The Race to Ring, The bells, the bells - Swanage, the Pier, Bandstand and Mill pond

8 July 2026

We started the day with a visit to St Mary's Church, the one just across the road from Millbrook.  The one with the bells in the clock that strike the hour 24 times a day.  The stained glass is lovely.

It is another hot day, so we strolled along the sea front to the pier, where we found a shady spot, outside a restaurant, and sat watching the world go by.  The pier is at one end of the bay, and gives a great view from the cliffs in the distance, to the Grand Hotel, and along the sea front.  I tried to capture it in a video.  This is the third, or fourth attempt.  It was busy, and I had to put up with people passing up and down the pier.  My timing was clearly wrong.

There was an art exhibition at the end of the pier, each of the supports had a carefully laminated photo stapled to it.  All the pictures were of sea creatures in their natural habitats.  I tried taking a picture of the small (unidentified) fish swimming around pier.  What I got looked more like some sort of modern art than a picture of fish. A ferry runs from the pier.  As do a number of short boat trips along the Jurassic Coast.  I'd be interested to know if all the passengers pay the pier entry fee.  Once the ferry was loaded, it left.  We could still hear the announcements as is got to the other side of the bay.  The pier was much quieter after that. We had lunch in the Pier Head restaurant, as recommended by one of the people in the pier kiosk.  The food was very good, but the service was rather slow.  All the young ladies serving seemed pre-occupied with other jobs, one was told to find us a seat by her supervisor.  Even the drinks took a while to arrive.  The restaurant was nearly empty when we arrived, but soon filled up.  Then it was back to the B&B, as the next thing to do would have been too much walking for me.  On the way we had a round of crazy golf at one of the entertainment places built into the cliffs.  It was a rather easy course.  Then I sat in one of the shelters for a bit, while Jo had a paddle.

In the evening we visited the band stage, where the town band were playing.  This is a great traditional British sea side event, and we very much enjoyed it.  I made a list of the tunes I recognised, and the ones that were announced: Great escape theme Thunderbirds From mama Mia   - mama Mia  - SOS   - Winner takes it all  - Dancing queen Instant concert 33 pieces  Mountain country dances 3 tunes Bohemian Rhapsody James Bond  - theme  - Goldfinger  - nobody does it better  - the spy who loved me  - sky fall?  - live and let die Marches from silver screen ?  Elephant march Jungle Book Star Trek TNG theme Star Wars West Side story film - America - there a plaice for us Oliver - Food glorious food - where is he - consider yourself - I'd do anything Don't stop me now Encore: Singing in the rain

On the way back, I noticed that the sign said: St Mary's Church ¼ mile Mill Pond ¼ mile  It must be near the church, but we hadn't seen it.  Near the church the sign became vague, so with the help of Google Maps, we finally discovered it. A beautiful mill pond, in the middle of housing, the peace only interrupted by the church bells (the ringers were practising, I assume).