business within just 12 months and growing the membership by a further 10 members.

They usually gather at a Douglas hotel at 7am which serves them fine as they can have their meeting before going on to work for the day.

They come from all walks of life and are determined to carry on with being a success.

Last month they opened things up to a select number of visitors to have a look at how their weekly business meetings operate and are planning another visitor event for August 6.

Membership co-ordinator Martin Corkish said: ‘We would be very interested in speaking to businesses who want to know more about BNI and how it could be of benefit to them in the longer term’.

Martin Corkish can be contacted on 410216 and Paul Maddocks is on 452351.

Discussions are continuing to resolve the problem of delayed ferry sailings caused recently by lack of out-of-hours diving cover.

On Monday morning the Ben my Chree suffered almost an hour’s delay after rope became entangled in its propellers. The 2.15am sailing from Heysham last Sunday had to be cancelled because of the problem.

Just over three weeks ago the Ben my Chree suffered a similar problem when discarded fishing gear was found entagled in the boat’s propellers on a Sunday morning.

Again no diving cover was available because of changes introduced by the Department of Infrastructure. On this occasion the ship’s crew called for assistance from the visiting Royal Navy minesweeper HMS Brocklesby, whose dive team removed the tangled fishing gear.

The changes, introduced in March were estimated to produce a £35,000 per year saving after the department decided full out-of-hours cover was not required.

Following the latest incident, Steam Packet chief executive Mark Woodward said: ‘We met the Department of Infrastructure on Monday and the hope is that we can jointly arrive at a solution that works for both the Steam Packet Company and the DOI.’

The former White Hoe children’s secure unit on the outskirts of Douglas was relaunched this week by Social Care Minister Chris Robertshaw.

The unit which is run on behalf of the government by the St Christopher’s charity, offers community-based support and education as well as secure accommodation for children and young people who are in trouble with the police, on remand or at risk of harm.

To mark the reopening it has been renamed Cronk Sollysh, which in Manx Gaelic means Hill of Light.

In June last year the Manx Independent reported the unit was reducing its bed spaces and Unite union regional industrial organiser Steve Salter said he believed vulnerable youngsters could be put at risk as a result. After writing to St Christopher’s to outline his concerns, Mr Salter said St Christopher’s had told him the Department of Social Care had asked them to look at ways of making savings.

He told the Manx Independent: ‘The fact this is a service we may need at some point in the future and it may lead to vulnerable young people not getting the care they require.’

But the latest statement from the Department of Social Care said there had been a reduction in the number of young people needing secure care and the new service was to provide secure accommodation along with education and support to reintegrate them into society.

The new facility offers three bed spaces but it can be increased to a maximum of seven – the capacity of the original unit – at short notice if demand dictates.

St Christopher’s head of children’s residential services Steve Taylor said the unit had housed no more than three young people between 10 and 18 in recent years so it made better practical sense to use the space more productively.

The new services offered for children in care and other vulnerable youngsters, as well as those resident at the unit include family mediation, restorative justice programmes, where offenders put something back into the community, group work on personal safety and building self confidence.

There is also support from teaching staff giving help with homework, careers advice, further education choices and accredited lifeskills training covering everything from time management to cookery.

Mr Taylor said the alterations had been designed to allow them to revert easily to seven beds if required.

‘The key now is community work and kids who are not resident can benefit, not just a select few.’

The Isle of Man’s Post Office is the first in the world to produce Royal memorabilia stamps to commemorate the birth of Prince George .

The main item will be a limited edition of 500 Postal Tribute, which contains a cover with gold-foil postmark, birth announcement card and a mint sheet of stamps, priced £25.

There is also a silver-foiled special commemorative envelope available for £8,50, which features stamps of the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge accompanied by details of the birth of HRH Prince George of Cambridge.

A special feature of this product is that there are two unique postmarks, namely ‘Royal Avenue’ and ‘Windsor Road’.

Enclosed in the cover envelope is a dedicated information card with a specially commmissioned text by leading royal journalist and biographer Claudia Joseph.

The stamps and birth announcement are also available on a sheet priced at £8.

The general manager of Isle of Man Stamps and Coins, Maxine Cannon, said: ‘As this is such a historic occassion we wanted to issue royal baby souvenirs in celebration.

‘The products are bound to be popular with collectors of Royal memorabilia around the world and I’m sure the news of the royal baby will be one of those moments in your life when you will always remember where you were when you first heard it,’ added Ms Cannon.

‘We will be sending a special cover to William and Catherine’s home at Kensington Palace as well as to the parents of the four babies who were born on the the Isle of Man on Monday, July 22, in celebration that the birth of their child coincided with the much anticipated delivery of the Royal couple’s baby boy.’

George Alexander Louis Cambridge was born in the Lindo Wing of Queen Mary’s Hospital, Paddington, at 4.24pm on July 22 and weighed 8lbs 6oz.

To buy the stamps or for more information visit www.iompostoffice.com/stamps/Issue.aspx?productid=1206&categoryid=270

Customers can also buy the special products at the post office on Regent Street, Douglas, although it won’t be available at the island’s other post offices.

l What do you think? Is this a good way of raising money and the island’s profile?

opinions@newsiom.co.im

Restaurant chain Pizza Hut is to open in Douglas, it has been confirmed.

Alex Barlow of Vision Media, who is the marketing executive for the franchise, told the Isle of Man Courier: ‘It’s definitely coming, despite everyone thinking it’s a rumour.’

He said the owner was a conglomerate, Reims Limited, which is behind Coffee Republic, in the capital’s Victoria Street, and Bar George, in Hill Street.

It’s due to open in November but he couldn’t give the precise location because the deal ‘hasn’t been fully signed off’.

Mr Barlow said it was too early to say how many staff would be employed at Pizza Hut, saying: ‘There’s two different routes we could go down – it could either be a take-away or a sit-in.’

Facebook page ‘Pizza Hut Douglas’ was set up on Wednesday and, as the Courier went to press, had more than 2,000 supporters.

It says: ‘Thank you for your patience and co-operation, we will make announcements as they are confirmed to us.’

Suggestions for Manx pizza toppings include queenies, kippers, Loaghtan lamb and chips, cheese and gravy.

While it looks as if an international franchise will be opening in the island, our love of pizza has already been exported to the UK thanks to The Real Man Pizza Company, in London. There, pizza names include Port Soderick Smoked Salmon and Manx Queenie.

Another international pizza brand, Domino’s, already operates a takeaway and delivery service in Douglas.

In the UK in 2007, Pizza Hut was criticised for the high salt content of its meals, some of which were found to contain more than twice the daily recommended amount of salt for an adult.

Between 7am and 7.30am today (Thursday), a man on Main Road, Colby, disturbed a dog attacking chickens in the rear of his garden.

The dog, described as a white springer spaniel type with a black patch on its back, had entered the garden twice and killed five chickens.

An additional chicken also had to be put down. The chickens were family pets and their loss has distressed their owners.

If you have any information that could assist, contact Constable Hills at Port Erin police on 832222 or contact the anonymous Crimestoppers line on 0800 555 111.

The ‘toughest 10km the island has ever seen’, the inaugural Tough Mann Adventure Race, takes place at the weekend

On Sunday Ballamoar Farm in Ballaugh will be home to the gruelling circuit, with hundreds set to pit themselves against the 20-obstacle ‘Dragon’s Head’ challenge.

It’ll be all hands on deck every day this week putting the final touches to the course, which will include scrambles through abandoned cars, hill climbs, hay bales, cargo nets and muddy bogs.

‘The worst of it is the climb at the start, non-stop for 2km, which is pretty horrendous,’ said co-organiser Richard Cryer. ‘But that’s the climbing done, it’s all down from there. The views at the top are unbelievable, you can see the whole island. It’s somewhere the public never get to see.’

The organisers were inspired after racing in a similar event in the Lake District last year. ‘It was superb,’ recalled Richard. ‘Super tough, but we were gutted when it was over. We thought the terrain in the island would be brilliant for it.’

This year is the test run, with a three to five year plan pencilled in. Thanks to public interest and help from the land owners and from Bushy’s, Manx Independent Carriers and 3FM, year one looks to be in good shape, and the event will also donate individuals’ sponsorship to Hospice. There were concerns that the ‘Tough Mann’ moniker may have left people assuming it was a male-only event, but they need not have worried, as the first 40 entries were all women, and the total entry is now about a 50/50 split.

There is parking on site and the ‘arena’ will have children’s entertainment, food vans, live music, and shower and toilet facilities. The course veers back towards the spectators at several points, so friends and family will see more than just the start and finish line. Runners will be set off in waves of 25-30, to avoid ‘bottlenecking’ at obstacles, with the first wave heading out at 1pm sharp.

‘The super fit will get around in about an hour and a quarter/hour and a half,’ predicted Rich. ‘Most will do it between two and two and a half hours.’

Upon crossing the line competitors will receive their victory Bushy’s beer and t-shirt, before the live-music festivities kick in. See www.facebook.com/ToughMannIOM for more.

An exhibition entitled ‘Getting to Know Printworking’ began at the Isle Gallery in Tynwald Mills, St John’s, this week.

It includes work from a handful of island artists demonstrtating printmaking.

The Isle Gallery is run by professional artists.

The Gallery was loaned to the Artists by Tynwald Mills management at the end of 2011. Due to its popularity and success the gallery will continue into 2014 with many exhibitions and workshops planned.

Among the artists currently showing work at the Isle Gallery, there is a diverse media ranging from oil, acrylic, painting, wood carving, clay ceramic, glass, limited and unlimited prints by local and international artists. There is also a wide selection of locally-produced artist greeting cards on display.

As well as monthly exhibitions The Isle Gallery also hosts children’s and adults’ painting and printmaking workshops throughout the year.

A ‘summer boot camp’ for children aged five and over is currently running on Mondays and Tuesdays till August 27, from 10am to noon. It is covering topics such as the Masters including Monet, Picasso, Georgia O’Keefe and Vincent Van Gogh.

Starting at the end of the year, there will be an exhibition of new work from two of the island’s established artists Nancy Corkish and David Byrne.

The Houlgrave family will also be exhibiting with new and retrospective works as well as Artists Catherine James, Colleen Corlett, Petrina Kent and others.

The first-ever animated film in Manx Gaelic is to be a major feature at the Festival Interceltique de Lorient in France next week.

Caarjyn as Fenee (Friends and Heroes - in English) will be shown on Thursday next week in the Auditorium du Cercle St Louis.

The unique Manx translation of the award-winning TV series is the culmination of a five-year project, only made possible with the help of many local Manx speakers on the island, who became voice-actors for the cartoon characters in the film.

‘This is “yindyssagh erskyn towse” (fantastic above all measure) and is a real breakthrough for Manx Gaelic (Gaelg),’ said Adrian Cain, Manx language officer for the Manx Heritage Foundation.

‘Each programme features a full Manx soundtrack as well as English and Manx sub‐titles, making a fantastic teaching and learning resource and helping give Manx Gaelic a much higher profile both on the island and internationally.’

Each episode of Friends and Heroes is set in the first century AD and follows the adventures of two children, Macky and Portia. As they engage in countless escapades and fight for justice across the Roman world, they share the timeless stories of the Bible and learn lessons that help them through many trials and tribulations. Each episode uses a combination of traditional hand‐drawn and stunning computer generated animation to bring the stories to life.

Caarjyn as Fenee officially launched last month as part of the annual Yn Chruinnaght festival, held on the Isle of Man.

All 13 episodes (more than five hours) of the first series are available in Manx in a four-DVD set at £20.

The Festival Interceltique de Lorient, or Inter-Celtic Festival of Lorient, is an annual Celtic festival, located in the city of Lorient, Brittany, France.

Founded in 1971, this annual festival takes place in the heart of the city every August and is dedicated to the cultural traditions of the Celtic nations, highlighting Celtic music and dance and also including other arts such as painting, photography, theatre, film, sculpture, traditional artisan as well as sport and gastronomy. To find out more about the festival go to http://www.festival-interceltique.com

With direct flights out of Ronaldsway being lost or cut back, it can sometimes feel we’re increasingly cut off here in the Isle of Man.

But that is certainly not the case, as we discovered as we set off for a whirlwind weekend break to the New Forest and Dorset’s Jurassic Coast.

Flybe withdrew direct flights to Southampton in July, just two months after the three times a week service had been relaunched.

The airline had already announced it is pulling out of Gatwick from March next year, while franchise partner Loganair last month dropped its IoM to Edinburgh and Glasgow routes.

Flybe is looking to focus its regional operation on its Manchester hub and our South Coast sojourn provided an opportunity to see how practical that is.

It was an early start for us to check in for our 7.05am flight to Manchester. Some 40 minutes later we touched down at Manchester where we had a wait of less than an hour before our onward flight to Southampton. By just after 10am, we had picked up our hire car with Enterprise Rent-a-Car and were heading west towards Dorset.

First stop was Lulworth Cove, where, under blue skies and glorious sunshine, we set off from the giant visitors’ car park to join a steady stream of walkers on a section of the white chalk switchback that is the South West Coast Path.

A stiff one and a half mile up and down hike afforded dramatic clifftop views out to a shimmering azure sea with kestrels hovering alongside and the chalk grassland alive with polka dot-patterned moths and bright blue butterflies.

Our destination was Durdle Door, the spectacular natural limestone arch which is an iconic landmark of the Jurassic Coast.

It was created as a result of softer rocks being eroded behind a hard limestone cliff. Holes in the rock around the top of the arch are the remnants of a fossilised forest where cycad trees grew 147 million years ago.

It’s a popular spot for swimming, sunbathing or clambering across the rocks – in flagrant disregard of the signs warning people to keep off the dangerous cliffs.

It’s no empty warning, walkers have to be diverted around a large fenced-off section of the coastal path nearby that slipped into the sea in a huge landslide back in April.

Retracing our steps, we took a stroll around Lulworth Cove with a well-deserved honey and stem ginger West Country ice cream.

The cove itself is a perfect horseshoe-shaped bay created, in a similar fashion to Durdle Door, by the sea hollowing out the soft clays to reach the harder rock behind.

Close by is Stair Hole, an embryonic cove in the making which in a few thousand years will be as big as its neighbour.

Here the folded limestone strata known as the Lulworth Crumple, formed by the collision of two continental plates about 30 million years ago, have been documented in countless school geology text books.

Feeling peckish but conscious of the time, we headed off again, stopping off at Corfe Castle where we tucked into a delicious Dorset cream tea in the Model Village tea room.

Having negotiated the rush hour traffic around Bournemouth, we arrived at journey’s end for the day, elegant and well-heeled Christchurch.

Our base, sadly for the one night only, was the 4 star Art Deco-styled Captain’s Club Hotel located right on the banks of the sedate River Stour.

Specially designed to take advantage of its setting, each of the hotel’s 29 bedrooms boasts a river view. Our air conditioned room was cool and comfortable, and luxuriously furnished.

Before dinner we had time to amble along the river bank at Christchurch and explore a little of the town which has been dominated by the Priory Church for more than 900 years.

We passed the beautiful green known as the Quomps, the perfect spot to soak up the sun on what was the hottest day of the year, and explored the nearby ruins of Christchurch’s Norman Castle and the delightfully restored Anglo-Saxon watermill Place Mill.

Back at the Captain’s Club, we enjoyed a fabulous meal in the Tides restuarant overlooking the riverside terrace. Service was friendly and attentive, the food first class and the Churned God cocktails ordered from the piano bar next door truly top notch.

Following breakfast, we had an appointment to keep the next morning at Norley Farm outside Lymington on the Hampshire side of the New Forest.

Here retired vet Annie Pollock devotes her time to looking after scores of giant Baudet du Poitou donkeys as well as miniature donkeys, rare breed cattle, alpacas, pigs and ponies.

With their astonishingly shaggy coats and massive ears, Baudet du Poitou are one of the oldest breeds of donkey and were once the backbone of French agriculture, used to breed giant mules. But there are now fewer than 800 in the world and it’s Annie’s aim to bring them back from the brink of extinction, Norley Farm being the only stud for these giants donkeys in the UK.

We headed off through the New Forest to Brockenhurst, taking pictures of the native ponies – including one that appeared to be waiting at a bus stop.

These animals roam freely but are not wild in the true sense as they are owned by the Commoners. There are curently around 300 Commoners who have the right to graze livestock in the open forest, a traditional right dating back to Medieval times.

Large swathes of the New Forest national park are not woodland at all but heath. The term ‘forest’ originally meant hunting ground - William the Conqueror having created the New Forest in 1079 as his giant royal pleasure park for the pursuit of deer and wild boar.

Next stop was the Tall Trees Trail at Blackwater where we wandered among towering Douglas Firs and California Redwoods planted in the late 1850s to create the Rhinefield Ornamental Drive. Here signboards point out the superlatives of the arboreal world – the tallest tree and the heaviest tree.

Back in Christchurch, we found the town heaving with trippers and with all the car parks full, we set off for Hengistbury Head, a heath and dune covered headland jutting out into the English Channel with views across to the Isle of Wight on one side and to Christchurch harbour on the other.

A land train trundles up to the head but we chose instead to walk on the path through the dunes which are peppered with archaeological remains, passing Iron Age earthworks known as the Double Dykes and the site of a Stone Age settlement on Warren Hill.

The headland ends at a narrow sandbank known as Mudeford Spit famed for its string of beach huts that command astonishing prices - one was on sale during our time there for £160,000, a price per square foot making it among some of the most expensive properties in Britain. A brisk walk back to the car and we were off again, back to Southampton airport to drop off our hire car and catch the 6.45pm flight to Manchester, landing back at Ronaldsway at 9.10pm.

That’s less than two and half hours to get back home - certainly proof that a weekend break to Dorset and New Forest is possible even with the demise of direct flights to Southampton, although of course a longer stay would always be preferable.