Abbotsbury

Abbotsbury
Dorset's famous Swannery

Abbotsbury in Dorset is home to over 600 flying swans, and is the only place in the world where you can literally walk among the breeding, nesting and hatching swans.

Every May and June you can see the cygnets hatching. There is England's oldest duck decoy here and magnificent reed beds.

There are sub Tropical gardens to visit, famous for camellias, hydrangeas and rhododendrons, the beach and also the ancient Tithe Barn.

Abbotsbury is between Weymouth and Bridport - the village hosts its own arts festival, has some quaint little shops to browse and has a unique raised platform for a roadside pavement.

Abbotsbury is set in one of England's great unspoilt natural wonders - the 8 miles long peaceful lagoon, known as the Fleet, is protected from the force of the sea by the 17 miles long shingle bank of Chesil Beach - part of the Jurassic Coast.

It was here on the Fleet, on March 9th, 1943, that Barnes Wallis tested his Bouncing Bomb invention, in preparation for use on the famous Dam Busters Raid led by Guy Gibson. This was well represented using actual archive clips in the feature film, where the inventor was played by Michael Redgrave - a reproduction being made in 2009.

One of the recovered bombs can now be seen on display at Abbotsbury Swannery which is, of course, located right on the edge of the Lagoon.

Abbotsbury was the junction of the famous Abbotsbury branch line during steam railways times on the Great Western Railway and connected with the Weymouth to Dorchester line at Upwey - since the rails were lifted decades ago, much has not changed at all in the countryside around and it is well worth touring.

Not far from Abbotsbury: West Bay